There was nothing that infuriated her more than hearing her family's name defiled by meaningless rumours, and what made it worst, was that she was always last to know. There were plenty of things her parents kept her in the dark about, and when she'd questioned them, they had told her; 'there is happiness in ignorance, Theresa' and 'that she should be contented with that'. No more was spoken about that topic, her parents were just as stubborn as her and delving any deeper in that subject could cause yet another argument that the girl just didn't have to effort for. Thankfully, the young Miss Lovelace was always there, at the forefront of any gossip ready to tell her friend about anything she was being kept from knowing.
Lately, the worst of the rumours had been the story of her father being involved in a scandalous affair with a distant relation of the Penhallow family. Of course it was all made up, Tessa's parents, even at their age, were incredibly romantic. Doting lovingly on each other every chance they got, much to the girl's own embarrassment. She'd found out over tea, it was a slip of the tongue. Her Grandmother had forgotten that Sakura had been in the room, and had simply brought it up without thinking, which was good for her, but not so much for her parents. It had never been made clear to her, why she had to be kept ignorant, but then again there were things that she would rather not be made aware of.
"Are you ready Tessa, you may need to sit down this is probably the strangest one I've heard so far…"
The girl's eyebrows lifted "What do you mean?"
"I heard this one while I was with my mother, a few days ago in fact." The blonde took a sip of her tea "Well, they've been saying that you, my dear, are romantically involved with Edmund Herondale's son, William. Of course it's all rumour, because I know that if you were in a scandalous sort of relationship I would be the first to know."
A small laugh came from the girl; "Jessamine, I don't even know the man. How could I possibly be involved with someone who I don't know to begin with! That has to be one of the most ridiculous ones yet!"
"Hm, it's strange alright, but who do you think could have started it?"
"You know I'm not sure, but it's certain that they must be positively insane to create something as strange as that!" she smiled.
"Tessa" the blonde smiled "It's truly wonderful to see how calmly you take all of this, but I should still approach this with as much caution as I would in your situation, your reputation could be severely damaged by this if these rumours escalate any further than it already has. In the future you may not just be stepping out with these gentlemen."
"Yes, I suppose, but there is very little I can do about it."
"Do you mind me asking how it all started?"
"If I'm being honest, I haven't got a clue as to why all of these stories started, but if I have to put it down to anything it may be because of my aunt's marriage to that convicted felon."
"You think so, but didn't your Grandparents disown her?"
"Yes" Tessa sighed. "She was so lovely, it was a real shame when she left, and I know that she loved that man, however much he stole. They are in love, and I only regret not being able to support her…"
"Don't worry, you were too young to understand, but it seems a shame to have to pay for your Aunt's actions."
The blonde girl smiled at her friend. It was difficult not to respect her; she worked so hard to keep calm and patient with everything around her.
"Anyway my dear, you still have to tell me about this dinner you're going to."
"Yes, well it's me and my parents, the Lightwood family and Edmund Herondale along with his son."
"Interesting, what brought about this event?" Jessamine asked.
"Well, I'm not sure, but I believe that it's a business deal between my father's company and the Lightwood's."
"You know, that sounds terribly boring. Let's change the subject, shall we?"
Tessa nodded happily, business deals were never her interest, and she wasn't planning on making it anytime soon. After tea, the girl took her leave, although the Lovelace residence was less than an hour away, with the increased amount of highway men attacking carriages. Tessa wasn't going to take any chances. She arrived home before six, just in time for dinner with her parents, which was always an awkward affair;
"Did you have a good time?" Her mother asked casually.
"Yes" the girl smiled.
"Did you talk about anything interesting?"
"No, it's the same sort of things; Jessamine got a few new dresses when she was in London with her mother."
"Ah, well I was thinking about that. I understand that it would be a long journey, but your father needs to go up to London for business, perhaps it would be a good idea that while he's occupied we could go out and get you some new clothes. I've noticed that you're fast growing out of your currents ones."
The girl nodded and smiled, despite what her mother thought Tessa hated shopping. She hated the smell of new things, and much preferred the feel of old clothes. The fact that maybe she could take along the experiences of the person who wore them previous to her, gave the girl a sense of happiness that she couldn't get from wearing clothes that had been made for her. Of course this was against everything women in this society believed in, but Tessa honestly didn't care, much to her mother's disapproval.
"Theresa." Her father called across the table "It would be best, if you were to wear the dress we bought you last week to this dinner." A stern look was on his face.
"Father, if I may. What I don't understand is why it is so important that I look 'perfect' for these people. Could you perhaps explain it to me?"
"Well my dear" he paused "As a young woman, your appearance is the only real thing you can use for now."
"My appearance…" she repeated quietly. "I've lost my appetite" she sighed, and without another word left the table. It was one thing to hear her family's name abused; it was another thing entirely to be insulted directly, and by her father.
She didn't speak to her parents again, until it was time to leave for the highly anticipated business dinner. Tessa wore the dress that she'd been told to wear, there wasn't another option for her but to comply. The girl's mother had attempted to talk to her, but Tessa remained stubborn and until her father at least hinted at an apology.
"Tessie, my love" He said affectionately "Would you please cease with that expression, it doesn't make you look the slightest bit attractive"
"I'm sorry that my appearance doesn't please you." She responded emotionlessly.
Her mother responded with a 'Tsk' and went back to her own devices. The girl's father however, decided that it would be best to finally say something to his daughter;
"Tess, my dear, if it was up to me then I would have nothing more than for you to run my company. I trust your judgment, you are an intelligent young woman, but that's not how it works in this day and age. Women are not revered as equals to men, and on your own my dear, you cannot change what the world thinks, do you understand?"
"Yes, I suppose" she sighed "I just don't appreciate being told that the only thing I'm good for is sitting quietly and looking pretty."
The man nodded "I'm sorry I offended you." Reluctantly the girl smiled, she knew he didn't mean it to offend her, but it didn't stop it from hurting any less.
It took them three hours or so to get to the Lightwood residence, they were greeted by a line of servants, who beckoned them into the house with smiles. The house itself was huge in comparison to theirs, even from the front it wasn't hard to imagine just how many rooms it had. She heard her mother sigh in awe; she was always one to appreciate fine architecture.
Walking into the house, the three of them were greeted by a smiling dark-haired woman;
"Good evening Mr. Gray, I expect your journey was good?" she greeted Tessa's father with a smile.
"Yes thank you, and where is your husband?"
"He is already in the dining room, along with my son and the Herondale's." the woman smiled, but her attention was turned to the pink-haired girl "I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met, my name is Barbara Lightwood, you must be Theresa?"
Remembering her manners, she bowed her head and replied; "Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you." The four of them entered the dinner room; Tessa was gestured to sit in between her mother and the dark-haired woman's son. Across from her sat a extraordinarily handsome man, who she later found out to be William Herondale, the man who she was supposedly having a romantic affair with. The girl wondered whether he was aware of this rumour, but decided it best to keep her mouth shut.
However, it seemed that towards the end of the dinner, it was clear that he had not only been made aware, but he was certainly in a bad mood because of it. His father Edmund Herondale had mentioned it when the girl had been asked if she was currently 'involved' with anyone, the girl's father had chimed in saying that 'they hadn't made her aware of it'. The man had quickly apologized, saying that he didn't know that Sakura had been kept ignorant of such a rumour.
"It seems very strange though" her father smiled politely "Until this dinner, I'm sure neither of them knew of each other's existence, I wonder how that could have come about."
"Strange indeed…" Mr. Herondale replied, before taking a sip of his wine "It seems a real shame as well that your family's name is constantly desecrated by these terrible stories. Well, I don't think there is any harm in our two families being joined, but I mean the ones involving your 'affair' as it were."
Tessa's father nodded in agreement. The Herondale family was one of the richest in England, and if his daughter was luckily enough to even get a chance at marring William, then it was sure that he would do everything in his power to make that possible. But it was clear that he had other intentions;
"I'm sorry to disappoint the two of you, but I have no wish to marry Miss Gray. Neither will I ever."
Much to everyone's surprise, the younger Lightwood boy that had been silent up to now, broke the silence with a muffled laugh; "William, I believe that you are simply refusing because you believe that Miss Gray would never be interested in you. So you save the trouble of your heartbreak, and embarrass this young woman."
Hiding the blush appearing across her face, the girl looked back down at her food. She could only wait for someone to change to conversation topic; hopefully it wouldn't be too long.
William replied defensively. "I just said that I wasn't involved with her, and that I didn't have any plan to do so in the future."
After that the conversation changed, the three men continued to talk about business. Every so often the two sons would be involved, but apart from that, Tessa's end of the table was relatively quiet. Thankfully for her, she couldn't take any more of it.