Love & Misunderstanding

Chapter Five - Jonathan's POV

"Jonathan, you came after all!"

I had not taken so much as one step away from carriage before my friend came running up to me, without a doubt planning to ambush me for ignoring his letters up until now. Fortunately for me, I managed to side-step out of the way, causing Matthew to instead crash straight into the carriage door. He had sent word a few days ago, asking me to visit him, stating that he had something that he wished to discuss with me. Originally I had not planned to; however, I knew all too well that he would eventually end up at my doorstep unannounced if I did not, so I reluctantly gave in.

"What is it that you so desperately wanted to discuss with me?" I asked.

The collision must have affected him more than I had thought because he spent a few moments sitting on the ground, holding his head as if he were dizzy. I was not worried about him in the slightest. He had survived worse blows to the head before. His mother always claimed that he had a skull made of iron. Sadly, none of the blows had ever managed to knock any sense into him.

"Come down to the pond with me and I will tell you," he said with a cheeky grin, as he jumped to his feet and ran off down the path to the moderate sized fishing pond that sat between their house and the riding grounds. Watching him go, you would never guess that he had suffered at all.

Having the long legs that I did, I was able to catch up with him easily enough. I was actually quite a bit taller than him, despite the fact that I was only half a year older than him. In fact, I was taller than a lot of men my age, and older as well. It was something that I inherited from my mother, who was tall as well. She was not taller than my father, but they were considerably close in height. Tall and dominating. Those were the words that were often used to describe my family.

"Sit down," he said, as he unceremoniously plopped down on the edge of the bank

"If you dragged me all the way out here for something meaningless, I warn you now that I will leave," I said.

"It is not meaningless," he assured me. "I asked you to come so that we could come up with a plan to help me win Miss Hoffman's attention."

Hearing that, I promptly turned around and started back towards the carriage. "I have no desire to argue with you right now," I told him. "Therefore, I will take my leave now."

However, I did not make it far before I felt him grab my arm to pull me back. "Wait!" he exclaimed. "I wanted to inform you that I took your advice and got to know her better."

This remark intrigued me enough to stop and let him explain. "When did this take place?" I asked. As far as I knew, we had not had the chance to see her since the derby, and we all knew how well that had ended.

"Were you aware that my family had dinner with the Abbott's last night?" I nodded my head in reply, and he continued. "She was visiting them as well. I actually had a chance to talk to her during dinner."

This surprised me. Not the fact that she was visiting the Abbott's, but rather the fact that Matthew actually managed to talk to her for once without her running off. "What did you all learn?"

"Well, I learned that she likes tea, she is not fond of fishing, she adores music, and seems quite fond of your sister."

I had never before been so tempted to strangle him. All of the things that he had listed were so painstakingly obvious that even I could see them. "You have learned nothing," I groaned. "First of all, I have yet to meet a woman who does not like tea, and second of all, of course she is fond of my sister. Anyone who likes music would have to be fond of her! If anything this just proves my point further. You would not be happy with her."