Chapter 2

Perhaps because he was older and had been drinking the hard liquor longer, and because he had to get to court, Jarrod was up and ready to go earlier in the morning than Eugene was. The younger man was still a bit groggy when he came down for breakfast. Jarrod's houseman, Charles, couldn't help but smile when Jarrod smirked at him.

"Good morning," Jarrod said to his brother. "Did we keep you up too late last night – we meaning you and me? I'm not blaming Charles for any of this."

"All right, so I'm not as eager as you are in the morning," Eugene said and sat down at the table where his brother was finishing his coffee.

Charles set down a cup of coffee in front of Eugene. "Will you have some ham and eggs this morning, Mister Eugene?"

"Yes, thank you," Eugene said, "but not too much."

"Have you been imbibing much at school?" Jarrod asked.

"Not at all," Eugene said. "Not while class is in session anyway. Now and then on a Saturday night, but last night - ." He groaned.

"What do you have on the agenda for today? Do you want to watch more of my trial?"

"Only if you want to hear me snoring in the middle of it," Eugene said.

Jarrod chuckled. "Tell you what. Why don't you meet me over at the Green Man at about six?"

"I thought I'd go over there at lunchtime, to see who Cordelia is today," Eugene said.

"She doesn't start her drinking game until five," Jarrod said.

"I wasn't planning to see her about her drinking game."

"Trying to catch her eye, are you?" Jarrod said with a twinkle in his.

"I don't know," Eugene said. "I'll bet I have a lot of competition. She won't notice me."

"Miss Cordelia doesn't seem to have eyes for anyone over the age of 25," Jarrod said, "and most of the patrons are over that age." Jarrod got up from the table. "Don't give up before you've even started the battle. I'll see you this evening. Charles, help my brother out here with a good breakfast, but don't feel like you have to nursemaid him. He's a big boy. If he gets into trouble, just send for me and I'll bring the bail money - later."

Jarrod left, heading off for the courthouse, just as Eugene started into his coffee. He was still tired and his head hurt, but his thoughts did drift to Cordelia/Donna/Whoever. He smiled a little. It would be nice to head to the Green Man for lunch and find out who she was today.

She was awfully attractive, and if she didn't seem to notice men over 25, Jarrod would be no competition. A good girl, not a working girl, Jarrod had said, and Eugene knew what he meant by that. Eugene thought he'd just wander over there at lunch time and maybe be able to talk to her a little bit, one to one, no Pappy in the way. Pappy at dinner would be fine, but at midday with Donna at work, Eugene figured that maybe he could make a little more casual contact. Eugene smiled at the thought.

Charles smiled at seeing Eugene smiling at the thought.

XXXXXX

"So, what's your name today?" was the first thing Eugene said as she-who-was-Cordelia-yesterday came to the table he occupied alone at the Green Man.

She smiled. "Adelaide. And tomorrow it will be Maud, and the day after that Augusta, then Caroline, then Mary. Figure that one out while you look over the noon menu."

Eugene watched again as she walked away, momentarily distracted from thinking about her naming convention, but then, when he looked at the menu, her choice of names came at him again. There had to be some reason to her choice, but for the life of him he couldn't think of what it might be. Adelaide, Maud, Augusta, Caroline, Mary. Solid names, a mixture of down-to-earth womanhood and ladies of the higher classes. What could that be?

"I give up," he said when she came back to take his order.

Adelaide chuckled. "About what you want to eat or about my names?"

"Beef stew and a beer," Eugene said, "but your names elude me."

Adelaide took his menu from him, smiling. "The middle names of Queen Victoria's daughters."

"Middle names?" Eugene said with a grin. "I'm impressed. I can't believe you actually know their first names, much less their middle names."

"I have a tendency to remember everything I ever read," Adelaide said. "And somewhere I read the names of the Queen's children."

"Now I'm intrigued," Eugene said. "What's the most obscure thing you've ever remembered?"

Adelaide bit her lip, looked up into the air with a furrowed brow, then back down and said, "Auchentoroly Terrace."

Eugene started to laugh. "What?"

She spelled it out. "A funny story I read about a street in Baltimore. A police officer came into his station and reported to the sergeant that they needed to arrange to haul off a dead horse that was lying in the middle of a street named Auchentoroly Terrace. The sergeant told him to get some men and move the dead horse around the corner because he couldn't spell Auchentoroly Terrace for the report."

Eugene laughed at the story. He wasn't just trying to impress her. It was a funny story. "I suppose you've read a few things about my famous brother."

"Well, I wouldn't call him famous, but he does make the papers more than my average customer."

"I don't suppose you've read anything about me."

"Actually a little. It's how I knew you were in school in San Jose – I read it in the society page. But if you're anything like your brother, it's only a matter of time before you're in there a lot more."

Adelaide went off to the kitchen. Eugene watched her go. Then he caught sight of her uncle, Sandy the bartender, looking at him. It was not a happy look. Eugene almost looked away, but then he thought about what Jarrod would do, and instead, he smiled and nodded pleasantly. Maybe all it took was that acknowledgement that Uncle Sandy was there and he was the man in charge, but Sandy smiled a little back at him.

XXXXXX

Eugene took a good long time to eat his lunch, but he didn't want to come across as a little pest, so when he finished, he went on his way. "Be back with your brother later?" Adelaide asked as Eugene got up to leave.

"He's got a trial taking up his time," Eugene said, "but I'm supposed to meet him here at six. Maybe I'll come at five and try to get a jump on him with your 'what the' game."

"I don't know," Adelaide said with a teasing tone. "I've got a real good one ready for tonight."

"Will you be dropping hints?"

"If I have to," Adelaide said.

"I'll see you later," Eugene said.

He left, wishing he didn't have to. It would have been nice to spend the whole afternoon in Adelaide/Donna's company, but he kept reminding himself not to be a pest. It had been less than 24 hours since he met her, and to her, he was just a schoolboy. He really didn't want to come off as one.