Ruby Shimmer (re-write)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The older man continued to stare at me expectantly and with that same calm look, which only caused me to grow even more uncomfortable than I already was. And as a distraction from his staring, I turned my attention back towards the book on the table. I reached out to pick it up and once I had the book in my hands, I immediately opened the front cover, quickly taking a mental note that it had the name "Lady Victoria Forrester" scrawled across the first page in an elaborate hand-written signature.

Still feeling a bit skeptical about what reading this would actually accomplish, but not wanting to get on the old man's bad side, I slowly began to flip through the pages' contents, only to realize that it appeared to be a diary of some sort. However, to my disappointment, nearly every page was far too faded and yellowed to read properly.

Though, what I could make out only had me feeling more and more captivated with each and every word.

March 12, 1967

These past weeks have been just awful! I don't think I have ever seen my father so furious in my entire life!

Father's spies have just delivered their annual report, stating that there was still no real progress in the development in the study of the "Guardian Stones" and "Location Gems" owned by the current head of the Davenport family, a sickly older man known by the name "Lord Zephyr Davenport".

And now, Father is beside himself with rage. I know this because Father had spent the last two hours in his private chambers, ranting and raving about the uselessness of his servants. I realize that my father wants the gems' supposed powers for himself, but I have never been able to understand why. And he won't tell me, no matter how many times I ask.

Unfortunately for me, because of his obsession, Father has unilaterally decided that he and I will go undercover in order to sneak into the home of the gems' discoverer, who just so happens to be Lord Davenport himself. Our cover story would be that we were there for a possible courting match between me and the lord only son, as well as a social visit to check on the duke's failing health. So, day after day for the past several weeks, I have been forced to endure a variety of meetings, discussions, and even training sessions, all designed to prepare me for any and all situations.

But tomorrow is the day that we finally depart for Lord Davenport's estate. And hopefully nothing goes wrong, or I don't know what my father might do.

June 3, 1967

Father and I arrived here at Lord Davenport's Canadian estate a little over a week ago and we have been surprisingly welcomed with open arms. I have even been given the most beautiful guest room, generously provided by the duke's son, the very one who was unfortunately being used as nothing more than a mere tool in my father's selfish plans. And while I remain against it, I indeed stayed true to Father's wishes and have been spending all of my time with Master Damien in order to keep my cover as a potential courting match.

Though, because of his illness, Father has been completely unable to meet with the duke personally, so all of his direct communications have been with either Master Damien as his father's proxy and right hand man.

However, it seems that he had grown tired of waiting, for earlier this afternoon, Father actually instructed me to ask Master Damien for a complete tour of both the mansion and the grounds. He said that he has had enough with playing nice. And as we were here under the guise of a courting match, if I were to request a tour personally, I should be able to get him to agree and I would be able to try and find out where Lord Davenport might have hid any relevant information or clues about the Guardian Stones and Location Gems and their possible hiding place.

But, no matter how much I didn't want to bow to my father's demands yet again, I still agreed, if only because I now have a far more personal reason for doing so. As it turns out, the more time I spend around Master Damien, the more I have come to realize that I might very well be falling for his natural draw and boyish charms.

September 19, 1967

I can't believe it's already been three months since I went ahead with Father's despicable plan to distract Master Damien Davenport with a tour request in order to try and help him steal the mysterious gemstone treasures of the Davenport family for himself. But, while I was disgusted with my father and the way he was acting, I didn't really mind going through with the plan itself. Because now I'm sure of it. I have fallen completely in love with this incredible man.

Curiously, however, it was also that very same day that I learned that there was indeed something rather odd going on at the Davenport family estate, for located within the mansion walls is a mysterious room that seems to be hiding an astounding secret.

I had been hoping for more information about the curious secret mentioned in the journal. But, unfortunately, the next several entries were far too faded to read anything else. So, instead, I flipped through the remaining pages until I finally came to another readable insert.

December 9, 1967

I can't believe I'm still stuck here at the Davenport estate just because Father is, for some reason, more determined than ever to find the secrets behind the Guardian Stones and Location Gems. In fact, he still remains absolutely sure that the gems themselves were located somewhere on the grounds. I myself have my own theories about the mysterious jewels, but I know that if I tell my father about any of them, things will only get much, much worse.

But, on the lighter side, I have finally found the man of my dreams!

I have still been spending plenty of time with Master Damien in accordance with Father's ridiculous schemes for the sake of hiding his true goals behind a false courting match. But, what he doesn't realize is that, for the past two months, it had actually been true!

Because of this, I have found myself smiling and laughing more than I ever thought possible, all thanks to his joyful attitude and infectious positivity! And I have been having such a wonderful time with him over the past weeks, that I have all but given up on my original mission, barely even giving it any real thought. But, once I had finally realized my real feelings towards him, I couldn't bring myself to hide the truth from him any longer.

It was that day, the day that we went on the tour, that I decided to tell him everything. I was terrified that he would reject me at the absolute least, but in reality, I found myself overwhelmed with emotion when he told me that he didn't blame me for my father's actions at all. That he loved me just as much and nothing I had done so far would change that as it wasn't my own fault. It was right then and there that he asked me if I would be interested in a real courting match under the guise of still being a fake one. That way, we could be together without worrying about angering my father. And of course, I happily agreed without a second thought.

All this time, I have never been happier in my entire life and I was sure that things couldn't get any better. At least until we had dinner alone earlier, when Damien had actually proposed marriage!

I flipped through the rest of the pages in earnest, hoping to find out more, but all of them turned out to be so faded that I couldn't read one more word. And because of this, I quickly found myself at the very end.

I then closed the journal entirely, now unable to tear my eyes away from the cover as what I had read raced through my mind at top speed.

However, I must have looked just as lost as I felt, because I was suddenly drawn out of my own thoughts when a series of deep good-natured chuckling suddenly reached my ears.

"You seem to be confused, my dear." spoke up the gentle voice of Lord Davenport after such a long time. "But, you see, Miss Melanie, the entries in that journal you hold are far more than a mere lovey story. They also depict the fact that your family is not only closely related to mine, but how your grandparents met. And not only that. I also believe that there may be a powerful and ancient secret lying deep within your own bloodline as well."