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Blinking in sheer shock and surprise, Eduard looked at Peter as if the young actor were crazy.
"Why?" the Marquess asked.
Part of him feared Peter's reasoning, and yet he trusted the man to make a good decision...
But this was the Duke they were talking about.
A man who had literally told Eduard that if he didn't come up with someone to marry soon, he was going to arrange a marriage. The very Duke who had decided that he didn't want to grow old and grey before his son could produce an heir to their family name.
"I mean, yes... he would be here for a while... but why not play the part of an ill Rosaline?" Eduard asked, wanting to know Peter's full reasoning. "I trust you... I truly do... but I had hoped to spring this on you a little later in our agreement. Certainly not so soon."



(((OOC: I think Duke Michaels would be best, hehe. DUDE! I'm typing up a bunch of Japanese poems from this book from the library... and some snotty b*****d ripped a page out! I was able to find one of the poems online... but I can't find the other (cause they don't have names and page 67 in the google book search "wasn't available for preview".... BASTARDS DEFACING BOOKS!!! On the other hand... I wonder if they'd let me buy it since there's a page missing... *thinks* I wish they'd let me buy this book on Shinto. I'm like... the ONLY person who ever checks it out (material for a few RPs and one of my stories, hehe)... and I've checked it out 5 times in the last year... OH! And I checked out this Japanese Anthology of Lit that was checked out once in 2001... and then hadn't been checked out since 1985... TWICE SINCE I'VE BEEN ALIVE! I'm gonna ask if they'll sell it too since it's from 1955... book's older than my mom... and libraries tend to not hold onto such old material unless it has some crazy value or something...)))

Eduard winced.
He'd forgotten about that...
Sighing, the Marquess paced Peter's room for a moment. "If Rosaline is ill then the dinner is canceled and my father, while he will remain to pester me, won't be able to pester you too much. However, if Rosaline is well and the dinner goes on... my father will become the center of attention of the dinner..."
Suddenly, the young man's face brightened.
"He may be too busy with MY guests asking HIM questions... that he has not the chance to truly pester either of us." violet eyes focused on Peter. "You are to make the decision in this case, Peter... because this is your role." Eduard smiled softly. "Would you rather feign illness and spend a quiet time in bed or shall we fix your hair once more and let you play your part tonight in hopes that my father becomes too involved in local politics and rumor to take too much notice?"
Of course there was probably going to be rumors, spread by that damned Rutherford no less, that would fall to the Duke's ears. But that, Eduard knew, he could easily dispel.



(((OOC: Turned out that the Poems on pages, ~ 67 / 77-80 / 91-92 ~ were ALL RIPPED OUT! I was able to find the poem on page 68 on the net, but that was it... I'd seen this book before on my college campus, so when I ran into it yesterday I just HAD to check it out (because it's got the English then a Romanji version of the poem, which I ADORE having both). BASTARDS! I freak when people mess up a book. Bookmarks exist for a reason! As do pen and paper to write the damn 5 lines down... why the hell they had to rip the whole page out for 5 LINES OF TEXT ON THE PAGE is beyond me... I hate highlighting in a book and I think I've done it like twice before and those were like textbooks that were never going anywhere since they were mine and I knew I wasn't getting rid of them... like my linguistics book, hehehe. But this book was printed in 1976 and it looks like it's had 7 checkouts, with the most recent being 2001. One of the stickers (for some reason they put stickers on the cover with due dates at this library... DEFACING! *twitch*) was from 1988 so that's ALMOST as old as me, heh. They JUST stopped using the stickers like in the Fall... thank goodness... it was really screwing up manga covers!)))

Smiling softly, Eduard nodded. "As you wish." the Marquess spoke, moving around Peter and heading toward the bedroom door. "I am going to try and get a little rest before the guests arrive. I'm sure my father will make an appearance before the party, and if I'm not dressed for the occasion, it should give you more time to prepare while he lectures me about not being ready to receive guests at a moment's notice."
The wry smile on Eduard's face showed that he was joking... somewhat.
A lecture he knew he would receive... but suddenly Eduard felt rather exhausted.
Once outside, he motioned for Elizabeth to help Peter dress properly, and perhaps rehearse a bit, since the maid obviously had dealt with the Duke before.
Meanwhile, Sebastian was waiting near the Marquess' chambers, opening the door calmly for his young master. "Your father will scold you."
"And I care why?" Eduard asked, pouting a bit.
"Stubborn are we?" the butler replied with a raised eyebrow. "I take it you wish me to tell your father that you are resting and that the Lady Rosaline is currently in private devotion?"
Laughing softly as he began to unbutton his shirt, Eduard nodded. "Then, of course, allow my father to call on me and perhaps I can stall him long enough to give Peter a bit more time, hmm?"
"As you wish, sir." Sebastian replied with a slight smile and a bow. "Preparations for the party are coming along smoothly as well. We should be ready to accept guests just after sundown."
Sighing, Eduard sat on the edge of the bed and began to pull off his boots. "Make sure my father knows that Rosaline will not be ready until the party. At least to my knowledge. If she decides to make an appearance before then... then it must mean Peter has done all he can to prepare."

"I hadn't expected you so early." Eduard spoke, carefully buttoning up his white silk shirt.
Smirking slightly, the Duke Michaels was standing against his son's doorway, seeming to pay attention. "I returned as soon as rumor that you had caught the eye of a new lady, reached my ears. Tell me, Eduard, do you truly love her?"
For a moment, Eduard didn't reply.
Then he laughed.
"How many woman have actually stayed in the manor, father?" the Marquess asked seriously. "Lady Rosaline is the first. I admit that I do love her... is that so hard to imagine?"
The Duke shrugged, turning and heading toward the sitting room. Eduard wasn't far behind, though he wasn't quite ready for the party.
While Eduard was wearing only a white silk shirt and dark pants, the Duke seemed ready to attend a court function. Dressed in a long tail coat with a black silken shirt, the Duke looked an opposite of Eduard in many ways.
Including the fact that the elder man had blond, yet slightly graying hair and blue eyes.
It was nearly impossible to tell that they were related.
"I am worried for our name to be carried on, Eduard. Surely that makes sense to you. I expect you to have a son soon. With each year that passes, you are missing your opportunity." the Duke sighed slightly as they walked. "Yet you're so damn picky."
Eduard smirked, "Only because I value personality over beauty... and honesty over lies."
The Marquess opened the sitting room door, hoping that Peter would arrive before the Duke began to become frustrated for having been made to wait.

"Sometimes values get in the way of nobility." The Duke spoke, just as the doors opened and Rosaline appeared.
Smiling softly, Eduard walked forward until he could take one of her hands in his own. Gently he raised Rosaline's hand to his lips and kissed the top before turning back to his father.
"Father, may I present the Lady Rosaline." his violet eyes focused back on the woman beside him. "My lady, may I introduce my father, the Duke Michaels."
Stepping forward, seeming to all the world to be a perfect gentleman, the Duke nodded slightly. "A pleasure, my lady. Surely my son has been more than hospitable for you since your arrival in London. I would hate to think he incapable of entertaining a woman as beautiful as yourself." the Duke's lips curved ever so slightly at the corners, a movement that Eduard caught perfectly. "Seems you two have had quite the reputation at recent galas..."
A perfect mask was settled onto the Marquess' face, concealing his frustration and anger at his father having brought that up so quickly.
'I suppose Rutherford's rumors spread faster than I had anticipated...' the young man thought, cursing this quick turn in the conversation.
But since the question was directed at Rosaline, it would be impolite for the Marquess to answer for her.
Thus...
Eduard turned slightly, signaling Sebastian to bring them some tea. Violet eyes flashed with a pristine smile, "Shall we sit before discussing? I am sure the Lady would rather be comfortable for your... interrogation, father."
To this, the Duke laughed slightly, but turned and took a seat in one of the more comfortable chairs. Eduard however, waited for Rosaline to be seated, before seating himself...

(((OOC: I swear I'm working on a reply to this. I just don't want it to be short and lame so it may take a bit.)))

"While I appreciate your concern for my son's misbehavior, my Lady," the Duke spoke, looking pointedly at Rosaline. "I am more than certain that he has already explained to you the absence of his father from the manor."
It was true... somewhat.
Eduard had hinted at the fact that his father wasn't perhaps, the best mentor of his life. But the truth of the matter was that he had hardly seen his father after his mother had passed away.
"Few are the occasions in which my son's behavior has turned out, 'bad' as you put it. But those few occasions on their own are enough of a cause for concern. A noble," the man's serious gaze focused intently on the Marquess. "Must maintain a higher standard of bearing. Especially one in Eduard's position."
For his part, Eduard said nothing. He took the criticism because it was expected. Not only that, but because it was well deserved. The young man knew that his father was correct in saying that nobility had to hold themselves accountable.
That was one thing he had learned quite well as a boy.
It was also the one thing that had kept him from true happiness only a few years ago...
"Are they only rumors?"
As the Duke asked this, Eduard remained emotionless. He didn't need his father picking up on the sudden surge of anger which flared through every pore of his being.
Especially not over 'rumors'.
Rutherford's minions had done more damage than the Marquess wanted to admit. While he himself had suffered no more than a few bruises... Peter had paid a heavier price for the encounter. The man hadn't been raped, thankfully, thanks to Eduard's quick rescue, but their secret had nearly been discovered. And it wasn't only that! Rutherford had possessed the gall to insult the young Marquess in his own home. He had insulted, not only him, but Rosaline as well.
"Eduard?"
Blinking, it took the violet-haired man a moment to realize that his father was staring at him... expecting an answer to his earlier question.
Smiling ever so slightly, Eduard nodded, "They're only rumors... perhaps..." he noticed the look of interest on the Duke's face. "I don't know what you've heard, father... but I can tell you that Rutherford has shown himself to be an ignorant fool as of late." The Marquess flicked a few strands of hair over his shoulder. "I learned long ago that he has a tendency to lace the refreshments at his banquets and balls with a mild sedative. On most, upon ingestion, they become 'intoxicated' and find themselves possessing lose lips. On me however, I simply fall ill. Thus, I was confined to bed the next day when Rutherford decided to pay the manor a 'call'." Violet eyes suddenly turned incredibly steely and cold as the young man uttered his next words. "He then proceeded to insult the honor of the Lady Rosaline, under this very roof. I am a gentleman above all, as you know, father... Such a thing could not be tolerated."
"So you hit him?" the Duke asked, crossing his arms over his chest in thought, his expression completely unreadable.
Strangely... Eduard smiled pleasantly. "I was delirious with fever... so it seemed like a good idea at the time."
For a long moment, the room was perfectly silent. Then, after a time, the Duke smirked ever so slightly...
"About time someone let the b*****d know his true place once more."