Midnight Tutoring

With his master away on some business or another, care of the library had fallen solely to Hugh. That was fine enough, there was little out of the ordinary that needed doing; shelves needed dusted, worn spines needed replaced, fading ink needed reapplied. But most of the truly important work had been wrapped up before his master had left. That left Hugh with an unusual amount of free time, and rather than work himself to the bone, he availed himself of the opportunity to trulyreadsome of the works he had spent so many hours maintaining.

This small dereliction of duty would go unnoticed, no doubt. Few within House Lamont were scholarly sorts, and while that did leave the library somewhat wanting for contemporary pieces, there were plenty of other texts to read. Lady Sophia's contributions were lascivious and could only generously be called literature, but that was fine enough. Hugh was fairly certain she only looked at the illustrations anyways. And besides, familiarizing himself with the subject matters of the collection was technically part of his job, wasn't it?

It was around half a week into his free reign over the library when the worst came to be; someone came calling for a book. It was an hour past dusk, the light of the sun well past making its way in through the windows. With no official business Hugh should have departed for the night, but he hadn't. Instead he had lit a few candles around and continued to read. It was harmless, he told himself, no one would miss a half-dozen candles. So then, it was perhaps a surprise for the visitor when they pushed open the library door and found the room not deserted.

Hugh gave a start, jumping to his feet and quickly shutting the book before him with a decisive'snap.'Whether it was that sound, the sound of his chair clattering to the floor, or the combination of the two that caused the visitor to freeze just as they poked their head in through the door was impossible to say, but as Hugh looked up he found the Lord and Lady's daughter, Elenor, staring back like a rabbit caught in a snare.

"Ah! M-My Lady-" he stammered pushing the book a little further away before taking a surreptitious step closer to the binding station behind him. "-what, uh, brings you at this hour? I was, hm-" he glanced back and found the station sadly empty. "-organizing."

His fumbling for a response gave time enough for Elenor to pull herself from the shock of finding him here as well, and she straightened up. She still hadn't actually walked through the door, but even standing on the threshold she was an imposing figure. It was only in the past few months that Elenor had truly started to grow into her noble birth. A year ago she had been a head taller than Hugh; tall, yes, but short for one of her birth. There had been speculation around town concerning that, but they had all since been silenced. She'd sprung up like a weed, now towering nearly a foot and a half over the librarian. She wasn't quite as tall as her mother, but if she didn't slow down then she would be before the year was up. Despite this, she had yet to quite adjust to her larger stature, still moving about rather timidly. It was, perhaps, a little amusing to see her hunched low as though there were a chance of not being seen.

She sounded as uncertain as she looked when she replied, "Ah! Yes, very good. It's important to keep things organized..." her voice trailed off as if there was more to be said, and she looked around as though she might find something else to latch onto, but only succeeded in stretching the silence a few beats too long.

Though he was loathed to do it, Hugh spoke up again. "Well, was there anything you were-?"

Surprisingly she cut him off, not rudely but rather out of relief for having something provided for her to work with. "No! No, no, I was just- I was on a walk, you see, about the manor, and I saw the lights in the library- in here, I mean, so I thought that I would come by to see what was going on. So I knew you were here! And that's why I, uh, came to see."

By the time she finished speaking her face was turning a rather amusing shade of red. Hugh couldn't help but feel bad for her, even if he had no idea why she was acting so skittishly. Still, the fewer folk that heard about his wasting candles the better, and if she was here for something she didn't want others hearing about, it was his duty to oblige, wasn't it?

"Of course! Very kind of you, my Lady. But, as you can see everything is well enough in order, so perhaps I should-"

"Yes! Yes, as late as it is I think we should both retire! I-Its too late to be getting anything done, after all, isn't it? Far too late to be reading!"

She took a step back from the door and turned, but made no more move than that before glancing back at Hugh. He was sure the confusion was plain on his face, but before he could think any differently his obligation to the house had pulled the question out of him.

"Well, since I'm here, I could help you find what you're looking for?"

The question hung in the air for what felt like a minute, during which Elenor's eyes darted from the hall to Hugh, then around the library, then up and down the hall again, then to the doorframe where it stayed as she finally opened her mouth to speak.

"Well, I wouldn't want to impose, you see. It's important for everyone to be well rested- librarians especially! We don't want any accidents happening! Why, I don't know what I'd do if... well, perhaps I'll just go."

Hugh felt a stab of pity. Whatever it was she was hoping for, he'd spoiled it beyond belief. Before she could manage even a single step away, he called out, "If you need discretion, Ma'am, I can certainly give it! Not a peep from me to anyone, even to the Master Librarian."

Lady Elenor froze, and Hugh could see on her face careful calculations happening. He wasn't the only one with obligations and expectations, he supposed. Eventually she turned back to him and said warily, "Well, discretion is for... unsavory things. I'm not here for anythingunsavory!I just, well, hm..." Another moment of consideration, another peek down both directions in the hall, and finally she stepped inside and closed the door shut. "... no one? Even my father? Even if he asked?"

Hugh blanched a bit at that, but after taking a little moment for himself, he nodded. "I think it would be quite odd for the Lord to ask us much. He trusts us to our duties, to serve the manor. I would be remiss to fail him by declining his daughter's request."

They stared at each other for a moment, aware enough of the strange tension that had filled the room but neither knowing quite what it was. Eventually Lady Elenor let out a breath, and her shoulders and jaw relaxed.

"Quite right. Well, I must admit, I did come here for another reason. My lessons with Johnathan are going well, but I was hoping to do someindependentstudying while he was away. N-Not that there's anything strange about that I'm looking into-" she chuckled nervously, "-just that I would like to know more than I do now, I suppose."

Hugh nodded slowly. "Of course! That's very admirable, my Lady. I'm sure Johnathan would be very pleased to hear it. Not that he will, of course! Now, what were you looking for?"

Elenor took a few more steps into the library and looked a little wistfully at the shelves. "Well, I was hoping that there might be something of the women of the Lamont name. Our growth, I mean! The- well, whether we're given to any particular..." again she trailed off, and seemed to avert her eyes rather more pointedly. Hugh remained silent, not daring to interrupt should she continue. Evidently the silence grew heavy quickly, because it wasn't long at all before she finished, "...imbalances?"

Hugh took a moment to digest the question. "Of... course. Most of the records regard your mother's side, of course." Few in the house needed reminded that it had traveled down Baroness Sophia's side, least of all her daughter. He spoke up again, shifting the focus and hoping that she hadn't taken too much offence.

"Are you ill? You look well!"

That much was true, though Elenor looked too embarrassed to agree. "Well, in a sense, perhaps. I know I'm not... I've had a recent growth spurt, but..." Whatever it was she was trying to get out, she seemed to be scrounging around in her mind for a way around it that might still explain things. Eventually she continued, "Well, my sleep has been quite...irregularas of late. I find it difficult to go to sleep at all! It seems like when I'm alone, when I should be slowing down, I just can't! For hours I'll lay in bed and-" she seemed to just barely catch herself, and again her face turned red and she was quick to say, "-well, suffice to say I can't sleep."

Hugh nodded. "I see. Well, I can certainly see if there's anything here that might help. You'll have to forgive me, I haven't entirely familiarized myself with that portion of the library."

"Nonsense! I'm lucky to have any guidance at all, especially at this hour."

"Right enough, I suppose. Well, I'll see if I can find those journals."

With that he took a candlestick and excused himself for the search. Elenor stayed by the table, watching him go for a ways before turning to flip through the book he'd pushed aside. Hugh tried his best to keep his glances back in her direction from being too obvious. With any luck he was successful, but it was hard to tell. Several times he thought he caught the noblewoman glancing towards the shelves in much the same way. They were both quick to turn away before their eyes met.

It was several minutes before Hugh found anything useful. It seemed like it would be quite a few more, too. Many of the books in this part of the library were made for larger hands than his. It made pulling tomes down to check them quite a hassle.

He did his best to arrange himself out of her view before wrestling the bigger books down. Unfortunately with the rest of the mansion so silent, it was probably quite easy to tell he was struggling even despite his efforts to keep quiet. Inevitably, though, he made a mistake. A particularly heavy book hit the floor with a'thud'that made all the shelves around him- and his teeth- rattle in their respective places. Elenor yelped from the doorway, and quickly called out, "A-Are you alright?"

"Yes! Yes, I just, uh... it slipped."

Frantically, he took the tome back into his hands and checked it over for damage. The flickering of his candle made it difficult, but a cursory glance showed just a little peeling of the bindings. It was a rare one which had metal in the spine- damnedly loud, but sturdy and luckily easy to fix. It was a relief that that was all that had happened.

Lady Elenor, perhaps hearing some of the distress or dishonesty in his voice, craned her neck to see if she could steal a peek at whatever was going on. It was a little amusing to find the little librarian doubled over, struggling to lift a book almost the size of his entire torso. It was quite the large book, to be fair, but the man certainly wasn't having an easy time. She chuckled at first, but as he continued to struggle Elenor found the sight quickly losing its humor. After just a few seconds she started to feel guilty, and soon after decided the impropriety of helping would outweigh the discomfort of letting the man continue. She made her way over, and cleared her throat so as to not surprise him too badly.

Hugh still gave a start, but despite a few hurried apologies from both parties and a brief protest from the librarian at the prospect of the lady doing his job for him, she managed to get him out of the way and took the book into her arms with little trouble.

"Perhaps I ought to come along? Just for the bigger books, of course."

Hugh nodded, and tried poorly to hide his embarrassment. Elenor couldn't keep the smirk off her face, but thankfully the shadows flickering across it did more than enough to hide her expression. That, and the fact that Hugh seemed rather hesitant to look her in the eyes now. Elenor's grin widened just a little, until a peculiar thought occurred. It seemed strange that she might enjoy toying with the man like this. Just a few moments ago she'd been moved to help relive his discomfort, but now she would almost say she relished it. Why was that? Worry stirred up her insides, but she pushed it back down and buried it beneath the hunt.

In front of her Hugh walked, keenly aware of the heavy steps just a few paces behind. The manners betters came to the library so rarely that he couldn't recall a time when any of them had gone into the shelves. Elenor's lessons took place elsewhere, in her bedroom, he thought. Even Lady Sophia had her books fetched to her room rather thangracingthe library with her presence. The librarians were both quite thankful for that, even if she sometimes had them running back and forth looking for one particular book or another. The library was rather cramped for the mansion's highborn occupants. Just a year and a half ago, Elenor might've been able to use one of the regular reading desks. Notcomfortably,but it'd be functional enough.

Hugh took another look at Lady Elenor. He had rarely been this close, as she was typically rather skittish. But being the only scion of the house left her quite busy. It was hardly a surprise, then, that this was perhaps the closest Hugh had ever been to her.

She was taller, of course, but hadn't grown into that new size yet. Other aspects seemed to have started running just a little wild, too. Her hair, usually done up neatly and held in place neatly was now pulled back and tied a little haphazardly, and seemed longer than it usually was. Hugh supposed it would make sense if it grew just as quickly as the rest of her.

And the rest of her had grown too, no doubt. She had never been particularly skinny, but her figure had never quite stood out to the librarian. Perhaps that was owed more to her mother's presence nearby. Now, though, he couldn't stop his gaze from lingering just a beat too long on her curves. Even the simple dress she wore now seemed to struggle to hold everything in place. That was little surprise; keeping up with her growth spurt was probably a full-time affair for the manor's tailor. He didn't envy the task. Or, at least, not the workload that came with it.

But he was quick to catch himself and turn his gaze back to the shelves. The urge to look persisted, though, an urge he pushed back down, and kept down with thoughts of professionalism and etiquette.

Another sensation he couldn't help but notice was that with her so close by, the library seemed a good deal warmer. At first he thought it was just the effect of having company, but as he turned from one shelf to the other the warmth changed sides as well. She was practically radiating heat; not a surprise, he supposed, but something he hadn't quite expected. Little wonder that she could wander the chilled halls with just that dress. Not that it was lacking, of course, but there did seem to be a good deal more of Elenoroutsidethe dress than normal. Even out of the corners of his eyes, Hugh could see her skin soft in the candlelight that crept its way through the shelves. He wondered if all noblewomen were so soft, or if it was simply a quality of the family. Baroness Sophia was certainly soft-seeming, but Hugh couldn't imagine a touch from her being gentle. With her long nails and cutting words, every moment near her felt like inviting disaster, but it was well known she had no appetite for librarians.

Elenor, in contrast, had always seemed a little awed by the modest collection of tomes her House had amassed over the years. According to Johnathan she took to her letters like a duck to a pond. The source of this bookishness remained a mystery, and in part had fueled some of the more unkind speculations about the girl's parentage, but the growth spurt had put most of those to rest. But for as long as Hugh had known her she had seemed soft; he wasn't sure she could hurt so much as a fly. Why, then, was he so on edge?

He pulled a few more books from the shelf, cracked them open, and promptly placed them back. Someone in house Lamont's history had had every tome in their collection marked with the family crest, in an effort to prevent theft. It was a fine idea in theory, but the mark was identical to the one already used to mark the histories and records of the Barony. Hardly a day went by that both Hugh and Johnathan wished all manner of ills on the ghost of the fool who had done that. Worse still, the emblems had been stitched into the very spines of the books, thus removing it would require re-binding every single text that bore it. Both men had had the desire, but often there was only time to curse the fool and carry on.

Lady Elenor was, thankfully, patient. That, or she could sense the irritation that stewed just a little higher in Hugh's guts with every book he had to put back. He hid it fairly well, though, or so he thought. In spite of the harebrained decisions of archivists past, he found the armful of books he'd been searching for. It wasn't everything, but it was a start.

With the struggle plain in his voice, he started making his way carefully out from the shelves. "There! Now, this isn't everything, of course, but these are more recent histories you may find helpful. One was written by the House physician, concerning treatments of various ails over the years. Baroness Sophia is mentioned a bit towards the end, but the physician died before she finished her first decade. The new one hasn't kept nearly as thorough an account, I'm afraid."

The Lady made a noise hinting at disappointment, but immediately covered it with gratitude. "That's fine! Oh, thank you for all of your help so far! I'm sorry to have... imposed like this. Doubly so in asking for secrecy.. I just, well, I feel I need some council that I feel I wouldn't get from my parents, at least not inthismatter."

There was something in her voice, something withheld with such effort and care that it almost came across as a lie. Lady Elenor wouldn't lie, of course. Or, at least, Hugh didn't think she would. He couldn't help but look back over his shoulder, trying to glean just a little more from her expression.

She wasn't looking straight at him, rather glancing up along the shelf to her side. It was taller than her. Hugh wondered if that was comforting.

But his wondering was cut short as his foot caught on that damnable floorboard. With a sharply muttered"Shit-!"he stumbled forward, throwing an arm out to catch himself on the nearest shelf, one thankfully sturdy enough to hold his weight. His armful of books, however, cascaded to the floor. Each dullthudof book against wood was like a strike directly at the librarian's core, causing him to reel so greatly that for a moment all he could do was watch in horror. Thankfully there was noobviousdamage, but he'd need to reexamine them to make sure-

"Oh, please, let me..." Lady Elenor stepped forward with the intent to help. With Hugh now so far to the side, there was just enough room for her to squeeze by. Or, at least, there seemed to be, but too late she realized that she'd misjudged again. Not terribly, thankfully, but she felt her hip bump the man a little, and as she turned herself sideways to make a little more room for him she heard him let out a grunt. "I'm sorry! I just- I should help-" Her movements grew a little more frantic as she bent low to gather the books up in her arms. The faster she could get out of this awkward situation, the better.

She snatched them up as quickly as could, muttering quietly to herself,"One, two, three... where did-?"Hugh had grabbed four books, she was certain. There were only three now, though. Perhaps-