Enola POV, Autumn 1888
On the short train journey from her lodging house to Crystal Palace Park station, Enola considered missing her stop a full four times. Each time sticking her nose in her book – which seemed impossible to read - to appear busy and distracted to the other passengers. She knew why he had asked her there, his mother hadn't given him much time, and it was the perfect place for a proposal. Her good sense told her that marrying would take away any freedoms she had left; and that marrying a Marquis would add undue stress to her already stressful life. But her impulsive whimsicality wanted to know what it would be like to be loved, especially by the young Marquis who she had saved less than a year before.
As the train came to a stop, she took a deep breath, picked up her umbrella and jumped off, in a fashion she later realised was not befitting the refined lady she was dressed as. The walk across the park to where Tewkesbury had asked to meet her was all too slow for her, she had decided she was going to meet him, and walking at such a refined pace like the delicate maidens who were being promenaded by pompous dandies with their mothers and housekeepers watching with keen eyes, was not going to get her there fast enough. Noticing a girl a few years younger than her, and obviously coming from the poorer side of London, parking her bicycle by a tree, she jumped on the opportunity. "I will give you threepence if you lend me your bike for two hours." She asked quickly, to which the girl gratefully held out her hand and the bike.
Dismounting off the bicycle a good ten yards before he could see her and her now infamous lack of skill with it, she straightened her dress and put on her best 'I'm not nervous,' smile. "You made it Miss Holmes," the young Viscount shouted when he spotted her, "How lovely you look today." She smiled as she delicately dashed across the path to him, clutching her hat as if it were to suddenly come free of the sharp pin in her hair. "I should say the same of you, Viscount," she replied elegantly then awkwardly added "Because it is the truth," unsure of whether he understood her subtlety.
Tewkesbury smiled back at her, "Enola, this is my tutor, Mr James," he gestured to the mannerly looking man in his thirties behind them who nodded his hello, "he will be chaperoning us today." She smiled and nodded back politely, taking the younger man's arm as he held it out to her. They both relaxed a little (you can't do much for pre-proposal anxiety) at the very proper contact, feeling somewhat calmer just by having the other nearby. "Did you catch the train here Enola?" he inquired trying to awkwardly look at her face from such a close distance while not tripping on the gravel path as they walked. "Yes, it was a fairly insignificant journey," minus the thinking about missing her stop, she thought, "Absolutely no murderers, as far as I could discern." They both chuckled, remembering their first meeting. "With your skill as a detective, I am sure the passengers were very safe," he declared, trying to be as charming as some of his friends. She would have mocked him for it if his praise didn't make her fingers and toes tingle.