Under The Moonlight

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

They say silence is golden. Lady Jane Winters could not disagree more. The usually roudy breakfast table was now calm and civilized - the way it was meant to be for nobility. This sudden change in behaviour was well appreciated when they had guests over but not when it was just family. She had grown used to all the chaos and disorder that anything normal just wasn't... normal.

Jasper was eating his porridge, careful not to spill any on his clothes - a rare occurance indeed. Jasmine was staring off into space, smiling like an idiot with her cheeks flushed. Juliet, on the other hand, she had her brows furrowed in deep thought. The mere fact that she wasn't randomly voicing her thoughts was strange in itself. Aunt Cathy didn't say a single word, just smiling to herself as though she knew something no one else did.

Lady Jane had had enough. "Do something,Gregory," she pleaded with her husband.

"Like what, exactly?" he asked.

"I don't know, start a conversation. Anything!"

Lord Gregory Winters chuckled. "I thought you liked the peaceful moments our family has when guests arrive. Now that we're silent on our own you wish for it to be wild once again?"

"Please, do something,"

Lord Winters turned to his youngest daughter. "Juliet, dear," he said. "What are you thinking about?"

"How my first season would be," she began, grinning. "I wonder if I'll get to meet a man like Lord Huntingdon who shamelessly tosses frogs at innocent women just for entertainment."

"I HEARD HE FRIGHTENS WOMEN'S DOGS!" Aunt Cathy shouted.

"He does not!" Jasmine had been snapped out of her wayward thoughts when she heard Juliet utter the name of the very man she had been daydreaming about.

"THAT'S WHAT I HEARD WHEN WE WENT TO THE PARK!" Cathy reminded her.

"Did her scare a woman in the park with frogs or dogs?" Jasper asked, confused.

"He didn't scare any women," Jasmine told her brother.

"He and Jasper scared us yesterday by throwing frogs at us," Juliet met her sister's gaze and went on before Jasmine could interrupt. "It was terrible, mother. It was as if it were raining frogs the way they all landed on us. Those vile, slimy green monsters."

"Are  you refering to the frogs or Lord Huntingdon and your brother?" Lord Gregory couldn't help but ask.

"That is not what happened," Jasper protested then flicked his spoonful of porridge at Juliet.

"JASPER!" she shrieked in horror.

"You were lying," he said, feighning innocence.

"It was only one frog, mother," Jasmine said to Lady Jane. ''And Charlotte and I made sure he suffered for it by taking him to the play. He hated Romeo and Juliet."

"PAH!" Cathy scoffed. "I DON'T BELIEVE SO!"

"When will I get to meet my Romeo?" Juliet sighed wistfully, wiping the porridge off her dress with a napkin.

"When all the proper women are taken," Jasper snickered.

"JASPER!" Jasmine scolded.

Ahhh. Much better. Lady Jane faced her husband, who had a triumphant grin on his face. "I love you,"

"I know," 

After breakfast, Charlotte and Rosaline came over to inform Jasmine of a luncheon they were attending. They asked if Jasmine could come along with them and she had agreed.