A Truelove of Turtle Doves

Chpt 34 - Fate's Dance

The summer dance had always been a big event in Ringmore. Held in the elegant town hall that was situated near the church and the main square with the fountain, it was the one and only time I had ever seen members of the upper class mix with the middle and lower classes.

Everyone was invited.

One of the huge wooden doors was propped open, the sounds and lights of the dance pouring out.

I think it was needless to say that I was more than a bit nervous.

I was standing outside of the town hall, rocking back and forth on the balls of my feet, nervously chewing my bottom lip.

I still don't know how Edward, Josephine or Lauren had managed to convince my parents and theirs to let us out for this. Specifically me. My curfew was always at 6pm. The dance ran through the whole night, from about 7pm to the early hours of the morning. The fact that we had gotten away with only taking Edward with us too was also shocking, and, needless to say, had put me on edge.

Two hands clamped down on my shoulders and I jumped, yelping in surprise.

"Wow, someone is really wound up tight," joked Josie.

"Mmhmm!" was the joyful agreement from Lauren.

Of course.

I had one sister on either side of me, one of their hands resting on each of my shoulders.

Lauren had gone all out with a full-on White Tie Suit - the most notable features of this type of formal wear being a tuxedo and bow tie. I had no clue how she had managed to find one fitted for a woman, and I was currently assuming that she had modified a men's one. However, everyone could agree that she looked marvelous in a fully-fitted suit.

Josephine, on the other hand, had been a little bit more relaxed about her choice of outfit. Her dress was long and touched the floor, but it was difficult to place its overall style; it was too simple to be a ballgown, but a bit too detailed to be casual wear. It had thick straps rather than long sleeves, the neck was low-cut in a soft-edged square shape, and the skirt followed a paneled pattern. The whole thing was a dark plum colour, and I was certain it was made almost exclusively of velvet.

Edward had even been a victim of the sister's dress-up rage, and was currently wearing a suit that had a tailcoat jacket, a waistcoat and a shirt with a slightly ruffled collar. The jacket, waistcoat, trousers and shoes were a slate grey, and the shirt was a scarlet red.

What I liked most of all in terms of their outfits, however, were the brooches they were wearing. They were all birds. Lauren's was a Bluebird, Josie's was a Magpie, and Edward's was a Phoenix.

"We would have picked a matching pair of Turtle Dove brooches for you and Francis but we couldn't find any," Lauren had said, disappointment evident in her tone.

"We saw a Raven one, but thought that that was more up Michael's street," Josie had commented, her nose scrunching up in distaste, "And there was no way in hell that we were buying that asshole a brooch."

I was broken out of my contemplation when the two sister's suddenly raised their voices and started waving their arms around like crazy.

It didn't take me long to figure out why, because my eyes immediately locked onto the French captain hurriedly walking towards us.

He looked stunning.

Francis was wearing a navy blue captain's hat with a group of white feathers sticking out of it, and his blond hair was down, brushing over his shoulders. His breeches were a midnight blue, as was the shirt he had on, and the shirt had a white, puffy ascot collar tucked underneath the large neck collar. The wrist cuffs attached to the shirt seemed to be gold, and he was also wearing black gloves, which matched with his black boots. Something similar to a wine red coat was draped over his shoulders and upper arms, with gold accents around the collar - it was loose and light, being tugged at slightly by the gentle breeze.