The House Party

Chapter 1

Annalise reread the parchment she had folded and refolded many times over with a faint smile on her face. Marion's letter had arrived just a day before she was to depart for the house party and the traveller had spent the entire trip trying to decipher her cousin's real feelings in her written prose.

Marion was an exceedingly gentle girl who would never grouse about any injustices in her life. Annalise always felt she had to protect Marion for her cousin would never share any extreme emotions with anyone. It was not in her nature to give anyone trouble.

Her cousin's effusive letter proved Annalise wrong. Her cousin could indeed display her emotions despite her restrained nature. The happiness she radiated lurked in every curve of her penmanship despite barely alluding to it in her words.

The honeymoon tour of the continent had soared her cousin's spirits considerably although her marriage itself had been a great source of happiness. Her husband was a kind, considerate man who placed her joy over his. Having had no home to call her own after her father's passing Marion was now the mistress of her own dwellings in the heart of London which made her content with her lot in life.

Annalise placed the letter back in her traveling reticule in case it flew outside the carriage. Marion's musings were few and far between and she had no wish to lose their correspondence.

The warm summer breeze was unpleasant on Annalise's face but she knew it would get muggy in the carriage if she closed the window shut. She had no desire to faint in the weather. Her outfit already took much of her breath and she cursed her own decision to wear a constricted outfit. Her maid next to her had already opened her collar buttons. Making a fashionable first impression on the house party had not given Annalise the same privilege. She tilted the window mirror towards herself and grinned. At least she looked nice. She bit her lips to give them a reddened appearance.

The privately owned postchaise, her father's newest purchase, took a fast turn and then began to slow down. According to the traveller's estimations they were not near their destination as yet. They were meant to cross the nearest village before entering the estate and the area around them was still wooded and uninhabited.

"What's the hold up?" Annalise asked the footman, with her neck craning out of the window. The slender boy just pointed at the road in front of them. Three masked riders stood in front of the carriage, blocking their path.

Annalise's maid started babbling very loudly and her words reached a higher pitch as her mistress opened the carriage door and let her gown down the steps. She daintily settled her frilly underskirt and crossed her sleevless arms.

"Rupert, you've already pulled this prank on me before. Come down at once or I'll write to your mother," Annalise's tone was stern though her blue eyes shone with merriment.

"Oh dear, oh dear. Mustn't write to mother dearest. She'll turn me into a condiment," The stout boy jumped off his horse and walked towards her with his hands raised. Annalise pulled off his face covering and glared at him.

"And where there's Rupert, there's Adam. You should have been inventive, my friends. Next time one of you must be an elderly woman with a broken foot. I might buy that charade," The blonde woman advised. She revealed the next young man who had tightly curled hair and an impertinent grin.

"As the lady wishes," Adam bowed and pulled off his hat. The reprimand had no effect on the smile on his face.

"Now, who is the third musketeer. I can only guess the two of you," Annalise sauntered forward and came to a halt in front her third masked rider who had dismounted his horse. She pried off his face covering and was not surprised at her luck to meet him there.