The Runt of the Litter

Chapter Twenty-Seven

1st December 1835

Robert Gardens looked straight at Angelica as her servants carried away the soaked clothes he had used to wipe off his soaking skin. It was lashing down with rain outside, and he'd suffered the worst of it on the way over as it leaked through the roof of his carriage. The carriage-men promised him a new one for the journey home.

He wasn't in the mood for speaking to Angelica. She had said all she needed to.

No.

It was Azure on his mind.

Darting into one of the more chaotic crowds so detection was evaded, he glimpsed the tops of heads, desperately searching for white-blonde curls endowing one of them. Everyone was moving too much. How was he supposed to find her if everyone was...

There.

He even caught her face, her head slightly bopping from side to side, eyes at the ceiling. Her lips were slightly parted revealing the tips of her pale teeth. In her completely natural face, she was even more beautiful.

Now to extract her from all the crowds.

Taking a cautious look around, Robert saw Angelica attempting to find him, going in the completely wrong direction. He smirked at that. He knew he should be fairer; a conversation may be all she wanted from him. Robert should at least give her that. But he wouldn't. It wasn't fair her springing on him at the funeral, but she had.

He was being immature, but for once he really didn't care.

He just wanted to see Azure.

Dodging drinks and excusing trampled toes, he made beeline for her. Azure. She was blissfully (yet annoyingly) unaware of his presence. She would be pleasantly surprised...he hoped. Maybe it would be indifferent to her. He hoped should would have some sort of emotion change. He depended on it more than he knew he should be.

But it was really everything right now.

"Azure!" he hissed loudly. "Azure!"

Azure didn't hear him, she was in her own world again.

Exasperated, he gave a long sigh and shook his head with frustration. While her abnormalities were an attraction to him, they were also her downfall. How could he get her attention without being detected?

Trying to appear completely natural, Robert Gardens smoothed down his hair and straightened up slightly. He gave a small "ahem" before stepping in front of Azure confidently and grabbing her left hand.

"Good evening, Miss Bluebell," Robert breezed, fitting himself into the mould and mask everyone else knew of him.

Azure suddenly snapped out of her dreamy state.

"Hello, Robert!" Azure smiled. Her eyes lit up and her teeth shone as glee came over her face. He was relieved. It was more than he could have hoped for.

"Azure...I haven't seen you in so long..." Robert felt an unfamiliar prickling behind his eyes. Yet he had come to know it so well these past few months. But he couldn't get teary here; everyone could see him. Azure would see him. He didn't want her seeing him cry.

"You want to go...outside?" Azure asked. He appreciated the effort it must have taken for her to conjure up such a simple sentence. Everything must be ten times harder for Azure. Just to do everyday, normal things were such a struggle. English, the language to her that should come naturally was like a foreign language to her ears and even harder to roll in her mouth. Robert suddenly knew how life must be like for her. How could he be as selfish to think about how he had been cheated. What about her? She had been cheated of such a simple life. To have people who cared for her, to be hugged and talked to everyday. To have freedom.