They sat together in the stands waiting for the musicians to take their place onto the stage. The tall and handsome Fletcher Quimby was here courting the lovely Ms. Doyle with the blonde hair and blue eyes… of course with a chaperone and his family which consisted of his parents and his younger brother, William. Her mother was absolutely a wreck for they were going out in public amongst others but he convinced her that it was not such bad thing and that his parents and a chaperone would be coming along and that their family could accompany them if they wished to. Since Fletcher was a man of his word, Mrs. Doyle allowed him to take her daughter out to the concert. He was hoping to one day ask for her hand in marriage as long as it was alright with her father and of course with her.
He had decided to take her out to see the orchestra perform at their seasonal spring concert. This after all, was a sold out show that he had the privilege of receiving free tickets for from his dear friend the composer himself, Angus Chestnut. Soon the sound of instruments tuning filled up the large theater and the large crowd's chatter came to a halt. The lights were slowly dimming and he took the chance to grab her petite hands in his large ones. He could see a faint blush on her cheeks along with a smile. Then the music began.
It was amazing and then the concert seemed to be over when suddenly a beautiful girl came onto the stage in a lovely evening gown. She held the violin closely to her chest for if she dropped it, it seemed that the world would stop. Angus gave the girl a nod and she lifted the instrument from its safe position. The sound was magnificent. The entire room was still and all that Fletcher could see was this beautiful girl playing a tune as beautiful as she. It wasn't until Ms. Doyle pushed aside his hand that he realized she was a woman playing the violin in public. He hadn't even realized that this was frowned upon and he knew Angus was one to ignore the rules of society. He could be shunned because of this! When she was done playing there was no applause and with that the curtains came to a close on the group of musicians.
This had been the latest scandal of the town. And Angus and the young girl who performed could possibly be taken in for such an act but Fletcher's mind was not on this "scandal" it was on the young musician who caught his heart. She was outstanding, a real beauty with tremendous talent. All that was on his mind was finding out who she really was. He turned to see only Angus and the girl swiftly gliding across the street to enter the small carriage awaiting before anybody could catch a glimpse but Fletcher had seen. The girl turned to face him and they shared a moment before Angus tapped on her shoulder to snap her out of the daze that she appeared to be in. They quickly got into the carriage and disappeared into the starry night. "Fletcher! Fletcher! My brother, are you alright?" Fletcher turned to William "Oh yes, I'm fine just… quite tired." "Well Fletch! You must get out of that daze a couple of the boys and I are going out to the big city! You best be coming along with us." He smiled William was only eighteen yet acted as if it was he who was the oldest of the two. "I'm sorry Will but I must be getting Ms. Doyle home to her parents." He frowned "Oh that girl, Olivia… are you quite serious about her brother?" Fletcher began to respond but stopped. He was sure he was serious but after seeing the girl that was scandal itself he wasn't quite sure anymore. "Oh Fletch, it was a joke honestly don't take it too seriously." Fletcher nodded "Well I must be setting off now, don't do anything that you will later regret." William chuckled and they parted ways.
"So Ms. Doyle, did you have a good time out?" "Oh yes, it was quite wonderful except that young woman at the end! That was quite a shock although she played so lovely." He nodded "Yes, yes it was." There was an awkward silence that followed when their carriage came to a halt. He got out and went to open the door to Ms. Doyle's side. He assisted her out of the vehicle and to the front porch of her house. He knocked once on the door and soon the family butler, Gibson, came out to greet them. "Oh Miss Olivia! Your finally home, let me get your mother dearest. And Mr. Quimby! Please come inside, dear how rude of me." Ms. Doyle seemed to giggle a little as Gibson went to fetch the dear Mrs. Doyle out of her room. When she arrived, she nodded to Fletcher. "Why thank you Mr. Quimby for taking my daughter out to a divine night." "Why the pleasure is all mine ma'am." "Olivia, please thank Mr. Quimby for your night out." "Oh yes. Thank you very much Mr. Quimby for the exquisite night out." She smiled and began to blush a bright pink you could easily see because of her almost translucent skin. "Goodnight Mr. Quimby." And with that Fletcher was on his way home.
When he walked through the front door into the house his father called to him with Fletcher's mother at his side. They looked rather worried. "Fletcher, my boy, why would you bring Miss Olivia and your own family to a concert as scandalous as that! We could be put to shame boy!" He chuckled his father and his mother could tend to overreact at times. "Father, Mother, don't worry over a single thing, there were other people at the concert and how could we know that Angus would do such a thing." "I knew he was trouble from the start that Angus. Ever since you two were little boys he's been such an odd thing and talking nonsense all the time." He looked down "It isn't his fault, he has so many ideas." His mother frowned and his father eyebrows furrowed. "Fletcher you must stop before it continues and leads you into a land of trouble and disgrace." He nodded "I'm sorry father; mother I will not ever speak in a manner as such was spoken again. I should be heading off to bed so I shall see you all in the morning. Good night."
When Fletcher got to his bedroom he quietly changed into his nightwear and lay in the warm bed. Those thoughts began to fill his head again. They were mostly about that girl with the mocha skin and dark brown eyes. She was quite the beauty and her talent was amazing. He wanted to know who she was, where she came from, her history. When he saw her it was like he forget about Ms. Doyle, and his only thoughts were on knowing the violinist that captured his heart. Through most of the night he could only think instead of sleep and that is when he decided he would go to visit Angus and ask him himself. He threw on a hat and a large coat and climbed out the window. A trick that William and himself had used when they were younger children. He climbed down the wall and onto the soft grass that was still wet from the morning. Fletcher then realized that he could not use the carriage at this hour, so he continued on foot to his friend's house. Thank God that Angus lived near by his own home.
He reached the small house by the hill and knocked on the wooden door. When there was no answer he decided he would knock on the window leading to Angus' bedroom. He tapped and then he saw a light go on. He whispered through the crack of the window. "Angus! Not to worry good fellow, it's me, Fletcher!" "Fletcher are you really here at this hour? Are you a mad man?" Fletcher laughed "Just let me in, I will explain the rest to you as soon as you let me into your house! It is actually quite cold outside." He swore he could hear Angus laugh and soon the door was opened for him. As soon as he could find a chair to sit in, he spoke. "Oh Angus, your concert was- - uh" "Quite the scandal I know." Fletcher nodded "Well what I really came to ask you was well who was that young woman? You know my dear friend, the one that played the violin." "Oh you mean the only girl that was there." Angus smiled she is a girl I met when I was taking a tour of America, she's from there. She has passion for what she does and she's always dreamt of being a musician and you do know that it is frowned upon, women these days… Well, I felt sorry for her I didn't think she could play but when I heard her I didn't have to look twice again before saying she could accompany me back." He smiled "I'm not ashamed of bringing her. She's amazing." Angus smiled as Fletcher stayed quiet waiting to hear more of the girl. "She is staying with my cousin, Paisley across town if that is what you wanted to know." He grinned as Fletcher blushed "But wait a second Fletcher, are you not already engaged to Ms. Doyle? The lovely debutante of England?" Fletcher sighed "No, but I might as well be. I was so sure until I saw…" "Her name is Chyna." "Chyna…What a unique name and you say she is from America?" "Yes, she is now enough you're engaged to be married and – "I haven't even asked her to marry me." "It doesn't matter Fletcher you would be disgracing your family with all this nonsense. Trust me. You are better off leaving this alone." He couldn't understand why Angus would push him away from an adventure, something obviously was not right.
The hour got late and the break of dawn was near. He must be getting home or his mother would be suspicious and then where would he be? He gave his thanks to Angus and promised to visit later in the day and then left the small house. The sun was rising in the east as Fletcher climbed into the window of his bedroom. He lay in his bed, closed his eyes, and lay his head down on the soft pillow. It was an hour later that William entered the room. "Fletcher you should get up before mother and father throw a fit. You've slept in I'm afraid." When Fletcher heard the news, he flinched he was supposed to visit and have a "chat" with the Doyle family at noon. He just couldn't be late or he'd be in an awful lot of trouble before his twenty-first birthday. "Will, what time of day is it?" "Well, it is late morning, and noon should be here very soon." Fletcher jumped out of the bed and into his closet to look for some suitable attire. This would be a very long day ahead of him.