Kasey was awakened by Mrs. Willows meowing and gently rubbing against her shoulder. She poked one eye out from under her pastel green covers and stared at the cat.
"Is that all you ever think about? Food? And sleeping?" She slowly climbed from the bed and let her feet touch the floor. Mrs. Willows followed suit jumping from the bed and walking to the door to scratch against it.
"You're always sleeping and always eating. You need to get some exercise," the cat meowed in disapproval and continued to scratch the door.
"One day you're going to be too fat to pass through the door and I would have to get mother to make the door bigger."
Just then the door opened and her maid, Emma walked in. she watched Mrs. Willows scurry out the door before looking at Kasey and smiling.
"Good morning, my lady. I suppose you're ready for your bath. Gilmore has already readied the wash tub.
"In a minute, Emma. I have only just awakened." She said opening her dresser and pulling out her blue dress. Emma stepped over to her frowning.
"Really Miss Kasey it is my job to help you. If you go about picking out your clothes, bathing yourself, dressing yourself and packing your own clothes, I'll soon be out of a job.
"Don't be silly Emma. You help me. I just think it's somewhat lazy for me to let you do things I'm perfectly capable of myself. You bathe and dress your self without anyone's help." Kasey gathered her clothes and clothed the drawer. The older woman smiled and followed her from the room.
"I'll go see to your breakfast then" she said and headed in the other direction.
As Kasey walked past the guest room, she could hear movement inside and talking. Apparently lord Garwood was an early raiser. She blushed remembering the way he had looked at her the night before and quickly hurried past.
"She is beautiful, is she not Bradley," Jordan said as he struggled to tie his cravat. He gave up and cast is aside. His footman Bradley held up a coal black that matched his breeches.
"You sound as though you are, my lord smitten. I have been rather unfortunate for I have not yet seen Miss Morgan. When I arrived this morning the entire household was still in bed."
"I am not smitten. I'm just telling you about the Morgans. I told you about Jeff's enchanting mother; does this mean I am smitten for her as well? He scowled as he began pulling on his riding boots.
"No but you did not spend half the morning telling me the colour of her eyes, how well she was shaped or how pouty her lips were and how many freckles were sprinkled about her nose." Bradley reminded him. He proceeded to pull on one of his master's boots.
It was only because he had known Bradley his entire life he had not sent him packing.
'It is only human of me to notice beauty when I see It." grunted Jordan. He pulled on the other shoe and stood up. Bradley looked at him, his light blue eyes shinning.
"Of course, my lord. I shall head to the stables and tell the stable boy to ready the horses." He looked at Jordan's clothes and gave a nod of approval before setting off out the room and down the hallway. A few minutes later the front door was heard opening closing. Jordan crossed the room and looked at his reflection at dressing table. His black wavy hair had now grown well past its normal length and rested casually on his nape making him look a few years younger than his twenty-six. His green eyes shifted from his refection to rest upon a porcelain figurine of two cats playing with a ball of yarn. He had seen many of them throughout the rooms he had been in the Morgan household. Figurines of cats playing sleeping, eating and other various cats activities. Mrs. Morgan had explained collecting porcelain was a hobby of her daughter's. He had even remembered seeing an unusually large cat roaming about the house.
The rumbling of his stomach brought him back from his wool gathering. He replaced the porcelain and quickly heading from the room to collide with Miss Morgan. Unable to regain his balance he fell to the floor, Kasey's soft curvy body landing on top of him. Images flooded his brain as she struggled to get to her feet. When her breast crushed against his chest his blood eagerly rushed to the lower regions of his body. Bradley was right. He was smitten.
Kasey stared at her brother's friend when she had righted herself. He remained sprawled on the carpeted floor looking at her with his eyes somewhat glazed over. For a moment she thought one of her dress buttons had come loose or perhaps had a run in her stockings, but then she remembered she had no buttons on her dress and she was not wearing stockings.
"Are- you- al-right, my-lord?" she asked slowly and loudly as thought she was addressing her aunt Agatha who had a hearing problem. The confused look disappeared from his face and he smiled turning her insides warm like the cloudless spring day outside.
"Yes I'm just not used to being ploughed over by beautiful young maidens as I leave my room. I've never been ploughed over by anyone for that matter." He slowly got up with her help and dusted himself.
"I am very sorry. Mother is always telling me not to run in the halls, I'll knock people over and it has finally happened but you see I just remembered I forgot to pack one of my books for the trip..." her voice trailed away. She had remembered her mother telling her how most men thought women should only know how to do simple things like sewing and gossiping and giggling stupidly. Politics, books and science should not interest women. That was probably one of the reasons why she hated sewing and gossiping and had made every effort to learn everything her brother had learnt at school. She wanted to know what the big deal was. She remembered how she had to appear foolish when she had had her debut in London.
"That must be quite a book if you had to forego your mother's predictions of knocking down innocent souls. What is it, a book of poetry, sewing techniques or a romance?" he asked her.
Suddenly angry at his thinking she was another silly chit she decided to tell him the truth.
"Actually it's a book on sixteenth century alchemy. My father bought it for my seventeenth birthday." She waited for the similar repulsed look one of her suitors had given her when she had made a slip of her tongue and argued politics. He had never spoken to her after that. Instead Jordan surprised her by smiling.
"I remember Jeff mentioning his sister read his notes while we were in college. You did some of his projects, if I remember correctly. I even was annoyed at my parents at some point for having only one child. The nights I spent up completing my lessons stewing over the fact I didn't have a younger sibling to help complete my work. So tell me Miss Morgan what is your favorite subject? He grinned.
"Mathematics but Jeffery stopped teaching me in his final year at school," Kasey pouted.
"That's because you were getting better at it than me," Jeffery said from behind her. She turned around to see her brother walking in his somewhat lazy gait down the hall. He looked extremely handsome in his dark brown suit. His sherry brown eyes twinkled playfully as he made a grab for her. She quickly evaded him by running behind Jordan.
"Don't you think you're a bit old to be trying to tickle me? You're almost seven and twenty" she said trying to sound stern from behind his back.
"I'm afraid not. You shall always be my little sister," he made another grab for her but she had already ran halfway down the stairs.
Somewhat annoyed that his friend had interrupted his interlude with Kasey, he watched her disappear down the stairs before turning to Jeffery.
"About returning to Greenwich today..."Jeffery began.
"What of it? I already sent Bradley to ready the horses." Jordan looks at his friend whose smile had disappeared.
"I will not be going straight there. I have to make a stop in ..."
"Is everything alright with...?"
"Yes, I suppose. But I still need to..." Jeffery paused as one of the maids hurried past with some freshly laundered linen. "Straighten some things out. Kasey is still going to Greenwich. You don't mind do you? She will have her maid with her so she won't be much of a bother. If I postpone the trip she will be disappointed. I shall be one day behind you."
"I don't mind. I could use the company." He assured him. "We could talk a bit of mathematics."
Jeffery rolled his eyes skyward. "I forgot you enjoyed math as well. We better get some breakfast. We're leaving before lunch."
"I think its dead," seven year old Dorothy Rosewood said as she poked gingerly at a wilted pink carnation plant that stood out in the garden which grew behind the Morgan's house.
"It is not dead. It's sleeping." Kasey told her as she took a seat next to the girl's very pregnant mother in the garden swing. Dorothy senior shook her head and looks at her cousin. Her grey eyes twinkled mischievously.
"Jeffery's friend, Mr. Garwood is very handsome isn't he? He seems very mysterious with his long dark hair and green eyes. Did you notice there are little bits of gold in them? I noticed when Jeff introduced us." she sighed.
"I suppose all those dark clothes he wears give him a mysterious air," Kasey agreed dusting the remaining soil from her fingers. Little Dorie got up from inspecting the plant and climbed into her lap.
"Almost roguish. Do you think he's a rake?"
"I don't know Dorothy. I only met lord Garwood last night," Kasey sighed. Her cousin sometimes got carried away.
"I've never met one before, you know. I suppose there just like every other man you've met. Just cast women as often as one casts spoilt food," she said for only Kasey to hear.
"Really cousin the things you say!" laughed Kasey.
"There's my beautiful wife," Patrick Rosewood exclaimed as he came from the garden gate. His grey hair shone in the early morning sun. At three and forty years he seemed to have no care in the world as he bent to lift up his daughter and spin her around.
"Isn't my wife simply glowing, Kasey? Our child is expected any day now," said Patrick.
Dorothy appeared to have swallowed one of the enormous pumpkins which grew in her grandfather's estate. Just that morning she had complained her feet had swollen.
"Whoever said women glowed at pregnancy, lied," she said as she peered over her enormous belly.
"Don't be silly dear," he told her. Just them his wife smiled.
"I think my little girl agrees with you dear. She just kicked me."
"Really? He just kicked," laughed Patrick.
Dorothy took Kasey's hand and placed it on her stomach. She grinned as the child kicked again.
"I think you're both silly," grinned Kasey.
"I almost forgot. The reason I came out here is to tell you Jeff's ready to leave for Greenwich and you mother wants to see you. She is in the sitting room." Patrick said sitting in the seat Kasey vacated as she stood.
"Thanks for telling me. See you all next week." With a last wave she left the family and went into the house.
...
"Let's see I think I shall like yellow," Kasey heard her mother say as she neared the sitting room. She paused before entering.
"Why not white?" a voice asked her. Kasey immediately knew she was speaking to Arthur Willows. She felt she should make them aware but she remained hidden behind the large potted plant near the doorway.
"I simply cannot wear white. White is for blushing brides." Her mother explained to her fiancée.
"If you stand any stiller I'd have taken you for one of mother's garden statues," Jeffery said from behind her. She spun around startled.
"Don't you know it's not polite to listen in on other people's conversations?" he told her.
"Yes but I didn't want to just barge in," she said.
"Really?" He raised one of his eyebrows.
"Yes. I'll go in now." I'll meet you outside in a few minutes." She walked away before he could tell her anything. Her mother looked up and smiled as she entered. She was dressed in a red dress with tiny gold buttons which marched down the middle. She was wearing the chain and matching earrings Kasey and Jeffery had gotten her for her last birthday. Arthur was in the height of London fashion as well in dark blue coat and riding breeches.
"Good morning mother, Mr. Willows." She curtsied.
"Patrick. Said you wanted to see me before I left." She looked at her mother.
