| |
––––––––
"Elizabeth! You will never believe what has just arrived,” Sarah Jane said, walking into the room.
I barely glanced up. "I'm sure I can't." I wanted to read without interruption, and just escape into the world the typeset words created for me. Was that really too much to ask?
"An invitation, and you'll never guess who sent it!" Sarah Jane's excitement, and her infectious joy, tugged at me. Even if it was reluctant.
"I have no idea, Sarah Jane." I put the book down in my lap.
Sarah Jane’s porcelain cheeks were flushed a delicate rosy pink. Our brother, James, looked up from where he reading with a raised eyebrow.
Sarah Jane’s eyes sparkled. “The Mysterious Marquis, that's who."
"Good heavens, you can't be serious?" Sitting up straighter I plucked the invitation from her hand. "A masked ball?"
"Doesn't it sound intriguing?" Sarah Jane grinned as she took the invitation back and clutched it to her chest.
"It sounds droll," James said.
"James!" Sarah Jane shook her head in disbelief. "I'm looking forward to this! It's so exciting. It’s like one of those books of yours, Mouse."
"You mean we're going?" James' jaw dropped, and I wanted to laugh.
"Why wouldn't we go?" Sarah Jane turned her full attention to James. The way the sun shone through the large bay window, bringing out the reds and gold of her hair, gave her beauty an angelic charm. I tried to avoid smiling. She would win this one.
James was not deterred. "For one, how do we even know that this invitation is from the marquis? Hasn't he been mysteriously gone for the past twenty years? No one has seen or heard from him in all that time."
Sarah Jane took a seat near James. "I heard at tea this afternoon that there has been quite a commotion at the Old Manor."
"That hardly seems odd. Doesn't the manor staff keep the house prepared for the marquis to return?"
"He never does, though," I said. “Perhaps he doesn’t exist.”
"Elizabeth! Siding with the enemy are we?" Sarah Jane shook her head at me.
"It's more that he has a valid point."
"Well, if you had been out with me today then you'd have known this fact. A carriage was spotted yesterday at the manor house, and it was noted that two gentlemen and a lady were seen entering the manor."
"So?" James adopted a bored tone. However, I could tell he was curious.
"They had a second carriage full of luggage. So it would appear the rumors are true. And just now, this!" Sarah Jane waved the invitation in triumph.
James crossed his arms. "I'm not going.”
"You are insufferable," Sarah Jane said. "I'm afraid you must go, though. Everyone who is anybody will be there."
"Might I stay home with you, James?" I glanced over at my brother and winked. He nodded, so I turned my attention back to Sarah Jane. "I'm sorry, Sarah Jane I'm not going."
Sarah Jane stiffened. "Just for once you should get your nose out of a book and live a little."
Silence hung heavily after she left. What my sister said stung. I certainly hadn't expected to avoid the ball. I was, in fact, as intrigued as the next person about the mysterious marquis. I had sided with James more to tease her. I looked at the book in my lap. Was it so bad that I'd rather read a book?