I'd seen a particularly peculiarly dressed man wandering and sneaking around London recently, most specifically Westminster. And right now, I was witnessing him skulking around the grounds of the Palace. I watched in curiosity as he hopped the fence, taking off his hat and pulling up his hood. As he looked around, I stared down at him from the window, leaning my arms on the windowsill. I let out a low rhythmic whistle. Cautiously, the man whipped his head around, staying close to the ground. In the end, he looked up. I froze where I stood.
Mister Jacob Frye.
I slowly stood up straight as his eyes met mine. I had met him years ago in Crawley, e had no idea who I was, and I had no idea who he was, the perfect arrangement. My chest felt tight as he stared at me. I watched as his lips moved to mutter something, possibly a reason as to why he was snooping around.
'Starrick' was all I was able to understand of the sentence. I smiled softly and offered a small nod, waving him closer to my third story window. Once he was just below my window.
"I'll leave a window open, and a set of clothes out for the ball." Jacob turned his head with a smirk. "Come early to change, and you can go in with me." The idea seemed to appeal to him, so he nodded, offering a wink before climbing the fence once more and walking off, his hands stuffed into his pockets.
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Night was quick to fall and I was sat on my bed with my legs crossed over each other, a child in my lap as I leaned forwards into the bed with a laugh, tickling her sides as she screamed and giggled, playfully biting at her stomach. However she fell a little quiet when she heard a noise by the window. I sighed with a smile and a laugh as a certain man tumbled in through the gap. My daughter crawled from my arms and to the edge of the bed. I giggled since she almost fell from the bed, only for me to quickly grab her and pull her into my arms as I stood up.
"Mister Frye, pleasure to see you finally join us." I set my daughter on her feet as she flattened out her dress, clasping her hands in front of her stomach and smiling as a greeting to the older man.
"Miss? Hanover?" I slowly nodded with a small smile. "And..." Jacob looked down to my daughter with a soft smile, bowing to her with elegance. "What is your name, M'lady?" She smiled brightly and curtsied.
"Euphemia Harriet Evaline Hanover."
"Pleasure to meet you." Hattie smiled and nodded.
"And you." I shook my head and guided Hattie over to the bed.
"Sweetheart, why don't you go and find Auntie Hel and get ready while I speak with our guest?" She nodded and hurried over to the door with a smile, skipping through the corridors of the Palace. As soon as I turned around, I yelped, not having expected Jacob to be as close as he was. "Mister Frye-"
"Jacob." I nodded. "She's your daughter?" I nodded again.
"She's eight, I had her at eighteen-"
"You mean after I met you?" I slowly nodded.
"Coincidentally, Euphemia prefers her middle names; Harriet, and Evaline. She only lets me and my mother call her Hattie..." I smiled softly as I walked across the room to my wardrobe, drawing out a set of clothes for Jacob. I gently set them in his hands with a smile. "She makes everyone else call her Evie."
"Evie?" I hummed, wandering back to my wardrobe and slipping out my chosen dress for this evening.
"After her Aunt, one Miss Evie Frye-"
"Aunt? Evie's her Aunt?" I nodded with a giggle, waiting for him to piece it all together. "I'm her father?" I hummed with another nod, finding this oddly amusing. I stepped behind a screen and began to strip off my current clothes. "Me? Evie's my daughter?" I hummed again, sliding my dress of choice over my head and settling my arms in the long sleeves before reappearing in Jacob's view as he adjusted the long jacket he had just put on.
