Souderton Abbey

Chapter 2
As she she was changed into her corset and dress for that morning, her curiosity got the best of her and Carrie finally decided to ask the question thats been on her mind since she looked out of the window. "Hayley, who was that young man that arrived earlier this morning?" As Hayley continued to place Bobby pins in Carries hair she answered obediently, hiding her inner smile. "He's the new chauffeur and butler, but only when needed." Only being at the estate for an hour, the new chauffeur has already made a statement, catching the eyes of the younger maids downstairs, and earning small but noticeable jealousy among some of the other butlers.
Once he was accepted into Souderton Abbey, Niall was instantly given his uniforms and was shown his room in the servant's wing. While placing his sheets neatly across his bed making sure not to leave any air bubbles anywhere, the door opened and in came in a more confident teenager with a full head of brown curls and piercing green eyes. Forgetting he was possibly getting a roommate today, the more confident butler stopped in his tracks and firmly put his right hand out as an act of politeness towards the obviously new employe.
"Hello, I'm Harry. Judging by what you're doing and the fact that your suitcase is empty and your clothes are probably put away, I doubt I need to give you a room tour." The two men at the heart of their teenage years laughed together at the obvious sarcastic introduction considering there were only two beds in the room and two small closets. There was hardly anything to stare at besides the ivory walls and the one or two pictures placed at each of their bedside tables.
Niall happily placed his right hand in Harry's as he introduced himself, this time, without any hesitation or butterflies. "I'm Niall, and as you can probably tell I am very new here." Harry now laughed slightly before trying to console Niall's obvious nervousness to his new settings. "Don't worry about it, you will most likely be fine. Just remember that you need to watch out for who can and cannot be trusted." With that, Harry offered to take Niall down to the servant's eating place and kitchen before breakfast.

Enjoying the small but new freedom, Carrie walked down the steps with ease because of the now and more accepted fashion of wearing dresses that came up to the ankle. Personally she felt that women should be allowed to dress more freely as men do, such as wearing pants and not being ridiculed for it. Her ivory glove covered hand grazed the railing elegantly as she made her way down to the dining room for breakfast, slightly hopeful to possibly see the chauffeur. Sure she had a small crush on Harry because he was handsome and at the same age as her, but she eventually realized that was the only reason why she had a crush on him.
She wanted to have a true connection with someone rather than be married to a man in order to benefit her father's name and bank account. Like her sister Jessica, for instance, she married the man she loved, but let her father to believe that he was responsible for marrying her off to someone he believed was best suited for her. Although she knew her parents wouldn't approve, she was always open to marrying someone in the lower class if it meant being happy with someone for the rest of her life.
As she walked into the dining room for breakfast, a slight frown shown on her face when she glanced around and didn't notice any new faces. The same two butlers were there, Mr. Dates the head butler, and Harry, his sidekick, basically. Carrie sat down taking a glance at the newspaper her father was reading. "I still cannot believe what happened with the Titanic, a true tragedy it was." Carrie's frown grew bigger as she remembered an old Lady's maid of her's. She was Carrie's best friend and left because her family got 3rd class tickets for the Titanic to live the American dream, but only confided in Carrie with the true reason of why she resigned. Her body was never found.
Quickly accepting the pancakes and fruit on her plate, Carrie thanked Mr. Dates before attempting to smile for the second time that day. Carrie turned to her father trying to create small talk with the few information on current events she knew. "So father, I hear we have a new chauffeur here at Souderton. Is it true?"
Without looking up from his newspaper, her father turned the page and simply stated the answer to Carrie's gossip like question. "Yes it is true and his name is Niall. He has come here from Ireland and I have great faith in him, but don't go off telling him that Mr. Dates or you either Mr. Styles." The two butlers nodded their head in understanding and Carrie's mother chuckled lightly to herself directly across the table from her second daughter. "Oh honey, it is beginning to confuse some of the workers because you seem so unforgiving when truly you only want to help them". Smiling brightly to himself for the first time that day, Carrie's father looked loving to his wife and simply stated, "I want them to be scared because it means every day they will do their jobs well and the estate will look more beautiful than the day before."
Smiling to herself once again, Carrie finished off her pancakes and sipped her tea while eyeing the two empty seats at the breakfast table. She easily assumed that her sister was having breakfast in bed, and considering her sister recently got married and returned from the honeymoon, she didn't blame her.
Deciding she would much rather go outside than stay in this ancient but beautiful estate, Carrie asked her father if it was alright for her to go down to the village square after lunch. "Of course you can, let me just notify Niall and you can first hand see how well of a chauffeur he truly is." Sudden butterflies erupted in Carrie's stomach and her face light up like the newly installed electric chandeliers.
Taking notice, Harry tried hard in order to suppress the smile fighting for an appearance. Apparently Niall wasn't just making an impression on the workers, but also on Lady Carrie as well.

As he got changed into his uniform, he smiled slightly at how it actually fit him very well. Breakfast with the other workers was nice, and one of the maids, Hayley, seemed to very nice, especially towards him. After being given a tour by the continuously intimidating Mr. Dates, he was about to go down and have a quick lunch before reporting to his first assignment. He knew it was for the Earl's teenage daughter, but he had already assumed she was either courted or engaged to a man with much more money and a better name than him.
As he walked down the back steps towards the servant's table, he politely said hello to some of the other workers that passed by him. Sitting next to the person he felt the comfortable with so far, he turned to him, asking for directions to the town square to double check if he had the right path in mind. While quickly assuring Niall did have the right path in mind, Harry took a sip of his tea before remembering something from earlier that day. "Oh and Niall, I think she might already take a liking towards you." Niall laughed in disbelief as he looked to Harry clearly believing what he said was a joke.
"I highly doubt it. I haven't even been here a day and besides, we haven't even met yet." Although, something in the back of Niall's mind did believe it was true. He had seen a small figure watching him through the window but quickly thought it to be the wife or some distant relative visiting for the weekend. Taking Niall out of his thoughts, Harry gave Niall a piece of advice that may become helpful for his future. "Just do not do anything stupid. She seems to already like you, so do not give her a reason not to."
Before giving him a any time to answer, Niall was quickly notified that it was time for him to get get the car ready. The butterflies from earlier this morning returned and only got worse with every step towards the stables where the cars are kept. He quickly cleaned off the dust on the car and went through a mini inspection to make the car wouldn't possibly break down on the way to the town square. Because he was so wrapped up in his precautions, he had not hear the delicate footsteps towards the car.
Carrie could clearly tell he was preoccupied and did not want to be rude, but she could not wait any longer to meet the now 'infamous' Niall Horan. Before stopping completely, she made sure to make her footsteps a bit louder, which effectively got his attention.
Niall's hands began to sweat again as he looked up from the car tire to the sight in front of him. Her hair was pinned up and her white dress with lilac lace fit her beautifully, but her face is what truly got his attention and left him speechless. Carrie took notice to this and quickly introduced herself in an attempt to loosen him up. Unfortunately, Niall felt somewhat intimidated and spoke softly while stuttering when it was his turn to introduce himself. "Well we should get on our way, shouldn't we?" Niall only nodded his head to Carrie's question, which seemed more like a command.
Without thinking, Carrie reached for the door handle at the same time as Niall did. Of course Niall was going to open the door because it was polite and part of his job, but Carrie enjoyed opening the door for herself because it gave her a small sense of freedom. Niall quickly pulled his hand away as his cheeks flushed red at the thought that he might have just disrespected Lady Carrie unknowingly. Stuttering once again, Niall quickly apologized. " I-I'm so sorry. If I ha-ad known you were going to, i would have..." In another attempt to calm him down, Carrie quickly smiled cutting Niall off from his nervous word vomit. Almost instantly the two started laughing together relieving all the previous tension between the two.
"You do not have to worry at all; I trust you. Just promise to do me one favor?" Without hesitation Niall asked what it was on hopes he did not upset to beautiful figure in front of him. "Smile more often, it's quite charming." With that, Niall smiled with more self confidence because a beautiful girl like Carrie actually took notice of him. Opening the door with ease, Niall held out his hand to the young girl to hop in , and she blushed as she did so. As Niall turned on the engine, he instantly felt guilty because he knew he should not have any sort of relations that were not professional with the Mr. Barlow's daughter and promised himself to not get too attached, or at least try not to.

Notes

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