WE #8 TM

The Baron had not stopped talking during our entire excursion through the garden.  His verbose re-telling of last week’s hunt seemed to know no end. The hounds, the horse, the thrown shoe, and the wild boar would find no rest upon his lips for the duration of the summer. We rounded a bend in the path near the reflection pool, and I briefly entertained the idea of drowning myself in it in order to escape the diatribe.

The possibility of dining with my cousins, however, kept my feet firmly planted.

“I’ve been checking horse stocks in Arabia—did you know that the Sultan of Guzal is bringing the sire Aagohra abroad for breeding purposes?” This question, like all the others, was rhetorical. The Baron had a much better time answering himself. “Yes, yes, and I will be in Chestershire when he comes through, with no less than three brood mares. I’ll make a fortune! Well, another fortune, I should say, ha!”

The small gold and red fish within the pool were circling lazily, coming closer to where we stood. I plucked a head of stray grass and tossed the crumbling seed heads into the water, watching them suck the bits into gaping mouths, only to spit them out again, disappointed.

“I will need an entourage, of course, don’t want to show up with less people around me than a heathen Sultan. You’ll come, won’t you Collister?”

The mention of my name caught my wandering attention. “Hm?”

“Come on then, I know you’re shy of the city- God knows why- but I could use your presence.”

“Oh, I don’t know, sir… when did you say they were coming?” I brushed my hands off on my trousers, then looked up in his direction. That was when I saw her.

“Over the holiday. You have a fortnight to prepare. What d’you say?”

She was watching a young striped cat play with something in the grass. Her hat shaded her face from the afternoon sun, but the curls of her light auburn hair shone gold and red. Her dainty nose, slightly turned up at the end, was speckled with a light dusting of freckles. Long lashes drifted down to her high cheekbones, which blossomed when she smiled.

“Collister?” The Baron made a turn to see what had distracted me.  Embarrassed for my staring, I attempted to direct him back to our conversation.

“Yes! Of course!...Er, yes, I’ll travel with you to London—”  But I was too late.

“Ah…” He turned back to eye me speculatively, his double chin shaking with his chuckle. “I see the view in the garden is to your liking?”

Beyond redemption for the situation, I plowed forward instead. Might as well get what I could for my hasty promise to venture to London.

“If it’s not too much to ask, who is she?” The Baron turned to look in her direction once more, and I took that opportunity to do the same. She was laughing at the cat now, dangling a twig above it and watching it jump and dance in an effort to grasp it with its paw. Her laughter was full, chiming through the air like the call of some exotic bird. I took note of the delicate wrist that ended at the cuff of her glove, the slender curve of her bare forearm, the paleness of her skin.

“That is my niece, Carolyn of Hull.” He tucked his hands behind his back and studied the scene. “She has recently grown up, I’m afraid. Just last year, she was bothering me for a show pony, pouting about the one I’d given her the year before.”

She rose now from the table that was strewn with cut flowers and brushed off her skirt. I imagined the lines of her figure beneath her clothes. There was no sign of the little girl the Baron spoke of left in those lines.  

“She’ll be joining us, actually.” He cut me a sideways glance, his smile sly.

“Do you mean for dinner tonight? It will be good to meet her, I think, if you would do me the honor of introd—”

“No, no… I mean, yes, of course, she will be dining with us. But what I meant was that she will be coming to London as well. It is time for her to be introduced to London society, and my sister is frothing at the bit to make her coming-out memorable.”

The cat had taken to chasing the swirl of her skirt. Carolyn was laughing and shooing it at the same time. Her hat came off with her twisting, and more of her incandescent curls caught the sun’s rays, and turned to soft flames that framed her face.  She squealed with added mirth, plucking the hat from the gripping claws of the playful feline who caught the ribbon with its nails.

“That should make the trip…interesting. “ I had mumbled this, thinking out loud, but the Baron had heard and shifted his weight from one foot to the other, clearing his throat.

Her blue eyes flashed as she planted the hat back onto her head, breathless as she stared at her uncle, and then at me. We had interrupted her private play, but she was not sorry for her antics. Breathing heavily, her smile barely faded as she tied the ribbon back beneath her chin.

“Come, let us say hello.” The Baron strolled in her direction, his demeanor one of nonchalance. I, on the other hand, felt my stomach tighten upon our approach. I glanced away from her, as though I were admiring the plants, the late blooms on a cottage rose bush, the shape of the scudding clouds above. Anywhere but back at her.  I was not one to be easily smitten by a pretty face, but there was an air about her that meant more than her handsome looks. Her easy laughter, her sense of playfulness, did more to inspire me than the number of dry setups I had been enduring over the past weeks.

“Carolyn, come here my dear.” The Baron called out to her, and she came, with the cat tripping after her, its tail spiritedly arched behind it. “I have someone here I would like you to meet.”

She came too close, gave a quick curtsy and offered me her hand.

“This is Gabriel Collister, a long-time friend of the family. His seat is in Glaucester County, at Linden Hall. Gabriel, my niece, Carolyn of Hull County, daughter to my dear sister Margarette.”

I took her gloved fingers and pressed my lips to the soft cotton. Our eyes met over her knuckles. Her eyes were more startling up close than I expected. Shards of grey and dark blue made a kaleidoscope of stars in their depths. Her teeth caught her bottom lip, the glistening dark pink pad of flesh that I could not tear my gaze from. She was giggling at me. Much to my horror, I could feel a blush creep up my cheeks.

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, miss,” I mumbled, releasing her hand and averting my eyes from her face. If I were to keep my composure, I would have to stop looking at her, this much was obvious.

“I believe the pleasure is all mine, Mister Collister.” Her voice held a velvety lilt. I chanced looking at her one more time, unable to escape the light that seemed to fill her face. With a heated glance, she turned away from me, and it was as though the sun had dipped behind a cloud. I was left to watch her figure sway away, leading us back up to the manor. She and her uncle were speaking of horses now, leaving me to follow in the wake of this odd spell she had set upon me.

At the top of the knoll, I felt it. The certainty was astounding. With one glance back over her shoulder, with her warm smile, the blush under her freckles, the play of light dancing in her blue eyes, I came to the realization as though lightning had struck me. I had just met my future wife.

Note: Sorry this was so late, but I've had some sort of allergy issues lately. There was more to this, but I decided it rambled too much, and that this ending would have more of an impact.