The Death of a Bachelor

Chapter One

The sky was clear, the morning sun was bright, and all nature was calm with no sign of any impending hurricane to disrupt the serenity. It was the perfect weather for Elena Rivera to have her tea at the table on the terrace of Rivera Manor. She just wished she wasn't being pestered every now and then by the older woman who sat infront of her, knitting.

Elena was just about to take a sip from her porcelain tea cup when an exceptionally loud gasp from her mother startled her, causing some of the liquid to spill down the side of the cup.

"How about Lord Lestrad's son?" Lady Victoria Rivera asked, her smile a reflection of the excitement she radiated. "Er...what was his name again? It's at the tip of my tongue..."

Elena glared at her mother as she peered at the blue sky, trying to jolt her memory. "Was it Moses? Mason? It certainly had an 'M' ring to it."

"His name is Gerald," Elena stated, her voice laced with exhaustion.

"Ah yes!" Victoria snapped her fingers. "You went to school together as kids."

"But we were not close," Elena informed her. She drew out a breath to calm herself. "We still are not."

Victoria's smile was teasing. "Well, I think he would make a good match for you."

Elena sighed. She bet her mother did not even remember what the lad looked like.

"Will you stop it, mother?" she whined, finally giving in to her exasperation."I do not wish to get married to any of these people you keep bringing up."

Lately, her mother had been looking for a life partner for Elena as though the world was nearly ending.

Elena was twenty two years old; five years past the marriageable age. Most of her lady friends were either in courtship, engaged or just married, courtesy of their parents choosing their life partners.

However, Elena's parents had left the final decision of choosing her husband entirely up to her. That, although, did not stop her mother from bringing her marriage proposals or suggesting the names of noblemen for her to choose from. She felt awfully pressurised since her friends were leaving her behind, and she was only growing older.

"Oh! What are they doing?" Victoria scowled as she looked at the servants in the wide compound, bustling about a long table.

"I thought I had told them the dining tables would strictly be inside!" She angrily placed her unfinished cloth on the table, stood up and pranced down the steps from the terrace to go yell at the servants.

The Rivera Manor's front yard was green with lawns save for the wide path that lay in between, from the front gate to the house itself. On the lawn to the left was an oak tree surrounded by a small garden shaped in a circle, and a bench placed within the bare radius of the circle.

The Riveras were hosting a banquet that evening, and preparations were ongoing, a few servants setting up furniture in the lawns.

Finally left at peace, Elena raised her cup to her lips, but a shrill shriek of her name startled her, and the tea spilled once more.

"Mara!" Elena whined as her jumpy younger sister emerged from the house and rushed onto the terrace, throwing herself in the chair their mother had previously been occupying.

"I'm thrilled about performing tonight!" Mara declared, beaming. "Aren't you?"

Elena' stomach flipped and she placed the teacup on the saucer.

"I am a bit nervous," she admitted.

"You're always a bundle of nerves at first, it's true," said Mara, "but we both know you snap out of it once you're on stage. You'll be fine, don't worry! It's only a dance, and you love to dance."