The Princess and the Pauper (Arabella) novel Chapter 1921

Most villas had a similar design: a skylight in the ground floor to let the sunshine stream into the basement. It was a clever way to brighten up the space and improve the airflow down there.

"I had no clue there was a skylight." The man explained with a mix of urgency and helplessness, "The grass is so tall around here, from a distance all I could see was a sea of green. I told you, I’m new here. I was just looking for the restroom. I saw a small door from afar and thought to check it out. I didn't know there was a skylight that wasn't meant to be walked over."

"You were looking for the restroom and you couldn’t ask someone? With all the staff bustling about in this villa, don’t tell me you didn’t see a soul," the head of the bodyguard still sounded skeptical.

"I saw that most of the staff were women; it felt kinda awkward to ask, and they all seemed so busy." The man tried to explain further, but seeing no sign of belief from the bodyguard, he turned to Arabella with a helpless look, "Ms. Collins, I really didn’t know I couldn’t just wander around here. I was only looking for the restroom."

"You think you can fool Ms. Collins that easily? You better come clean today, or don’t blame me for not being nice!"

The head of the bodyguard was ready to take action, hand inching towards his tool of authority, poised to apprehend the man.

"What's going on here?"

Just then, an elegant voice cut through the tension.

The man looked towards the source of the voice as if he had found his savior and quickly explained, "Madam, I was just looking for the restroom and accidentally went the wrong way. This man is insisting I’m up to something, talking about looking for some basement, some skylight."

Beverly maintained a gracious smile throughout, "It's a misunderstanding. Harry is a new chauffeur I’ve hired. It's his first day here, and he's not yet familiar with our house rules or recent events."

With that, she turned to Harry with a smile, "I'll handle this; why don’t you go ahead and use the restroom."

"He can't leave."