Right basics of the nobility is just so everyone knows:
First there is the Peerage and in order of higher to lower there is:
Duke (Puck, his Grace)
Marques (Hiram, his lordship, or Lord Hiram) (Rachel is called Lady)
Earls. (Finn, Matt, Mike, all would be addressed as Lord, and My Lord)
Viscounts
Barons (Quinn's family, but Quinn is only a Miss)
Then there is the Landed gentry, but not in this society :D
Chapter 2
Rachel shifted uncomfortably again and waved her fan with more vigour as she tried to snatch at least one breath of air from the stifling London air, not used to the close muggy air of London after the open cities of the continent she pulled at the collar of her dress again and waved her fan as she watched the tennis match in front of her.
Sitting with the other girls of the 'society' as they gossiped and talked about the bachelors who were playing the competition she ignored them as best as she could, their simpering over the men and constant plotting to catch a husband was infuriating her. Sighing heavily she gave up finally and swept to her feet and away from the girls, who barely noticed the departure as she had been so quiet all afternoon approaching her father she sat down next to him with a smile at him, and ignored the men who looked shocked at her intrusion.
"How are you my darling?" Hiram asked pressing a kiss to her forehead as the other talked about the state of the growing Empire.
"Bored" Rachel said bluntly, shocking the men again "would it be possible for me to take the carriage home and send it back to you?"
"Of course darling, would you like me to escort you to it?" Hiram and all the men standing up as Rachel did.
"No I shall be fine" Rachel assured him with a kiss to his cheek and a barely perceptible curtsy to the men before gathering her skirt to walk away.
Puck looked up from the doubles he was currently playing and scowled as he once again missed Rachel, he knew that she wouldn't stay long at the tennis match and had deliberately chosen a partner that should have meant he was out in the first round; unfortunately it hadn't worked out that way and he was stuck here.
Arriving home Rachel sent the carriage back to her father with a smile and a few kind words to the driver and entered the large house on Berkley Square her father had bought for the both of them while he attended to long neglected business. While they had many holdings all over the country as part of the family holdings, her home in the North of Wales, the grand gothic house at Plas Newydd was where she really wanted to be, not this grand stately home in the middle of 'society'.
"Hello dear" Said Emma the homely housekeeper who had followed them everywhere since she was little.
"Hello Emma" Rachel said dully as she flopped into the chair only to earn herself a disapproving tusk from Emma.
"Don't wrinkle your dress" came the order seconds later, making Rachel sit up and smooth out the skirt of her dark brocade dress.
"Whoever decided that brocade should be the newest fashion of London society should be shot" Rachel said miserably as she got to her feet to shove open one of the windows "it is hot and stifling, and I will bet every coin in my purse that it was a man's idea"
"Is it not always my dear?" Emma smiled, moving forward to untie the strings at the back so Rachel could change into a light shift dress that she wore around the house.
"And the girls Emma!" Rachel complained as she headed into her room and changed loudly shouting to Emma in the other room "their entire lives consist of having the right dress and snagging a husband, one as powerful and rich as they can with the size of their dowry! As if marrying a man who is both intelligent and caring, and not a complete womanizer, is not more important that a husband who can buy them three more dresses a year!"
"Not everyone is you dear" Emma said diplomatically as Rachel walked back in to the room, a book in her hands
"Just one person would be nice" Rachel sighed heading for the already well worn chair at the window "I am at such a loss of what to do here Emma" she sighed again sitting down "I have no purpose"
"Give it time dear and you will have the purpose of choosing a husband, the suitors are already circling I have heard"
"None that I would commit my life to" Rachel said opening her book. A few hours later she closed the book as she heard her father return to the house and went downstairs to greet him slowing her steps warily as she saw his big smile, knowing that that never meant good news for her.
"Father?"
"Ask Emma to get the staff to pack us up for a summer, we are spending it in the country"
"Country?" Rachel echoed worriedly, knowing he didn't mean Wales "with whom?"
"A tour, it was Lord Schuester's idea a way of reintroducing ourselves to everyone now that I have to take my position back in the House. Won't it be lovely? I know you have hated this London air after Switzerland"
"Lovely" Rachel echoed again as he swept away talking excitedly about the girls her own age coming and the houses they would be visiting and that the son of the Earl of Suffolk, Finn had been asking after her after she had left today.
"Oh and His Grace Noah Puckerman asked me to tell you 'that I hope Polo is more to your liking'" Hiram added absently as he started to flick through the mail of the day, with his back to his daughter he didn't see her stop in surprise and her mouth curl into a small smile before continuing up the stairs.
Puck walked down the stairs to the welcome party the Earl of Essex, his son Lord Michael his heir apparent was hosting for them this evening with his close friend Lord Matt Rutherford of Suffolk, heir to the Earldom of Suffolk. The idea of the tour by His Grace Lord Schuester was both annoying and excellent for the heir apparent to the Duke of Rutland, annoying for the constant presence of the simpering girls around him who were trying to snag him as a husband while trying to also follow the orders of their men folk.
But it was also excellent for the next three months he would spend around Rachel, three months trying to get her out from under his skin where only one meeting she had managed to needle herself into. He needed to know what made a girl like her tick, because he knew women, the reputation he had was based in that knowledge of women but everything he had observed about her confused him, she didn't fuss about the men at parties, and often took it upon herself to leave events early no matter how it might look. All this coupled with the constant gossip about the girl who was apparently vocal enough that her father allowed her to have a say in who she married made him not only want, but need to know her.
Standing at a window much later as he watched the party happen around him, the men were all too wary of him this early in the season to let the girls approach him and he had no inclination to force himself further into this party that would continue on for hours yet as it was only mid afternoon. Glancing out the window as he waited around for tea; he stopped and looked back out as he saw a familiar head of chocolate locks scuttled past, grinning as he finally spotted the girl he had been watching for he ducked out of the closest open door he went against any polite conventions and vaulted over the stone wall that surrounded the balcony to follow the fast moving girl in front of him.
Rachel swiftly and quickly saddled a horse before leading it out of the stable and not seeing the skulking Duke in the corner she swiftly mounted, not side saddle, and kicked the horse to a gallop a cloud of dust clicking up behind her as she rode swiftly away from the house and into the surrounding woodland.
Rebel Puck thought with a smirk before doing the same to another horse and following her out of the stable towards the woods.
Panting heavily Rachel pulled the horse to a stop and leaned forward to pat the sweating gelding on the neck "good boy" she murmured turning in her saddle as a galloping horse came up behind her.
"Lady Rachel" Puck smirked as he pulled his own horse to a stop next to her
"Your Grace" Rachel said inkling her head at the handsome man in front of her,
"You have a good seat for a woman not in side saddle position" Puck complimented her, surprised at the scowl he got in return for his troubles.
"I shall have you know sir that side saddle is acutely uncomfortable and was obviously decided on by a man as the proper way for a lady to ride. As for myself I have ridden from a young age and do not find myself constrained to the edicts of this society" Rachel said harshly turning the horse to face Puck "as for your own seat, it requires work, you slouch and you natural tendency to lean to the left makes the horse nervous"
"I have never been insulted on my own seat before" Puck growled
"Perhaps because people are too scared of you to do so, however if you would like proof I propose a race back to the stables"
"Women are not faster than men, not even on a horse"
"Then you have nothing to fear" Rachel snapped, her eyes glittering at the heady exchange arching her eyebrow in challenge again she waited for him to nod before kicking her horse to a gallop, hearing the Duke's vague challenge behind her as she rode away. Seconds behind her Puck galloped after the brunette his eyes captured by the grace of her movements with the horse and her brown hair tossing out in the wind like her own mane, not catching her before they reached the stables Rachel dismounted and handed the reins over to the waiting groomsmen with a smile before turning to the Duke smugly.
"You cheated" Puck said half heartedly
"I thought women were slower" with a perfect curtsy which was both respectful and mocking Rachel looked the Duke dead in the eye and walked away, once again leaving a stunned man behind her.