Have Hope

Chapter 2

"Don't allow your mind to tell your heart what to do. The mind gives up easily." Paul Coelho

----   

Chapter Two

Olivia immediately cracked, a wide smile spreading across her face and a humorous laugh escaping her mouth. She placed her hands on the bars of her cell and pressed her face in between the gap while looking up at him.

"You are Kit Kensington. You boasted of your strength to me before promptly falling on your backside when trying to move my crate of books. You were an orphan before your father found you and you learned to read later in your life and were embarrassed by it. You find me odd, but you did call me extraordinary. I shall never forget that."

Olivia spoke in a hushed tone so that their company would not hear them. She stared at him, not breaking eye contact. Olivia had not forgotten a thing from their brief encounter. But had she recalled their ki –

"I even remember the exact shade of pink your cheeks turn when you are kissed," she added deviously.

Much to Kit's humiliation, his cheeks were undoubtedly rosy. "Alright, you remember," he murmured.

As a fourteen year old boy, Kit had had little to do with the opposite sex. Yes, there had been girls in the care of the reverend, but he had never conversed with a girl his own age, and he certainly had never been enchanted by a girl before, much less a girl like Olivia.

Olivia was rare. She had been extraordinary to him then, and she was still extraordinary to him now. Kit did not quite understand her, but it made him all the more curious.

"It is good to see you again, Olivia," Kit said, extending his hand through the bars of the cell. He remembered things, too.

Olivia smiled and shook his hand firmly.

"Like the men do it. A shake, respect. No spit transferring on to hands," he quoted. It had been odd, but Kit enjoyed Olivia's subtle rebelliousness. Clearly, she had grown less subtle.

Olivia smiled. "Exactly right."

Kit knew that he needed to apologise for breaking his promise to write her. He needed to explain. "Miss Pendleton," he addressed her formally, "or Lady?" he corrected. "You are the daughter of an earl, are you not?"

Olivia pursed her lips. "My father might disagree with you on that subject." She shook her head. "You may call me Olivia and I will call you Kit, just as we were," she decided.

"Olivia," began Kit, "I need to apologise to you for not keeping my promise. I never wrote you and I am sorry."

Olivia's face softened. "You did not injure me, Kit," she told him. "I assure you, it takes a lot more than a broken promise to injure me."

Kit believed her. Here she stood, in a prison cell, with a smile on her face and determination in her heart. Olivia would not be dissuaded nor would she be discouraged by such things as empty words.

"Sometimes it is healthy to be a little selfish. Clearly, others needed you more."

Kit looked back over his shoulder at his father. Cassian was sitting beside Finn, drinking something amber coloured, and chatting quietly. Finn was no longer writing. Perhaps he had ducked out to send the missive to Olivia's aunt without Kit noticing.

Kit had made a promise to himself, and to his family, many years ago, that he would do whatever he needed to in order to make his family happy.

Kit had kept that promise. He had gone to university, just as he was asked to, and he had returned home to help his father run the textile business. He looked after his sisters and helped his mother with her school and protected her however he could.