C.R chapter 10

Jeremiah 5:30 to 5:31

30 “An astonishing and horrible thing

Has been committed in the land:

31 The prophets prophesy falsely,

And the priests rule by their own power;

And My people love to have it so.

But what will you do in the end?

Chapter 10

Lord Hugo nodded distractedly to someone addressing him and continued to scan the room. Last he saw, Clementine was dragging Cécille down a hallway.

But, it has been a while now, since they were gone.

Out of his sight.

In a full manor akin to a surprise party mix...

Just where had his precious daughter been dragged to?!

Lady Mirabelle seeing his escalating worry, discretely accosted him, " come now, Lord Hugo, what are you worrying about?"

"Are you not worried? Our daughters have been gone for a while now. What if something happened to them? You know of the company that the Earl keeps." Lord Hugo replied with a frown.

"Granted, there may be some undesirables mixed in today, but only some. Most are of good company," Lady Mirabelle consoled.

Lord Hugo gave her a serious look, "is that the point right now? Even if there was only one of those undesirables present, it would still be dangerous. All it would take is a chance encounter."

Lady Mirabelle patted his arm, " do not fear dear friend, I would not talk lightly about our daughters' safety. Duke Earlgrey and Lord Alden are present today. Clementine dragged Cécille to go meet her 'acquaintance'. They will be safe with them."

At the kind reminder, Lord Hugo's brows relaxed a little.

Well, it is true that those two could be trusted...

His reflection was cut off by Lady Mirabelle's exclamation.

"Oh! Here they come! See? I told you they would be fine. Clementine always hunts down Raulf at parties. Well, when she is not preoccupied by anything else, that is."

Lord Hugo followed her gaze, and just as she said, both girls were safe and sound and making their way towards them. 

Cécille did look a tad irritated though...

How rare!

His gaze landed on the austere man following behind her, and he suddenly understood.

When the group finally reached them, Lord Hugo spoke first, "Lord Alden, you succeeded in teasing my daughter's temper on the first meeting! Which is not an easy thing to do, I assure you! I underestimated you!"

"Papa!" Cécille exclaimed with a red face.

Lord Hugo laughed with good humour and pulled his daughter in a hug, " but I was starting to get a tad worried. Are the both of you okay?"

Lord Hugo ended the hug and sighed in relief when she nodded at him.

Cerelia would murder him if anything happened to any of her children under his watch. A gentle and kind woman his wife was, but not one to be trifled with.

It would be like poking a hornet's nest with a stick!

Thank the Lord that temper skipped Cécille and landed on his son!

Cécille discretely nudged her father to remind him of the company around. Her father got the message and quickly greeted the two gentlemen.

And right there, under Cécille's stupefied eyes, that infuriating man warmly greeted her father.

Well, warm for him.

Both men entered into a riveting conversation, to them at least, and forgot about the other people around. Clementine sneaked at Cécille's side and whispered, " it still weirds me out everytime I see it! Alden really likes your father's company! Even that old snak-, uh I mean the Earl, likes him! Isn't it strange?! What is it I wonder?"

"As long as they favour him and do not wish him harm, that is all that matters." Cécille whispered back. 

The man briefly glanced in their direction before pulling Duke Raulf into their conversation.

"I knew it! Acting like he is riveted on what is being discussed while secretly tuning in on the conversation around him!" Cécille hissed between her teeth.

And just to confirm it even more, the man glanced at her with a slight twitch at his mouth before turning back.

Cécille nudged Clementine, "did you see that?! Am I being dramatic, or did he just smirk at me?"

"Do not doubt yourself. He did. He always does." Clementine reassured her.

Lady Mirabelle gracefully came to their side and surreptiously eyed Cécille and Alden. Her intuition was tingling, and the way they were mirroring her daughter and Raulf, who kept stealing glances at each other, did not help.

Could it be...?

'Ohhhhhh! This could be interesting,' Lady Mirabelle thought to herself whilst hiding a smile.

Alden who had caught her expression, stared at her at the corner of his eyes. Lady Mirabelle quickly noticed and pointedly looked at Cécille before returning his stare with raised eyebrows.

Alden discretely clicked his tongue and took back his gaze.

As he had anticipated, Lady Mirabelle sniffed out his interest. He was going to have to endure the inquisition later. And also...

Alden's eyes caught those of Lord Hugo's. The mouth was arched in a smile, but the eyes were analysing.

Like he thought, this man was deceitfully perceptive when it came to things that mattered to him. How admirable.

Alden slightly inclined his head and Lord Hugo's smile enlarged.

Double inquisition, it is.

Raulf, sensing the unspoken conversation going on around him, shared a commiserating look with Duke Arron.

They both agreed on one thing. That is one mixture they did not want to put their hands into!

Better play dumb!

Clementine hid her mouth behind her hand and whispered to Cécille, "what do you think all that was about? Do they think we cannot sense anything?"

Cécille murmured back, " ...who knows? "

Lady Mirabelle sensing their growing suspicion, quickly chose a topic to divert their attention. Her mind, on the other hand, was busy formulating different scenarios as to how the conversation with Lord Alden might go.

Depending on the conclusion of the matter, she was going to have to write to Lady Cerelia. 

There was a great chance that their families might grow closer in the future. Fortunately, they already got along well.

The clear sound of a spoon hitting a crystal flute resounded across the room, putting an end to all conversations.

The host stood in the centre of the crowd. As soon as he had the attention of all the guests, he calmly spoke up, "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you for your attendance to tonight's dinner party! I do hope that you are all having a wonderful time! I am sure that you must be famished by now, so I shall not take more of your time. I would like to warmly invite you to move to the dining hall. If you have any needs, the servants situated around shall be at your service."

With that said, he immediately proceeded with the procession of people behind him.

Due to their difference in ranks, the Romarins were separated from the Avalons at the table. By chance, Lord Alden was placed near the father-daughter duo.

In fact, in Cécille's eyes he was placed a tad too close. Her eyes veered to her left, where the infuriating man was sitting straight, then to her right, where her dear father was leaning forward to better discuss with him.

Cécille was silent for a moment before suggesting, "perhaps I should exchange seats with one of you so you can carry on with your conversation more comfortably?"

"Thank you, but no need."

"Thank you Cécille but we can converse quite comfortably just like that. It wouldn't be good to casually change seats at the Earl's table."

Cécille let out a 'very well' and leaned back further in her seat.

In her mind she thought, 'you may be comfortable, but it is not so for me! That man sometimes leans towards me in order to better hear you over the cacophony of voices!'

For the nth time since they sat down, Lord Alden leaned forward to say something privately to her father. Chills arose on her body as his warmth and scent enclosed her.

She closed her eyes and leaned further back in a vain effort to ignore it. 

What in the perfumery was that scent?!

Was it lavender? With a hint of citrus note too.

Cécille was so absorbed in her musings that she missed when the host said 'Bon appetit' and the cue to start eating.

It is only when a warm voice echoed in her ear that she came back to reality.

"Lady Cécille, if you do not open your eyes soon, the host is going to feel slighted at you falling asleep at his dinner table."

Cécille's breath stuck in her throat as her eyes sprang open. A quick scan around showed that others were not paying attention to this side.

With her hand unconsciously cradling her tingling ear, she released a shaky breath and turned her wide eyes to the culprit of her palpating heart. 

Lord Alden calmly took in her expression before saying, "if you dally any longer, your food is going to get cold."

Then with a small quirk of his lips he turned his attention back to his plate.

Cécille patiently reminded herself that tolerance was a virtue and mirrored him. With cutlery in both hands, she examined the roasted pork displayed at the centre of the table. Her stomach rolled at the greasy sight.

The tomato soup in front of her was a way more delightful sight. It looked really appetising.

Her hand moved slowly as she took a delicate sip.

The chef had done a remarkable job. It was rich without being too much. It suited both her palate and her father's.

That is when Cécille finally remembered her dear old father. He has been silent for a while now.

She paused mid-sip to take a quick peek, only to meet his stare. 

He was nonchalantly looking at her while chewing on a piece of bread.

Cécille stared back at him questioningly.

...Why was he looking at her like that?

She followed his eyes as they slowly shifted to her side before coming to rest back on her.

Her face broke out in a flush as she vehemently shook her head and looked at him incredulously.

His eyebrows raised in scepticism.

Cécille quickly nodded her head.

Yes, she was absolutely asserting that what he saw was nothing! Absolutely nothing was going on between them!

Lord Hugo squinted at her before slowly turning back to his dinner.

Cécille listlessly let her spoon drop back in the soup.

Just what was her father thinking?! And since when had he been observing?

She let out yet another shaky breath and leaned back. 

When was this night finally going to end?

Her body froze as a thought occurred to her.

Did Lord Alden witness their silent exchange...? 

Surely, his priority must be on filling his stomach rather than the gossip around, right...?

In spite of her, her eyes slowly rolled to the left and promptly collided with dark ones.

Cécille felt that life was mocking her as he slowly chewed on his bread all while keeping eye contact. She stiffly rolled her eyes back and stared fixedly at the gleaming pork.

Well, it didn't look so bad now that she had another look. The vivid red apple stuffed in its mouth was particularly appealing. 

Just like the red soup before her.

Soup that she was going to shovel in her mouth just to give her hands something to do!

And her cheeks absolutely did not match with the food!

Denial was also not just a river in Egypt!

Cécille frantically tried to hypnotise herself into thinking that this embarrassing moment did not just happen.

She lifted her head to take a cold, calming sip of water only to meet the gaze of a lady seated at the other side of the table. The emerald ring on her finger glimmered ostenciously as she delicately lifted a crystal flute to her full lips painted in red.

As red as the apple in the rotisserie's mouth.

She watched dumbfoundedly as the lady slowly lowered her cup down, leisurely travelled her gaze to the left, to the right and back to her, before arching those red lips into an enigmatic smile.

Cécille nearly combusted on the spot and internally screamed the phrase that every overwhelmed person had thought at least once in their life:

'Mummy, I want to go home!' 

 

A.N: If you are enjoying the story, please share and follow. It really does help. 

Cheers.

 

 

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