Chapter 1

Harry Hart wasn't disappointed with his life, but it wasn't exactly the one he had envisioned for himself when he was young. Really, he had been a victim of his own sense of duty, but also of expectation. Not his own, but his father's, who like many English males held his own ambitions over his son's own desires.

"Manners Maketh Man" Harry had believed that his whole life, it worked well in his life as a Kingsman agent, but this life of service hadn't been the one he had dreamed of.

Butterflies had fascinated him his whole life. He remembered being a little boy chasing them around his family home. His mother had found the way his eyes would shine at the sight almost endearing, but his father had considered it a sign of weakness. And weakness was not something he would tolerate in his son. His father had been a strong man, one of deep strength, and conviction. He expected nothing less from his son. Quentin Hart didn't accept weakness, trying at times to beat it out of his son, but it never quite worked. Instead, Harry only learned to hide his fascination away until the time came when he was free of his father, but the time never quite came.

"No son of mine is going to spend his life chasing butterflies" Harry remembered those words very well, he had thought he was at last going to be able to determine the direction of his own life, but instead of becoming a lepidopterist as he'd wanted, he'd done as his father wanted.

He was not going to have a son who chased butterflies for a living, yet he let Harry think the decision was his even as he was goading his son into the future, he saw for him. That was how Harry joined the British armed forces and that was how he was led to Kingsman, yet that would not be the crux to his story. As a Kingsman agent, Harry didn't really care for the notoriety that such exploits might bring a man. He knew that his name would appear in the newspaper only three times in his life, when he was born, when he was married, and when he died. Yet, Harry thought his name would only appear twice. He never thought he would get married, in fact, the woman of his dreams came upon him quite unexpectedly. It wasn't as if he didn't have physical needs. He had seen a woman from time to time, always lying about the true nature of his professional life, but his heart never belonged to anyone. One woman wasn't any different from another. One pretty face wasn't any different from another. That was until a single beauty came along to capture his heart almost unknowingly.

It was quite cliché the way it happened. Harry had quite literally stumbled onto love when he had least expected it. Until that moment, his life had been generic, and he recognized that he had been going through the motions until someone entered his life that would change the shape of his heart forever. Harry had taken a rare trip to see a local butterfly expert when his car broke down in the countryside. He had thought it was merely unfortunate, but later, he would know it to be destiny. It was midday with the sun shining, he could see the lake as the green blue waters glistened in the sun, but then all his attention was taken by the figure standing by the lake. She had red hair, like lava as it ran down her back, stopping at her slender waist.

Harry found he had stopped to look at her, so much so that when she turned to catch him, he felt his chest become tight. He looked at her up and down, taking in the fullness of her lips and the blue coral beads that made up her eyes. Everything about her seemed to be voluminous and enticing and wanton all wrapped in a simple yellow sundress, but the first time she spoke to him took him away from that altogether.

"Hey mister, it's not polite to stare" she had her hands on her hips, and yet she was smiling even as she walked closer to him.

"It is not…my apologies, Miss—" Harry had never faltered with words a day in his life, yet here he found he could barely string together words.

"Eva. My name is Eva Wilson" as she spoke, she too was looking him up and down.

She must have thought him queer as he stood there in his suit with the country all around him and yet her smile never faltered.

"Well then, my apologies, Miss. Wilson. My name is Harry Hart. Forgive me for coming upon you this way, but my car broke down a few miles down the road" Harry didn't completely understand why he was still talking to this woman.

Maybe it was the gentleman in him, maybe it was because the sight of her captivated him so, but he failed to completely question it as he stood there with her.

"Well, I have my car…I could take you to get a tow or gas or whatever it is you need. I was just stopping for lunch, there's enough, if you want to join me?" there was something about her smile then as it combined with the feel of her hand as he extended it for him to take.

And he took it unflinchingly.

Harry sat by the lake with this lady who captivated the very air and Harry didn't even realize what was happening. He had lunch with her that day and afterward, he drove with her in her convertible to the next town for help, but it wasn't the town that had him. He found his eyes watched the way her hair blew like fire in the breeze that he wanted to reach out to touch it but didn't dare. Yet, he couldn't completely let her go just yet, so much so, even as he was preparing to depart to have his car towed to town, he was taking her hand, and looking elusively into her eyes.

"You must allow me to repay your kindness…perhaps by taking you to dinner" she seemed taken aback by the request altogether.

Eva kept looking at him, as if expecting him to take back the offer, but when he didn't that smile that had captured something within him returned.

"That sounds lovely. You can find me at the knight's Head Inn. If you come upon me there, we can discuss a dinner date perhaps" she didn't give him time to respond.

Eva merely turned on her heel, her yellow dress seeming to flourish around her, and without a word, she walked away. Yet even after she was gone, Harry found himself utterly bewitched by her. So much so that once his car was towed back to town, he found himself seeking a room at the Knight's Head Inn.