Salvation of Ignorance

Chapter 2: You Have My Favor

Niall began to fold the paper. "I will keep my truths to myself."

"That's not what I meant."

Placing his feet upon the ground, Niall tossed the paper onto the coffee table. "I know what you meant. Yes, I will be civil as usual."

"That's also not what I meant."

Niall looked up at Peter, curious what offense was made now, but found a smirk that spoke otherwise. Niall pushed his lower lip up to form a line, exhaled through his nostrils and shook his head.

"For your information, I'm an absolute delight."

"Clearly you don't speak to yourself."

 "Hysteria is only common among women, sir."

Peter pinched his nose, and shook a laugh from his head. "Jesus Christ."

Niall straightened the tails of his coat and enjoyed the easy triumph with his Nancy-boy of a friend. "I suppose I'll have to meet this lass before I conjure any more complaints."

Peter revealed himself from under his hand. "You will have to scavenge like a ragamuffin to find complaint."

Said the man who wrote a two page letter on the subject.

"I'm sure," He chose instead and extended an open hand. "Do you have my favor?"

Niall held back a scowl as a fraction of mirth dissipated from Peter's face. Glancing away, he produced a folded paper and handed it to Niall by the tip of his conjoined index finger and thumb. Niall grabbed the sheet, questioned the man's mental age, and then glanced over the contents. Satisfied, Niall secured it in the pocket of his jacket and signaled for Peter to lead the way.

No sooner had they arrived to the town hall before they were targeted. They were in the middle of a third conversation, and like the previous two, Niall heard the conversation occurring behind him much better than the one he was apart of. He managed to learn personal details of several individuals and was grateful not to have a face to accompany them. It was no wonder the south made for good gossip.

After hearing about the visit of mother flow to a cherry, Niall found a desperation to hear what the older gentlemen enlightening them had to say, but once the band began for the next dance, the strive became impossible. Fortunately, it managed to drown out both conversations.

Abandoning auditory sense for vision, he noticed two girls join their group. Niall glanced to the two gentlemen already at present, but neither seemed altered by the additional occupants. He began to wonder if it was customary for Yankees to join conversations of strangers without invitation, but thought otherwise when a laugh rejuvenated his auditory senses.

The description of the girl in Peter's letter came to mind.

Her dress was decent and her hair was pinned up in a decent enough way. She had those tiny little orb-things that he had seen some debutantes pin into their hair last London season, which he assumed to signify some interest on her part and some amount of fortune behind her. However, her face held no distinguishing features. The only thing that gained his attention was the painful looking smile and her laughter. Miss Barrettmore's ridiculously excessive laughter.

Now he was truly at a loss as to what he was doing here.

Peter fortunately signaled through body language to the temporarily deaf Niall so that he knew an introduction was being made. Niall merely hoped that Peter kept his promise to avoid using anything that signified his Baron status. No need to give false encouragement that Niall was a fool with money and status and an interest in making his voyage permanent.