"I have a cousin." The words left Edgars' mouth with distaste, as if he had bitten into something that had gone rotten. Gregory didn't even look up from his sketch pad. He would wait till the other prefect had finished talking, as he knew this topic was not over. "A cousin? You mean you have a cousin that is coming to the school?" Herman asked him, he even stopped swinging the cricket bat that seemed to be glued to his hand as he regarded the blonde boy.
Edgar frowned and shook his head and brushed the hair away from his elegant face, his expression was one of polite suffering. "Sadly, that is not the case. I have been informed that she is already here." Gregory did look up at that just to make sure what he had heard the other boy correctly. There were of course no females allowed to attend the school. The others seemed to have caught on too as they were suddenly more curious, even Bluer looked away from his book for a moment to regard Edgar over the rim of his glasses.
"Yes, she is just a servant here. And she is not really considered part of the family; my Uncle was disowned when he married the girls' mother against the wishes of my family. The only thing I have in common with her is our last name." He still had the look of slight distaste on his face as he spoke; Gregory assumed it was because any blight on the families' reputation was considered unsavory. Still, it had nothing to do with him and he continued to draw on his sketchpad. Edgar did not need Gregory to make eye contact for him to continue to speak.
Even though his head was down concentrating on the paper he knew that the others' interests were piqued. Any change at school could be a welcome or disastrous one depending on what it was. On the all-male campus many of them would find a new female presence exciting, but this girl had the added benefit of being a disowned Redmond. She was already an oddity with an interesting past. "But why has she come here then? Shouldn't her father be taking care of her," Herman asked with a raised eyebrow. Edgar gave a slight shake of his head. "He would be taking care of her but apparently he died sometime last month of an illness, he was some kind of merchant after the family disowned him and I don't believe that he had any inheritance to leave her. Her mother is dead too apparently, died when the girl was very young." Edgar said all this with a dismissive wave of his hand. Gregory surmised that Edgar and his Uncle had not been close.
Greenhills' face grew slightly red at the information. "Forgive me Edgar; I did not know that your Uncle had passed." Edgar waved his hand again and gave Herman a smile. "Think nothing of it; I had never even met the man to be honest. And if he was disowned from the family, it's almost like he's not part of the family at all, isn't that right?" None of the boys said anything in agreement, but there silence was awkward and surprisingly Gregory decided to break it. "Then if you do not consider him your Uncle, why do you acknowledge his daughter as your cousin?" Edgar gave him a curious look. It was not often that Gregory would say anything, he was a man of few words and what he would say would always be to the point.
Edgar laughed then, it was a light and airy sound, as beautiful as the boy himself. "I suppose I call her my cousin because I pity her. The poor girl already has so much against her, being linked to me by blood and having me recognize that fact might be a boon in her favor." He sat back suddenly and looked thoughtful before a slow smile formed on his face. "Perhaps I shall do just that, take her under my wing as they say, it could do the girl some good. Besides I want to see what she's like, she might be a welcome distraction." The others only murmured but Gregory could sense that they were at least slightly intrigued. It would be something amusing, even for a short while. The prefects Fags, their school butlers for lack of a definition, said nothing in agreement or disagreement.
Gregory did not care either way if he was honest to himself; very few things ever got him out of his reverie. Though no matter what happened he would be dragged into it one way or another, whether it was to voice his opinion or offer advice he was now an accomplice in whatever Edgar had planned. He thought briefly about how Edgar had somehow become their leader, it was curious that the blonde and beautiful Edgar had assumed a leadership position. Then he thought no one else would have probably suited them. As long as he was left to his own devices after all was said and done he wouldn't offer any complaint. He did look up to eye Edgar, and the prefect looked quite happy with himself. At least it was an improvement over the other face he had been making when telling them the news, a face like he had bitten into a lemon.
Violet would have shrugged but it would have taken too much energy. He continued his sketch, his quick fingers outlining the scene around him, drawing the countenance of Edgar. In that moment he looked so smug that Gregory wanted to capture it. Less than an hour later he was done, in the meantime the others had droned on about things that were of no particular consequence, and no one had bothered to talk to him so he had remained silent. At last they all stood to leave and said their goodbyes, Gregory only gave a small nod at each of them; then he tucked the new drawing safely in his binder and walked back to his dorm and thought no more about the day.
