Chapter 6 It's.......

It had been a week since the engagement party were Cat met the terrace stranger. 

Today three of the Windsworth girls and their mother were making a trip to the seamstress that was designing Silvia's wedding dress. It was the last fitting before the wedding itself. They took the better carriage for the trip this time around.

The fitting had been normal, except the part were Silvia burst into tears at how beautiful she looked. It took their mother consoling her for thirty minutes to get her to stop crying. Lucy was busy looking at all the other dresses and fantasying about what she would look like as a bride some day. Catalina had sat on the viewing sofa messing with the hem of her dress as the spectacle occurred on the bridal platform. She was envious of Mary-Anne who had gotten out of coming today due to work obligations. 

After they had Silvia out of the dress Cat had asked her mother if the coachman could come back for her. She wished to get a new novel from the book store three streets over. The baroness with some hesitation allowed it. It took her about an hour and a half to find three books that piqued her interest enough to buy.

As she walked down the street humming off-key to herself she felt a tap on her left shoulder. Her head snapped to the left as she glanced back. He face took on a surprised look at the person standing in front of her. Or, to be rather accurate, behind her and to her slight left.

"It's you again!" She shouted.

In front of her stood the stranger from the terrace. Today he had a loose white shirt with white strings in a crisscross pattern at the chest. It was paired with waist high dark blue trousers that had four buttons in a square pattern at the front. Unlike last time, he was wearing a gold pendant with a silver star in the middle circled by intricate knots. The man seemed to favor the boots as they were they same ones from when she last saw him.

"Tis I, your humble elderly bachelor, greeting you again." He declared, gesturing to himself.

She gave him an accusatory look, " I don't know if humble or elderly is what I'd call you."

He made to walk toward her, but at the nervous look on her face he stepped back to were he originally was.

"Yes well, you really wouldn't know what to call me. You sort of threw your name at me as you stomped off the terrace without even asking mine."

He cautiously walked next to her with about two and a half feet between them as they continued to stroll down the street. They passed a street vendor selling multiple flavors of cotton candy from their light blue stand and another one selling caramelized fruit on sticks.

"I'm aware. Did you ever think that I may not have wanted to know your name? That I was irked enough to not want to have the knowledge of it?" She questioned. 

They were stopped at a crosswalk, waiting for the cross guard to give them the go ahead to walk. 

" I didn't exclude that possibility," He began, " But to be fair I didn't know she was your sister, otherwise I wouldn't have even brought up the Cinderella nonsense."

Catalina gave him an incredulous look as they crossed the road.

"So if I wasn't my sister's relative, you would have told me? Is that what you meant? And how did you not know we were related? It was her engagement party after all, I assumed everyone knew what family she came from." Cat chastised.

He gave her a sheepish smile as he scratched his head, "To be honest I didn't want to be there. The only reason I ended up there is because Marcus wanted to attend an event with women and your sister's engagement party just happened to be the closest one by that met that condition. "

She kept walking with a slightly more irked look gracing her face as her head was held a bit higher. 

"So not only are your friend and you rude for essentially crashing somebody you didn't even know's engagement party and gossiping about said host at that party, but you fine fellows are also pervert scum. Good to know. Please stay away from my family and I, and especially my sister's wedding." She retorted as she sped up. 

Unfortunately his legs were twice as long as hers which is why he was able to step in front of her, effectively making her stop in her tracks. He held his hands up in a surrendering manor and scooched a few steps back.

"You're right. Even if I was dragged along with Marcus, it was completely rude of us to go there and for me to gossip about the host. Which is when I saw you walking out of the bookstore I left my carriage to track you down in hopes you would accept my offer for lunch and my apology. I'm sorry I hurt your feelings and insulted your sister with my callus words and attitude that day" He begged, "Please let me take you to lunch to make up for it. My mother will have stroke if she finds out one of her sons insulted a lady as so."

He had his arm out in invitation for her to take with a hopeful look. She sighed deeply as she thought it over in her head. Finally, she was ready to give him an answer.

"I will let you take me out to lunch as an apology on one condition." She offered.

He quirked his eyebrow at her with a questioning glance.

"And what would that condition be?" He asked

Catalina gave him a coy smile as she looked up at him, "Tell me your name."

He stared at her for a few seconds in a stupor before laughing loudly, "It's Casimir, my lady."

She gave him a nod before walking around, "It's nice to finally met you Sir Casimir. And I'm not taking your arm. I'm far too short for it to be comfortable." 

He grinned as he followed her.