𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘍𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 : 𝘈 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦

Chapter 1 : The Debutante Ball

1813 ,Mayfair, London.
The start of another new season full of marriages and prolonged courtships and of course, scandals.

Miss Emilia Chbosky, a distant relative of baron Rupert Gibson, would be one of the debutants to enter the society this season. The childless and wealthy Baron and Baroness Gibson would be sponsoring her this season.

"Miss Chbosky! Oh thank god you're awake, the seamstress will be coming any moment to take your measurements." Baroness Gibson said as Emilia entered the massive drawing room of the Gibson household.

"Wouldn't the dresses I brought from home be enough, my lady?" Emilia pressed a hand on her mouth to stifle a yawn, as her curly, long red hair bounced on her back.

"Oh dearest, you'll need the most splendid gowns to stand out from the other young ladies. You need an eligible match, do you not?" Lady Gibson smiled warmly as the seamstress arrived.

Emilia's father had a sudden unexpected death and her family was going to through a huge financial crisis. Therefore, the only solution was for Emilia to marry a man of wealth and a respectable rank, a duty which Mrs. Chbosky trusted lady Gibson with.

"The debutante ball will be within a week, my dear. You must be getting accomplished in embroidery and the pianoforte and dancing."

"Fear not, my lady. Though not raised in Mayfair, I have been trained in embroidery, dancing and the pianoforte my entire life. " Emilia smiled politely as she checked out the new gowns made for her.

"Should I wear the blue gown for my first ball of the season?" Emilia said, holding up a sparkling blue gown with silver embellishments.

"Of course my dear. Some diamond jewellery would look perfect with them." Lady Gibson said, staring fondly at Emilia.

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The debutante ball was even grander and bigger than Emilia ever expected. She felt a little nervous as she entered the ballroom full of colour and grandeur.

"May I have this dance, Miss....?" A gentleman extended his eager hand to Emilia, but she was so taken in with the grand ballroom, she didn't notice.

"Oh..of course Lord Bancroft! Dear, this is Lord Theodore Bancroft, the Earl of Leafwater. And this is Miss Chbosky, doesn't she look exquisite in this blue colour, my lord?" Lady Gibson encouraged Emilia to accept his dance, breaking into her reverie.

"Of course my lord, it would be my pleasure!" Emilia smiled pleasantly and courtseyed perfectly, as Lord Bancroft led her to the dance floor.
That's when she saw him.
The man standing at the corner of the room.

His slightly long dark brown hair crowded around his forehead, almost hiding his bright, piercing honey brown eyes. He looked most uninterested and aloof in the events in the ballroom, as though he'd much rather be anywhere else in the world.

And that's when his eyes met hers.
His eyebrows shot up slightly as his aloof eyes glinted with curiosity at the sight of this new debutante.
And then he turned away.

"....Miss Chbosky?" Emilia , absorbed in the eyes of the mysterious man, didn't hear Lord Bancroft speaking to her.

"A hundred apologies, my lord. I'm afraid I'm not feeling well this evening." And with another courtsey, Emilia returned to Lady Gibson, unable to forget the intense gaze of those honey brown eyes.

Lady Gibson, of course, was beyond delighted to recieve the attention of an earl on Emilia.

"You were most graceful my dear, you must keep up this manner throughout the season to have eligible suitors!" Lady Gibson clapped her hands excitedly with a huge grin on her face.

The honey brown eyed man, however, seemed to have completely disappeared. He was nowhere in sight, and just as Emilia thought of stepping outside the ballroom for a bit of fresh air, three other gentlemen came to her with offerings of another dance.

Emilia was all danced out and exhausted when she returned home. Lady Gibson, of course, was still cooing over her prospects and although Emilia genuinely wanted to share her excitement, she could not get the man out of her mind.

His gaze was so piercing and intense it seemed as though he was seeing right through her with his eyes. Emilia shivered a little as she tossed and turned on her bed restlessly.

When would she meet him again?