Cₗₒₙₑ ₁: ₕₐᵣᵣᵢₛₒₙ ₓ ₐᵤᵣₑₗᵢₐ
After concluding his conversations with the first two ladies, Harrison found himself compelled to address unfinished matters with Lord Ilyeas Keats, his best friend.
The timing was far from ideal, considering it was calling day, and giving the Keats’ proximity to their notorious neighbors, the Ellis family. Harrison harbored a deep disdain for the Ellis family, particularly the woman he had once affectionately called “astéri.” In truth, he had erred in his judgment of her character; she was nothing more than a cunning charlatan. Harrison had been blinded by his naive belief in her sincerity, unaware of her deceptive and manipulative nature. He had considered her a friend, a forbidden friend that defied was so forbidden his mother and siblings would weep in horror to know of the friendship they had.
Laughter had been shared, and he had permitted her to run her fingers through his curls, paint his face and he had even introduced her to a star that shined brighter than any star- Vera. The revelation of her true nation had been a painful one, one that shattered his heart to pieces. She had seemed to adore Vera, but the bitter truth surfaced—the icy coldness of her heart broke Vera and him. She no longer deserved Vera’s affection. The thought of Aurelia having a place in Vera’s life was now repugnant to Harrison. The news of Vera’s illness, concealed within the forbidden recesses of his manor, was a truth he had wanted to share with Aurelia, hoping for camaraderie in their concerns for Vera. He envisioned conversations about their shared business and imagined Vera surrounded by friends. However, his perception of Aurelia as a friend had crumbled, and now, considering her or any Ellis as such, seemed a grave misjudgment.
He knocked on the door of the Keats, and a servant had informed him Ilyas was not there. Great, he had came here for nothing- he wondered, should he wait? Perhaps Ilyas would pop out at any moment. He was not going to wait inside of course, because Harrison had no time to talk to Ilyas father and he wanted to confront Ilyas face to face as soon as he saw him, he shall be confronted but where the fck was Ilyas?
Should Harrison just continue his calling and then call it a day? He did not have that long of a list of people he wanted to call on to court or to check up on them, thus he could go and come back, later in the day and Ilyas should be here. Yes, that was indeed sensible. He turned around and began to make his way out of the Keat estate when he heard a noise that made his ears perked coming from the bush.
Ignore it, ignore it- he told himself but he truly wondered, how was the calling going? Harrison could imagine and he prayed that it was not going well for Aurelia Ellis. He remembered his mother talking to him about Duchess Ellis, stating, ‘Roselyn Ellis is the most nasty of women I have ever met, she is as selfish as a miser clutching gold coins, she has no care for anyone who is not herself or her reputation. I would weep in horror if I were one of her daughters, for she shall marry them to any man as long as his title is enough,’
And Harrison could just imagine the line of suitors that Aurelia Ellis had now- they were balding men with stomachs bigger than their legs from all the drinking, they had teeth that would scare the rats, and faces even their mothers could not love. Such a cruel fate- to be married to such type of men he thought to himself. She might be a manipulative con-artist but would she deserve such a fate?
He found himself looking through the bush, trying to see if he was right in his belief of tthe type of men, Duchess Ellis had lining up for her daughters when he felt an apple made contact with his face. He pulled his head from the bush quickly, clutching his head. it was not extremely painful but it was as annoying as a pinch.
What in the hell was wrong with this lady? He muttered, throwing apples at him now for no reason.
“Lord Harrison?”
She called and Harrison looked around to see if there was enough else called Harrison there “It’s Earl Davis,” He corrected, typically- Harrison wasn’t one who cared about titles or was fond of being called Earl Davis- he preferred to simply be called Harrison, it was his birth name after all, the name that separated him from every other Davis, but he hated to hear his name roll of her lips like that. It irritated him how so casually she was speaking with him, “Lady Ellis, Earl Davis,” The name, ‘lady ellis’ rotted in his mouth.
" I am obviously not here to scare you or to see you, I’m hear for my mate." He rolled his eyes, “And do you normally throw apples at strangers through a bush?” He asked his tone filled with irritation.
mentioned:
@Madilfill - ilyas