A man entered the room. He was tall. Beautiful, bright blue eyes. And from where she sat Aurelia could sense a slightly cold but uncertain aura coming from him.
"Mr. Richard Jones!"
The air around her became tense. Animosity stifled the air and made breathing a little harder.
"Have you heard?" Annabelle Smith, the daughter of a Baron, said.
Aurelia never really liked her. She gossiped too much and never concerned herself with education beyond the basics of reading and writing. She was nice she supposed but not very bright.
"No. What is it?" David Banner replied. He was a recent graduate from Oxford and had a degree in law. His father was a Count. He never concerned himself with gossip but if a lady asked him he indulged her a bit.
"Mr. Richard Jones is quite the upstart. I heard he recently bought the old estates from a noble."
"I hear he's a merchant. It's quite sad really," Elizabeth Banner, David's younger sister, and the only girl in their family, said.
Aurelia decided to join the conversation. "How do you figure that, Lady Banner?" she asked.
They stared at her. Then looked at each other. She knew that look. It said that she was different. That she couldn't blend in.
"You honestly do not know?" Annabelle asked. Confusion showed in her eyes.
"No, I can honestly say I don't," Aurelia replied.
Annabelle decided to explain. She went on about upstarts taking ancestral lands, coming to their parties, attending their schools, etc.
Aurelia faded in and out. Elizabeth noticed and her eyes narrowed.
"Miss Hartwick? Are you listening?" Elizabeth asked.
"Ah no, sorry," she replied.
Annabelle huffed. "As I was saying-"
"Excuse me." Aurelia said and stood up. "I'm thirsty and need a drink." She walked away.
"How rude," Elizabeth murmured.
"Hmmm. Miss Hartwick is always unbothered with gossip," Annabelle said. "She never concerns herself with what's around her."
"Her parents are easygoing people as well," David added.
"She's unworthy of being called a lady," Annabelle replied.
Richard Jones observed everyone around him. He knew the words they said. He'd heard it before.
Newmoneybastard. Upstartscum, to name a few.
He noticed the pretty women and decided to dance to make time go by. He approached a young lady with dark hair and beautiful brown eyes. She smiled at something the gentlemen next her said.
"Excuse me. Good evening. I'm Mr. Jones."
She extended her hand for him to kiss. "Good evening. I'm Miss Brown."
"Have you frequented our society often, Mr. Jones?" she asked.
He smiled. "This is my first occasion."
"I hope you find it to your liking then."
"I'm sure I will. Would you like to dance, Miss Brown?"
She smiled brightly. Only two gentlemen had asked her to dance for the entire evening and she felt a bit restless. "That sounds lovely."
She moved to stand. The gentleman next to her stopped her. He whispered to her. She smiled apologetically.
"Forgive me. I've forgotten that I already have a partner."
"Oh? I apologize then. Excuse me."
That's how it went for the next hour and a half. He'd asked a lady to dance but she would say that she already had a partner. He sighed in frustration after the most recent attempt. He settled for just standing against a wall.
Aurelia approached a man carrying glasses of champagne.
"Hmmm... Which one has the most bubbles?" she asked.
The man looked perplexed. "Which one would that be?"
After getting a drink she looked back at the people she had been conversing with and found that her place had been taken by another young lady. She looked around and her eyes settled on an empty couch. She went and sat down.
A few minutes later the man that Annabelle had been gossiping about stood beside the couch. He seemed a bit frustrated.
"Would you like to sit down?" she asked. "There's plenty of room."
"No, thank you," he replied.
"Very well." She continued to sip her drink.
Richard studied her. She was quite pretty. Blonde hair and bright green eyes full of life. He wanted to asked her to dance but was a bit apprehensive. He didn't want to get rejected again. After tossing the idea in his mind for a while he decided to go for it. If she said no then he'd call a quits and go home.
"My name is Mr. Jones. What is your name?"
"Miss Hartwick," she replied.
"Miss Hartwick, would you care to dance?"
Uncertainty showed in her eyes. He groaned internally. Home it was then.
"Never mind, Miss. Sorry to bother you." He began to walked away.
"Wait. It's just that I'm so very bad at these things. Would that be alright?"
He smiled and nodded. "Of course."
They went to the dance floor and Aurelia never felt more embarrassed in her entire life. She stepped on Mr. Jones's feet more than once. After the third time she felt ready to rush out of the room.
"I'm so sorry! I told you I was bad at this."
"That's quite alright Miss. I'll show you how. Just follow my lead."
"Okay," she replied.
Aurelia followed his steps and they got along quite well. Conversation began to flow. He asked her what she was interested in.
"Do you play the piano?" he asked.
"I'm tone deaf."
"Card games?"
"I never win them."
"Horseback riding?"
"Only if I have to," she replied.
"There must be something you like," he said persistly.
"Oh I know! Birds." Her eyes brighten and she smiled beautifully.
"I see. You sketch them."
"No, I raise them. Peacocks, geese, ducks, and a whole host of other birds," she said excitedly.
"So you won't eat them?" he asked with amusement in his voice.
"Oh, I'll eat them. I just find their company more enjoyable than people."
The music ended and everyone clapped.
"What's your name?" Richard asked.
"Oh? Miss Hartwick."
"No, I mean your full name."
Most young ladies would gasped at his boldness but Aurelia found it refreshing.
"Miss Aurelia Hartwick."
Richard smiled and kissed her hand. "I'm Mr. Richard Jones. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Aurelia Hartwick."
He moved to leave.
"Are you leaving?"
"Yes. I have business to attend to in the morning."
She smiled. "Alright. Thank you for the dance. It was lovely."
He bid her goodnight and left.
Stevens took his coat.
"How was your evening, sir?" he asked out of habit and general curiosity.
He removed his gloves and threw them in a chair. "Dreadful as always, Stevens."
"I see, sir."
He sat down. Bright green eyes and a beautiful smile entered his mind. "Well," he mused, "there was one thing that I didn't mind too much."
Stevens raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. Who has caught your eye, Master Jones? he wondered.
