Two promised updates down, two more to go. So here it is... Chapter Seven!

Disclaimer: I only own the servants I've given the girls.

A quick A/N: this chapter takes place around the same time as chapters 5 and 6.

Chapter 7 – Dinner Party (Alice's POV)

I stood in front of my mirror, debating over which dress to wear. I held a green dress up. Should I wear this one? I mused to myself. I looked over at my chair. Or should I wear the purple one? Or what about the blue one? Or what about…?

My silent debate was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in," I called. The door opened and Augustus, the butler, entered my room.

"Miss Brandon, a letter just arrived for you," he said.

"Thank you, Augustus," I answered. "Leave it on my desk please." He placed the letter on my desk before exiting the room. Setting down the dress, I made my way over to my desk and settled down before turning to see whom the letter was from. The front bore my name in large writing. Tucked away in the upper left corner was the sender's name: Jasper Whitlock. I smiled, opening the letter and reading Jasper's message.

Dear Alice, he wrote. I was at a friend's house for dinner last night, and your family was brought up. Of course, I immediately thought of you, and how long it has been since we last saw each other. I then remember you mentioning that you thought our families would benefit from meeting each other. I agree whole-heartedly; therefore, it would be my pleasure if you and your parents would join me and my parents for dinner tomorrow night. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Jasper. (A/N: I know in earlier chapters I said that Alice has brothers, but they're married and don't live with the family.)

How sweet, I thought. Jasper invited my family to dinner with him and his family. Placing the letter on my desk, I raced off to find my parents. Within five minutes, I was settling back into my desk chair, drawing a piece of paper and a pen towards me in order to write back to Jasper and accept his invitation.

Dear Jasper, I wrote, I am flattered that the mention of my family immediately brings me to your mind. I'm also flattered that you remember the night we first met so well. I am thrilled that you agree with my statement from that night. I would like to accept your invitation for dinner tomorrow night. My family and I will be at your house at 5 o'clock for supper. Until then, Alice. Setting down my pen, I found one of the messengers and directed him to send the letter. Returning to my room, I summoned my maid and began preparing tomorrow's outfit.

The next day…

At five o'clock on the dot, our carriage pulled up outside Jasper's home. We alighted from the carriage and were greeted, not by Jasper and his parents, but by the butler, who showed us into the sitting room before exiting to go find our hosts. While we waited, my parents and I walked around the room, admiring the artwork hanging there. One particular painting, situated by the entrance, caught my attention and I went to examine it. It was a portrait of Jasper. I looked closely at it, admiring how similar it looked to the real-life Jasper and how the artist had caught the little twinkle in Jasper's eye.

"So you must be Alice Brandon," a feminine voice with a Southern accent trilled from beside me. I turned and found Jasper standing in front of me with his parents. His mother was watching me, a broad smile on her face.

"That would be me," I answered, stepping forward to kiss her cheeks. "How did you know?"

"Jasper described you perfectly," Mrs. Whitlock replied. "I thought he was exaggerating, of course, but you are as beautiful as he said you were." I blushed.

"Mother," Jasper said in a strangled voice. I looked at him and saw that he was as red as I was. I laughed softly. Before I could speak to him, Mr. Whitlock stepped forward to shake my hand.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Alice," Mr. Whitlock said. "I've heard many lovely things about you from my son." Behind him, Jasper's face turned an even deeper shade of red.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Mr. Whitlock," I said. "May I introduce my parents?" Mr. Whitlock stepped around me to shake hands with my parents, as did Mrs. Whitlock. Once I was sure our parents were occupied, I turned to Jasper. He caught my hand and brought my fingertips to his mouth. His lips lingered longer than necessary on my fingertips, but I made no move to stop him.

"It's so lovely to see you again, Alice," Jasper said once he finished kissing my fingertips. "You look beautiful, as always."

"Thank you, Jasper. It's wonderful to see you again, too," I answered, my voice full of happiness from just being around him.

"So what piece of art had you so utterly fascinated before?" he asked, the twinkle in eyes visible.

"It was the portrait of you," I confessed. He laughed. He opened his mouth to respond, but was stopped by the butler announcing supper. The six of us made our way to the dinning room. Unsurprisingly, but nevertheless to my delight, I was seated next to Jasper. The meal was lovely and conversation was lively. Towards the end of supper, conversation turned to family origins.

"Mrs. Whitlock, I noticed all three of you bear a southern accent," my mother remarked. "Where in the south are you from?"

"We're originally from Texas," Mrs. Whitlock said.

"Why did you leave?" my father asked.

"Our family has had some bad histories with wars, and we didn't want our only son to have to face the horrors of battle," Mr. Whitlock replied.

"I see what Alice meant when she said our families were alike," my father said. "Our family too has had a bad history with war. We too escaped from our home to save our children."

"We're from Mississippi," I clarified.

Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock looked at my father. "What do you mean, children?" Mr. Whitlock asked.

"The men of our family are not the only ones who have suffered due to wartime," my father answered somberly. "My mother – Alice's grandmother – was unfortunately raped by an American soldier during the War of 1812." A look of shock quickly passed over the faces of Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock. I turned to Jasper hoping to receive an explanation; he averted his eyes. Tactfully, I changed the subject.

The rest of the meal passed by smoothly. When we finished, Jasper's parents invited us back into the sitting room for coffee. I, however, felt it was time to get some answers. I turned towards Jasper. "You know, Jasper, your family has such a lovely house," I cooed sweetly.

"Thank you Alice," Jasper said with a smile. "Would you like a tour?"

"I would love that," I answered.

Jasper turned towards the adults. "Would anyone care to join us?" he asked. The adults declined. He turned back to me. "I guess it's just you and me," he said. I smiled. Jasper began showing me around his home, pointing out various things of interest, like paintings or sculptures. After we finished the main house, he led me outside to the gardens and began showing me them. We winded through beautiful flower bushes and tall hedges until we reached a small fountain. Around this fountain were several benches. Jasper led me towards one and we sat down. For a little while, neither of us spoke. I was bracing myself to ask about what had happened at dinner when Jasper's voice broke the silence.

"Alice, do you remember the first night we met?" he asked me.

Of course I remember. How could I forget that night? That was when I first met you. I thought to myself. Out loud, I simply said "yes."

"And do you remember what we talked about?" he said softly, looking at me. I nodded. He turned his face away from me and continued to speak. "I was so shocked when I first met you, Alice. I had never seen you before, didn't even know your name, but there was still this undeniable feeling of trust between us. I knew I could trust you and that you trusted me." He looked at me, his eyes full of anger and hurt. "And now, I find out that you didn't even trust me enough to tell me the whole story!" I gasped at his accusation. He looked away from me again. My mind started to race. How could I explain this to him in a way that wouldn't ruin everything?

"Jasper, I'm sorry," I began. "I should have told you about my grandmother when we met. You're right. But there's a reason I didn't tell you this when we met. There was a piece of information my parents didn't disclose when they told the story, however brief. You see," I felt my voice breaking, but I tried to remain steady. "We know the name of the soldier who…" I faltered. "Who raped my grandmother." I felt tears silently falling down my face. Jasper handed me a handkerchief and I began to dry my eyes.

"What was the soldier's name?" Jasper asked me. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

I swallowed. It's now or never, I told myself. I hesitated. "Private Whitlock," I whispered finally. I looked up at Jasper. His reaction shocked me. He looked calm, not angry or hurt like I would have expected since I had just named his grandfather as my grandmother's rapist.

"Alice, do you remember the very first thing you said to me the first time we met?" he asked me.

I hesitated. "I asked you why you had rescued me from Mr. Yorkie," I answered.

"Do you remember my answer?"

"You said that the way he was acting was no way to treat a lady like me."

"What if there was another reason?" I looked up at Jasper, surprised. He reached out and took my hands in his before continuing. "Alice, it was never a secret in my family that my grandfather had raped someone during his service in the War of 1812. When he came home, he was very proud of what he had done. He was proud that he had raped this poor girl from Mississippi. My great-grandmother was shocked. When my grandfather married and had my father, she made sure that he was raised to respect women. She wanted to ensure that he wouldn't do what my grandfather did. When he was old enough, she explained the story to him and told him that if he had a son, he was to do the same thing she did for him." Jasper stopped for a second to look at me. "My dad was horrified by his father's actions. When I was born, he was terrified I would become like my grandfather. He took every precaution to ensure that I would never mistreat a woman in my life. That's why I had to rescue you from Mr. Yorkie." Jasper eyes began to twinkle as he looked at me. "Watching him brought the story of my grandfather's actions back to my mind. I was appalled that anyone would be so impolite to a woman, especially one like you. I always make sure that I'm polite to any female I meet. I guess it's because I think that I can remedy my grandfather's actions through my own. It's kind of foolish, really."

"I don't think it's foolish," I told him.

"You don't?" he asked, surprised.

"On the contrary, I think it's very smart. It shows that you're a true gentleman. Besides, if you weren't such a gentleman, we wouldn't be here. Together." I looked up at him, waiting for his response.

Jasper didn't answer. Instead, he pulled me closer to him, so that I was sitting in his lap, and wrapped his arms around me. I leaned my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes, content. We sat like this for a while as the sky got progressively darker. Finally, Jasper spoke. "I think we should go back inside," he told me. Reluctantly, I lifted my head off his shoulder. He dropped his arms and I climbed off of his lap. We walked back inside. Rejoining the adults, we talked for another hour before my parents decided it was time to go. We went outside to wait for our carriage. When it came, my parents said their goodbyes and entered the carriage. I said goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock before turning to Jasper.

"Thank you for inviting us, Jasper," I said. "Supper was lovely and I had a fabulous time."

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, Alice," he said as he brought my hand to his mouth and kissed my fingertips. "I hope I can see you again soon."

"I'm sure we can arrange that," I said with a smile. He returned the smile and helped me into my carriage. As we set off, I saw him watching us go, his eyes never faltering until we rounded the corner, out of sight. I sighed and settled back in my seat, thinking all the while of Jasper and knowing that he was thinking of me, too.

Ah, so sweet. But don't be fooled, sweeties. There's conflict building up and it's about to hit a boiling point and explode. Stay tuned.

As always, reviews are welcome (plus they make me happy). Au revoir for now.

xoxoxoxoxo, TwilightTeen212