Antoinette raised her face to the blue sky, shutting her eyes. The sun beat across her soft skin, sending little ribbons of warmth across the high cheekbones, the full lips. She considered, lazily, that she ought to be protecting her complexion from this kind of exposure. The thought was discarded quickly. It felt good to feel this kind of warmth. It felt simple, kind. There was nothing wrong about the sun. There were no strings attached to its sweet pleasure.

Antoinette shook her head at her own folly, her blue eyes opening. Of course there was. Even the sun could burn you. In the end, everything had its hidden dangers. Everyone had their own secret evils. Even he did, in the end.

Antoinette continued along the path, her white skirts swirling around her ankles. This garden was beautiful, she saw. The fountains whispered softly, their cool spray sometimes brushing Antoinette's cheeks. On either side of the path she was pacing, huge walls of greenery grew. Antoinette contemplated these as well. All royal gardens had them: presumably to shield secret conversations. To shield lovers from curious eyes. To block dangerous words from more dangerous ears.
Even bushes had their uses. Regardless of how useful they were, they were beautiful. The roses, the lilies. Antoinette reached a slender hand out to touch one as she passed. So sweet.

"What are your hidden evils?" She whispered to it as she passed.

Rounding a corner, Antoinette found a sweet nook. It was guarded by hedges, all of which exuded the sweet scent of honey-suckle. The bench itself was marble, surrounded by roses. Antoinette's blue eyes swept the marble seat, wondering, reaching.....where had she seen....

She stepped back, horrified. This bench, this very bench, had been the bench they had met at. A year and three months ago, she had sat upon it, gazing adoringly up at his handsome face. They had discussed books...

Antoinette took another step back, her dress whispering accusatorially. Her heart pounded in her ears. Anger and sorrow rose up in her, twining around each other to form a fiery rage. It tore though her lungs, snatching her breath away. Antoinette strode forward, her skirts swirling around her ankles, her slippers slapping against the cobblestones. She flung herself down upon the bench, gripping the edge of it so hard her knuckles turned white.

"He is gone." She said, whispering it to herself. "Gone, gone, GONE." She bit her lip, hard, trying to will the pain in her chest away.

He was gone. He was gone, and he had been gone for over a year. Gone to who knew where. Gone without even...

Without even telling her. At the time, it had hurt more then his leaving at all. The fact that he didn't even respect her enough to tell her. She had loved him, and he had left. He was off, living his life. He was gone.
But Antoinette was still here. She hadn't moved on. She remained here, frozen in time, left behind in the Gardens where he had stolen her heart. He had stolen her heart, and left her only with Demons.
Filled with rage, Antoinette tore herself up from the bench. With a cry, she spun, searching the gardens. There! Bending down, Antoinette picked up a loose cobblestone, the biggest one she could find. She heaved it up, striving towards the bench.

Then, suddenly, with a cry, she threw it down, as hard as she could. The rock hit the bench with a splintering crunch. The marble seat split right down the middle, and the rock shattered. Bits of it flew off in every direction, some of them stinging Antoinette's face. The dust cloud swirled around her, making her cough. She choked, choked on the dust and the sobs that were wrenching her body. Her breast heaved as she cried, great raking sobs. When had she started crying?

"I hate you, William Howard!" She cried, her words cracked and split by the sobs. Her hands were clenched at her sides."You left me with your Demons, and I don't want them! Take your God-forsaken demons, you bastard!" She sank to the ground, her skirts billowing out around her, her hands held up to her face as she cried.

He had taken her heart, and left her only with demons.

Nathaniel had needed a break. He had been shut up in his stuffy office for the pas three days pouring over reports and papers. He was know cross eyed and desperate for a breath of fresh air. He was sure The Duke would not begrudge him an hour or too to blow the cobwebs away.

He chose the garden as the setting for his journey away from his work. It seemed like forever since he had last felt the sun on his face. The warmth spread over his skin and a cool breeze ruffled his hair. It was liberating to walk unwatched and yet... Nathaniel did at times feel a pang of loneliness. His siblings were all but gone, his oldest sister married of and unable to engage in the witty banter that had often lightedned his moods. His younger sister had been banished away to the Solielian court to learn how to become a Lady. He was not worried for her wellbeing but he did miss her presence. And Noah...well it was unlikely the bonds with his brother could ever be repaired.

As Nathaniel walked on he heard a puzzling sound.

He is gone. Gone, gone, GONE

A young woman had flung herself on the bench and seemed to be quite distressed. Nathaniel nearly went over to see if he could comfort her in someway when she started ripping up cobble stones and smashing at the bench. Nathaniel was alarmed when pieces of the bench began to fly everywhere.

It seemed to Nathaniel that this sort of situation had tpo be handled delicately. the only women he had ever interacted with were his sister and he had never seen either of them act that way before.

In and uncharacteristicly timid fashion he coughed to make his presense known and stepped towards her.

"Ah, My Lady?" he coughed again and spoke louder "My Lady? I'm sorry I couldn't help noticing you seem to be upset..."

As soon as the words sprung from his mouth he knew they sounded foolish.

Antoinette was still on the ground, her shoulder's hunched, her face in her hands. She froze as she heard a discreet noise behind her. Was that....a cough?
you seem to be upset.....
Antoinette would have rolled her eyes if she hadn't ben facing away from the man. What a looby. She looked upset, did she? What an observation. She knew she was being cruel, but she felt no patience for anyone of the male variety at the moment. This was probably some weedy little farmer come to court to try and make his fortunes.
Upset. She would show him upset. Antoinette pulled her hands away from her face, set her shoulders back. She stood, carefully, her legs shaking slightly. Her breathing was still erratic, as the sobs had been racking her body only moments ago. She refused to face the gentleman as of yet, still too irritated to respond. Antoinette didn't want to admit she was also ashamed to be found wailing like such a crack-nob in the middle of the gardens. Good god, she must look quite the sight. Antoinette settled her white gown around her, brushing the dust off the creamy silk. She straighted the zone front jacket determinedly, making sure the golden chamise spilled appropriately over the top of the gown. Upset!
Then, and only then, did Antoinette turn to face him. She nearly took a step backwards in surprise. This was no naice farmer she was looking at. As Antoinette took in the sight of the man standing across from her, she knew roses bloomed on her cheeks in shame. He was handsome, tall, dignified.....Good God.
They stood across from eachother for several tense moments. Antoinette was utterly without words to express her embarrassment. She simply gazed at the man, her lips slightly parted. The small breeze in the garden ruffled her blonde curls. The last of the dust died down.
Good God.
Had he seen her throw the rock? Antoinette was tempted to shoot a guilty look at the cracked bench, but knew that would give her away, if he hadn't seen her. And even if he hadn't, he had seen her sobbing in the middle of the Gardens. What would they say about her now? The new Baroness, barely a year in her title and already acting like a raving madwoman. Baroness Antoinette Rouge, the trollop of Pemberton.
As though her title had given her strength, Antoinette threw her shoulders back. Her gaze became steely, her hands, clenched at her sides.
"My Lord, I am sorry you have had to see me so distraught." She said, her voice strong, not shaking. "I hope you will forgive me. I forgot mineself for a moment." She dipped a curtsy, and kept her gaze on his. "Is there anything else I can do for my lord?"

[I'm sorry she is such a crazy. She just.....is. XD ]

Nathaniel wondered whether it would be worth pretending he had not seen her throw the rock or perhaps she knew he had seen her.

When she turned round and looked at him the poor girl seemed embarrassed and Nathaniel decided he did not want to humiliate her even more and therefore add to her misery.

My Lord, I am sorry you have had to see me so distraught. I hope you will forgive me. I forgot mineself for a moment. Is there anything else I can do for my lord?

She was a strong sounding woman, Nathaniel knew she did not want him to think her weak after finding her this way and in truth he did not.

"My Lady there is nothing to forgive. Everyone has need to let their masks fall now and again and it seems you may have more reason than most. Anyone would forgive you a chance to let yourself go"

He smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way and bowed.

"I'm so sorry I seem to have forgotten my manners, I have not introduced myself. I am Viceroy Nathaniel Winstringham, at your service. If I'm not mistaken you are the new Baroness? Baroness Rouge? Yes, I remmber when you were given your title. I must say, the Lady Baroness did look most beautiful" he smiled reassuringly again and hoped that in her current state she did not take it as a joke at her expense. In a flash of inspiration he offered her his arm.

"Lady Baroness, would like to walk with me round the Gardens? I find that whenever I need to stop and think it is a wonderful place to flee to..."

Antoinette wavered at his invitation. A walk in the garden. Harmless, no? A simple chat, maybe a few smiles. Try to convince him she wasn't actually a raving lunatic.

On the other hand, the idea of making small talk with anyone who had seen her in such a state was, well, frankly-quite horrifying.

So Antoinette wavered. While she wavered, she examined the man.
At second glance, he was as handsome as he had been at the first. This only made Antoinette cringe. She would perhaps have preferred him to be plain-but a handsome man only made the situation that much more shameful.

Viceroy....Viceroy of Pemberton? She ought to know him if this was, in fact, the truth. She Baroness, and it was her duty as Nobility of this Duchy to attempt friendship with this man.
This man who now most likely thought her a total cracknob.

At this thought, Antoinette was tempted to turn and flee. Perhaps to her rooms, or maybe all the way back to Villeroy. Even Soleil did not feel far enough way for her and her shame.
Suddenly, Antoinette threw her shoulders back. She was acting like a ninny, which was possibly almost as ridiculous as the trollop she had been behaving like moments before. Imagine, turning down the invitation for a nice walk over a little incident that he may or may not have witnessed.

Despicable.

"Viceroy, I would be honored to accept your invitation." Antoinette murmured, forcing a smile onto her face. "You are quite correct in assuming that I am the Baroness Antoinette Rouge-what was it that gave me away?" She attempted to flash one of her famous smiles, but succeeded only in a shadow of it. Attempting to mask her confusion, Antoine set off around the Gardens, hoping he would follow. She could not bear this stand-still-total-silence for another moment.

He smiled as she accepted his arm and they set off, the soft grass beneath their feet and the sun shining overhead.

You are quite correct in assuming that I am the Baroness Antoinette Rouge-what was it that gave me away?

"You hold yourself like a Baroness" said Nathaniel, a small smile on his face "And I believe you were once pointed out to me at a Pemberton ball but I didn''t not get the chance to introduce myself there. I was sorry to have missed the opportunity"

Somewhere off in the distance a bird was singing. It reminded him of Jane who had always had a fondness for song birds. His ssister was due to visit him soon so perhaps he would bring her out here. She would of had her baby by then so he could bring his new niece or nephew out too.

Nathaniel wanted to find a suitable topic of conversation. His first thought was her upcoming marriage that Edmund had annouced but after seeing her outburst he guessed that it might upset her.

He could ask questions about her family but thatmight seem rude, like he was prying. He most certainly did no want to offend this woman as she was a member of Pemberton aristorcracy and therefore a potential ally and someone he should work with.

Another option was to talk about a neutral subjectsuch as literature or music but Nathaniel thought that mayboe hr. An alternative was balls. Young woman liked balls and dances didn't they? So he tried that.

"Did you attend the Festival of Friendship Baroness? I was unable to stay the whole night and I wondered what it was like"