The Redeemed Soul [Dorian Gray]

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"How is it coming along?" Diana asked Rosemary, regarding the painting that she was staring at.

"Good, I guess." She replied.

"Rose, I need your help, dear."

"Yes, mother?" She asked as she stood up from the floor. She had been sitting in the same spot since morning and that made her leg numb.

"Agatha just told me that there is a lot of leftover from the get-together that she had organised yesterday."

"We can go to the docks and distribute it among the homeless."

"You read my mind, dear." Diana smiled as she looked proudly at her daughter.

"Let me just get ready."

"The help that I needed was to give your brother the key to the house." She said. "Apart from accompanying me to the docks, of course."

"Okay, mother. I'll do that."

After she got ready, Rosemary took the extra key from the hallway and called the family coachmen from his house nearby. It was his children that she taught in her family's book shop.

"Good afternoon, Mr. David." She wished him.

"Good afternoon, young lady. Have you had your lunch?"

"Not yet, Mr. David. We need to go to the docks immediately." She told as her mother locked the front door and came out.

"Of course, dear." He nodded and the two women got inside the carriage.

Mr. David was very close to the Hallward family. It all started when Diana's husband saved his life on a rainy night. The twins always had an eye on his kids and the Hallward's always helped the family out. Since then, Mr. David has been working for them, trying to repay their generosity.

"We need to stop at Kelso's first." Diana informed Mr. David.

"Certainly, Mrs. Hallward." He tipped his hat at them and started the carriage towards their required destination.

"I'll wait here." Diana told Rosemary as they stopped outside the mansion. "Come back quickly." She requested.

Rosemary walked towards the front door and rang the bell. It felt strange to be there knowing Kelso's absence. The house seemed different to her even though nothing had really been changed.

Victor opened the front door. "Ah, Miss Rosemary!" He exclaimed.

"Good afternoon, Victor. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing great, Rose. How are you?"

When I said that Rosemary didn't really have friends, I meant it. The only people that she talked to in all of London was her family, Mr. David, Victor, Agatha, the Radleys, Father Emmanuel, Frank from the post office and Victoria Wotton.

"I'm good." She said. "Is my brother here?"

"Yes, he is. Why don't you come in?" He invited her and widened the door for her to come in.

"Thank you."

"Let me take your coat for you-"

"I'll be leaving soon, Victor. I just need to give Basil something."

Victor nodded and went on with his work. She walked towards the living room and saw her brother wearing his glasses while painting. He had several sketches of Dorian pinned up on the board in front of him while Dorian was trying his best to stand perfectly still and motionless for Basil to work his best.

"How is everything going?" She asked as she entered the living room.

"Rose!" Basil exclaimed as he adjusted his glasses.

"Good afternoon, Dorian." She wished him.

"Good afternoon." He wished back. There was a sudden smile on his face that Basil couldn't noticed without fail.

"What happened?" Basil asked his sister, taking his eyes off of the painting for the first time since he started painting it.

"Don't worry. I'm only here to tell you something." She walked towards her brother. "Mother wanted me to tell you that we will be going down to the docks today and that you will need this." She pulled out a key from the right-side packet of her coat.

"Thank you." He said, taking the key from her.

"Can I see?" She pointed to the painting.

"I don't think so." Dorian said and the twins looked at him. "He doesn't let anyone look at it. Not even myself."

"Well, I'm not 'anyone'." She went to stand behind Basil.

"How is it?" He asked her.

He only let his sister and mother see the paintings that he was working on because he always needed their opinion. The reason he never let anyone else see them before it was complete was because he wanted to blow their minds away when they first saw it.

"No." She whispered.

"Pardon?" He asked.

"You've got the wrong colour for the overtone of the skin."

He looked closely at the skin and then at Dorian. "What are you talking about? It looks perfect!"

"No, it is almost perfect." She said.

She picked up the paintbrush inside the mug of water and his palette from the artist stool. "What are you doing?" He asked her.

"Proving that I am right." She started mixing the paints together. "Give me a piece of paper."

"Here." He tore a small page out of his sketchbook and gave it to his sister after going through his bag.

Rosemary painted the small paper with the paint that she had mixed. She put the paintbrush back in its place and then walked over to where Dorian was standing.

"See?" She stood on the small cardboard box that he was standing on and showed the piece of paper near his cheekbone.

"By Jove! You are absolutely right!" Basil exclaimed. "How did I miss that?" He asked himself.

As Rosemary did that, Dorian grew quite nervous. He didn't know how to react. All he could think about was how her curls were in a perfect braid and how close she was standing to him, the freckles on her skin enhancing her beauty.

"You've been staring at the canvas for far too long, brother." She said and looked at Dorian. He looked at Basil as she did so. "You were missing just a drop of white paint." She informed him as she handed the paper back to her brother.

"Thank you, Rosemary."

"You would do the same for me." She smiled. "I have to go now. But have lunch and don't wait for us." She told him as she headed for the front door.

"It was great seeing you!" Dorian said.

Rosemary smiled and turned around. "It was good seeing you as well." She said as Victor walked towards her with a glass of water.

"You did tell me that you were leaving soon but so soon?" He asked her.

"Sorry, Victor." She apologised as she opened the front door. "Let's have a game tomorrow." She said, referring to the chess games that they played quite regularly.

"Be prepared to lose."

"Back at you."