Once, there was a poor young woman whose name was Lavender. She was homeless and had no family to support her life which dragged her into garrotting wealthy people who passed by the London Bridge. She usually spent her night nearby the River Thame dirty bank and during winter, she slept nearby the trash area and competed resources with filthy stray cats and rodents.
One Christmas evening, the sky sprinkled white glowing snow on whole England, coating every roof with pure white blanket. Lavender wandered on the London Bridge while hugging her shivering body. The temperature was so low and she had no thick clothes to keep heat in her body. She was very weak but continue walking, leaving deep footprints on the white snow.
She glared to a lit shop across the bridge. Candles lit the space made it gleamed of rage amber light. She saw three children and a couple of elders lent three colourful boxes to one of each child. They were surrounded with happiness and joy, Lavender was a bit envious of the scene. How much she wished to be part of them and enjoy the warm Christmas Eve.
The next cold morning, Lavender was staring at a bakery shop and scanned every moved he made. A fat and short bakery man exhibited his warm golden bread nearby the glass of his shop. He went back into his kitchen to fetch another baked food to be sell. Lavender took an opportunity to enter the shop as a tall man in black suit with black top hat and a golden head wooden stick also entered.
The bakery shop owner greeted the tall man with a polite manner and introduced him every breads which were available. Lavender hid behind the man and took a long loaf from the shelf then scuttled away as her action was witnessed by the bakery man and his customer.
The bakery man chased her until she was lost in his sight. Lavender hid beside the huge pile of rubbish and sneaked out to see if the man had left or not. As she thought his existence was no longer exist at the scene, she ate the loaf gluttonously and left no crumbs behind. As she finished, she licked her fingers, enjoying the final crumps of the loaf.
As the day fell down, the sky was once again dark and rained light snow on the ground. Lavender was so hungry that she attempted to steal some warm foods for dinner. Only this time, she wished to trade something valuable with some cashes.
She meandered on the snowy road, hugging her small shivering body as she saw a black coach with two black horses dragging it slowly with a middle age man led them. It stopped in front of a bank then the man inside the coach got out. The man was pretty handsome and old, of age 50, and looked rather wealthy. He was wearing a black coat with black top hat, holding a wooden stick with a golden head to support him. He was a noble.
Lavender was passionate but not by his look, but her imagination about his cashes instead! She attempted to rob the man’s coach without a single human witnessing her. She picked some snow and rolled them into a ball in between her palms and threw them at the driver.
“Who is it?” asked the man but then he ignored.
Lavender threw two balls of snow at him again from the dark side then did it repetitively until the man left the coach in anguish, searching for the culprit. Lavender was glad that he finally left then went closer to explore the coach. But, the owner of the coach was back. Lavender changed her plan, not to rob but to garrotte him.
She tailed him from behind then groped his neck with a rope made of torn clothes. The man was suffocated but his driver was back and helped him. Lavender tried to escape but was caught by the driver. Her hands were tied together and the driver wished to lend her to the police station but his master forbid him.
The nobleman squatted in front of the filthy woman and lifted her chin and insisted her to look into his eyes.
“What’s your name, young lady?” asked the man.
“Lavender,” she replied softly.
“Ah, I see, nice to meet you, Lavender. My name is Vincent O’Callaghan Osborne, Marquess of Salisbury,” he introduced himself, “how old are you?”
“Twenty five,”
“Very well, twenty five years spending life out in this miseries and filthy world,” the man spoke then stood up.
He ordered his driver to untie her hand then he did as what he’d been told. The nobleman lent his right arm to Lavender and smiled.
“Garrotting isn’t a good job for you. Be one of my servant and promise me that you never attempt to garrotte or rob again,”
Lavender accepted the promise and followed Vincent into his coach then to his mansion. As they reached his mansion, Lavender was lured by its baroque external architectural design. It was huge and looked like a palace more than a house.
She stepped on each steps of the stair which led to the main door. The huge antique white door with golden gothic doorknob was opened by an old male servant in black butler suit. The old man put his right hand on his chest and bowed as his master walked in front of him, same goes to the other servants in the house.
“Lydia,” called Vincent.
An old lady with light green uniform approached from behind the man, “yes, My Lord?”
“Clean this young lady, lend her some clean dresses and introduce her to your family,”
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“Yes, My Lord,” Lydia bowed and brought Lavender with her.
She was introduced to the other servants after she was given the opportunity to clean herself and wore a uniform. The servants were all very friendly that they welcomed her warmly.
“Her name is Lavender and she is very young, indeed,” said one of the maid.
“The black maid outfit suits her,” complimented another maid.
“Come dear, let us exhibit you the mansion ooh and you’re one of us now!”
Lavender smiled and was glad for being taken even as a servant, at least her struggled life was terminated.
Few months later, Lavender’s life was filled with sweet moments with the servants. She was happy. Every morning, she would prepared an Earl of Grey tea and desserts for Vincent and his two children, Feline and Justin. Feline was a teenage girl of age fifteen whereas Justin was a boy of age eleven. Both of these children were unfriendly but educated. Lavender was a bit envious of them since she wasn’t educated and still hadn’t recognized alphabets.
One early morning, Lavender was out into the flower garden and watered the blue roses bush on the shelf. It was very rare and hard to find a blue rose which force her to look after it carefully. She watered it with love. Questioning her heart and compared it with the blue rose. The blue rose was very rare, but people still acknowledged its existence but human’s love, no matter how much they tried to reveal it but their love one never recognized it. As the times goes on, she found out that her heart were craving for somebody, her master, Lord Vincent. She herself didn’t know what kind of feelings did her heart possessed, either it was love nor the otherwise.
She was away with the fairies for a while not until somebody startled her. She screamed and jumped in surprise. It was Lord Vincent.
“Good morning, Lord Vincent,” she bowed with her heart fluttering.
She jumped back finding out that she watered her master’s leather shoes. She apologized many times and cried to think that her master would scold her even though she was new.
“An apology is unnecessary, unless you did it as an attempt,” he chuckled.
Lavender was glad and continued watering some other flowers. Vincent asked her bizarre questions in the morning which made her gasped for air.
“I do fell for somebody, but I do not guarantee of being accepted,” Lavender replied.
“What does the man of yours looks like?” Vincent asked again.
Lavender paused and paralyzed. She was quiet for a while but Vincent did not insist an immediate answer. He leant closer to Lavender and she realized it but pretended as if it wasn’t happening. Her heart beat faster than before and her face turned red. She knew that Vincent tried to tease her.
“My pride as a gentleman to protect a lady had long died and passions had buried deep in my heart, after the death of my first and second wives. Now, those feelings arise as a butterfly came to steal the nectar. I believe in myself that I want her to walk on the aisle,” Vincent said.
“For which lady?” Lavender felt a bit down.
“A rich lady with comely facial and pure heart,” Vincent seized both of her hands, “the lady who tried to garrotte me on the first day we met. Her eyes were twinkling like a single brightest star in the middle of the dark starry sky, that lady is whom I want to make bride.”
Vincent kneeled on one leg and took out a ring from his pocket, “Lavender, will you marry me?”
“I’ll be glad to be your bride, but I’m just a servant and thus a commoner. We’re both born from a different world. I cannot accept this proposal, forgive me,”
Vincent stood, “titles and ranks aren’t my concern. When two souls fall in love to each other, they belong together and to be one. Love which one’s possessed should be confessed, waiting for one’s to come is a great misfortune. Ready to reveal rather than living in solitude.”
Lavender faced him and smiled. Vincent smiled then put the silver ring with a hexagonal-cut of 3 carats of purple diamond, on her finger.
A week later, in a cathedral, Vincent was waiting for the arrival of his bride but she hadn’t out yet. People in the cathedral were also waiting and soon the door of the cathedral was opened. A beautiful young lady in white wedding dress rambled on the red carpet aisle with a beautiful smile drawn on her face.
As she arrived on the stage, in front of the priest, they exchanged vowed and were meant to be husband and wife after the priest convinced their legal relation. Vincent kissed Lavender and lifted her to the air with glory.
Her life was full of glorious and happiness, but that wasn’t enough not until a new member came to the family. Lavender was so happy to find out that she was pregnant. Vincent happily named the new one Chronos before he was born.
Ten months had passed, Chronos was born into the world. Vincent was the one who was happier than anyone else did. Chronos was their symbol of love, and a united heart. Vincent kissed Chronos with love.
Lavender never felt the misfortune again but she was kind, she treated the servants like a family. They never forgot her kindness. Living the life of wealthy and happiness, but the enjoyment didn’t last long until one spring before summer, when Vincent went overseas for a business trip for half a year, leaving Lavender with his children and the servants.
With a heart filled with deep woefulness and agony, she let Vincent go and went home with a promise. Vincent clasped her hand and let go of it when it was time for the ship to set sail. Tears flowed on her warm cheek, and soon the sky began to snow.
The day grew colder, Lavender was sitting by the cinder, singing a lullaby for her infant. Feline who heard her singing voice was annoyed because she was callous.
Both Feline and Justin disliked Lavender for her peasants’ former life. They showed kindness in Vincent’s sight but from afar, they treated her with cruelty. They even disliked Chronos’ arrival. Vincent was now absent which raised their opportunity to show her cruelty.
Lavender was very mad over the children’s mischievous behaviour but her duty as a good mother to the children was very low. She’d not possessed the heart of cruelty to forbid or to teach them a proper lesson. Chronos was her only hope and the only happiness left.
Six months had passed in a blink of eyes, Lavender was once again very happy and was ready to welcome her love one. Once Vincent stepped into the house, her heart fell into a great despair and disappointment. Vincent brought another young lady and rather rich and fashionable. She was beautiful and had a skin fair as snow. Her arrival was welcomed warmly by the servants and even the children.
Lavender couldn’t bear to see it progressed and ran to her room, crying alone in the cold room. Her existence was no longer float on Vincent, it sank onto the depth of the ocean. Lending her hand out and crawling to breath, but it was hopeless. The happiness which she’d possessed was no longer exist, the laughter which turned into dust. Chronos laughter and crying voice was her only light to guide the darkness, the dark labyrinth which would sank her if she kept her eyes opened.
Her marriage was a frame of happiness but the paint was a dark labyrinth with blue and black roses bloomed on each veins. Their thorns coiled her legs which mobile on the pavement full of pointed pebbles but the stars guided her path, which led her to the right path.
It was painful to live a miserable life, waiting for the love one to come was no more useful than it was used to be. Waiting for somebody who prolonged not exist for months or even years, they would never came back or you never heard news from them ever again. Only let one heart fell into a painful despair, life of anguish and agony, may only woefulness accompanied them.