Seeing the city in such a contrasting manner prompted some thinking and a lot of comparisons with my hometown. However, a lot disturbed my peace, and I so much know that if it were anyone else in my position, they would be in the same kind of pain and ache as I. The need for us to leave for the viscount's house arrived when another guard was sent for us. Henry, on his arrival, was set to meet the viscount and apologize for his acts, which, of course, on my side exposed me to the dirty scenarios of the town, I appreciated. The guard was too scolded, but Henry, I presume, took all the blame, for I saw him get dismissed for the talks as fast. It had already reached evening, and my stomach, of course, not having eaten anything all day apart from breakfast, screamed for something. If it were back home in Bravdon, I would lazily wake up on my seat here and head to the kitchen to look for or make myself something to drink or eat. I was always comfortable with everything. Father never talked about my indulgences with the workers in the house, outside the house, or any guards; he just assumed that he never saw my actions. As my thoughts revolved from my growling stomach to my fathers' wisdom and deeds, a knock was heard from my door, and one of the guards opened it and stated, "His Lordship Henry wishes to have a word." Guards were always something. I always compared them to dogs fully serving their master. How heartening. With those words, I just nodded as a sign of approval of the matter. "I see your guard is quite strict," Henry stated as he closed the door behind him and continued, "I'd love for an apology for your actions, his lordship (mimicking the viscount)". Henry had a sense of humor, which I'd lie about if I said I didn't love or enjoy. Even while on our way, knowing he was in danger, he just joked around about the viscount's glasses and his speeches. My mother's paint lay still on the bed and quite caught the attention of Henry, who stated, "I honestly feel for you, brother." Hearing him call me brother made me chuckle a little when he stated, "I hope calling you brother doesn't bother you as much, Willock." And with that, I just looked at him with a friendly face and stated, "I so much love it. I've never had the chance to enjoy the talks of an elder brother." "Well, here I am. So tell me, Willock. You already have my attention and somehow know a little about my secrets. Tell me, have you ever shown any interest in some young woman during your stays at the Duke's?" With the question, I just laughed. This was not a normal laugh but a little nervous laughter, for not many had ever been so straight forward in their questions as Henry was. Seeing him eager for my answer, I just stated, "I once had some feelings for a girl. She was a baron's daughter; I don't know if you've ever heard of or seen her. Her name being Lady Catherine. She was quite beautiful to my liking. I was, however, a small boy, and my actions and feelings did not get the approval of my father. He so much scolded me for it." Henry just nodded to that and then stated, "Oooh, how so? What did he say? He should have been proud that you were trying to start practicing your charms and speeches to appease the young women." I never knew his reasons for the scolding, and so I just lamely blurted, "Wasn't sure of the reason. He then dictated, as a punishment, that my public and private talks with my sister be tarnished, or that so should happen with me being watched by a bodyguard. Quite amusing, right?" After my words, Henry's facial expression changed. It seemed he was deducing some words, or, I'd rather state, he was trying to absorb my statements. When he stated, in a very authoritative or rather confident manner, "Did he ever state the reasons behind his acts?" I just shook my head. I hated these moments in real life. Moments when I felt vulnerable in the faces of people and despair tarnished parts of my heart. Since my father had altered my communications with my sister, my relations with her always fell into a huge drift. The lady I wanted her to be was slowly getting out of hand. She, who I wanted to enjoy the fragrance of books and poetry, had turned her needs fully into the acts of embroidery, cleaning, and a housewife's responsibility. Of course, I wanted her to still know the traditional works of women,' but I also wanted her to have the best knowledge of books, of love, of men, and of life, in addition to all the teachings of innocence, culture, and social class that she had been exposed to since childhood. As I did not want to state anything, Henry cleared his throat and stated, "You see, I'd love to enjoy myself right now, when I'm young. Dance with the ladies, enjoy all of them, and maybe when my brother dies, I will have the best reasons to fold ties with a lady." Henry's statements were so different from my father's teachings on women. Father always taught me that I should treat each and every lady with so much respect and not dance with a lady more than three times if I don't wish to marry. Father always taught me that ladies were flowers, and playing so much with a flower would make it hurt by either its branch breaking or its leaves folding. What he meant was that a lady was the most vulnerable person, and she deserved the most, if not the best, treatment in the world. Listening to Henry speak made me feel like I was questioning his thoughts, so I decided to ask him, "Don't you fear to break them?" He just loudly laughed at that and stated, "I always state my wants on the first day I request a dance. For instance, I may tell the lady, I don't require any emotional bonds with her, and I hope she shows much respect to my want." I, who was never exposed to other thoughts about women, was quite amazed by his lordships Henry's words. He seemed sure with his words, for one could observe from how confidently he would smirk at the words he would tell the lady. And so I heard him continue, "I don't wish to marry this soon, Willock. Marriage is a set of responsibilities for families, and I so do not wish to have a family of my own, especially now. I would rather embrace the fragrances and my love for my arts instead of loving them." His voice seemed to have such bad contempt and hatred towards the roots of marriage or any betrothal. As for me, I had no objections to marriage. I saw it as the most beautiful thing, especially that which is covered by the roses and enchantments of the word love. And so I continued with our talk, "What about love?" "Love is a transaction, dearest brother. For me, if I marry, it will be with a woman, with whom she can fulfill her duties as a lady of our house. With whom will protect my mother and my children? With whom shall have a child, an heir to my works.That's what matters. Family comes first, Willock. Always remember that, even when you decide to set your first dance with that one you love." And with that, Henry stood up and started scanning my paintings, which father had told me to give to the Viscount. The viscount asked me to place them at this house, and so I did, asking the maid to arrange them from when I was young to now. Henry was smiling at both pictures as if comparing them when he stated, "Your lordship, your hair never seemed to tarnish the perfections of your jawline and forehead. And your eyes, quiet and innocent oceans, the tides of the sea; those into which any lady could drown. I wonder Auntie's reaction up there right now, by seeing how grown up of a man you have become, one full of joy, patience, and someone who accepts and offers apologies as fast as he sins. Flourishing indeed." Henry was much of a speaker, I'd state, and maybe that's where our differences set foot. I was a storyteller when either drunk, happy, or comfortable in someone's presence. Otherwise, one would drown waiting for my talks. I did not reply much to the words of Henry but just chuckled at his presumed remarks and statements. He was lucky he was a man, for if it were a woman, I'd say he was quite flattered by my looks. On Henry's side, after the big entertainment, he asked me if we would leave tonight to see the lady, whom she quite liked. I was always ready to apologize, but when it came to sneaking out of any royal chambers, I was an expert. Henry directed the guards to conform with the table settlers and tell the family that we would not make it to join them for family dinner and through the window, that during the first day, I tried escaping, we left. It seemed the guards were quite aware of Henry's trickeries, and they seemed to protect him and open the gates for the carriage's passage. After some time passing through the busy storey houses of the city, we arrived at the place. It was made of steel, green painted door, and we went outside, and as if nervous, Henry knocked on the door, and after some seconds, a charming lady opened it and welcomed us in without saying a word. The house was well set, with all types of flowers in vases all around the dining room. The lady seemed at her late young ages, from my perspective when Henry started, "I wasted no time and no seconds after my arrival, just to come and see you. My lady." His words shocked me too, for he had stayed for about three days or something; whatever, we were all quite busy when the lady stated in a rough but quite steady voice, "I see you brought another, his lordships. The ladies don't set out to work today, unless tomorrow." I was quite confused with the statement when Henry as quickly stated, "No. Speaking such words is not in front of all, as you should know. This is the duke's son, Vikings. He wished to set eyes on the night beauties of the city." Showing disappointment, I saw the lady look at me, and my eyes, good at observing features and colors, could not however stop from seeing the big scar that formed on the lady's left side of the forehead, right above her left eye. That she adamantly tried to cover with some thick slicks of her hair. When she stated, "My apologies, your grace, My apologies for my speech." I however did not quite want to care about her businesses and her words, but one thing I would say is that businesses worked in the dark, never seemed righteous. With that, after their greetings and long talks, during which I was offered some food and drink, we started to the door and entered the carriage to head back home. As the carriage was set to leave, Henry stated, "You should not tell even a soul." I, of course, was never fool enough in the meaning of his words. But of course, one thing I so much laid on was loyalty and keeping secrets. Even I was keeping a secret, and Henry, above all, knew a lot of it but never told anyone, so I guess we had another thing in common.
Despite my stating that I enjoyed the serene and beautiful atmosphere of London, the nights were quite the opposite. Mosquitoes were hardly inescapable in the nights, but in the mornings, I always woke with reddish or pinkish blemishes on my skin, to the extent that I had requested the maiden, to find me clothes that fully covered even my face. My skin was always sensitive to any hurt, always was. So after the nights, mornings were the expected outcomes, and the chirping of birds was of course heard to embrace the new day. Today, I wanted to visit somewhere else, but I needed to be alone. So I decided to scheme my plots, and in scheming, it means I woke the earliest of all the members of the family. My aunties, or rather the guests, of course I was already getting used to Henry's words, had already left, except for Henry, with whom I guess he was not much cornered or strictly forced into leaving. He was always left to live his life, if I may say so. So I took a bath as fast as I could, not even telling the maidens to prepare it hot, wore a marquee style of dressing, and went out. My yearn was to reach the stables and take on one of Father's horses, for the guards, with whom I had come here with, I came to learn, had already left for home with the Hirlvington's carriage, to lie to me or rather deceive me. So, as I was climbing down the stairs, I heard an authoritative voice speak behind me, "And where do you think you are going?" It was the Viscount. On, he wore a robe, and I presume he was heading to his library to work of course, when I stated, of course nervous since, of all my trickery, this was the first where I was caught red handed by the owners of the houses, "I eehh,, I,, wished for some run with the horses, sir." To my amusement, he just laughed and stated, "I hear you have formed a bond with my nephew Henry." The words 'I hear' on my opinion, never usually came with beautiful statements after, and so I just nodded when he stated, "I believe his words will not lay any change into your thoughts. And if that may be so, I'd love you to dismiss your engagement with him." I did not say a word to that when I decided to ask for permission, of course, since I was caught. "Eeeeh, Uncle, would you mind if I took a horse and visited the rivers and lakes or mountains and trees in this place? A little adventure. I may say." With that, he just looked at me, as if thinking, and stated, "How well are you familiar with the horses?" "I used to ride with father every morning. We would even make some races with them together, and the winner would of course win the bet and be praised by mother and my siblings." I replied. After that, he called on one of the guards, talked to him in a low tone, and then stated, "Okay, so as you say. Be here by evening. I believe you can take quite good care of yourself." And with that, I left the house with so much joy, since it was the first time I was being let to see the city alone without any guards or a peer. At home, father always made sure I had a guard around, and perfectly, here sounded the freedom that I so much loved.
The horse was steady, its legs were muscular, and it ran and stopped as quickly as I wanted it to. I loved it. The sun brightly shone, for I had traveled through the city for quite a long distance, checking on everything from the trees and people to the houses and curvatures of the city. Father had always told me of a river that always fed the Lake Tigris, 'left of London, as he always stated, and so I was eagerly looking for it, of course asking around to avoid getting lost on my way. As I headed west, the trees and bushes became thicker, but the road was still clear, suggesting that people traveled along that path. I then heard some people, soft voice, screaming. I climbed off the horse on the side, and on a tree, tethered it, and continued by walking path towards the paths of the voice. As I approached, I heard the river flowing, and I knew I had arrived. I had visited the river, which my father always told me stories about; maybe this is the first story I will tell him. I should have written to him then as he had instructed; that, however, I had already forgotten. As I neared, I saw someone, their white clothes flaring with the wind. It was a lady, and she was alone; she had removed her shoes and stepped on a stone, her hands up high in the air as if praying or something, as I thought. I feared I would startle her, and she would fall into the river. I was never a swimmer, not even never. I had never been taught how to swim, so I would not be a gentleman to her in case she drowned. I so carefully, steadily, step by step, and slowly reached the place she stood. She had not yet heard my approaches, and so I fully slid my hand to grab her through her waist to set her down. She however then, started screaming, and I was hence forced to close her mouth. I would not love to be shamed by a scandal; I already had one. I stood fully, with her weight supported by my arm, set her down, when she faced me as if wanting to kick or fight me. And when I saw her, surprise. The only words I would described that captured my face. And it seemed that it was not just me. She too was, and adamantly, with me still mesmerized by her and shocked too, I felt a twitch pinch and pain on my arm which returned me to reality, when she forcefully removed my hands from her waist. Honestly, If there is one thing that kills even the greatest predator, it is the beauty of his wants, and if there is certainly one thing that reprimands a cause, it is the dilemma between coincidence and destiny.