The dawn had not yet come when Gregory opened his eyes. He lay in bed for a minute before finally pushing the covers away from his body and standing up. His bare feet hit the cold floor and he shivered involuntarily even as he stretched his arms up to the ceiling, waking the rest of his body up. He was clad only in a linen nightshirt that he pulled over his head and dropped on the floor, he stood for a moment completely naked relishing the silence of the morning. Since he was a prefect he had a room to himself and felt at ease with being nude. No one was going to see him nude as he made his way to his own private bathroom. It might be troublesome to be a prefect but it had a few perks, this room and his privacy being one of them.

When he stepped back out of the bathroom he was clean and as ready to start the day as he would ever be. He put on the school uniform and covered himself with the violet cloak, hiding himself away in it and covering half his face. He didn't even bother to look at himself in the mirror before he left the room, pausing only long enough to gather his sketchbooks. He attended to his prefect duties with a practiced ease, doing what was necessary but no more. He was certain that the majority of the students housed in his dorm could take care of themselves without him looking over their shoulder.

So when the morning classes and lunch were over it was with a degree of delight that he made his way to the gazebo to join the other prefects. Even surrounded by his peers he wouldn't be forced to speak much, and he could drink tea and work on his drawings in peace. However that seemed not to be, as he neared the gazebo he caught the light sound of polite laughter and talk. Gregory raised an eyebrow at the noise but still climbed the steps to see what the commotion was.

Edgar was seated next to a young woman dressed in the plain and conservative dress of a housemaid. He was chatting amicably with the young woman, but she had an air about her as if she were out of her element, perhaps she was not used to the attention she was receiving. Gregory did not make eye contact but sat in a chair opposite the girl and Edgar so he would not be disturbed. He noted vaguely that even Lawrence and Herman were chatting pleasantly with the girl. Gregory politely ignored them all and took out his sketchpad and charcoal and started to draw a landscape, looking out at the lawn for reference.

He was completely absorbed when Edgar finally spoke to him. "Gregory, stop being impolite and come and meet my dear cousin." Gregory looked up and saw the smiling face of Redmond, today he was all charm and politeness. The picture of a perfect English gentlemen; he was enjoying himself it seemed. Gregory sighed and stood up and moved closer to Edgar and the girl. He made eye contact briefly just so he would not seem overly rude, if he didn't do at least this much he would be chastised by the others later. So he took the opportunity to take stock of the girl. He had assumed that she would look almost exactly like Edgar, as all the members of Edgar's family looked very similar, secretly he suspected it was inbreeding. So he was slightly surprised when she didn't meet his assumptions.

Instead of blue eyes, like everyone else Edgars' family, she had very soft and gentle brown eyes. Her skin was not as naturally pale as Edgars and her hair, though blonde, was a few shades darker. She was slender in her uniform and she sat with her back straight betraying that she was at one time not of the servant class. She had high cheekbones like Edgar, and a slight rosy blush to her cheeks that made him wonder if she was wearing makeup or if it was natural. She smiled and nodded at Gregory, "A pleasure to meet you sir, my name is Josephine Redmond." He only nodded as acknowledgment, to the others she might seem perfectly polite, but in her eyes he saw a slight confusion; as if she was not sure why she was here at all.

Introductions done he went back to sit at his chair and continued to sketch. He looked up briefly to see Edgar gesturing to his cousins' hair which was arranged in a tight bun at the nape of her neck. "You should take your hair down Josie; I want to see what color it is in the light!" Apparently Edgar had wasted no time in giving her a new pet name. Her hands went to her hair and she looked like she was going to protest, but then she gave a small smile and started to take out the pins that held it in place and took it down. Once down he could see it was a rich blonde that caught the light and shimmered. It looked like honey that someone would put in their tea, and it was much longer than he would have thought. If the girl stood up it would probably reach down past her buttocks it was so long. He wondered how she got it up in the bun in the first place.

Edgar seized it and held it up to the light like a man holding up a piece of expensive cloth, showing it off to the others like a prize. The poor girl looked more uncertain than ever. "Ah, it is so soft and long! It's like a rich silk almost." Gregory watched as Edgar ran his fingers through the hair and let it fall back against her back. "You should wear it down or at least have it in a braid, my dear cousin." He smiled at Josie and the girl answered. "I can wear it in a braid if I want, but I can't have it down otherwise it would interfere with my chores, sir." She gently took her hair back and started to braid its long length, but Edgar stopped her. "Until then please leave it down, it's so pretty to look at." Josie blushed at the compliment and suddenly looked directly at Gregory, who hadn't realized he was staring at her. He looked back down and continued his sketch.

"Josie I am glad that I had invited you here today, you are simply delightful, it is a pity your father was disowned by the family," Edgar said casually with a wave of his hand. Josie blushed and looked away; no doubt her fathers' disownment was still a source of anguish, even if she hadn't even been alive when it had happened. "Tomorrow I would like you to come back; you shouldn't worry about your chores I will make sure you are excused from them while you are with us." If Josie had a problem with this she said nothing. In fact she probably couldn't say anything at all, Edgar was a nobleman and she was only a servant, she was required to obey his wishes.

Gregory felt a pang of guilt over the situation the girl was caught up in. She was in a tough place, and Edgar was far too pleased for some reason. Perhaps she had met his expectations or exceeded them. At least the girl was what most people would consider attractive, if she had been ugly then Edgar would have tossed her to the side and thought of something better to do with his time. So fortunately, or unfortunately for the girl, she was pretty and therefore a source of amusement to the P4. Gregory would not think on it anymore, whatever happened did not concern him anyway. He just focused on his art and let the others do what they will.