Norah awoke - what she guessed to be - several minutes later. Her eyes glanced around for a moment falling upon two concerned baby blue eyes. Well, there would have been two eyes if not for the fact one was covered up by a eye-patch.
"Glad to see you awake, Miss."
Norah blinked her eyes slowly and looked around. Instead of being on the floor she laid upon a bed. One of which, was even more comfortable then home. She slowly propped herself up and faced the man who's name still hadn't been revealed to her.
"If I had known you were going to faint over the news I would have had you sit down. But here I believed you dear mother had explained it all to you already."
Norah groaned slightly as she turned herself on the bed which wasn't an easy task to do in a dress. "No, I'm afraid she hasn't informed me of anything. Just as you have yet to give me your name."
"Ah, back again to that are we, Miss." The man smiled at her, his lips barely curving upwards but his eyes -or should she say eye- gave it away. Twinkling like the stars in the sky, he studied her with slight amusement.
"Yes, back again we are to that," snapped Norah, a headache starting to form in her skull, "And stop calling me Miss. I have a name too you know, which I suspect you already know."
"But Miss, I'd rather hear it from your lips rather then mine."
"Norah McKinley, and yours?"
"Gabriel Garrett would be my name, Miss."
"You don't look very heavenly to me." Norah replied, "I mean you just told me my aunt died a month ago and you got selected to be the bearer of bad news."
Gabriel looked away. "And I'm afraid it only gets worse."
"What do you mean?"
"Well for one, you aren't going back to your parents home. It was written in the will that your Aunt Sophie left you this manner. So you best not be having any ideas to be going back straight away. There are a lot of things needing tending to here in London."
"Such as?"
He looked away uncomfortable by the question. It was true that he'd have to inform her of all that was planned and expected. "Well it appears that your parents wish for you to be wed as is proper for a girl of your age. And seeing as I am a friend of the family they figured it be easies if-"
Gabriel let his voice trail off but Norah got the drift of the rest of his sentence. "So my mother and father want us to be married. When?" The sickening in her stomach grew at the thought of marrying someone she didn't know though it seemed he must have known quite a bit about her.
"Five months from now, when the fall has heaved to winter and winter has been driven out by the warmth of spring."
Norah's head spun and she wanted to scream. How could her parents do such a thing to her as this. The knowledge of her aunts death followed by the news of her being married off like some ill-bought store item sickened her and the tears began forming once again.
"I'd rather you not cry," Gabriel murmured softly as Norah curled in a tight ball.
"How long have you known?" The girl asked as she turned her back to him. Her eyes were closed and filled with tears. She expected him to say a month or maybe two that word had reached his ears, but no, a different number came from him.
"Five or six years, perhaps longer. I have lost count on how long ago this was arranged."
"Five or six y-years?" Norah asked body quivering at the thought. She sobbed uncontrollably a the thought she never had a choice, nor was informed of such a thing. Anger pulsed through her. She was angry at her parents, angry at Gabriel, and even angry at her self for what was happening. It wasn't fair, this all wasn't fair. "I hate you." she murmured softly to him, growing louder with ever time she spoke those words.
"You have a right to be upset," Gabriel whispered, his eyes filling with sadness as she shrieked at him. He left the room shortly after when the female began demanding him to go away. Oh, he'd be back, though it be a while later when Norah finally grew calm.
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Author's Note: A second segment is up for this story and I am thinking the next will come out tomorrow sometime and it actually being somewhat long. Leave me a comment. I'd like to hear from you.
