Chapter 3

Victoria and Isabelle walk into the center of London to see that everyone is staring at them. Wondering of what their next moves are. The 2 ladies paid no attention to the people as they walk by. Talking amongst each other about what they are going to after the meeting with Mayor Jack Fergusson.

Isabelle smiles at her friend while walking towards an dark spruce building, "May you have the best of luck while talking to the old man."

Victoria has her hands cupped together as she stops walking, "This may only be a minute."

Isabelle walks up to a brown door and opens it for the both of them, "After you."

Victoria walks into the building after saying thank you to Isabelle and looks around to see men and a lady staring at them. She doesn't move a muscle as she looks at them all. It takes her a moment to speak to the people in front of her, "I came here to see Jack Fergusson."

The woman walks out of the room and into a different room. Her voice is muffled from the other room until she retrieved back into the room where Victoria and an just entered Isabelle stands. She glares at Victoria, "He wishes to see you now." She turns away from the 2 girls.

Victoria heads to the room with Isabelle following her. They walk into the room as they see Jack writing something down on a piece of paper.

Jack looks up to see the girls walking into the room, "Ah Mrs. Harbor and Ms. Lancer. Welcome!" He gets up from his seat and walks over to Victoria. He picks up one of her hands and kisses it.

Victoria felt the urge to strangle him, but doesn't, "Thank you for the warm welcome."

Isabelle watches Jack removes himself from Victoria's hand and does the same thing with her own, "Good to see you, Mayor."

Jack stops kissing Isabelle's hand and walks back over to his desk and sits down at his seat, "Now, Mrs. Harbor, as you are aware, we have to discuss your late husband's, William Booth, death."

"I have done no such thing as to harm him." Victoria says.

"Oh I know, Mrs. Harbor, but many witnesses have said that you and Ms. Lancer here left the house that Mr. Booth was killed in." Jack brings his hands together.

Victoria looks at Jack with a blank expression, "I did not know that he was dead when I have left the house."

Jack nods, "Of course, every innocent person would say that."

"This is corruption on your part, Mr. Fergusson. Me and Isabelle left my late husband to his own duties while we went on with our day." Victoria keeps herself together.

"I know Mrs. Harbor do not get defensive, I am merely asking you if you know anything about Mr. Booth's death." Jack opens up his palms.

Victoria straightens her back, "I am not getting defensive nor do I know anything of his death."

Jack clears his throat, "Very well, I will talk to the officers and see what we can figure out about his death. Must I let you know Mrs. Harbor that your late husband was a good man."

"I am aware."

"It is a shame that he has died in his late 30s." Jack gets up from his seat, "He was always so helpful with everyone and is inspiring to many of the fellow men in London." He walks over to a window, "It seems almost as if he died by someone that was close to him. Someone who resented him."

Victoria glares at Jack before hearing her friend Isabelle speak up, "Mr. Fergusson, are you framing my friend for Mr. Booth's death?"

"If there is enough evidence yes." Jack turns towards the ladies.

Victoria doesn't say a word as she continues on glaring at him before turning towards the door, "I believe that our discussion is over. I have nothing to do with his death now let me mourn in peace." She goes out of the room with Isabelle following her. Speaking to greedy people is the last thing that she wants to deal with, especially if it has something to do with William's death.

Isabelle looks over to see the lady and gentlemen talking about the discussion before turning away. She follows Victoria out of the building. She doesn't want to make her friend anymore upset by the topic so she smiles and walks next to her side, "What do you want to do now?"

"I wish to ride horses to the field for a while." Victoria says calmly.

Isabelle eyes her friend for a second before looking ahead, "We can." She soon stops walking, "It is a shame on how that went." She couldn't hold it in any longer.

Victoria soon stops walking and turns towards Isabelle, "It is, but things happen and not much we can do about it." She turns back around and continues on walking.

Isabelle follows Victoria again. Not saying another word to her friend.

The ladies continues on walking until they have reached Victoria's house, avoiding any kind of eye contact with anyone who dares to look at them. They have walk up to the stables to see that John was outside brushing his horse.

John turns to see the ladies and smiles, "Ah! Isn't it my beautiful wife and her friend!"

"Your flattery is disgusting, John." Isabelle says as she walks over to Samuel and begins to pet him.

John eyes Isabelle and smiles a bit, "And your words couldn't be more kinder."

Victoria watches the scene unfold before her, "We are going out for a ride, not sure when we will be back."

"Are you guys only taking Samuel?" John gestures to the horse.

"We are taking Samuel to Isabelle's place so that she can get her horse." Victoria walks over to Samuel and begins to equip him for the adventure.

John nods and walks over to Victoria and wraps his arms around her waist, "I would like it for it just be the both of us."

Victoria puts her hands on top of John's to remove them, "I have no wish to spend time with you at this current time." She climbs onto Samuel's back. Turning her gaze onto John, "I will make dinner once I return, but anymore talk about us and it will cause me to gag up something." She helps Isabelle onto Samuel.

John walks in front of the horse, "I am afraid that I cannot let you 2 go without me."

Isabelle moves herself so that she can look at John, "Let us have this lady time and we shall see about you joining us for the next time."

John looks at Isabelle and smiles, "Oh Isabelle, you are as kind as a flower who is willing to be plucked."

"And you are as disturbing as a mule." Victoria chimes in.

John glares at Victoria and loses his smile before walking over to his horse, "I shall be joining you ladies whether you like it or not."

Victoria motions Samuel forward to run far from the house as possible as to which he replied in doing so. Samuel took Victoria and Isabelle to where Isabelle lived in a brown house with a small stable big enough for 1 horse. They have neared the stable as Isabelle gets off to walk towards her horse.

Isabelle puts the saddle onto a white horse and gets on it while putting on the lead for her to control the horse. She looks at Victoria, "I am ready to go when you are."

Victoria turns Samuel and rushes him forward to go to a nearby field that isn't too far with Isabelle following closely behind.

The ladies took many turns in case that John was following and some were narrow enough to where it had to be 1 horse at a time to go through. The roads begin to fade as they ran by some country houses. They continued on riding till they have found a clearing to where they can rest.

Victoria stops Samuel and gets off him as she holds onto his lead. She turns to see that Isabelle was doing the same thing to her horse as they walked a mile to find a river.

When the ladies have reached the river, they bring their horses to the rushing blue water as they walk over to a nearby tree to sit under. The ladies smile and enjoy themselves as they take in the sunlight and fresh air. It was everything that they have wanted, to be free from any kind of ruling and to be able to be themselves.

Isabelle turns her gaze onto Victoria to see her smiling. She smiles a little and admires her friend's beauty. She leans forward and puts her head onto Victoria's left shoulder, "You are beautiful when you smile, you should do it more often."

"Please Isa, your kindness is too much for me and sometimes I wonder if I truly deserve it." Victoria has her eyes set on the horses as they drink the water before them.

"You do deserve it, especially with everything that you go through." Isabelle sits up straight and looks at her friend, "Everyone says that you are as beautiful as a black rose and I completely agree. Even black roses are beautiful when they bloom."

Victoria turns her gaze onto Isabelle and smiles a little more, "I am not like you, who wears color for everyday of the week. I merely wear the color of mourning."

"Even so, you are still beautiful." Isabella wraps her arms around her friend and pulls her in close. She embraces her friend till they parted to see that the sun was beginning to set.

Victoria stands up and dusts herself off, "I should be heading back, I do not want to encounter John while on the way home."

Isabelle nods and stands up, "Wish for me to come with you?"

"You should head home. It is already getting late." Victoria says as she walks over to Samuel and loses her smile at the single thought of John. She gets onto Samuel's back and grabs onto the lead. Her head turns towards Isabelle, "I will see you when you send a letter that you wish to meet!" She ushers Samuel to go and he obeyed her command to go home.

Victoria watches the world around her turn darker as she rides home. Males out talking about something while the women clean the house before bed. She admired the women who work so hard to keep a family and house going. The true backbones of the house are the woman of the house. Victoria almost wanted to smile by the thought of her being the head of her own home and having a family of her own with a man of her own choosing instead of her parents' choosing. It crossed her mind again, Victoria slows down Samuel as she hears a familiar coughing. She stops Samuel fully and turns around to see if William was near.

Victoria's heart quickened as she looks around. She mutters, "William...?" She stops looking until she lays eyes on the officers who watch the entrance of the town. A sigh leaves her lips as she motions Samuel to keep on going. Her heart quickening as she remains calm as she passes by the officers and heading to her house.

The streets are bare with every little people on them. Fire lighting up in the candles as people are in their cozy homes, comforting each other from a long day. A slight wind comes in as the moon rises into the sky.

Victoria sees her house as she notices that a candle in her bedroom is on. She can tell that John is home, but what she notices is that a woman walks by the window as she sees John approaching the woman and giving her a kiss.

Victoria gets off Samuel and walks him over to his stable. She takes off Samuel's saddle and lead before putting them in their proper places. She cups her hands together and walks over to the side door of the house and opens it. She made sure that this door was the least quietest out of all the doors. She goes over to a chair and sits in it. She hears footsteps leaving the bedroom as she sees John and a woman looking around to see if Victoria was in the home in which she is.

Victoria watches John and the woman near the front door. She clears her throat as the both of them turn towards her.

John laughs in a caught way, "Victoria! You are back! Meet our maid, Elizabeth!" He puts a hand onto the woman's shoulder.

Victoria looks at Elizabeth and notices that she is of a lower class than her and John. She ignores the outfit that the woman is wearing and looks back up at John, "Get rid of her and you shall be sleeping in the stable tonight. No word from your mouth." She gets up and leaves the room.

John watches Victoria leaves the room and turns towards the woman, "I am sorry Elizabeth, we might need to find another place to meet at."

Elizabeth wraps her arms around John's neck, "If only that ugly wrench have not returned so early, we would have another round."

John looks into Elizabeth's eyes, "If only." He kisses Elizabeth on the lips which she returned before they parted and left the house together.

Victoria stands behind the wall that is connected to the room that she just in and says to herself, "Just like William..." She heads off to her room.