One Look

Chapter 29

Debutantes and gentlemen alike walked by me as I stayed seated on the bench. Time seemed to freeze altogether, and seconds and minutes rolled into one. I could not think about anything other than the fact that my grandmother was more involved in all this than I could have ever imagined. My grandmother who reminded me at every possible moment what being a lady means, and she had had a secret son, out of marriage. She had a baby and sent him away before my father had even existed. All my life I had thought I had known my grandmother, I knew she took pride in her family. I knew she hated the colour green. I knew she wanted me to marry and become the perfect wife. I had thought I knew everything about her, but those letters proved I knew nothing. The woman who scolded me for stained hems and messy hair had a whole other life I knew nothing about. She was not the perfect lady she had made herself out to be, instead she was telling her secret son to keep me away from the people who made me happy. The people who felt like a home away from home.

A cough from beside me ripped me out of my reverie, and I snapped my eyes up to Oscar who was watching me as one might watch a wild mouse.

"May I join you?" he asked, and I scooted over a little to ensure there was space for him on the little bench. As he sat down, I stared at the blank white wall in front of me. Most of the walls in the palace were grey and adorned by portraits of past members of the royal family, unlike this one which was completely blank.

"How were cards?" I asked him, as I pulled at the hem of my sleeve. I knew he hadn't sat down to talk about card games, but I was still trying to piece what I had found together in my mind. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to speak of this information with anyone.

He scuffed his shoes of the red floor and glanced at me. "It didn't last long, I kept coughing and sneezing, so the duke kicked me out", he chuckled, and I forced a smile. "Eloise what happened in there, did you find anything?" he said in a rush, and I almost smiled at his impatience which was completely like my own.

I bit my lip and tried to rack my brains for an excuse. I thought about lying and saying I found nothing, but I couldn't do that to Oscar. He was my best friend, my accomplice in every stupid decision I had ever made. Keeping this from him felt like a crime. A crime I didn't want to commit.

"I found out the strangest and most unbelievable thing. I came out of that room more confused than when I had entered it". I told him everything, I told him about all the letters. I told him about the duke being my grandmothers' son, which explained where he got his red hair from. Oscar laughed at the part. I told him how I had wanted to find out more, but it had been too late.

When I had finished explaining what I had found, Oscar stared at me his mouth hung open. He was as shocked looking on the outside as I felt on the inside.

"What?" he repeated over and over. "How? Ew that makes the duke your uncle, and even worse, it makes Leonard your cousin".

"I hadn't even thought about that". I pouted and put my head in my hands. "How did he become a duke though?" I wondered out loud.

"His father most have been very high up", Oscar said thoughtfully his eyes searching mine. We didn't get to talk about it further because a person stopped in front of our bench. I looked up and Nathaniel narrowed his eyes at me.

"Mother told me you were sick Eloise and Oscar I thought you were also sick".

"I am sick", Oscar stated as he broke into another sneezing fit.

"I am not, but I didn't want to stay cooped up in your mother's library today and I also didn't want to stay in my rooms. Oscar was here and I hadn't seen him in a while". I smiled innocently at Nathaniel.

"What were you talking about, it looked pretty intense?" Nathaniel questioned.

"We were discussing the drinking contest and decided we must do it tonight, as tomorrow morning there is nothing on so we can lay in bed if we feel sick", I said quickly, before Oscar said something that would make Nathaniel question us further.