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"Where's Dai?" asked Taichi on entering Ken's library where the group of friends were gathering.
"When I sent someone to fetch for him, his butler told him that his lordship was not in London at the moment and had traveled to York on personal business." Ken replied, smiling, "Which could only mean one thing."
"That you have a greater influence on him than any of us thought and that he really did propose to Miss Ishida."
"And has been accepted."
"Yamato would be pleased in any case. But," Taichi worried, "what if Lord Ishida questions Dai about Yamato's whereabouts? What would we do then?"
"I'm sure Dai knows better than to tell." Koushirou said.
"Though he has been known to be too impulsive for his and everybody else's own good." add Ken just as said person bursted into the room.
"Dai! That was quick, it has only been 3 days since you left!" said Taichi, surprised.
"Tai . you . have to . get back . as soon . as possible!" panted Dai. He tooked several deep breaths and continued. "Lord Ishida is probably on his way as we speak. I had to run at least 3 pairs of horses to near death to get here before he did! And then I had to find you all!"
"And why would Tai have to go back so soon? Did you tell Lord Ishida where Miss Ishida was?" questioned Ken, and in a fit of anger at Daisuke's supposed stupidity added, "And please have more consideration for my house next time you do something so stupid."
"I didn't tell! I swear! Can we get going and let me tell you on the way? I really don't think we have much time!"
"Dai-" Ken started.
"Fine," Taichi interrupted, "As long as you tell us the whole story on the way, better yet, we will hurry back and you will tell everyone at my place, including your fiancée, who I know is visiting at the moment."
Daisuke groaned at the thought of having to tell Takeru but agreed.
"Come on then, let's hurry!"
++++++++++
"Taichi Yagami, what is the meaning of this?"
Taichi looked at his mother and couldn't help thinking that this sounded awfully familiar, like on the night that this whole thing started. The group of friends had rushed to the Kamiya household, with the exception of Jyou and Koushirou who have both gone to fetch their wives.
"A respectable young man does not burst into a house like there is the devil on his tail!" Lady Kamiya reprimanded. "Especially when there are guests over!"
Taichi glanced past his mother to see Hikari, Yamato and her sister standing there, shocked. He could also see Ken elbowing Daisuke, smiling - probably about his earlier behaviour.
"I am sorry mother, but this is urgent business. Daisuke says that Lord Ishida is probably on his way here right now!" Taichi apologised.
"But you said you would not tell!"
Everyone turned to the source of the outburst - Takeru.
Taichi saw Daisuke standing defenseless against his love's accusing glare.
"You promised!"
"Takeru-"
"Now my sister's life is probably going to be ruined because of you!" and with that Takeru started to cry.
"But-"
"Dai, stop. You are probably going to do more harm than good here. Why don't we all calm down, go to the drawing room and let Daisuke tell his story." Taichi interrupted, trying to save the situation.
They all complied and as they were settling down .
"Lord and Lady Kido, Lord and Lady Izumi, my lord." Announced Parkins.
"Good timing, Daisuke was just about to tell his story." Taichi greeted them.
"It seems you have a lot to explain, Dai." Said Sora, sitting down. "You better start now."
Daisuke looked around and saw that everyone was looking at him, urging him to start. He took a deep breath.
"Well, as all of you have either been told, guessed or otherwise realised, I proposed to Takeru a few days ago. Takeru accepted and so I had to visit Lord Ishida to gain his consent. Before I left, Takeru had made me promise that under no circumstances was I to reveal that I know where Miss Ishida is, and if worse comes to worse, to tell him where she is. This promise I have kept, though nobody seems to believe me. On arriving at York, I found where Lord Ishida's residence was and paid a visit. During this visit, I informed him that I had met Takeru at a social gathering, fallen in love and courted her. I had then told him that I proposed to her and asked for consent of the marriage. He scrutinised me and asked me questions about my rank, current address of residence, holdings and income. After a pause, he told me he consented." With this Daisuke paused and took a breath.
In this time of pause, everyone took the opportunity to congratulate the new couple, and Taichi suddenly realised something.
"Parkins!" he called.
"Yes, my lord?"
"Allow no-one by the name of Ishida passage into the house."
"Yes, my lord."
"Wait, Parkins." Hikari intervened.
"Yes, Miss Yagami?"
"Allow them into the house. Take their card, and escort them into the parlour. Then come immediately to inform us that such a person has arrived. Under no circumstances are you to give him any information about anything. Especially, concerning Miss Ishida."
"Yes, Miss Yagami." And with that he left the room.
"Hikari, why?" questioned Taichi.
"Because, brother dear, if you had stopped to think. If we did not allow him passage into the house, he would immediately become suspicious and know that Yamato was indeed in our house. With this, we can formulate a plan and still maintain that Yamato is not here."
"Oh. Very true. Dai, continue with your story."
"Well," Daisuke continued. "After that, he immediately asked if I knew that Takeru had any siblings. I told him that Takeru had talked about an older sister of hers, which she believed to be engaged and still residing in York. After I said that, I asked if she was here and if I could meet her." He smiled at his ingenuity. "He told me that unfortunately I could not because she had run away and then asked me if I might have heard anything about it. I, of course, said no. He then threatened to withdraw his consent from our marriage if I said no. Once again I told him that I did not know, as I had promised Takeru. He stared at me for a while after that and then said that if I said that I still did not know even with the prospect of having his consent of our marriage withdrawn then I must be speaking the truth and let me leave. It was still only the afternoon by the time I left the house so I had decided to go back to my inn and stay the night as I had planned. However, whilst inside the inn, I overheard some people talking about me and my proposed route home. I realised that Lord Ishida had not trusted me and had decided to send people, maybe himself, to follow me. So instead of leaving in the morning as I had planned, I left in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep and travel as quickly as possible back to London. As far as I am concerned no-one directly followed me, but they know I reside in London and they would not find it difficult to find my home as I had given Lord Ishida my address. It is only a matter of time before they find out that I am here or Takeru is here and come to search for Miss Ishida."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Apologised Takeru on hearing the end of the story. "I jumped to conclusions and wrongly accused you."
"Don't worry about it, Takeru. I do not mind, as long as you don't blame me now."
"Well, we must think of a plan, Hikari, what do you think?" stated Taichi.
"I suppose." started Hikari when they were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" questioned Taichi.
"Parkins, my lord."
"Enter."
Parkins entered, holding a white card.
"My lord," giving Taichi the white card.
Everyone looked expectantly at Taichi.
"Lord Ishida has arrived."
++++++++++
"Where's Dai?" asked Taichi on entering Ken's library where the group of friends were gathering.
"When I sent someone to fetch for him, his butler told him that his lordship was not in London at the moment and had traveled to York on personal business." Ken replied, smiling, "Which could only mean one thing."
"That you have a greater influence on him than any of us thought and that he really did propose to Miss Ishida."
"And has been accepted."
"Yamato would be pleased in any case. But," Taichi worried, "what if Lord Ishida questions Dai about Yamato's whereabouts? What would we do then?"
"I'm sure Dai knows better than to tell." Koushirou said.
"Though he has been known to be too impulsive for his and everybody else's own good." add Ken just as said person bursted into the room.
"Dai! That was quick, it has only been 3 days since you left!" said Taichi, surprised.
"Tai . you . have to . get back . as soon . as possible!" panted Dai. He tooked several deep breaths and continued. "Lord Ishida is probably on his way as we speak. I had to run at least 3 pairs of horses to near death to get here before he did! And then I had to find you all!"
"And why would Tai have to go back so soon? Did you tell Lord Ishida where Miss Ishida was?" questioned Ken, and in a fit of anger at Daisuke's supposed stupidity added, "And please have more consideration for my house next time you do something so stupid."
"I didn't tell! I swear! Can we get going and let me tell you on the way? I really don't think we have much time!"
"Dai-" Ken started.
"Fine," Taichi interrupted, "As long as you tell us the whole story on the way, better yet, we will hurry back and you will tell everyone at my place, including your fiancée, who I know is visiting at the moment."
Daisuke groaned at the thought of having to tell Takeru but agreed.
"Come on then, let's hurry!"
++++++++++
"Taichi Yagami, what is the meaning of this?"
Taichi looked at his mother and couldn't help thinking that this sounded awfully familiar, like on the night that this whole thing started. The group of friends had rushed to the Kamiya household, with the exception of Jyou and Koushirou who have both gone to fetch their wives.
"A respectable young man does not burst into a house like there is the devil on his tail!" Lady Kamiya reprimanded. "Especially when there are guests over!"
Taichi glanced past his mother to see Hikari, Yamato and her sister standing there, shocked. He could also see Ken elbowing Daisuke, smiling - probably about his earlier behaviour.
"I am sorry mother, but this is urgent business. Daisuke says that Lord Ishida is probably on his way here right now!" Taichi apologised.
"But you said you would not tell!"
Everyone turned to the source of the outburst - Takeru.
Taichi saw Daisuke standing defenseless against his love's accusing glare.
"You promised!"
"Takeru-"
"Now my sister's life is probably going to be ruined because of you!" and with that Takeru started to cry.
"But-"
"Dai, stop. You are probably going to do more harm than good here. Why don't we all calm down, go to the drawing room and let Daisuke tell his story." Taichi interrupted, trying to save the situation.
They all complied and as they were settling down .
"Lord and Lady Kido, Lord and Lady Izumi, my lord." Announced Parkins.
"Good timing, Daisuke was just about to tell his story." Taichi greeted them.
"It seems you have a lot to explain, Dai." Said Sora, sitting down. "You better start now."
Daisuke looked around and saw that everyone was looking at him, urging him to start. He took a deep breath.
"Well, as all of you have either been told, guessed or otherwise realised, I proposed to Takeru a few days ago. Takeru accepted and so I had to visit Lord Ishida to gain his consent. Before I left, Takeru had made me promise that under no circumstances was I to reveal that I know where Miss Ishida is, and if worse comes to worse, to tell him where she is. This promise I have kept, though nobody seems to believe me. On arriving at York, I found where Lord Ishida's residence was and paid a visit. During this visit, I informed him that I had met Takeru at a social gathering, fallen in love and courted her. I had then told him that I proposed to her and asked for consent of the marriage. He scrutinised me and asked me questions about my rank, current address of residence, holdings and income. After a pause, he told me he consented." With this Daisuke paused and took a breath.
In this time of pause, everyone took the opportunity to congratulate the new couple, and Taichi suddenly realised something.
"Parkins!" he called.
"Yes, my lord?"
"Allow no-one by the name of Ishida passage into the house."
"Yes, my lord."
"Wait, Parkins." Hikari intervened.
"Yes, Miss Yagami?"
"Allow them into the house. Take their card, and escort them into the parlour. Then come immediately to inform us that such a person has arrived. Under no circumstances are you to give him any information about anything. Especially, concerning Miss Ishida."
"Yes, Miss Yagami." And with that he left the room.
"Hikari, why?" questioned Taichi.
"Because, brother dear, if you had stopped to think. If we did not allow him passage into the house, he would immediately become suspicious and know that Yamato was indeed in our house. With this, we can formulate a plan and still maintain that Yamato is not here."
"Oh. Very true. Dai, continue with your story."
"Well," Daisuke continued. "After that, he immediately asked if I knew that Takeru had any siblings. I told him that Takeru had talked about an older sister of hers, which she believed to be engaged and still residing in York. After I said that, I asked if she was here and if I could meet her." He smiled at his ingenuity. "He told me that unfortunately I could not because she had run away and then asked me if I might have heard anything about it. I, of course, said no. He then threatened to withdraw his consent from our marriage if I said no. Once again I told him that I did not know, as I had promised Takeru. He stared at me for a while after that and then said that if I said that I still did not know even with the prospect of having his consent of our marriage withdrawn then I must be speaking the truth and let me leave. It was still only the afternoon by the time I left the house so I had decided to go back to my inn and stay the night as I had planned. However, whilst inside the inn, I overheard some people talking about me and my proposed route home. I realised that Lord Ishida had not trusted me and had decided to send people, maybe himself, to follow me. So instead of leaving in the morning as I had planned, I left in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep and travel as quickly as possible back to London. As far as I am concerned no-one directly followed me, but they know I reside in London and they would not find it difficult to find my home as I had given Lord Ishida my address. It is only a matter of time before they find out that I am here or Takeru is here and come to search for Miss Ishida."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Apologised Takeru on hearing the end of the story. "I jumped to conclusions and wrongly accused you."
"Don't worry about it, Takeru. I do not mind, as long as you don't blame me now."
"Well, we must think of a plan, Hikari, what do you think?" stated Taichi.
"I suppose." started Hikari when they were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" questioned Taichi.
"Parkins, my lord."
"Enter."
Parkins entered, holding a white card.
"My lord," giving Taichi the white card.
Everyone looked expectantly at Taichi.
"Lord Ishida has arrived."
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