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66.66% THE SLEEPY WILLOW / Chapter 2: THE TOWN BEFORE

Chapter 2: THE TOWN BEFORE

Lourdes was the last town the coachman had to make a stop in order for us to pass the night in a tavern located at the heart of the city before resuming our journey the next day. The coachman had intently rode the carriage through the most wretched street corners of the city after riding past the western gate closely guarded by the police stationed to safeguard town from bandits rumored to be stealing from cities nearby. 

The moon have already been blotched out in the dark sky by the time we were a mile away from the city gate. Now in the central part of the city, the coachman eased his reins on the horses as he rode the carriage along on the paved street, through the midst of other passersby in the middle of the road. Just like the few other carriages we came across on the road, he softly led us further deep into the city, scouring for the Gretel Graven inn, a place I knew that he must have already made arrangements with the owner before he came to fetch me at the docks few days back.

 As he rode on, I took a peep out of the carriage through the window after shifting the curtains aside and saw that it was already nightfall but the few streetlamps at each side of the paved street made it visible for me to see the passersby trekking past us under the cover of the night as well as some bystanders chattering amongst themselves at the dark alleys of the tall concrete apartments. There were quite a few inns up ahead where we could have make stop but he took a narrow detour and brought us to another lane sparsely crowded with people.

 Then we came across some wretched looking buildings at the left flank of the road when the coachman took a left turn to the main lane beautified by every candlelight that shone on the road from every cubicle of the tall houses at both side of the road through the windows and no one seems to live in them apart from an old street beggar, in a tattered cloak that barely covered his knees, sitting by the roadside of the street, eagerly wanting some pennies from the people walking by with the help of a little red bowl he held for them to drop whatever they had in their pockets.

 I watched him pitifully as the carriage moved on until we were a bit far away from him. The two wheels of the carriage that was once violent when it was daytime before we came to town, rolled slowly along the road thanks to the efforts of the coachman. 

 Five minutes later, we crossed a narrow crooked bridge where only a single carriage can go to the other side at a time before arriving at our destination. The approaching carriage was immediately stopped by the coachman in front of inn and he was first met by two of the servants at the front porch of the building after he alighted the carriage, followed by another fellow, dressed in a black overcoat which concealed his short musket. His rough moustache seemed to match his grumpy looks at the unexpected guest. Two of his comrade standing aloof, had stopped talking when they notice our arrival and started watching us idly at a corner near the door while the coachman was busy having a chat with one of the attendants. 

 

 From where I sat down inside the carriage, I could see a signpost hung by the left side of the door on which was scribbled the name of the inn and I could see that the attendants were engrossed in their talking with the coachman particularly the man in the black overcoat whose hat was tilted to one side of his head. His gorgeous hat was undeniably fashioned to be good-looking but it was his response the coachman that got me interested to listen to their conversation.

 "So, Sir. Williams, I prithee you wisely listen to our honest counsel"

 He said rubbing his beard in a funny manner. 

"We'll pay twice the price for a spare room, so, grant us entry"

"It's too unfortunate for us that we must decline"

One of the two attendants rejoined.

"Our rooms are already preoccupied with valuable guests, I suggest you find another tavern"

"But—"

"Humble signor, pardon our misgivings but make time to leave for another inn"

The man with the hat advised coaxingly.

"I can't afford to find another at this odd hour of the night. I have already transact with Lord Lorenzo a month ago and—"

"Sadly, he's not here"

 "He's on an official business trip to Rages"

"We cannot let you in based on your words alone"

"Then a written agreement with his seal on it might change your mind"

Sir William replied and took out a parcel from the right pocket of his natty coat. They marveled as they saw the paper with a red seal on it. One of the attendant took it from him and checked to see if the seal was indeed genuine. The others including myself all stare anxiously as the man opened the parcel to read the scribbled note. At first glance, I thought he was going to declare the note illegible but I was wrong after he was done confirming his doubts.

 "It's the master seal, alright"

 "Bertrand, are you sure the document authentic?"

 "Yes, it is. You came with the lady Mira"

 "Yes, she's inside the coach"

 "It says here in the letter that you suppose to have arrived on the twenty sixth, what was the cause for the delay?"

 "A wrong turn, I guess"

 "Very well. Thankfully, we have a little bit of space for the guest in the upper rooms but I sincerely doubt if she'll feel comfortable sleeping in that room"

 "I'm sure she won't mind at all"

 "Don't get your hopes up too much. The room in question is in a pretty bad shape"

 "It's clearly unfit for a lady with such affluence"

 Bertrand explained trying to dissuade the coachman but William remained undeterred.

 "I insist you let us in. As you can see, we're already tired from the long journey"

 William replied and stared at them bluntly. The man with the hat had remained silent ever since the coachman brought out the parcel but then, he whispered something into Bertrand's ear before leaving to join the rest of his companions at the entrance of the inn. 

 "If that's what you want, you can enter with the lady"

 "We'll be of help if you need anything"

 

 

"You go make preparations but first, let me confer with lady"

 Sir. William replied.

 "Fair enough"

 Bertrand answered and gestured at the other attendant. They both hurriedly went inside but Bertrand's colleagues stood by the entrance waiting for us while Sir. William walked to carriage and opened the door. 

 "Milady, there's a spare room for you to rest for the night but I don't think if you'll find the room appropriate to sleep in"

 He said as soon as he opened the door. 

 "I'll take my chance. Tell the attendants we'll spend the night here"

 "As you wish, Milady"

 He said and shut the door. Then he went back to relay the message to the attendants at the entrance of the inn. After he left, I covered my face with a caul which I had brought along with me since the coachman and I began the journey from Cyprus. I brought out a little chest from luggage beneath my foot. The chest was a gift from Aunt Perry gave to me when I was studying in Wales before she traveled to Greece and it was dear to me so I had kept it close to me since it reminded of her warm affection she showed me when I was under her roof at Cyprus, her hometown. I hastily kept the letters inside the little chest and closed it securely. Sir William suddenly came back to escort me out of the coach and he flung door open the minute he returned from carrying out my order and moved aside for me to come out of the carriage. 


Chapter 3: THE GRETEL GRAVEN INN

As soon as I saw the door opened, I alighted the coach with the caul covering my entire face with the black veil ending at my chest but I was careful enough not to let my black gown stuck in between the door which was too narrow . Then I passed it to him after I got down from the carriage. 

 "Here take this and keep it in the bag."

 "Yes, Milady." 

 He received the chest without asking questions and went into the carriage to take the bags down. I was waiting for him by the time he got down from the carriage bringing the bag along with him. One of the attendants, whom I had seen at standing by the door, left the door ajar and trotted over to take the bags insides from Sir William. I watched him as he returned back to the house, carrying the baggage on his shoulders. The attendant seemed rather quite handy in his work like the man with the hat who was keeping close watch by the side of the doors together with his cohorts. 

 Their gaze were apparently fixed on us during our wait for the innkeeper to return back and seemed to engross in watching out for any slightest move we would make as though they were a stray pack of hungry dogs lurking in the shadows while waiting for the right moment to gnaw their prey with their razor sharp teeth but I was no less afraid of their continuous stare as well as their ominous presence near the entrance of the inn nor Sir William was intimidated by the scary way they kept looking at us standing near the carriage. 

Like I had been groomed by Aunt Perry in Wales to uphold the most esteemed gracious act of nobleness befitting lady of high nobility during my twenty years study in Wales, I kept my composure the very best I can to avoid the eyes of the men watching us as I stood beside Sir Williams who seemed more eager to see Bertrand relay him the signal for us to venture inside the stout but attractive inn. 

 Two minutes later, Bertrand appeared at the open doorpost leading into the tavern which turned out to be brightly lighted from the inside and beckoned on us to come inside the inn. Led by Sir William, we both obeyed as though we were under his spell and walked softly to the doorpost without paying too much attention to the eyes accompanying us on both sides to the main entrance of the building. Sir William was the first to step into the house while I followed behind him but he briefly stop by the doorway and took me by the hand before I could even phantom his gusty show of warmest gracious salutation I hardly could find in most men I had cross paths with. 

Right in front of Bertrand and two of his staff attendants, who had been standing behind the door to welcome the guests inside, Sir William led me by the hand with his head slightly lowered down, expressing his gentle manly of worthy servitude and graciously guided me into the inn of which at first sight, was by far more glamorous in its appearance than the exteriors parts that formed every nook and cranny of its sturdy walls. 

"I humbly implore thee to carefully tread into this shamble room made with the poorest barks built with poorest hands." He said avoiding eye contact with Bertrand who I could clearly see from the veil that covered my entire face, was infuriated by Sir. Williams's kind words but he somehow managed to composed himself and refused to act rashly. 

"Thanks for your warm hospitality though it isn't your place to utter such kind demeaning words", I replied as I walked a few meters inside the fairly spacious cubicle and at once, I felt the crispy warmth that gracious filled the every corners of the ventilated room. There was a total mixture of dry crisp with a lovely scent of petal perfume in the humid air which greatly added more moist to thickness of the air weighing down heavily on my nose and it was until I had shifted of the black caul I wore away from my face that I felt a bit of harshness of the dry fragrance that filled the entire air. Unlike the taverns Sir William and I had stopped by to pass the night during the quarter half of our journey from the docks at Cyprus, the interior part of the inn was by far spectacular in its humble orderliness of furniture inside the compartment compared to the inns encroaching further from the countryside into the larger developing cities especially a little red luster chandelier dangling on the roof in the center of the fairly large room. I knew deep down inside that Lord Lorenzo had a rather controversial taste of conflicting Italian antiquities and furniture for a rather much Castilian setting but I must say he did much to make himself a mastery of his own contemporaneous way of erecting a stylish humble interior décor with less fanciness but rather more glamor in its ordinariness perfectly made prominent with the few odd antiques that were found inside.

 Another notable feature was a narrow counter glowing underneath the chandelier not too far from where Bertrand was standing with his hands crossed. The owner of the inn had erected the counter at the rear of the first floor right in front of colossal wooden shelves which housed a collection of red brandy. 

The counter was made of wood furnished to beautify its apparel but lacked a proper sense of order since it was poorly built without enough room for and it was quite peculiar that the entire liquor inside each of the brandies I saw were glittering crimson red underneath the chandelier in the old-fashioned counter which lacked a prominent structure at its base particularly the area where the attendant ought to pass freely to serve the guests at the broad section of tables arranged at every corner in the room but it was done in a fancy manner that somewhat earned the inn a distinctive feature over the few local taverns that I had stumbled across due to unforeseen circumstances surrounding my unfulfilled visit to Sagres. 

Compared to my curiosity, Sir William didn't seem to bother about the appearances of the inn. Even the antiques and the artistic horrible paintings on the wall which ran up to the room upstairs were insignificant in his sight but I was sure that he must have thought that the lanterns intently hung at every strategic places in the main hall to adorn to main hall and the fancy fireplace that was built at the right far end of the compartment, were the only thing that seemed magnificent to him though he knew their appearances had compelled him to loathe the words he said to me prior to my remarkable entry into the house.

Bertrand gestured at one of his companions to head for the room upstairs most likely to complete one final round of checking if the other guests were actually sleeping in their room and drew closer to lure me away from the doorway.

"We earnestly welcome you to our humble abode." Bertrand said with an aura of false smiles written on his face and quick-witted, Sir William was quick to stop him from making any further impression of false pretense. 

"Save us the formal greetings and relay to us where the lady Mira's bedchamber is." Sir William said daringly and Bertrand took a step back.

"Like I earlier said, the only room unoccupied is the last bedchamber upstairs."

"Lead the way then." Sir William retorted and moved to leave while followed him but Bertrand stopped him before he could go any further by confronting him even before he could take a step forward. 

"How do you explain this beguiled affront?" Sir William asked, not too amused about Bertrand obstructing his way up the stairs. 

"With sincere modesty, my good man… it's honestly not in your place to take the lady upstairs."

"I don't see why I shouldn't escort the lady to her chambers unless it has been ethical to leave the guest to be guided by strangers since Lord Lorenzo built this Inn."

"I beg to correct thy misconceptions",

"My misconceptions are but true indeed."

"No, they are not." Bertrand retorted and feigned angrily. It became clear that he was about becoming stern in showing his true colors. 

 "You are clearly mistaken here." Sir William replied, believing things were about to go ugly though Bertrand hadn't pose a real threat of coercing Sir 

William to succumb to his will. It was clear to everyone watching the two men argue including myself that it was brutal tussle for two rivals to bend the other to his will and by far, Bertrand had the upper hand against Sir William who had barely had a strong footing in the territory of the innkeeper 

 "I'm not the one who's mistaken but you are. Lord Lorenzo never constitutes a rule for whoever wanted to accompany their guests to their private quarters."

 "Then why commit such a bold affront against a valuable guest?" Sir William inquired feeling agitated by Bertrand's persistence to block his path. 

 "It is the usual duty of our attendants to see to it that every guests that travels here from far and nearby receives our services of comforts without any sort of objection to what we offer to give them." Bertrand explained but Sir William was still not satisfied with the explanation he had received from the head innkeeper.

 "And you want me to comply with your demands?"

 "Absolutely, yes and know this, we aren't strangers in front of our guests." Bertrand replied.

 "Good to know you won't act strangely with us but itseems rather harsh and tyrannical in your dealings with sojourners."

 "Be as it may, things ought to be done rightly to avoid conflicts in a place where a lot of antiquities are used to adorn the entire place and it is up to our duty to also protect it as well." Bertrand explained further without backing down. Above everyone else, I was a bit exhausted because of the nonstop irksome ride through the deserted plains from the docks at Cyprus and deemed it necessary to intervene from wasting more time than it has done already.

 "If I may intrude", I said and took a slight pause to decipher their reaction which surprising was hard to decode, "I really won't mind if things are done your way, Bertrand." 

 Bertrand felt elated by my decision to obey his bidding and smirked maliciously at Sir William who felt betrayed by my words. He turned to face me and wanted to speak but the attendant who had left earlier on Bertrand's errand suddenly appeared at the top of the Staircase. 

 "My humble lady, Maurice will greatly help you to find your way upstairs and take you to the bedchamber where he had kept it", Bertrand turned to face Sir Willliam who was still fuming with anger, "Seems fair, right mate?" Bertrand asked.

 "Sounds fair to me." I said in Sir William's stead and climbed upstairs to meet Maurice standing at the upper end of the stairs. Sir William watched me ascending the stairs and wanted to say something but he hesitated and decided to call for truce with the head Innkeeper who seemed more engrossed in his little show of victory against whom he thought was far more willing to challenge his authority. After disappearing into the corridors upstairs along with Maurice, Sir William lost every bit of chance to persuade me to reconsider having him accompanying me to the room upstairs and he despondently retired to the counter as soon as I was out of sight.

 

 


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