Chapter V.

*Mr Theodore*

In his room, a paper and his quill in front of him, he was scribing down any idea of his that came to mind. If it wasn't for the knock that came only minutes later, the ink would have patterned more of the page before him.

"Mr Baraville, you have a visitor," his butler alerted him, his knock being a prompt before he opened the door of Theodore's room.

"I'll be down in a minute," he responded.

With that, he concluded his idea before marking the end with a full stop.

Rising to his feet, he walked out the door and down the steps to where his eyes were met by a familiar individual. His close friend, Jaques Francis, otherwise known simply as 'Jack'.

"Jack..." Theodore called out at the steps.

All while Jack replied with the lowering of his head, greeting his friend. "Theodore...". A pause descended between the men, it was Jack who broke it just as Theodore further approached him. "My dear friend, I'd like to personally invite you, on behalf of my wife and myself, to attend a ball we organised.".

Theodore couldn't help but smile at what he heard. "It's been a while since we have one around...".

To which Jack responded, "Precisely why we decided to organise a ball this Friday. The 26th to be more precise.". Then, after another brief break, he went on to add, "Will you be free to attend, Theodore?".

He failed to respond straight away, his eyes darted to the ground as if mentally calculating, checking what was on his agenda a fortnight from now. Finally, he produced a reply, "I should be free.". Then, clearing his throat, "Where is Ms Francis?".

"Abigail went to pay her sisters a visit. To take them to purchase some dresses for the ball," Jack answered.

Theodore nodded his head in coherence with Jack's words. "How is everything at home? Are your parents well?".

"They are doing as best as they can be. Hearing no complaints so far. I'll take it as a good thing.". Another break descended the men. "I hope your parents are doing well also?".

But to Jack's question, Theodore remained quiet. "Well, I hope. I haven't heard from them in quite some time. Mother hasn't come up from Veursau for quite a while now. Not to mention my father. Too stuck up their business to come and visit their only son...".

"Don't say as such, Theodore..." a weary voice came from their left. It was his aunt. Aunt Marissa.

"Aunt Marissa, you and I both know that it's the truth," Theodore retorted, turning toward his aunt.

"Couldn't be anywhere further from it, if you ask me, Theodore!". She paused, taking in a deep breath. "Sorry for such an intrusion, Jack, but... Theodore, you must know that your mother wasn't always like this. I remember her as being quite fond... in the old days.".

"Exactly, in the old days. People have a tendency to change, whether it's for the better or the worse.".

His aunt opened her mouth, ready to reply, but decided against it. Theodore had a friend over, they might as well take off this conversation later when he was alone. "We'll continue this later, Theodore...". She kept her gaze on him as if second-guessing herself for even telling him that they'll continue arguing such a topic later. But deciding it was better to leave, she did just that. "My apologies for intruding on your conversation...". And with that, she entered a room, closing the door behind her.

Silence ruled the atmosphere amongst both Theodore and Jack for a few more seconds. "My apologies for that. My family is... rather all over the place at the moment.".

Giving his friend a sheepish smile, Jack replied, "No worries, I understand. I'm still having to deal with it myself...". But clearing his throat, deciding to change the topic, Jack went on to continue, "If that is all, then I better be going. Thank you for your time, Theodore.".

"Thank you for your invitation, Jack.".

And with another greeting with a lowering of his head, Jack turned on his heels before he headed out the door.

Standing for a mere few seconds in the hallway, still, almost lifeless, Theodore turned to the door where his aunt was in. But seeing that there was no response from her, he retreated back into his room.

There, he found himself behind the quill and the paper with his inked inscriptions spread amongst the upper half of the page.

Taking his writing tool back between his fingers, it didn't take long for him to conclude that he ran out of ideas to write down. His creativity diminished to almost nothing. And knowing from experience, the outcome of exploiting such a small fragment of his creativity would come to nothing useful.

So, putting his quill down, he knew he had to step outdoors for a little while. And he knew exactly what it was he'd like to do outdoors.

He hopped onto his horse before going on his regular voyage.

Sometime into his ride, he noticed something in the distance. It wasn't until he got a little closer that he realised it was a carriage.

Managing to get parallel with the carriage, involuntarily, he looked and locked his eyes with a woman. From the outside, he heard the laughter and chatter from the carriage. But, for the second that allowed him to see the woman, his eyes failed to look anywhere else.

He felt a buzz. A warmth within his chest, something that he couldn't explain, something that - at the time, overwhelmed with other thoughts, he failed to register.

Within the click of a finger, the carriage passed him and when he turned around, he caught the glimpse of the carriage moving further away from him.

---

*5 days later*

*Ms Tamara*

To the surprise of Eileen, Gertrude and Tamara, a carriage came to pick them up, accompanied by their sister inside one of its seats. Such a ride reminded them of when they went to buy their dresses for the call.

They were entering the wide front garden of the Francis household and the Clarke sisters couldn't help but ogle and the size of the house.

"Sister, this is a mansion..." Gertrude began, turning to Abigail. "You failed to tell us both your husband and you resided in a big mansion.".

To her words, Abigail couldn't help but laugh. "It looks bigger outside.".

With the stopping of the carriage, Tamara, Gertrude, Eileen and Abigail disembarked the coach. The front garden was already filled with guests. Men and women dressed in handsome suits and beautiful dresses.

The formal wear worn by the Clarke sisters was just as beautiful, each woman wasn't left out when it came to the smallest of details. Their mother spent most of the day doing the hair of her daughters.

"Follow me, I'd like for you, my dear sisters, to meet my husband, Jaques.". Following Abigail's words, the women followed closely behind their older sister.

And it wasn't long before they approached a handsome man. His hair was neatly swept to one side, with a slight, handsome moustache extending under his nose. It was more than obvious he kept it in check and groomed it regularly.

His eyes looked right into the orbs of every one of Abigail's sisters that came as he greeted them. He insisted on them calling him 'Jack' since he grew accustomed to being called such. It wasn't long until both Abigail and Jack left the Clarke sisters with, 'If you need anything, don't hesitate to tell us.'.

And with that, the sisters began to explore the large, crowded hallways of the big mansion. They followed the music, eventually finding their way to a large hall. Getting through the crowd, it was there that they saw all the couples dancing with one another.

Each sister, in awe, wasn't shy to express her excitement.

"I wish I could dance like that with someone..." Gertrude spoke out.

Her sisters couldn't help but giggle, giggle in agreement.

"Well..." Eileen began. "You must wait for when they really begin playing the ballroom music. Then, every man in the room will scavenge for a single lady to ask for a dance.".

Not even a moment passed when a deep voice boomed to the right of the sisters. "If you'd allow me the honour, I'd love to dance with you, Ma'am.".

Both Eileen and Tamara look toward the voice only to see the man, offering his hand to Gertrude. Tamara's and Eileen's jaws drop to the ground. Then, they both looked at each other in disbelief.

Gertrude also found it hard to believe what was happening. With a stammer of her words, she replied, "I'd love to.".

"Gertrude! We'll be... somewhere!!" Eileen whispered a shout, to which Gertrude replied with a nod.

Watching her sister dive deeper into the crowd with a man holding her hand, it wasn't long before they began to dance. Deciding that it was enough spectating, Eileen and Tamara continued walking through the crowd of people, trying to stay out of the way of the dancing couples.

A few times, here and there, the two sisters saw butlers who held trays of food. They couldn't resist but take a few, bite-sized snacks.

Eventually, walking and giggling, they reached the other end of the room.

Stopping in their tracks, the two sisters kept conversing until everything became quiet. The attention of the whole room was set in a certain direction and it didn't take long for Tamara to realise who grabbed the attention of the whole room.

It was a man, by the entrance. To Tamara, the features of his face looked all too familiar, but her nerves began to run thin when she couldn't piece together why the man looked all so familiar.

"Who is he?..." Eileen asked.

"I-I don't know..." Tamara began. "But I... I feel like I've been acquainted be his looks from somewhere.".

As if it was to be a coincidence, his eyes travelled across the room and met Tamara's figure. It was then that she remembered, the buzz she felt when his eyes found her. Muttering before she could have stopped herself, she told her sister, "I think that's Lord Baraville...".

Eileen was about to say something but was cut off when she saw that Theodore began to approach the two women, with Jack and Abigail by his side.

Tamara tried to keep her gaze on him, but the closer he approached her, the more intense a feeling, undescribable, began to grow within her. With it reaching its threshold, she was forced to avert her eyes elsewhere.

But her break from seeing his face was short-lived.

"And these are my beloved sisters, Mr Baraville..." Tamara heard Abigail's voice as it trailed off. "Tamara Clarke...". Jumping at hearing her name, she looked back toward Theodore Baraville.

With him being so close to her, she noticed the shade of his eyes. A shade she hadn't had an opportunity to see in the eyes of others. She couldn't deny the beauty they held. He was also that bit taller than she expected when seeing him from a distance.

Taking in a deep breath, she greeted him with a curtsey, lifting her dress up ever so slightly as she bent her knees. He offered her a small, forced smile before replying with the bow of his head. "Ms Clarke.".

With the smile of approval from Abigail, she moved on to introduce Eileen to Theodore.

From there, silence took over amongst the four. It wasn't until Theodore cleared his throat that the silence was broken. "If you'll excuse me...". With that, he took a step back. But just before leaving the company of the Clarke sisters, he looked at Tamara one, last time. Into her eyes as she looked back into his. And with that, turning on his heels, he walked into the crowd of people.

Tamara's eyes never failed to leave Mr Baraville until he was out of view. For some reason, his departure left her with a feeling she couldn't quite put her finger on. A feeling that didn't really make sense. She felt slightly disheartened.

"What was that?..." Eileen spoke out, kicking Tamara out of her trance.

"Mr Baraville isn't really... the talking type if you will," Abigail responded, trying to explain, perhaps even justify the coldness in his behaviour, all while Jack excused himself and went off after his friend.

"Such strange behaviour for someone who holds the title of a 'Lord'..." Tamara answered back.

"Tamara..." her sister's voice trailed off once more. "He is a good man, I can promise you that. It's just that-".

Tamara cut her sister off, "Well, in any way, he achieved leaving me an impression of a lesser gentleman than I thought he would be... let alone a good man.".

And with that, just like Theodore, Tamara walked away from her sisters and into the crowd.

She walked for a mere few minutes before bumping into someone. "I apologise, Miss..." a deep, manly voice expressed his sorrows.

"I apologise also..." Tamara began, looking up at the man. Their eyes almost immediately interlocked with one another.

He was handsome too. His eyes expressed passion, another sort of beauty, but something that was unfair to be compared to those of Mr Baraville.

And then, straightening himself up, he introduced himself, "Pavel Fuegerson.". He offered out his hand. To which Tamara accepted his offer.

"Tamara Clarke...".

"Such a beautiful name for such a beautiful woman," Pavel complimented her as he rose the back of her hand until his lips were met by her skin. Giving her a kiss, he then proceeded on asking, "Would I get the honour of dancing with you, Ms Clarke?".

Tamara was lost for words. Such a reaction was noticeable by the change in the colour of her cheeks.

The idea of dancing with this man she just met made her feel an odd sense of unease. 'Maybe I just feel nervous...' she thought to herself.

And so, with a smile, she accepted his proposal for a dance, trying to smile through her 'nervousness'. She couldn't help but giggle when she noticed the happiness expressed across Pavel's face.

As soon as they began to dance to the music, the feeling she felt was gone. She felt a smile gradually make its way to her lips.

It was at one time throughout their dance that something caught her eye. Mr Baraville.

He looked her way and observed the way she danced with Pavel. She saw the way he looked at her. His eyes held some emotion that she, nor he couldn't quite put a finger upon.

And it wasn't long before her eyes caught the last of Mr Baraville for the night as he turned around and left.