Chapter 3

A knock on the door made Willow's head snap up from the mirror in front of which she was seated the next morning. She could tell by the way the person behind the door knocked, that it had to be her brother. It wasn't Elise's soft knock. It was way sharper and more demanding. Willow had been secretly awaiting this moment. She knew very well, that she better behaved herself around him today or she would end up spending the whole day locked away in her room. She dreaded the confrontation though. What would her brother have to say to her? Was he still as mad as he had been yesterday?

"Come in" she called out softly, finally managing to snap herself out of her thoughts and back into reality, where the answers to all those questions were awaiting her. Her gaze fixed on the door she heard the key in the lock being turned and saw the door handle being pulled down. The door opened and as expected it was her brother. The expression on his face was unreadably neutral to her.

"Good morning." he said, not a hint of emotion swinging in the words as he looked at his sister. "Good morning" she replied, offering a small smile, hoping to make him see that she had every intention of being the well behaved lady that he expected her to be, as she got up from the stool.

There was no need for Philip to tell her that he was collecting her so they could have breakfast together. And so the young duchess made her way towards her brother and followed after him down the hallway and the stairs into their dining room, where breakfast was already awaiting them. The siblings hadn't exchanged a single word on the way and you could feel the tension in the air, as they both took their seats on the table.

For a while all that was heard was the clattering of their cutlery on the plates, although that sound was also kept to a minimum. With every minute, with every second the silence between them was getting more and more unbearable. Finally Philip cleared his throat and put down his fork and knife neatly next to his plate, before looking up at his sister to finally break the silence.

"Your behavior yesterday has been absolutely unacceptable and I am sure that you have realised this by now." Philip started in a stern voice, locking eyes with his sister to make sure that his words hit home. "I will not tolerate behavior like this any longer. I do hope that I made this clear to you. There will be consequences for your actions and decisions. So I suggest that you put some thought into your actions and words."

Willow took a second to put her own cutlery down, since their breakfast seemed to be over, now that Philip had started this conversation. "I do understand and I want to apologize for my behavior last night. It was not right to burst into the study without knocking." Willow meant those things, she truly did. She wouldn't want her brother bursting into her room without knocking either. It was wrong of her to invade his privacy like that yesterday. Still she didn't really understand why he made such a big fuss about it. But she would, of course, accept his need for more privacy.

"From now on you will knock before you enter the study, no matter what. Even if you are sure that no one is in there, is that clear?" Philip continued in a strict tone, to which his sister nodded her head. "And you will behave like a proper lady. I am sure you know how to do that. It is time to grow up, Willow. You are not a little girl that goes running around the gardens looking for hidden treasures anymore. I know you don't like being treated like a child, so don't behave like one."

There was no need for Willow to say anything. She knew that the only thing required and expected from her right now was to sit here and listen to what her brother had to say to her. And that was exactly what she was going to do. She had already apologized to him and now it was nodding in agreement every once in a while and to listen to his scolding and new rules that he would obviously set for her.

"As custom for a true lady you will not leave the Cornwall grounds without company. In fact I will be accompanying you personally should there be the need for you to leave the estate. Other than at those times I expect you to stay on our grounds. There will be no wandering off, is that clear?" Philip added, his eyes boring into Willow's, who in response nodded her head again, eyes wide with surprise of his harsh and strict tone. "Good." Philip concluded "That will be all for now then." Dismissing his sister and letting her know she was free to leave the room if she wanted to, with a small nod.

Philip had just gotten up himself, as his sister's small voice made him stop in his tracks: "Philip?" She was looking up at him, a look of uncertainty on her face. "Would you allow me to get a new book from the study before you get back to your work there?" Willow was really hoping that Philip would allow it. She was desperate to read another book to escape this house, this estate and this world.

"Of course." Philip replied, gesturing towards the door. Quickly Willow gathered her skirts, got up from the table and went ahead of her brother out the door and to the study upstairs. She was quick to pick a book, barely even looking which one she took. Annoying her brother today was definitely something she would try to avoid. After yesterday's fight she wasn't too eager to get on his bad side anymore than she was already.

She was nearly out the door again already, when her brother called after her. "One more thing", he spoke up, which led Willow to turn back around towards him. "I don't want you anywhere near the study today. I am expecting an important guest and if I even just see you anywhere near here, you'll be in a whole lot of trouble. There will be no disruption, that better be clear!"

Willow quickly nodded her head, sensing her brother getting slightly mad just by the thought of her interrupting that meeting. It had to be something really important if he was so eager to not get interrupted she thought on the way back to her room. Well she most definitely wouldn't get in the way. She wasn't eager at all to face the consequences that would come with that.

As Willow passed one of the big windows in the hallway and her gaze briefly drifted by the outsides, she decided to change her destination and head to the gardens to read instead of her room. The weather was quite pleasant, with the warm late-spring sun shining down on the already blooming flowers.

Willow found herself a nice bench near some red tulips and for the first time had a closer look at the book in her hand. She was lucky that it wasn't a book she had already read as she really wasn't paying much attention to what book she had grabbed from the shelf. Ivanhoe by Walter Scott. The title seemed promising enough. And without another second waisted, Willow opened the book and started reading, forgetting everything around her.

The story was about a thief, but interesting enough he was not the villain of the story, but much more the hero. Soon enough the bench was getting too uncomfortable to sit on so the young duchess got up and started strolling through the gardens, her nose still stuck in that book. The story was quite captivating. But of course just as it was getting really thrilling, Elise had to interrupt her and fetch her for lunch.

Her brother was nowhere in sight and so Willow just assumed that he was still busy with work or that special guest, whoever that may be. Therefore she continued reading while eating her lunch, even though she knew her brother wouldn't approve of it. Luckily he didn't show up for lunch at all and Willow got away with reading at the dining table.

It wasn't much later when the very thrilling part of the thief breaking into the king's castle was over and Willow was back in the gardens, that she paused for a moment. The way Robin of Locksley, the thief, had managed to climb over the big wall surrounding the castle had brought back a memory from her childhood.

Willow couldn't have been much older than five or six, her brother maybe ten, when they had sneaked off of the Cornwall grounds just like that. There used to be this oak tree in the back of the gardens, if she remembered correctly. It had been on a rather cloudy afternoon, when their search for a pirate's treasure had required them to climb over the wall and escape from the grounds. Willow remembered how they strolled through the woods for some time until they found this nice clearing with a small lake. It hadn't been much later though when it started pouring and all heaven seemed to break loose. Their father was really mad when he found out, but Philip took the blame for it all. They had so much fun that day. But now the thought of those happy times, made her rather sad. It would never be like this again.

But what if it could be...? She could just sneak off like that again couldn't she? Her brother was too busy with his work and his special guests anyways. She had to at least go and see if this oak tree was still there.

A spark now light inside of her and the taste of freedom at the tip of her tongue instantly lifted Willow's mood. Who was to say that she couldn't go on adventures herself? Well her brother had forbidden it just that very day and Willow was well aware that she would be in huge trouble if he were to find out. But she didn't even do anything yet. She was just looking. No one forbade that.

Strolling through the gardens on the lookout for that tree, the book still in hand, Willow tried not to look too suspicious. She knew that her brother could very well be watching her through the window in the study. He should have the impression that she was just enjoying the nice late-spring day, going for a casual walk in the gardens. Every now and then she made sure to stop and look at some of the flowers already blooming more closely as an alibi.

Unfortunately her memory of the oak tree wasn't too clear. She just remembered that it seemed huge to her, but she had been so small back then, that today the tree might not even seem that big. It's hard to find something, when you don't really know what you're looking for. But Willow told herself that she had all the time in the world. It wasn't all too late yet and she wasn't willing to go back into the house before it was time for dinner anyways.

It seemed like hours had passed when her gaze finally landed on what had to be the right tree. It was quite big and in the very back of the gardens, right next to the wall that marked the end of the Cornwall grounds.

Slowly making her way towards it, Willow's thoughts were racing at a million miles an hour. Every step she took made her feel more like what she was doing was wrong, even though she was just walking towards a tree and there was absolutely nothing her brother could have against that. But at the same time, she knew that she wouldn't be able to keep herself from climbing that tree. No matter the consequences if her brother were to find out.

There was this itching in her fingers, this longing for freedom that she knew she wouldn't be able to suppress - at least not for long.

She let her hand glide over the rough bark of the old tree.

Willow wondered if Philip remembered the day, when they were climbing over it together. If he remembered the clearing and the lake in the woods. If he remembered the thunderstorm and the scolding of their father. She wondered if he thought that it had been worth the scolding.

Willow surely thought it had been worth it, but she doubted her brother even remembered. It had been shortly after that he started distancing himself from her. Maybe that was why Willow's memory of that event seemed so clear to her. Because it was the last time that they actually had fun playing together as just two siblings, two kids without a worry on their mind.

Philip had changed so much. Bossing her around and telling her what to do and what not to do. She felt imprisoned here and he was to blame for that.

Willow glanced around, back towards the house. Would anyone really notice? She didn't have to be gone for long. It was really just testing out if it was possible. Her brother would never know. Biting her lip, Willow let her gaze wander up the tree. It seemed pretty high from down here. Would she even manage to climb up there? How was she able to do that as a little child?

But she had to try. She knew there was no going back. Her mind was set on it. With newly found courage she grabbed onto the lowest branch and tried to pull herself upwards only to realize that it was quite an impossible thing to climb a tree in a huge gown like the one she was wearing right now. Stupid dresses! There was nothing more unpractical than a dress! Willow would have much prefered to wear trousers the way men did. But if her brother even knew she was thinking about that.

Disappointed she let go of the branch again and felt her freedom slip away from her once again. If only she didn't have to wear those stupid gowns. She remembered the dresses she would wear when she was a little girl. They didn't have huge hooped skirts like the ones she was wearing now. She had been able to move properly in her dresses when she was a child. Sure a dress could never be as practical as trousers but those dresses back then were far better.

There was just no way for her to climb a tree in that dress. And even if she would make it up the tree in that dress, she wouldn't see where she had to put her feet when climbing back down again. So she'd probably end up stuck in that tree.

Just imagine! When her brother would notice her absence and find her all the way up in that tree, he would probably rip her head off right then and there.

At least for now it seemed like she had to get the idea of climbing that tree and over that wall out of her head. There was just no way. Still slightly disappointed Willow picked up her book, that she had previously dropped rather carelessly in the grass beneath the tree, and made her way back towards the house. The sun was already starting to set and it was only a matter of time till Elise would come looking for her.

Willow was actually hoping to see her brother at dinner so she could be sure that the guest had left and it was safe for her to be in the house again. She'd still keep away from the study, but at the moment she felt like even just the slightest creak of the stairs could anger her brother to a point of no return. And she wasn't too keen on spending all her time in her room. Especially since there weren't really all that many things that she could do in her room.

She could write a letter to one of her friends or she could finish reading that book. Oh yes, and she could stare out the window and drown in her thoughts like she did yesterday. But that was it.

The books were really the only thing that kept Willow sane. They were the only way for her to escape these grounds. She didn't understand why her brother was so determined to keep her on these stupid Cornwall grounds anyways. It was all she had ever seen it seemed. And she was so tired of them.

Everyday was the same. It seemed to be only a matter of time - and in fact not too much time - till she would have read all the books in this house and then what would she do all day? What did her brother expect her to do? He wanted her to behave like a lady but wasn't giving her the chance to be a proper lady. The girls her age - all her friends - were meeting up to have tea together in the afternoon or to go for strolls in the park together. They were socializing and preparing for their first ball season. But at this point Willow doubted that her brother would let her attend even a single ball.

This made no sense to her whatsoever. How did he expect her to meet people? To find a man that she could fall in love with and marry someday? He surely wanted that for her, didn't he? Because right now she felt like she was just a burden to him. Another problem that he had to take care of.

If he would at least give her the freedom to attend some balls she might meet someone. And maybe already some day in the nearer future she would get married and Philip didn't have to worry about her anymore. But the only thing that seemed important to him was that she stayed right here and didn't meet a single soul at all.

Why? Why, why, why? This just made no sense at all. Not even in the slightest. Willow just couldn't wrap her head around her brother's plans concerning her future. Yet she was too afraid to ask him about it. Surely he would get mad at her again if she did.

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