The Gift of Love

Chapter 5 - Unexpected on Thursday

by Lady Gato

Eliza strode furiously through the snowy streets of London. She was on her way to visit her friend Louise. Usually she would have taken her finest carriage but she had been so upset that she would rather stomp out her frustration in the cool air. Her machiavellan mind was still trying to sort out how she would work the most recent turn of events to her advantage.

For you see, Eliza Leegan wasn't the only one who knew and kept juicy secrets. She had nursed a secret crush on Terrence Grandchester for years. She was devastated when it was clear her uncle and the Duke of Grandchester had cut some secret deal for their families and were going to arrange the marriage between their only offspring. She had been hoping her own pussilanimous father would approach the Duke first (her own mother was in favor of this union and berated her husband for letting the "big catch" go), even though when it came to the English hierarchy, the Barringtons would always trump the Leegans. The delicious snare of Grandchester with that annoying, flat nosed, frizzy haired freak in the front page of the paper had been delicious... Elizabeth had thrown a hissy fit, but not out of wounded love, it was of affronted pride. Eliza alone knew about her cousin Elizabeth's pining in vain for a smelly zookeeper she had met a year ago at the Blue River Zoo, some loser called Albert who reeked so much of skunk that Eliza could not fathom what in the world Elizabeth Barrington would or could see... Eliza alone knew that Elizabeth Barrington was only going to marry Grandchester out of duty and was dreading to say "farewell" to that beastly zookeeper. But now with Grandchester hobnobbing with the hired help and Elizabeth's response, Eliza knew she had window of opportunity to cause the sort of mischief she excelled at...and perhaps finally get her mitts on that dashing Terry all for herself....she was smugly envisioning herself on his arm when she stopped short...there, a few metres from her...there he was! A sly smile curled on her lips. Controlling herself she elegantly walked over...

Terrence was nervously playing with hands. He was not of such nature, but he knew he was treading on thin ice with Candice and was running out of time to right things, the way he wanted them to go. For starters, he wanted to make amends to Candice at this dinner party she invited him to. He had stopped when he saw the florist, perhaps a nice bouquet would help things along. "I don't want anything ordinary or cheap looking..." he had indicated to the florist, who upon seeing the young man in front of him and from the inflections in his voice, knew he was dealing with a proper gentleman. "How about roses, my lord? They are precious this time of year...what color?"

Terrence had been caught off guard. The gift of flowers was color coded, he knew all too well...yellow was for friendship, red was for passion....that was his first and obvious choice but he had chastised himself and reminded himself he had to proceed carefully. The florist saw the conundrum in the young man's eyes and suggested "I say, I have a few blooms from a very rare white rose that a famous American botanist created, called "Sweet Candy". If you are looking for something exceptional and if guineas are not your concern, then..."

"I'll take them!" Terrence exclaimed. Perfect! White! Symbol of purity. For he felt that despite the tangled mess he was currently in, the love he felt for Candice was true and pure, and he was sure that she thought the same. Otherwise, how could they have fallen in love so quickly. The florist had smiled and excused himself, for he had to go back into the small hothouse he had on the premises. Terrence had been so pleased with his exquisite choice that he had not noticed the young lady next to him.

"I declare, Terrence Grandchester, you must be thinking very much of Elizabeth dear, you haven't returned my greeting!"

Terrence felt as if he had heard nails on a chalkboard. He turned and the fawning face of Eliza looked up at him in a way that made his skin crawl. "Oh...Miss Leegan...fancy meeting you here..." he said, hiding his panic...how long had she been aware of his presence here?