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giles & thomas.

[ ☢ ] the carriage broke down in an unfamiliar part of town, and our muses are lost.

Thomas Tawney

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[Thomas Tawney]

468 words • tagged @giles • credits The hard jolt of the carriage that carried enough force to nearly throw Thomas into the opposite seat along with the high pitched grating of metal on stone told the earl all he needed to know. "Deuce. Lord have mercy just one time!" He swore under his breath annoyed by the inconvenience. For once, he wasn't sitting in the driver's seat and had acquiesced to letting a servant take the reins. The carriage came to a swaying stop and tilted dangerously to one side. He peered out the window to a smoke filled scene of factories, tanneries, and bricklayers. They were in the East End of London far from the fashionable parts of Mayfair and Westminster. After his first dance with Lady Caroline, he hoped to impress her with something exotic. However, he still knew very little about her, and he wanted to gift to be a surprise. Not even her mother could know about it. One name that came up that night stuck with him. Cowper. And his sister filled him in on the rest. There was a Cowper girl still unmarried who had been often seen with Lady Caroline. She knew where the Cowpers lived and given him the address. And with some difficulty, ended up now in the company of their butler. He couldn't bring a lady's maid because that would be too improper. But if anyone was going to know enough about Lady Caroline and wasn't part of the household, one of the Cowper staff had to be sufficient. From his time abroad, a gift of Indian flowers in Lady Caroline's favorite colors seemed like a unique enough present. The local florist didn't have any of the right kinds of flowers available but did recommend another florist located in Whitechapel. It was an unusual part of London for find an exotic florist, but Thomas had it on good authority that this person would have the flowers he needed and was knowledgeable about Indian botany. But now, with a stuck carriage and a driver who hadn't informed them of the delay, the only thing Thomas was certain of was that they weren't at the florist. "Have you any idea where we are? I can't see anything close to a landmark from here other than we're still north of the Thames. And what's taking the driver so long? By the sound, it's worse than a loose hub. I've never been northeast of the Tower. Can you see a street sign on your end? Anything that might help?" He was nervous, though he hid it from his voice. He was the highest ranked person in this little group, and as such, he needed to be the one to remain calm. Thomas knocked sharply on the front window to get the driver's attention, but there was no response.

Please save for me some gallantry that will echo when I'm gone

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giles & thomas.

This was hardly the day Giles had expected to have, but he wasn't going to turn down an upper class man asking for his help. He was no idiot. Working for the Cowpers was painful enough, he didn't need to give them reason to have him fired, or anything of the sort. It was better that he simply agreed to head across town with them, see what ended up happening. He was somewhat flabbergasted to hear that this gentleman was looking to impress Caroline Wycliff, of all people, but he supposed she wasn't as bad as Cressida – not that he'd say as such out loud. He truly didn't need to piss off anyone from the ton, especially those he worked for.

After all his years working as he did, Giles knew the etiquette of working for the ton. He knew what he should say, should do, should agree to, and he almost always did exactly that. He hadn't seen what could possibly go wrong, accompanying Lord Tawney to find a gift for the young Wycliff girl. He couldn't claim to know that much about her, other than the fact she was dreadfully dim, but she and Li Na were often over at the Cowper estate, so he supposed he had more idea than many did.

This, however, was not something he'd banked on. How unfortunate to end up stuck in a carriage across town, with a gentleman he barely knew. The Cowpers would likely be furious, somehow find a way to blame this all on him, but that was hardly a surprise these days. He'd gotten used to the way they were.

"I cannot say I have the slightest idea, sir," he finally told him, after several long moments peering outside. It was true, this wasn't a part of town that looked like anywhere he was familiar with, though hopefully the driver knew it better than they both did. So long as someone knew how to drive them both back the way they'd come, he supposed they weren't exactly stuck forever...it was just unfortunate for as long as they were. "Nothing looks familiar. I would hope your driver might have some idea, at least enough to get you back home. Is there anything I can do for you while we wait?"

Thomas Tawney

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[Thomas Tawney]

The driver finally came around and opened the carriage door. He had a grim expression on his face. The newly opened door invited a foul stench of human odor, smoke, and rot, feces, and lime from the tanneries. The cluster of buildings was far denser here than in the nicer parts of London, and Thomas couldn't imagine how any plant could grow in these parts much less someone as rare as a tropical flower. "My lord, it's the carriage wheel. You'll want to see this." The earl nodded tersely. He didn't know how much the butler knew about coaches, not that he'd want to ask someone else's servant to survey damage he could assess himself. "Give us one moment, Mr. Giles. With luck, this is only a small inconvenience."

He stepped out onto the street. The muck hadn't been removed as much as it had been pushed down into a solid mass between the cobblestones and pushed aside to the edges of the street. He was grateful for his boots and the dark color that mostly hid how dirty they were about to become. The tanneries, much as Thomas loathed the noxious smell, were a necessity, and his clothes, horses, and occupation would be worse off without it. He stepped around the horses to check the damaged wheel. The nut had come loose and cause the wheel to slip. That was an easy fix. What wasn't going to be easy was the metal rim. The screws were missing, but rather that continuing to roll and hold its shape, it had gotten caught on something and twisted away. That would require the repairs of a blacksmith.

"Will you be able to get us back to Mayfair with the florist's directions?" He was hoping that the written directions to this Indian florist were still accurate. "Yes, my lord. We are close. She is but a couple streets further down."

"You will search for the nearest blacksmith. The repairs aren't nearly so difficult that we won't be able to get home in good order. But it is beyond the ability of a repair in the middle of the street. Mr. Giles and I will stay with the horses until you return. And then, you will accompany the blacksmith to get the carriage repaired while we complete our errand." The decisive nature of a military leader was just as important on the battlefield as being an earl directing staff.

Thomas returned to the carriage and stood by the open door for a second before climbing back inside. "The iron rim is twisted. We're not too far from the florist, so we should still be able to get the flowers for Lady Caroline. My driver is going to find a blacksmith to repair the wheel. He'll have to move the carriage out of the middle of the road first." As if on cue, the carriage bumped sharply as the driver led the horses forward a few paces. It then stopped, and the carriage was at a sharper angle than before. The wheel was very close to coming off. "I apologize for the delay and inconvenience, Mr. Giles. This was not at all how I planned on the day going. If the Cowpers try to give you any trouble, I have no objection in standing in your defense."

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giles & thomas.

Bizarre as this situation was, it certainly beat out being at home with the Cowpers. Giles had been a butler for long enough, potentially could have gotten hired at any other noble house if they were looking...but he was determined to see it through. He'd been within the Featheringtons for several years, despite how infuriating they could be at times. He'd handled Portia, Prudence and Philipa...so he could hopefully handle Cressida and Lady Cowper for a little longer too. Only time would tell.

They likely would be irritated that he was gone for so long, would come up with a slew of things he'd supposedly missed out on doing while he was out...but that was okay, he could handle it. He certainly appreciated Lord Warrington's offer to help, to tell them of this, though he was uncertain as to whether it would help.

"There is no need to apologise at all, my lord. I am only here to help," he assured. It was true, he wanted to simply give a hand, as he'd promised he would. There was still time to help, he could still go along with him, do as he had been asked to do to begin with. "I am certain it will be fine."

Stepping down from the carriage, he glanced at the wheel, though he knew little of that kind of thing. The driver would know far more about it than he did, he was better off simply helping the gentleman to find something that would appeal to Miss Wycliff. "Shall we wait for him to return?"

Thomas Tawney

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