Chapter 12: Her Days are Numbered
Somehow or another, she had gotten paired with Lord Ootori at Lady Trevsham's picnic. The estate was a little ways out of London, but the drive was always worth it (Society said) because the grounds were so beautiful.
Over lunch, Haruhi had been able to break up the conversation between the others at their table, but once the group had finished, the walk to the lake was made in pairs.
Haruhi wasn't so remiss as to moan, but the small smile on Lord Ootori's face did not bode well.
Polite talk was held as they walked behind a couple who had become engaged last week, until the distance became far enough between them that Kyouya could begin his interrogation.
Of course, he hadn't considered it such at first, until Miss Fujioka began to look tired. Tired of his company, that is.
With sudden and unusual thoughtfulness, he changed the topic of her schooling to that of business, something at least her father shared him common with him. And with all the time he had spent recently near the man, he had heard enough clues dropped about this woman's intelligence.
"Does your father plan on enlarging his holdings?" he asked, and she blinked in surprise, looking ready to give the normal response for young ladies of the ton – 'I wouldn't know' – but she pursed her lips and considered him, and then looked forward to watch were they were going.
"Yes."
Her unequivocal statement made him grin, a very odd happenstance for the youngest Ootori, and he schooled his face before she looked back to him.
"Why do you ask?"
Her bluntness, perhaps unconsciously, released him to be just as straightforward, and their conversation became quite involved, ranging from their views on the growing middle class, to the dependency on merchant ships, to the importance of demand and the quality of supplies, the place for factories and training employees...
After what felt like minutes, Haruhi noticed that she hadn't seen the backs of their companions in quite some time. She looked ahead, and saw water through the trees.
Wasn't the walk to the lake supposed to take close to an hour? she wondered to herself.
She turned to ask Lord Ootori about it, and realized he was still talking, face more animated than she had ever before seen, his eyes bright and sharp with intelligence.
It was a jolt to the system, to suddenly be aware that he was attractive, and not just objectively cataloging him as handsome.
"Don't you agree?" he asked, and she nodded instictively, not wanting to interrupt him, or worse, let him notice her distraction.
"Do you think the others are far ahead?" she asked, not caring that she had abruptly changed the subject; she wasn't feeling comfortable in her skin, a very rare happenstance.
He blinked, mentally changing tracks.
"They're probably at the folly, to the right of the path near the lake," he explained, one elegant hand pointing to the place. The rest of the walk was silent, both occupied with thoughts of the other, one thinking how perfect a wife she was going to be (once she realized the inevitability of it), and the other wondering at her strange reaction to a person who had caused none in the whole of their previous acquaintance.
And yet, she couldn't help but be pleased that she had engaged in a real conversation, finally. And she couldn't help but wonder why he had been so stupid as to hide himself until today.
