At ten the next morning, Effie made her way down to the drawing room with her sketchbook in hand. Maybe it would help pass the time as she waited for the colonel's arrival. Though for now she picked up a charcoal pencil and started sketching out the shape of Brecken, William's horse. When an hour had inevitably passed, she had already finished drawing the stallions' face. But when Adam walked into the room, she quickly closed her sketchbook and placed it beside her "Sister"
"Good morning to you too" All Adam did was smile over at her and pick up his novel "Can you be a little nicer to the colonel today, Adam?"
"He's coming today too?"
"I know that you don't like soldiers but I have a good feeling about him" She glanced over at Adam.
With a sigh, he opened his book, knowing now that he would probably never finish it unless he was up in his room "It's not that Effie-" Adam spoke, before rolling his jaw "I think you forget, dear sister, that I am a man and know what other men want" He noticed his sister's reaction and bit the inside of his cheek.
"How do you know what he wants? Maybe he is different?" Effie nervously glanced at the clock and noticed the time, 11:15, William said that he'd be here before noon. She took in a much needed deep breath and calmed her nerves "Don't forget Adam, that colonel saved my life"
"And as much as I am thankful for that he is a danger to you by being a soldier, dear sister" Her brother looked up, out of the window when he saw a familiar man riding up towards the house. He scrunched his brow when he saw the man take off his rather worn tricorn hat "now unless I am seeing things, your colonel is now a civilian and walking up towards our home" Effie let out a giddy squeak before standing up brushing her hair over her shoulder and walking over towards the mirror. Adam rolled his eyes "you look fine, go" The young miss nodded and quickly left the room, rushing to the front door to greet William. With a deep breath she opened the door before walking out onto the aporch. He handed Brecken over towards the stableman and took off his utterly useless hat, revealing his neatly braided hair which was tied with the braid that she had given him.
When the pair saw each other, almost all the nerves left her body especially when he walked over towards her "Good morning, Miss Collins" William smiled before presenting her with a bouquet of numerous types of flowers, ranging from white roses to purple tulips "I was told by my grounds keeper that these were in full bloom"
She took the flowers and dipper her head down, inhaling the combination of sweet scents "They're beautiful, though you shouldn't have, William" Effie beamed, quickly admiring his clothing. He looked, dare he say it, handsome in his poet shirt, black waistcoat and breeches. Though she noticed that he still wore his riding boots "you look rather nice in- er -normal clothes" A distant roll of thunder made the both look to the east, within moments the first droplets of rain started to splatter against the path.
"Well I had to search my plantation for any clothes that fit, that is the reason I was so late thismorning" William saw her brother standing behind her, his arms crossed and his gaze fixed on him. Effie scrunched her brow and looked over her shoulder, sighing when Adam shrugged "I am calling upon your sister, will you let me inside or will I stay out here and soak up the rain?" For a moment, Adam smirked, thinking it would be funny to keep the colonel out in the rain rather than let him come indoors. But when Effie walked forwards and took William's arm and walked him into the house, his smirk faded as a more serious one took over his face.
"I will act as a chaperone until father comes back from the servants quarters"
"Adam" Charlotte appeared at the top of the stairs. She gave her brother a stern look and made up a quick excuse "Dear brother, will you help me write a letter to Mister Rosco? He wrote to me and you are more accomplished with words than me" The young miss clearly lied "Please? I'm sure that the colonel isn't going to pounce on our sister the second you disappear, are you sir?"
William shook his head "I have got honour and I respect Miss Effie's virtue"
"You see, now leave them be!"
Effie made a mental note to thank her later, smiling to herself as she placed the flowers in a vase on a cabinet. She guided William into the drawing room, quickly moving her sketchbook and carefully placing it onto the tea table before sitting down "I'm sorry for the mess, I was drawing while I waited for your arrival, please sit"
Tavington glanced at the sketchbook and then at her again "You draw? may I see?" he sat down beside her.
"Erm...I- you won't like them" Effie nervously spoke before reaching for her book, only for him to quickly snatched it from the table. She tried to take it from him though failed rather miserably "William- please, they are not worth looking at, they're mere scribbles" He shot her a smirk before quickly opening it and admiring her work. Though when he stayed silent and flicked from page to page, she thought that there was something wrong "As I said- only scribbles"
"This work is exquisite" He mumbled as he turned to the next page, a half finished landscape with the sketch of a horse with a half scribbled man sat astride it "now this is one handsome stallion, he looks like Brecken" William heard a small squeak from beside him and smirked "so it is Brecken? you even depicted his forehead mark"
"I'm sorry, he's such a gorgeous stallion, I-I only wished to draw him-"
William looked up at her, a small smile on his lips "Did you forget what I looked like?"
"No- I just -oh must you keep questioning me?" Effie went a shade of pink and quickly took her sketchbook off of him "A-Anyway how could I forget what you look like? you were donned in a jacket that was bright red and dark green with a helmet crested with bearskin-" She realised that she had said too much and promptly stopped. He quickly stifled a chuckle, covering his mouth rather quickly "It is not funny, truly it is not" But her voice betrayed her when she herself started to giggle "Well, I couldn't possibly draw you anyway, I have noticed that you do not sit still for long periods of time, you always shuffle!"
"And if you were to draw me?"
"Then you would need to stay still for an ungodly amount of time"
"And what position would you have me in?" Her cheeks flushed at his comment, though when he smirked she knew what he meant "Come now, it can't be that difficult to adjust me" She smiled slightly before taking his arm and resting it on his thigh, doing the same to the other one. With a moments hesitation, she rested a hand on his back and pushed forwards ever so slightly causing him to rest his weight on his arms. Effie swallowed the thick lump that had formed in her throat before reaching forwards and tipping his chin upwards with her fingers. He stared over at her for a moment "ah, so you wish to draw me like this?"
"it is how any artist would ask you to do-" William rolled his eyes and leaned back against the settee "You see, no one could ever draw you as you keep fidgeting" Effie smirked before glancing over at her sketches "And I drew Brecken from memory, as you saw yesterday, I only looked at his face. That is why his body is not yet sketched" Tavington smirked and looked over at her "Don't look at me like that" When a clap of thunder practically shook the house, William stiffened and looked at the rain punishing the ground. He swallowed thickly before closing his eyes "you do not like the rain?"
"I don't like the thunder as it reminds me of cannon fire..."
"It is alright to be frightened by something" Effie shot him a sweet smile and reached across to take his hand into hers. he quickly looked down at his hand and then over at her "We all get scared, it is alright" William carefully studied the woman before him, even more intricately than yesterday. She looked more fashionable than he did yesterday, her gown was an elegant white with stitched flowers decorating it. It was as clear as day that he was staring but he couldn't care less. He was more focused on studying her. Effie had clear skin with barely any blemishes other than a few freckles sprinkled around. Though he noticed that she did have some sort of mark on her neck and that she wasn't wearing any necklace either.
William took note that she was still wearing his ring, causing his lips to curl into a smile "it is not manly to be frightened, my brothers would mock me" But instead of moving his hand away, he gently curled his fingers around hers and squeezed her hand gently "I am glad that you are not jesting about it too"
Effie shook her head "Well we all have fears"
"Euphemia Agatha Collins!" Someone shouted causing the young miss to sigh and bring her hand up to her temple, gently massaging them to prevent a headache. William scrunched his brow, confused for a moment before putting two and two together, that must be Effie's full name. He had only ever met one other woman called that, an old but kind woman who used to give him freshly baked biscuits as a boy and her nickname was Phemy.
"I'm in the drawing room Mamma" Effie called out before taking her hand away from his. Tavington quickly glanced down at her hand and then back at her eyes "Oh come on, she'll butcher us both if she saw us holding hands" She quietly spoke just before her mother entered the room "What is it that you require?"
"Why, I didn't know that you had company," Agatha looked at the colonel before curling her lip "She hasn't scared you off just yet then?"
"I beg your pardon?" William scoffed before sitting up straight "I merely came to call on your daughter"
"He saved my life, I thought that showing him a little gratitude would even the score between us" Effie looked to the side at the colonel "he even brought me flowers mamma"
With a shake of her head, Agatha flounced out of the room. The colonel turned back to Effie and smiled slightly "Euphemia, so your name isn't Effie" He teased only for her to scowl slightly "I only make jest- calm yourself" William spoke, trying his best to calm the young miss down from her mother's intrusion. She nodded and nervously placed her hand on the settee cushion. He stretched his finger, shuddering slightly when his little finger touched hers. how could I be so silly to call on a woman I have only met once! I have Miss Midland and sizable dowry to think about! But oh...she looks beautiful sat there-dammit William!
Effie let out an anxious breath as he moved his hand over hers. After a mere second later he tenderly intertwining their fingers before brushing his thumb over the side of hers. When another rumble of thunder startled the pair, she gently squeezed his hand, catching his attention once again "You never did tell me how old you were"
"Why don't you take a guess?"
"thirty-five?"
William scrunched his brow and scoffed "I didn't look that old the last time I checked, is courting a young lady such an ageing task?"
Effie smirked ever so slightly "You look around thirty, will you not tell me?"
"I will be thirty on the 6th June"
"I'll be twenty-one on the 1st July"
"I shall put it in my diary" He mumbled, smiling slightly when she came a little closer to him. Effie, for a moment, felt butterflies in her stomach. This man of whom she had only met yesterday had made her feel alive in comparison to all the suitors her mother chose for her. William was handsome, too handsome in fact, in her opinion. Especially his eyes, oh how she could stare into them all day! wait what was he doing? The colonel gently lifted her hand and rested it on his thigh causing her cheeks to turn a peach colour "it is true, what I said to your brother- I did in fact call on you"
"Oh- William...I-I don't know what to say"
"I want your permission to court you- if you'll accept my intentions"
"What are your intentions?"
"For now I wish to get to know you better, after that...well I'll probably have had scared you off by then" Effie nervously chewed her bottom lip, unsure of what to say "You do not need to express your opinion just yet, I am not the sort to force courtship"
"Maybe if you come here tomorrow, at noon perhaps, I will give you my answer then" William let out a breath he didn't know that he had been holding and cast her a soft smile. He brought their combined hands up to his lips, softly kissing her knuckles before standing once again, letting go of her hand in the process "oh...are you leaving?" Effie asked as she too stood up.
"I wish to stay, if you'll have me" William's lip curled up into a smile "I was merely stretching"
"W-Well, it would be nice to get to know you a little better I suppose..."
And with that the pair sat down once again, mostly talking about his family. Effie had learned that he had many siblings, eight in total, five sisters and three brothers, him being the third born son. She found it rather funny when he kept telling stories of his mischievous childhood, especially liking the story of how he managed to steal a small dog from an owner that was mistreating it. William had asked her a few questions, nothing from the ordinary, trying his best to pry as much information out of her as possible. Hell, he had learned why she hated her name so much! apparently she hated how her name was similar to 'euphoria' and also that people could barely ever pronounce it properly. By one in the afternoon, Charlotte had joined them in the drawing room after promising that she would remain quiet while the colonel was still there. When the rain eventually stopped at two o'clock, William decided that he had spend enough time with the young miss and wrapped up their conversation.
When Effie had informed the stableman that the colonel wished for his horse to be readied, they waited on the porch. The pair waited on the porch, muttering their goodbyes to each other "I will come back at noon tomorrow, I eagerly await your answer" William muttered before taking both of her hands into his "but until then," he brought her hand up to his lips and gently kissed her knuckles "I hope that this is a decent enough parting for you"
"more than enough" She gleamed before nervously clearing her throat, hesitantly reaching up to brush back a few stray hairs that had escaped its braid "You must let me do this some time"
"perhaps I shall" he muttered "though an officers pride is his hair and their prized sword of course" William dearly hoped that she didn't catch onto that inuendo as he didn't mean for that sentence to come out that way. When they heard someone clearing their throat from beside them, they both looked over to the side to see the stableman stood their with Brecken ready to mount "I will see you soon"
"Be safe on your journey home"
"I will be, the sun doesn't set for another hour" he took a few steps away from her and tipped his head to the side "goodnight Miss Collins" And with that, he put on his hat and walked over towards Brecken, mounting him with ease. Tavington shot her one last smile before blowing her a kiss "Until tomorrow"
Effie watched as he cantered away, standing there until he was out of sight. She quickly turned on her heel, rushed into the house and into the drawing room "Lottie" The young miss mumbled catching her attention "Lottie!" Effie spoke, more impatiently that before.
"Effie" Charlotte acknowledged her, smiling up at her primly "Am I allowed to speak now?" The eldest had started pacing back and forth at this point, nervously folding her hands as she did so "What's wrong? was he untoward? I saw the both of you holding hands"
"William intends to court me...h-he asked my permission"
"And?! What did you say? Please say that you said yes!" Charlotte eagerly asked before looking up at her "why are you pacing?"
"W-Well what happens if he wishes for marriage- then children -I wouldn't see you for a long time-"
"I'll come and visit you silly, most of the officer's wives reside in Charles Towne anyway, it's only over the river" Charlotte protested before standing and shaking her head "He likes you, don't dismiss the one man who actually came back" She smiled as she up to Effie, hugging her rather tightly "He fancies you"
"And what happens if he turns into a horrible husband?"
"I find it rather unlikely, he seems as though he wouldn't hurt an animal or a woman"
"Fine I'll let him!"
"Do not be angry!"
"I'm not angry, I'm nervous!"
"And where on god's green earth have you been?" John Borden asked as his commander walked into the house. William just shrugged and tossed his frock coat onto a nearby clothing hook. The major stared up at the colonel fully expecting an answer causing him to groan "You didn't visit that girl again, did you?"
"I wanted to make sure that she was alright after yesterday's shenanigans" William cleared his throat before taking off his tricorn hat, tossing it onto a nearby table "Who died and made you my mother anyway? I am quite sure that she is alive"
"Well she asked me to take care of you as I am five years older"
"and I'm the Colonel-"
"She's a colonial-"
"Yes, and? So is Miss Midland" The colonel walked over towards the drawing room and looked around the darkening room, maybe he should ask his manservant to light a fire so he could finish that dammed letter to Cornwallis "Miss Collins in a decent looking young miss, she's got brains too and is a good laugh" William shook his head and walked over towards the blue-cushioned settee, sitting down with a groan before lifting his still boot clad feet onto the tea table "Anyway what's wrong with a little romance? I'm not exactly marrying the girl"
"So you're toying with her feelings?" John asked as he toppled into the arm-chair "If she is a proper woman, you won't even get a kiss out of her"
"Of course not, we only have four days until we leave for Charles Towne, I wish to spend my leave with her"
"She'll get attached to you"
"Effie will forget about me-" William quickly stopped himself from talking and fiddled with a button on his waistcoat, noticing that it was rather loose.
"Effie? that's her name?"
"Technically her name is Euphemia, though she'd rather be called Effie" Tavington looked over at his friend who was staring at him, clearly on the verge of laughter. William lifted his legs from the table and stood up "I do not know what aspect of this struggle you find amusing but-"
"All you need is a good romp between the sheets, you'll forget about her as we move to West Ashley, you'll have a hundred dragoons in your care" John sighed before picking up a book from the end table beside the armchair "besides, Tarleton does all the work with his detachment"
"He's a maniac"
"And you're not?"
"we'll save that question for another day, right now I'm going to bed and sleeping my problems away"
Later that evening, William found himself back at his plantation. He had had dinner with the Collins' before saying goodbye to Effie. Lord that woman had made him smile more in two days than Miss Midland had in their entire courtship! The colonel smirked slightly at the thought of her curling to his side, whispering the sweetest words to him as he slowly fell asleep. She would make a fine wife in many ways but she was a colonial and Miss Midland was of English heritage. His mother would certainly kill him for wanting to make home with a colonial.
He turned onto his side and stared at his pocket watch that was strategically placed on side of the bedside table. it read that it was nearly four in the morning, meaning that he actually needed to sleep other than think of Miss Collins. But even as he found tranquillity, his thoughts filled with images of Effie once again. In his defence he hadn't visited a brothel or paid for a whore in quite some time so any woman would float his boat. William let out a sigh and reached into his bedside table, picking out Effie's hair ribbon. He tied it around his wrist and brought it up to his nose, inhaling deeply in hopes of catching a whiff of her perfume. When he caught a slight smell of her scent he gently kissed the ribbon.
"...oh my god! Euphemia- god what is wrong with me?" He sleepily asked hoping to hear a reply from someone only to realise that he was alone again. Maybe John was right- no! that man is not the dictator of his life! The colonel got comfortable in the bed oncer again and curled up into a sort of foetus position, keeping the hand with Effie's hair ribbon on tied around his wrist, staring at it for some time before closing his eyes. He was allowed to have some happiness in this hopeless war, even if that happiness was with Effie.
