Of Lords And Ladies
Lesson Three: Your husband's friends are your friends. His enemies, your enemies.
Just as expected, Hayato took Cora's breath away. His suit was fitted perfectly to long limbs, the black fabric contrasting sharply with his crisp white shirt and smooth pale skin.
Unsurprisingly, he wasn't exactly overflowing with compliments for her. She could feel his eyes tracing their way over her, taking in every curve and fold of the dress. Eventually she was gruffly told that she "looked enchanting", but there was no warmth in neither his voice nor his eyes. There was nothing but disinterest.
The carriage ride did little to induce any intimacy between the young couple. Hayato sat with his hands in his lap, staring resolutely out the window whilst Cora tried to not suffocate from the ridiculous corset crushing her ribs.
Why did mother insist on tightening it a fourth time? I'm slender enough as it is.
The event itself was being held at Hayato's boss's house, and so Cora was expecting a relatively exclusive event. What she hadn't counted on was this man owning a country manor house forty minutes out of London – which meant forty minutes of silence. Half way through she asked who would be attending the event, praying silently she would recognise at least one name. Hayato however had no interest in naming every signal guest that would be there and instead responded with "The gentlemen my boss works and acquaints himself with."
Her next question, a full fifteen minutes later, of what it was Hayato did for a living (other than being rich full time and professionally sullen), was met with a silence stonier than the road beneath the carriage. (She was doing her best to avoid ending up any nearer to Hayato than she had to; something which the numerous potholes littering the road made challenging.)
The rest of the carriage ride passed so slowly Cora began to wonder if they were even going to a party at all, or if it was some elaborate ruse on behalf of her fiancé to test her ability to deal with the silence that would, surely, permeate every aspect of the rest of her life. As it transpired, however, there was in fact a party, and the relief Cora felt at the sight of the magnificent manor was rapidly replaced with fear as she realised oh God, there are so many people.
It was true; people were oozing out of the house. Hayato was evidently unperturbed by this, climbing out of the carriage without so much as a second glance at the house which, surely, couldn't accommodate more? No, Cora decided, there were too many people. They would just have to go back. Hayato, however, clearly disagreed.
"Miss Bonneville, please, we're late enough as it is."
Plucking up what faltering courage she had, Cora forced herself out of the carriage. From the ground, the house was even more daunting, the large arched windows revealing an interior so luxurious she couldn't help but wonder exactly what it was this future husband of hers did.
Presumably, whatever he does is similar to Father. They met through work, I believe. But I don't actually know what Father does.
She had little time to wonder; Hayato was rapidly steering her towards a front door that looked more expensive than everything she owned put together. It opened before they reached it, granting them entrance to the entrance hall.
A staircase rose before Cora, the bannister shining gold. The black and white marble flooring was barely visible beneath the feet of hundreds of people, all gathered in groups and drinking out of cut crystal glasses. As she watched, a butler weaved between the crowds and headed in their direction. Hayato caught the man's eye and for the first time a smile broke out across his face.
"Simmons, my good man, it's a delight to see you again."
The butler bowed.
"And you, sir. I hope this evening finds you well." His gaze turned to Cora, who was slightly surprised to see the scar running from his left temple, down the side of his face and disappearing beneath his collar. "And you must be Miss Bonneville. I'm honoured to welcome you to the house of Lord Tsunayoshi Sawada, our gracious host for the evening."
Cora extended her hand in greeting, mulling the name of this mysterious man through her mind. It wasn't one she recognised; but then, neither was the name of her husband, and clearly their fathers were well acquainted.
Simmons attention returned to Hayato. "Lord Sawada requested your presence as soon as you arrived, sir. If you'll follow me, he's currently in the library."
Abruptly the butler turned on his heel and disappeared into the heaving throng. Hayato gripped Cora's arm firmly (for which she was thankful) and followed.
The library was smaller than the entrance hall, and quieter too, which Cora was grateful for; a few men in suits were dotted around the room. Books adorned every inch of the walls, right up to the ceiling – there was even a platform for easier access to higher books. A large winged leather arm chair was next to the roaring fire, and in it sat a man, around Hayato's age, reading a large book, the title of which was in a language Cora didn't recognise. His hair was a warm golden brown, and his eyes – God, his eyes! – were like honey. He smiled and set the book down upon the sight of them, and rose to his feet.
"Hayato!"
"Juudaime."
The two men embraced, which took her by surprise - she hadn't thought Hayato capable of something as human as hugging. Clearly, however, this Tsunayoshi was someone special to Hayato.
"Allow me to introduce my fiancée, Miss Cora Bonneville."
Tsunayoshi took Cora's extended hand and pressed his lips to it, eyes never leaving hers. "Miss Bonneville, I'm delighted. Allow me to extend my warmest congratulations upon your engagement. Hayato here is my closest friend, and I'm sure he will treat you well."
His voice had an accent that she couldn't place, which only served to heighten her confusion over just what it was Hayato did for a living. His speech took her by surprise; not only because it was utterly unexpected, but also because it seemed so genuine. Not to mention, this man was at a completely juxtaposition to her fiancé, and yet, if he were to be believed, they were the closest of friends. Perhaps she'd misjudged Hayato.
"Miss Bonneville, I apologise, but I must borrow Hayato for a short period of time. There's urgent business we need to discuss. If you find yourself at a loose end, however, feel free to peruse my book collection. Hayato tells me you have a fondness for reading."
Cora thanked Tsunayoshi for his generosity, but couldn't help but wonder how Hayato knew this. The two of them had, by her counting, exchanged fewer than a hundred words; and she was positive reading had never come up before. At any rate, this library certainly was impressive, and Tsunayoshi hadn't been wrong. She did love reading.
Upon further inspection, the library was a jumble of books in English, Italian, and what she took to be either Japanese or Chinese – she couldn't tell the difference at all. Deciding that now was not the time to test her limited Italian (she'd always detested it as a language anyway), she settled on a sofa opposite the large armchair, a Dickens' in hand. However, it was barely forty seconds before she was interrupted.
"Excuse me, my lady, this library is off limits to guests."
Cora's head snapped up, ready to inform this intruder that actually I'm here with my fiancé, a close personal friend of Lord Tsunayoshi when she set eyes upon him, and any indignity melted away.
He was tall, much taller than Hayato, and so stunningly beautiful all breath was knocked from her chest. His skin was olive, his hair black and messy, and his eyes a deep brown. He was unlike any man Cora had seen before, and so clearly not from England. His voice was deep, and had an accent much like that of Tsunayoshi. It was at this point Cora realised she was staring, mouth slightly ajar, and the handsome stranger was clearly awaiting a response.
"I…Uh, I'm sorry, my fiancé-" She began, rising awkwardly.
"Fiancé? Oh!" Understanding flooded the man's face. "My apologies, my lady, I didn't realise. You must be Gokudera's fiancée."
The use of Hayato's surname caught her off guard, but she collected herself faster this time.
"Yes, I am. I'm Cora Bonneville."
He took her hand and kissed it, slowly. Cora felt her knees weaken ever so slightly.
"Miss Bonneville. I'm truly enchanted. My name is Takeshi Yamamoto. Please, accept my sincerest apologies. I hadn't realised. And please-" he leaned in slightly, allowing her a whiff of his aftershave, which weakened her knees more, "If you could refrain from mentioning this misunderstanding to Gokudera, I'd be most grateful."
"Are you not friends?" Cora asked, internally cursing Hayato for not at least telling her who he liked and disliked.
At this, Takeshi laughed.
"Of course we are! Gokudera can just get a bit grumpy sometimes, that's all." He flashed her a smile, which almost made her knees give out altogether. "And I'm sure he would not be happy to learn I almost removed his fiancé from the library!" Another laugh, at which Cora grabbed the arm of the sofa, to try and maintain at least an illusion of dignity. She was in the process of making up an excuse to explain away her flaming cheeks when Tsunayoshi returned, Hayato in tow.
"Ah, Gokudera! I was just greeting your beautiful fiancée. You're a lucky man!"
The temperature in the room seemed to have reached boiling point. Cora couldn't remember ever having been this hot, not even during that summer her family spent in India. She was, surely, a similar colour to her dress at this point.
Hayato, however, was clearly unperturbed by this statement. His steely eyes met Takeshi's and for a moment Cora thought she saw a flash of anger behind the mask, but he remained as composed as ever.
"Yamamoto. I wasn't expecting you to be back from Japan so soon."
Takeshi grinned. "We managed to finish things up much faster than expected. So I decided I'd hurry back. Tsuna's parties never disappoint, and this one is turning out to be even better than expected." His eyes flashed in Cora's direction, and she thought she would burst.
"How wonderful." Hayato said, in a tone of voice which suggested the exact opposite. "If you'll excuse us, however, there are other people I must introduce Cora too." With that, his hand was around her upper arm again, and before she got the chance to bid the two men farewell, she had been steered out of the room. A quick glance at Hayato's face showed he was in a thunderous mood, and so Cora decided, for the time being, to stay quiet.
After a few minutes of moving through crowds, they came across an empty window seat in a long corridor lined with paintings of, Cora assumed, the previous Lords. Hayato pushed her down into it, and sat beside her. It was the closest they'd even been; his knee was touching hers through the numerous layers of her dress, and they were both acutely aware of it.
"Miss Bonneville, I must warn you to stay away from Yamamoto."
Cora blinked, confused.
"Excuse me?"
"He has a… reputation, amongst the young ladies of Japan. And I'm sure he is planning on extending this reputation here. I understand that you had as much as say in this marriage as I did, and I suppose Yamamoto has a certain…charm," his lip curled in irritation at this. "But it is very important, for all of us, that we at least appear to be a young, infatuated couple. Is that not too much to ask?"
Cora could feel anger bubbling in her chest. How dare he insinuate that she'd happily jump the first attractive man to pay her attention?! How dare he? The fact that she would, if given the opportunity was, of course, completely irrelevant. She may not know exactly why it was so important that they seemed to be happy, but she wasn't stupid enough to think that she could flirt with any man she wanted. No, Cora Bonneville didn't know what her role in this game was, but she was damned good at playing it. But it wouldn't do to shout at her fiancé. Instead, she would have to act the part of a submissive wife-to-be. She lowered her gaze.
"I'm sorry, Hayato. I didn't intend any harm; I was merely taken aback by Takeshi. He caught me by surprise when I was reading. I certainly wasn't taken in by his 'charm', as you so eloquently put it."
He didn't look convinced, but at the very least seemed satisfied by her response.
"Call him Yamamoto, woman. If you call him by his first name it'll only inflate his already oversized ego even more."
She nodded, although it seemed unusual to call someone by their surname. "Of course."
The rest of the night passed slowly but quietly. Cora remained by Hayato's side, smiling and greeting people as they were introduced to her, and for his part, he seemed to defrost a little. At one point, he even put his arm around her waist, in a gesture she almost mistook for affection.
Don't fool yourself, Cora. It's an act. It's all an act. And the game's just beginning…