The Redeemed Soul [Dorian Gray]

Introductions

"I was going to get you both introduced to each other but I guess my job is done for me." Basil smiled.

"Well, we haven't really had a proper introduction yet." Rosemary said.

"Then I guess I came at the right time." Her brother smiled. "Rosemary, this is Mr. Dorian Gray." He clamped the young man's shoulder. "Dorian, this is my sister Rosemary. Rosemary Hallward."

"Pleasure to meet you." Dorian said and was going to kiss her hand but Rosemary put her hand forward for a shake. He went along with it and they shook hands.

"Nice to meet you." She answered.

"Rosemary and Basil." Dorian said and looked at both of them as he spoke their names.

Rosemary liked that Dorian told her name first because no one had done it before. It was always 'Basil and Rosemary'. Maybe that was the problem with a patriarchal system. Everyone wanted a male child and everyone preferred a male-dominant society.

But not the Hallward's.

"I know what you are thinking." Basil said. "Yes, we are both names after herbs."

"Coincidentally or not so coincidentally, our father's name was Herb." She said and the three of them laughed.

"This isn't that bad." Basil said. "Imagine being named after Greek Gods and Goddesses."

Dorian looked confused and hence, Rose explained Basil's statement. "Our mother's name is Diana."

"Ah!" He said. "Well, being named after the Greeks is not that bad as well."

"Of course." She nodded and Basil looked at her. "Dorians were one of the ethnic groups of classical Greece." She explained.

"Yes, that is absolutely correct." Dorian acknowledged. "Do you like history?" He asked her, since she was the first person that he had met who knew about Dorians.

He looked really nervous but Rosemary found that to be attractive. Maybe he was different. "I do." She smiled. "I teach world history to children."

"Oh, so you are a teacher, then?" He asked.

"Yes and no."

"She is an artist." Basil answered.

"I take care of our family's library with our mother and I teach children out of passion."

"I must say that what you are doing is very plausible." Dorian said.

"Thank you." She said, liking him more and more as the minutes passed by.

No one had ever appreciated her before the way he had. People gossiped about her and her free thinking, but didn't care about any of them. At least, she wasn't tied down and made into a puppet for the functioning of the society.

"If you are interested, the library here has many great history books. They used to keep me company when I was a child."

"I know." She said. "Kelso used to let me use it and he donated most of them to our library."

"Is that so?" He asked. "Then I must visit your library sometime then."

"It's not as big as the one here, but it is magical because of the books." She pointed out.

"Do you attend these parties often?" He directed the question to the siblings, referring to how Rosemary knew what was going to happen between Lady Blakewell and Lord Canning.

"I attend them on behalf of our family." Basil mentioned. "Rosemary doesn't like them."

"Why is that?" Dorian asked.

She looked hesitant to speak up because every male member of the society that she had met were very fond of parties and the society itself essentially. Of course they were, since they got everything that they wanted.

But she spoke up anyway because there was something very different about the young man in front of her. She couldn't quite place what it was, but he was very enchanting.

"Large gatherings put me out of place." She said.

Before she could continue, to Rosemary's displeasure, a man in his late thirties joined their conversation. "And the young lady is against the society for some reason." He asserted as he stood behind Dorian.

Rosemary grew furious just hearing his voice. The urge to strangle someone grew as she saw the man. Basil touched her arm, knowing how she was feeling and she looked at him.

The second Dorian looked at the man, something came over him. He knew that that man was a very important one in the society and he looked like he could own the world and still have nothing. The way he talked and the way he walked was very interesting to Dorian.

"I'm against them for the exact reasons you are for them, Lord Wotton." She remarked and looked at Dorian to see his reaction to her words, but he was looking at Henry Wotton. The urge overcame her and she just had to get out of there.

What was it about Lord Wotton that every single person was bewitched by him? Why was it that he had everyone under his control? He could tell someone to jump off of a building and they would do so willingly.

Rosemary never liked him and it wasn't like he needed her approval. He lived his life his way and she lived hers her way. Both of them despised each other and preferred to stay away from the other.

Ironically, Rosemary and Lady Wotton were good friends. Both of them shared similar ideologies and wanted to promote the idea of free-thinking women. The only problem was, she was held captive by her husband in a way. Lord Wotton being who he was, wasn't a faithful or a loving husband. But Victoria Wotton was alright with it and Rosemary didn't understand how she could continue to live with that man.

So, there was always a rift between her and Henry. It was Basil who maintained a balance between them and prevented Rose from committing genocide.

"You should try to see it from a different perspective." Henry suggested.

"Oh, I already am!" She said and then turned to Basil. "You know where to find me." She told him and left the group of men to themselves.

Basil was going to say something to the two gentlemen but he never got the chance to as Henry started talking with Dorian. "I don't believe we have met." He told Dorian.

"No, we haven't." He answered.

And that, my readers, was the beginning of a very toxic friendship - if you could call it a friendship - which was soon to become one of the biggest mistakes made in this story.