When Rose received the letter, she was ecstatic to say the least. She had immediately sent out a letter to her parents to let them know. It has been a few days since then and still, it occupied her mind. Over the last few days, she had been in the best of moods. She even went through some medical books in the library to freshen up her memory, just in case.
Even today, the day of the tea party at the Greens residence, she was in an exceptionally good mood. Rose let Daisy add extra adornments on her and in her hair, something she usually doesn't do and she wore her best dress that was a beige silk gown with lace at the end of the sleeves and on the torso.
"You seem happier than usual." spoke a voice that kicked her out of her thoughts.
Dre sat across from her in the carriage that was taking her to the tea party. Rose was suddenly annoyed with this arrangement. But it couldn't be helped. The other carriages belonging to the Rickhorns were going through maintenance. Dre was only tagging along since he needed to be somewhere and so he was dropping her off before taking the carriage with him.
Not wanting to be impolite, she smiled and replied, "Yes, it seems I am."
"I thought you dreaded the day you went for this tea party." he said to her although he knew the real reason for her good mood. Tufan had told him that the lady had been in the library every morning, going through books. She had even sent letters to her parents regarding the news from the physician.
His head was leaned back against the seat, eyes closed. Just like that night when they came back from the soiree, thought Rose.
"I thought it would be nice to go somewhere else for the day, a change of scenery," she said to him and turned her gaze to the street outside the moving carriage.
Over the past few days, she had only seen him once at breakfast, other than that, he did not have any meals at the mansion. Or at least, he was hardly at the mansion. She heard Daisy mention how both Mister Rickhorn and Sir Roy had been very busy with a case regarding a village near the borders. She most probably would not have seen him today as well if it had not been for the carriages not being available.
He seemed exhausted.
"You have been very busy with work, Mister Rickhorn. Are you not tired?" spoke Rose.
"Worried for me, Miss Woods?", he responded with a smirk, eyes still closed.
This man! Why was he always teasing her? Rose asked herself internally as she felt her cheeks heat up. "It was just a question." she shot back, unable to keep the bite in her tone as this was not the first time that he spoke this way.
At this, Dre finally opened his eyes. "So easily flustered, Miss Woods." he said to her with a wide smile, earning a hard stare from her followed by an eyeroll.
It was true that he seemed to enjoy teasing this naive woman. Her expressions fascinated him, as well as her responses. One would think she was a spoiled rich maiden whose father showered her with luxuries. But he had met the Woods before, they did not seem to be the kind of people to spoil their children, even though they had the means.
So one could only say that she was a woman with pride and definitely a young lady who did not want to sit at home all day looking pretty. He had to admit, that was the kind of woman that he found attractive. But this one was not on his radar, even if she was pretty. She was a family friend after all. Not to mention, very uptight.
They had finally arrived at the Green's residence. Rose watched as they entered the beautiful estate that was adorned with many gardens. The grounds seemed to be almost as big as the Rickhorn's. The mansion was massive as well, almost rivaling the Richorns splendor.
"I should be back in three hours, be ready by then," said Dre. Rose then greeted him before stepping down from the carriage with the help of the coachman.
They had stopped right in front of the mansion's main doors so Rose carefully made her way up the white marble stairs before she entered the already open doors and was greeted by the mansion butler who had a large black moustache. He gave her a bow before leading her into the receiving room where the rest of the women were.
She seemed to have arrived a bit early since there were only three women sitting on the couches. One of which was Lady Green.
On seeing Rose enter the room Lady Green leaped to her feet to welcome her.
"Lady Woods! It is so wonderful to see you here," she said as she took Roses hand into hers as if they have known each other for years. "I was worried that you would not come. Please come sit, we are still expecting a few other guests who will be arriving shortly." And she led her to a seat next to where she was sitting.
"Let me introduce you to Marceline Brigotte, a dear friend of mine since childhood." she said and gestured to the woman sitting across who wore a black and navy satin dress.
"A pleasure to meet your acquaintance Lady Brigotte." said Rose with a slight bow. The lady just stared at her without giving a response. She looked Rose up and down as if assessing her. She seems to not like me already, thought Rose.
"And this is another close friend of mine, Vanessa Harlow." continued Lady Green.
Rose looked at the lady seated next to Marceline, she wore a bright red dress that suited her blonde locks and blue eyes. She was definitely a beauty, it was easy to understand why the women at the soiree showed so much jealousy towards the young lady.
"Did you sleep with him?" came the sudden question from Lady Harlow.
Stunned, Rose was silent for a few seconds before asking, "What?"
"Dre. Did you sleep with him yet? You are staying in the mansion aren't you?" Lady Harlow further explained.
So maybe it was not jealousy that those women felt towards Lady Harlow, thought Rose to herself.
All of a sudden, the idea of going back outside to see if she could go back with the carriage that left her, didn't sound so bad.