Chapter 15: Her Master's Wedding, Part 15, The Empty Bed

Where am I?

Sleep-addled, I see low embers, their glow a mere crack amid white ashes behind a fireguard. A side-light casts a sort of light over where I'm sitting in an armchair.

A blanket covers my lap....

Beth....

.... And Richard....

This is when you find out who your friends are....

My neck is stiff, but I'm warm and otherwise comfortable.

And I think of the empty bed in my room....

I'll stay here for the night....

*****

.... And I blink open to a maid swishing open curtains. Brilliant sunlight casts across me and for a moment I hold a hand over my eyes while I adjust.

"Morning, Mr Alexanders. I wasn't sure if you would prefer tea or coffee, so I brought both." She nods down to a tray by my side with both tea and coffee pots, milk, cream and lemon. A glass of water sits by a packet of soluble aspirin.

And the evening before floods back....

Oh, God....

The staff think I was drunk....

I was drunk....