The Ruin and Restoration of Harrison Fredrick | ONC 2021 |

Chapter Six

"This is a disaster."

I paced my bedroom, raking my fingers through my hair for the hundredth time. Adeline and her parents had left hours ago, and it was nearly sundown by the time Grandmother released me to my own devices. I'd hardly touched my dinner even though I hadn't eaten much at tea, which I let her chalk up to excitement, so she told me to go to sleep early to be better rested "for yourself and your bride-to-be.".

"Calm down, Harrison," Lissa said, not for the first time. She sat near the window, writing something in a journal. "We have plenty of time."

"A week is not plenty of time to stop a wedding. Betrothal. Whichever," I protested. "They were talking about dowries and dresses and which color roses should decorate the church! We're practically married already in their eyes."

"You should consider yourself lucky. Many aristocrats are betrothed in childhood, and some royals before they can walk."

"Yes, how lucky I am to be plucked from my commoner farm and shoved into a marriage to a random girl."

She side-eyed me but didn't protest. "Your grandmother and the duke may be the ones making all the decisions, but no one can stop you from refusing to say your vows at the altar."

I gave it thought. Standing in front of every important person in the country, not to mention God, surrounded by six months' worth of work and finery, with Adeline looking me in the eye and her parents and Grandmother watching my every move, and saying "I don't."

Not an appealing situation.

"Have you spoken to Lady Allston?"

"We spoke about it when she told me about the whole thing at dinner last night, not even an hour after meeting her. She didn't take my protests very well. And at dinner she lectured me on the history of the Allstons and the estate and wouldn't let me get a word in edgewise." Which was really a fascinating story, but it was the furthest thing from my mind at the moment and mostly went in one ear and out the other.

"She spends most her evenings alone, reading or sewing in the north parlor. Now that you've met Adeline and have a formed opinion of her, maybe you could bring it up as a legitimate argument against the wedding."

I leaned my head against the wall with a groan. "Do you really think that will work?"

"Worth a try."

According to Edward, the north parlor was the coolest room in the house in the summer and the warmest in the winter. I decided to call it the Blue Room. It was a fancy living room, with a stone fireplace taking up most of the far wall and plush couches and armchairs scattered around. Another wall was lined with bookshelves full of books and trinkets I couldn't figure the purpose of. And of course everything, from the wallpaper to the ceramic birds on the mantle, was blue.

Grandmother looked up from the biggest chair in the room, which was angled near the fireplace. A blue pillow sat near her feet, on which a little white, fluffy dog was laying on. It raised its head and sniffed, then yawned and curled back up. "Ah, Harrison. I thought you'd retired for the evening."

"Grandmother," I greeted awkwardly, bowing my head. "Um...how are you?"

"Well, thank you." She gestured to the opposite chair. "Please, join me."

I sat and watched her. She was sewing a piece of white cloth, her old fingers moving quick and smooth as if moving the needle through water. "What's that?" I asked.

"A tablecloth," she answered. "For your and Lady Adeline's table."

A familiar pit opened in my stomach. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that."