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YOU ARE THE REASON
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Claire Keane
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Janaina Medeiros
we're not kids anymore.
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@melodyylark
I feel like my life is just made up of work, work, work. Is there ever a time in your life when you start to settle down?
You aren't ever able to take a break or two, monsieur? Surely there's got to be a way for you to find a bit of time to relax every now and again.
I do, though. I owe you an explanation and I know I do, mademoiselle. I shouldn’t have spoken to you so…informally. Had I known you were Darcy’s sister, I wouldn’t…well, you know.
I haven’t received any sort of dinner invitation, mademoiselle; it would be rude for me to just drop by unannounced and give your family all that trouble of trying to hastily prepare for me.
You wouldn't have approached me if you knew that I was Darcy's sister. I understand that perfectly, monsieur, and I don't require any sort of explanation in regards to it. Believe me when I say that you aren't exactly the first man to turn away from me once they realize that my sister is waiting for them right around the corner. So your words, and your apologies, they aren't--they aren't necessary. You're more than welcome to keep them to yourself.
No no, I--I'm sure they wouldn't mind at all, monsieur. They talk about you all the time...it's a wonder I hadn't learned of your name until the day that we first met. You should come by tonight...I won't be home, and so you'll be free to spend as much time with Darcy as you wish.
You don’t need to thank me, Mademoiselle Lark…really. The pleasure is entirely my own. I…see, then. Melody, listen, you…you have to know that I planned on telling you. It’s just, the circumstances and all, it’s just…
Your sister doesn’t need me to take care of her. We hardly speak.
I...you hardly owe me any sort of explanation whatsoever, Monsieur Prewett. It isn't as if I knew you for more than an hour or so at the most. I--I'm happy for you and my sister. Truly. She deserves a kind man, a wonderful man, and...you seem to fit the bill precisely.
I suppose you'll want to remedy that as soon as possible then, now wouldn't you? You should come for dinner, Monsieur Prewett...my family would be honored to have you over, and I know that Darcy would be over the moon as well.
…Unfortunately, Mademoiselle Lark, I do. I wish I could say it was preventable, but with everything going sour as far as the pirates are considered, I’m not so sure a resolution can be reached. I…don’t know Darcy very well, but I get the impression she can hold her own very well.
Thank you for...thank you for informing me of this, Monsieur Prewett. I'm endlessly grateful for being kept in the know instead of being led to believe one thing when it's something else entirely that serves to be the truth.
Perhaps you should get to know her better, then. She's been talking about you non-stop, so I'm sure that she would love for you to take care of her and keep her safe from the upcoming war...as her fiance, it's practically your duty to do so in the first place.
It just…feels like there’s too much going on. Like no one has the chance to stop and breathe for a minute; think for a minute. At this point, I’d say war’s inevitable…though I wish it wasn’t.
...Do you really think that we're on the verge of war, Monsieur Prewett? It isn't something that can be helped?
Perhaps...perhaps this is something that you should tell Darcy, then. If there's a war about to break out, then she would love to have a strong man like yourself to protect her from it.
Only if For a Night || Benjamin & Melody
Benjamin wished—more than absolutely anything else—that he could just stay at this little picnic table with Melody, isolated from the rest of the festival (and, by extension, the rest of Ronsanella). He wanted to forget that the outside world existed, if only for a moment, and wanted to spend his time with her, instead. There was just…it felt like there was so much hanging between them; this sort of chemistry and undeniable attraction that couldn’t be put into words. Benjamin tried to think of a way to explain it—a way to ask if Melody felt the sort of electric charge pulsating between the two of them that he was acutely aware of—but found that there were no words within his dictionary to accurately describe what it was he was feeling. It was a sensation so entirely unique to his life and experiences that Ben would later grow to describe the intense emotions as one thing and one thing only: love at first sight. For now, though, he could just stare at the younger woman in absolute wonder and awe…and sadness, too, realizing that he was pining after someone he would never be able to reasonably have.
Darcy had been lovely in the time they’d spoken to one another, but he still knew so little about her. Somehow, within the span of an hour or so, Benjamin already felt as though he knew this Melody girl a million times more intimately. And he didn’t even know her last name. Yet.
When Melody began to protest to the fact that Benjamin had bought both of them pastries and goblets of water, he lifted a hand and waved it dismissively. He didn’t want her to think he expected anything in return from her; Benjamin was genuinely just trying to do a nice thing…and after all, he was the one who had asked her if she wanted to take a walk with him about the food stands and had insisted on treating her to something in the first place! He leaned forward and rested his chin in one of his hands, a soft smile gracing his features as he listened to Melody explain that she was a dancer in King Bennet’s course. God, she couldn’t have been more than twenty years old…nearly one decade his junior. He should have kept away from her (for multiple reasons), but the thought of getting better acquainted with this young woman continued to draw Ben in. He wondered why he’d never seen her before; surely someone as graceful and eye-catching as her dancing in front of the entire royal court would have nabbed his attention a time or two before. Though he didn’t know much about Melody, Ben found himself almost ashamed of himself for not having seen or recognized her before. It just…it seemed preposterous, really.
"Likewise, Melody," Ben managed softly when she said she wished she had looked harder for him in court…for so many reasons he couldn’t even begin to explain himself, Benjamin felt the exact same way. "I wish I had come across you earlier, or in another life…it would have made a world of difference, I think." He let out a jagged sigh, running a hand through his hair and struggling not to concentrate on the fact that he couldn’t be with her in the way that she was undeniably hoping for. Just as their food and beverages were arriving, Benjamin heard someone else approaching their quiet little table for two. No sooner had he thanked the festival worker for bringing over their food than Benjamin and Melody found themselves interrupted. A woman Ben had met only a handful of times in the past made her way over to their table, and rather than approaching Benjamin as he had predicted and speaking with him, she began to heatedly address Melody. Confusion overwhelmed the elder man’s features, and for the first few moments he could do nothing but stare at the two interacting with wonder and total bemusement. But then confusion gave way to realization and terror, and Ben felt himself flush and tremble from head-to-toe. Because Melody, she…she waasn’t just some dancer at the King’s court. She was a Lark. She was Darcy’s younger sister.
God, he was fucked. He was so completely and utterly fucked.
It was hard enough to realize that the same woman he’d felt so drawn to was biologically connected with the woman he was supposed to be marrying, but it was something else entirely to be forced to listen to her mother rip into her like nothing else. Though he’d only known Melody over the course of the afternoon, he felt this instinctive urge to protect and shield her; to bat away the harsh comments her mother so cruelly voiced (and in front of a near stranger, too!). His mouth was as dry as cotton, his heart had managed to sink down to his stomach, and his head was pounding something viciously as mother and daughter exchanged words with one another (more so on the part of the mother than the daughter, to be certain). So by the time that the Lark matriarch managed to turn her attention towards Benjamin, the young knight was nearly on the verge of passing out. Ignoring Melody’s questioning stares, he swallowed noisily and forced a polite smile as Madame Lark took his face between her hands and gave her future son-in-law an affectionate pat or two. He shielded his eyes from Melody’s gaze, twisting his lips up into a grimace as he struggled to think of what to say. Finally, he voiced the first thing to come to mind.
"…It’s my fault that Melody missed her performance, Madame. I ran into her when she was on her way there and begged her to help me think of something suitable to get Darcy for Valentine’s Day. We finally agreed that a bundle of flowers from the florist’s shop would be most suitable…" He hesitated for a moment, glancing over at Melody and struggling not to cry out in frustration. "…for my bride-to-be."
In and instant, it seemed as if Melody's entire world had been turned completely upside down. One moment, she had been engaged in a private conversation with a man whose vibrant blue eyes and charming smile had been enough to have her swooning where she sat, and the next...she was being berated by her mother, as well as being made aware of the fact that the elder woman had already met Benjamin due to the fact that...that...he was the knight that Darcy had been betrothed to--the very same one that had been dangled in her face like a bit of meat earlier on in the week by her big sister. Suddenly, Melody felt as if the universe was playing a cruel joke on her...how was it that, the first time she had ever felt any sort of connection with a member of the opposite sex, he had turned out to be her sister's groom-to-be? It was nothing short of devastating, and Melody couldn't help but feel hopeless and pathetic because of it. She...she must have been reading into things all wrong then, because there was no way that Benjamin could have been half as interested in her as Melody had hoped--not when he was engaged to Darcy. Sultry, alluring, and beautiful Darcy, whom had already taken it upon herself to brag about her new beau...she wondered if they had shared their first kiss yet.
And, unsurprisingly, the thought was enough to have Melody's young heart clenching in pain.
Unable to say anything at all, she was forced to sit in silence as Benjamin and her mother engaged...pleasantries with one another. Admittedly, he seemed just as uncomfortable as Melody felt, but it was clear that he was well-acquainted with her mother already, and clearly the Lark matriarch was nothing short of smitten with him. Not that Melody blamed her, of course...Benjamin was the perfect sort of man for her parents' favorite daughter to settle down and start a family with; no wonder their engagement had been announced with such happiness and bliss. Benjamin would no longer look at her in the wake of everything her mother had unknowingly revealed, and Melody found that she couldn't quite meet his gaze either. She kept her eyes averted down to her hands that were trembling in her lap, and she worried her bottom lip between her teeth in an attempt to stop herself from crying. It was silly, she told herself, to feel such immense pain over a man she hardly even knew, but still, there was no helping the heartache that coursed through her veins like wildfire, because for a moment, when they had been walking arm-in-arm through Ronsanella's streets and he was fetching her a freshly-cut rose, Melody had thought that maybe, he could be hers.Â
But he couldn't, and he would never be. He belonged to Darcy.Â
Melody continued to remain silent even as Benjamin came up with an excuse to explain why she had missed her performance, as well as the fact that they had been alone with one another for the entirety of the afternoon. She knew that he was attempting to cover his tracks, and that he more than likely wanted to do anything that he could to avoid risking his betrothal to Darcy, and Melody felt each and every single one of his words like they were a direct slap to the face. Hearing him call her his bride-to-be...it stung, and it tore into her like a knife. Her mother, however, seemed to be greatly appeased by the young knight's words--clearly, that had been exactly the sort of answer she had been hoping for. "Oh, wonderful! I'm so glad you've decided to gift her with something, Benjamin. Though...I really do wish you hadn't consulted Melody," she added with a put-upon sigh, grimacing as if the very thought of her youngest daughter was enough to cause bile to rise in the back of her throat. "I'm afraid she hasn't the slightest clue what her elder sister's tastes are these days, simply because she's always got her head in the clouds. Honestly, I don't know how you managed to put up with her for an entire afternoon!" The laugh she conceded with was fake and cruel, and Melody had to grip her fingers into her skirt to avoid crying out in pained frustration.Â
"Yes, well--I'm sure that Darcy will appreciate Monsieur Benjamin's gift, solely due to the fact that it's from him, mother. And...from the heart, as well." Melody didn't look at the elder man as she spoke, though her voice did waver just enough to be noticeable, and that was when she knew that she needed to leave. Letting out a shaky breath, she stiffly stood up from her perch on the bench, feeling small and brittle and all too fragile as she made an attempt to smooth out her fluttering skirt. "I'll leave you two be for the rest of the afternoon, shall I? I--I'm sure Darcy is wondering where he's gotten off to by now," she said with a smile that was all-too fake, one that didn't even begin to reach her eyes or hide the fact that she was on the verge of tears. Exhaling out in a shuddering rush, she reached for the rose that Benjamin had gifted her with, and...very carefully, she handed it back to him. "There you go, monsieur. For your betrothed." The tips of her fingers brushed against his as she spoke, and yet again there was that undeniable spark between the two of them, one that had still yet to go away despite everything that had just transpired.Â
"I'm going to find the rest of my dance group, mother, and--hopefully make up for my absentmindedness," Melody said softly, and she curtsied before both the elder woman and man before her, hoping that they wouldn't see the way her fingers trembled as they clutched at her dainty skirt. "Good day to you both...give Darcy and father my best." With that, she was turning away from them disappearing into the crowd, and the very second that she had managed to flee, the tears she had been struggling so desperately to reign in escaped her in an onslaught of raw emotion. From here on out, things would never be the same, she thought bitterly...they would never be the same at all.
Only if For a Night || Benjamin & Melody
If his aunt and ucle were around, they would most likely chastise Benjamin for spending his afternoon with a woman who was not his betrothed (and looking at her and speaking with her as though she was), but he couldn’t quite find it in him to care. In fact, it felt like such a strange, chance meeting, coming across Melody like this, that Benjamin was almost certain that he wouldn’t give a damn even if he was discovered flirting with someone else. The festival was large, and there were people with their prying eyes around every corner, so this was very much a possibility…but still, Benjamin didn’t move even an inch away from her. He’d known her for only a few moments, yet somehow, he felt as though they’d been acquainted with one another their entire lives. Hearing it, Ben knew that the entire thing sounded ridiculous; preposterous, even, but he couldn’t stop himself from eyeing her with a great deal of intrigue and infatuation if he’d tried. In many ways, Benjamin felt as though he and Melody shared some sort of kinship. It was something the knight would never be able to admit out loud—mainly because of how idiotic and clingy he was certain he’d sound—but it was a nice thought to harbor nevertheless.
Amazingly, it helped Benjamin feel as though he wasn’t completely alone for the first time since his father had died. Again, something he’d never share with his aunt and uncle…or anyone else, for that matter.
The good news was that Melody didn’t seem to find anything particularly off-putting about Benjamin. In fact, she accepted the rose he’d gifted her with graciously, and had even gone so far as to seat herself next to him on the bench (as he’d been hoping for all along). There was a sort of magnetism that refused to keep the two apart, and it caused Benjamin to inflate with a sort of eagerness that he didn’t fully understand. Perhaps in another life, they could have been happy together; maybe if Benjamin wasn’t weighed down with a million different responsibilities and obligations, there could have been a time in his life where he was seduced by the beauty and allure of a stunning woman, and then properly courted her. It was so strange and saddening to think that Benjamin could have lived a normal life—potentially with his new acquaintance—and it was even worse to realize that he’d never been given much of a say in the matter regardless. He had no idea if his betrothed was the sort of woman to flirt with other men when she was engaged (though he’d gotten an inkling when he’d met her up on the hillside a few days ago), so he shouldn’t have felt guilty about desiring another man, but…he did. Not because of any feelings he harbored towards Darcy Lark, but because he felt as though he was getting involved with something he couldn’t see through or finish.
God, this was all so complicated and confusing.
"No offense taken," Benjamin was quick to say, shaking his head and hoping to dispel any fears or doubts she might have harbored otherwise. He gave young Melody a soft smile, his fingers itching to reach over and rest on top of her own. "To be honest, I’ve never been so grateful to have someone run into me in my entire life…strange, isn’t it, how one event can change your entire day?" He was interrupted, then, by a festival worker waltzing over to their table and asking if they would like any snacks or refreshments brought over to them. Benjamin promptly ordered two glasses of water and two hot cross buns, handing the man the money before Melody could think to protest and fish some gold currency of her own out. As they waited on their food, Benjamin turned to face her once more, struck with the intricacy and delicacy of her beauty. She was…God, she was breathtaking, wasn’t she?
"Tell me about yourself, Melody…" he asked softly, reaching across the table and allowing his fingers to just barely brush against her own. "How come I’ve never seen you before?"
Deep down, Melody fully knew and understood that it was ridiculous for her to be flirting so shamelessly (in her own sense of the word, anyway) with a man whose first name was the only thing that she knew about him, but that wasn't enough to stop her from continuing to do so in the first place. She had always been a romantic at heart, and she would have sworn up and down that the moment she had stumbled into the elder man she was sitting across from now, something magical had passed between them. There had been a moment, and knowing that she wasn't alone in feeling it reassured her right down to the very depths of her heart that had always been two sizes too big. Something had happened when Melody met Benjamin, and it was continuing to take place even now as she merely gazed up into his deep blue eyes and lost herself in them over and over again. For once in her life, she almost didn't care about what Darcy or her parents would say if they saw her right now--she was so happy to be in Benjamin's company that she could hardly even breathe, and that meant that, right now, knowing that her family would disapprove of her behavior at present time didn't even matter so long as she was with him.
God, it...it was so unbelievably freeing.Â
She felt her entire face flush and glow with rosy warmth when Benjamin made it known that she wasn't alone in feeling that both of their days had changed for the better upon meeting one another. Though she longed to say something in response, something witty and flirtatious that Darcy would have thought of in an instant, she could do little more than offer him a shy, tentative smile from across the table, looking down at her hands folded daintily in her lap as her heart threatened to beat a wild staccato loud enough to be heard from miles away. She hoped that he understood what it was she was unable to confess, that meeting him had been the highlight of her day, the highlight of her week, and that she desperately hoped this wouldn't be the last they saw of one another. Thankfully, she was spared the embarrassment of attempting to articulate all of that out loud, because Benjamin was taking it upon himself to be even more of a gentleman than he already was, ordering them something to eat and drink without allowing Melody to pay for herself. "Oh, but--!" she began in protest, but she was quieted instantly when he turned to look at her...his gaze was so intent and dedicated to memorizing every line and curve of her face, or so it seemed, and it was a strange thing for young Melody to feel so...so...so blatantly desired for the first time in all of her nineteen years.
When Benjamin reached across the table to lightly brush his nimble fingers across the back of her graceful hand, Melody blushed a delicate shade of pink all over again, and her own fingers seemed to stretch out almost immediately in search of his, like a flower in bloom twining upwards towards sunlight. "I'm a dancer for King Bennet's court, monsieur, and I'm afraid that takes up a great deal of my time," she confessed with a soft smile, tentatively allowing her gaze to rise up and meet his once more. "Though right now, Benjamin, I...I cannot help but wish that I had spent more time looking for you than I did in court." It was as bold as she could allow herself to be without fainting from embarrassment, and it right when Melody was about to timidly look at him for a response that she was distracted by...an all-too familiar shout of her name.
Oh no. Oh no.
"Melody! For heaven's sake, there you are! Your father and I have been looking all over for you--are you aware that you missed your performance today? The one that you've been practicing for all month? I could not be any more disappointed in you--the one time that you're supposed to amount to something, and you fail miserably." The sound of her mother's voice, irate and shrill, caused Melody to wince and shrink away in shame. Suddenly, she felt small and vulnerable and unbearably embarrassed, and she could no longer meet Benjamin's gaze as the matriarch of her family stood beside her at the picnic table and frowned down at her with no small amount of disapproval. Quietly, she tried to apologize, hoping to avoid an argument for Benjamin's sake, but...unfortunately, her mother wasn't cooperating at all.
"You're sorry, Melody? Is that so? Sorry for what, child? For wasting all of the money your father and I have invested in you, or for letting down the King himself? There's a great deal that you should be sorry for, young lady, and--oh! Benjamin! Darling boy, I didn't see you there!"
In a split second, Melody's mother had gone from harsh and cold to sweet and simpering, and without missing a beat, she bent down and clasped Benjamin's face between her heavily-jeweled fingers, squeezing his cheeks together and gazing down at him with a grotesque combination of both fondness and greed. In response, Melody was...confused. How did they know one another?
"I see you've met my other daughter," the Lark matriarch sighed, letting go of the young man's face after she had given them each an affectionate pat or two. "How, I haven't had the slightest clue! Weren't you hoping to spend the day with Darcy? It is, after all, a holiday for romance."
Only if For a Night || Benjamin & Melody
How was it possible that Benjamin had somehow managed to go his entire life without meeting a creature as delectable and gentle as the young woman now standing before him? How was it even fathomable that Ben had existed in the court and served his time among his fellow Ronsanellans as a knight for the royal family when he hadn’t met her before? It was ridiculous, it was preposterous, it was…it was so completely abnormal to think that he could have spent his entire life in such a small country and had never come across the one woman who seemed capable of making his breath hitch in his throat and his heart stutter and falter within the confines of his chest. He was so achingly attracted to the young girl, though she was more than likely a decade younger than him, and the large gap (both physically and age wise) that spread between them seemed both tangible and so unimportant all at once. He knew that he should have cared about the fact that she was barely a legal and respectable age for courting, but…he didn’t. Not with a smile that bashful and beautiful; not with hair that thick and rich. Not with a face capable of bringing men to their knees and a voice as soft and smooth as silk. This woman was…somehow she was everything even though he knew nothing about her.
Somehow, it felt li she was supposed to fill the jagged hole both of his parents had left in their wake. It just…it didn’t make any sense.
He knew that offering his arm to her with the promise of escorting her about the festival would probably be seen as courting (and if he wasn’t already bitterly engaged to a woman he barely knew and hadn’t even properly been acquainted with, Benjamin might have gone as far as to call it courting himself), but after only a moment of hesitation, Melody seemed only all too willing to offer herself up to him in return. And when she finally slipped her arm in and around his own and pressed her dainty little body up against his bulkier one in return, Benjamin was filled with the queerest sensation that they were meant to walk side-by-side like this. Somehow, it felt more natural with her than it had with any other woman he’d been with (or entertained the idea of being with) in earlier months and years. Her body was warm and soft as it molded against his own, and although he knew it was improper to think so indecently of a young woman he’d only just met, Benjamin found himself secretly wanting to commit the sensation to memory. She was just…she was a one of a king woman, this Melody was, and he was petrified of never being able to see her again after the festival was over and done with.
It was suicide, in a sense, wishing to get to know a woman he could never have in a romantic or physical sense, but he was so head over heels infatuated with the mere thought of her that he couldn’t be arsed to care. Not just yet. Not when it could still be deemed friendly and harmless.
"Your insistence on generosity is extraordinarily kind, mademoiselle," Benjamin said with a light laugh, his lips splitting into a grin that nearly devoured his face. They walked together with a sort of harmony, and as she expressed that there were no gentlemen callers or potential courters looking for her, Ben swore he felt his heart swell to three times its normal size. She was a stunning girl in truth, and so he couldn’t help but wonder why it was she didn’t have men lined up out the door for her. Had he known her sooner (and had his situation in life been less complicated and intricate), he would have made sure he was the first in line the very day she became eligible for marriage. As it was, there were too many things separating them…and that upset Ben far more than it should in regards to a woman whose surname he didn’t even know. He listened attentively as she spoke, as any kind gentleman would, and as they walked down the streets,he reached over and took a single red rose from a festival worker handing them around to happy couples and families, smiling gently before turning to gingerly hand the flower to Melody with his free hand.
"For you, mademoiselle Melody," was all he said. It was all that needed to be said.
By the time she’d finally managed to ask Ben if there was anywhere else that he needed to be that day, they’d nearly reached the end of the food venue. Not wanting to cut their little walk to a halt too quickly (and certainly not wishing to forget about the promise of food they’d made to one another), Benjamin tentatively led them to sit down at one of the picnic tables scattered about the place, gesturing for her to sit next to him (and hoping and praying that she would). When they had finally seated, he turned his gaze on her, fiddling with his hands in his laps and deliberating over a proper answer to give her. He didn’t want to lie, but he didn’t want to yet reveal the entire truth, either. So he just…spoke from his heart.
"There is nowhere in this world that I would rather be right now, Melody. You can be certain of that."
Melody hardly knew anything at all about the man she had quite literally stumbled into aside from his name, and while that should have bothered her, she found that it...didn't. Not really, not when she felt as if there was something so much more important about their impromptu meeting, something that she had only ever read about in fairytales and the clandestine romance novels that she always seemed to find whenever she was ordered to clean Darcy's bedroom, and so that was more than enough for Melody not to pester Benjamin with queries about his past, present, and his future. Everything that she needed to know was described in the space between them; everything that she needed to fall completely and head over heels in love with this man that she had only just met was written all over his impossibly handsome face. Her family would have chastised her, they would have called her foolish and naive and idiotic for feeling the way that she did right now, but for the first time in a very long time, Melody didn't dwell upon the criticism she knew would be coming, because all she could think about was how warm and content she felt as she walked arm-in-arm with Benjamin, the elder man that she had only just met, as well as the fact that she would gladly do this for the rest of her life.
She didn't know why it was that a man as virile, well-built, and attractive as Benjamin was spending Valentine's Day on his own, but Melody wasn't about to complain. He was the exact sort of man that her sister would have so eagerly seduced and devoured upon first sight, and even though they had only just met, the youngest Lark heiress found that it was impossible for her to think of him with anyone else, especially Darcy. Melody might have been young, barely legal and barely a woman, but that didn't mean that she didn't have what it would take to please a man like Ben, did it? She certainly hoped that wasn't the case, but years and years of being put down by her family and told over and over again that she was worth absolutely nothing had taken its toll on Melody's self-esteem, and so...even now, when she had a handsome man accompanying her through the streets on Valentine's Day and speaking to her as if she were his maiden fair, it was next to impossible for her to even fathom being deserving of something so wonderful...of being loved. Still, she did her absolute best not to allow her past to eat away at her, focusing instead on clutching at Ben's strong arm and allowing him to lead her through the festival.
It was when they passed a gentleman in the streets handing out freshly-cut roses that Ben reached for one and gifted it to her, and almost immediately, Melody's cheeks grew red-hot and flushed with rosy warmth, her eyes widening in shock and disbelief as she took in the implications of what was clearly a romantic gesture. She still couldn't believe that any of this was actually happening...boys had never paid much attention to her, not unless it meant getting closer to her sister instead, and so to have a man who was clearly one of Ronsanella's most eligible bachelors present her with a rose was nearly enough to cause young Melody to think that she was dreaming. "Oh, I--you're far too kind, monsieur. Thank you so much," she hastened to say, ducking her head bashfully as she carefully held the rose that had been so painstakingly rid of its thorns between her thumb and her forefinger, bringing it to her lips to kiss the velvety-soft petals and pretending that it was Ben all the while. "This is the sweetest gift, and...I'll cherish it always."
Indeed, Melody didn't dare let go of the rose as they continued to stroll through the streets of Ronsanella, hanging on to Benjamin's arms as if she really did fear that he would disappear into thin air. Perhaps this was all a figment of her imagination...it wouldn't surprise her, not when Darcy had told her time and time again that any man would have had to have gone mad to consider her worthy of courting. Eventually, once they had walked past all of the food vendors and seen everything that they had to offer, Benjamin was bringing her to one of the picnic tables that had been set up solely for the festival, and he sat down upon one of the benches before urging her to join him. Despite knowing that it would have been the proper and respectable thing for her to do to sit across from him with her legs crossed daintily beneath the table, Melody chose instead to sit alongside him. They were forced to squish closely together on the small space that the bench had to offer, but Melody didn't mind in the slightest as they sat thigh to thigh and arm to arm. She waited with baited breath for him to reveal whether or not he had anyone waiting on him, and when he reassured her that there was nowhere else he would rather be, Melody didn't even dwell on the fact that he hadn't really answered her question, because in that moment, it didn't even seem as if she needed to.
"I can't help but feel the exact same way, monsieur," she admitted softly, fiddling with her dainty hands in her lap and resisting the urge to smooth out her skirts when she knew that there was no need. "I...I know that it's terribly impolite of me to say this, and I do apologize most fervently, but I'm almost glad that I ran into you like that. Otherwise, I highly doubt that my day would have turned out to be as...wonderful as it did once you became a part of it."
Only if For a Night || Benjamin & Melody
Benjamin Prewett had never looked at anyone else in his entire life and felt even a fraction of what he was feeling now. The intensity of it all; the way a million different thoughts and emotions coursed through his veins, all threatening to dominate and overwhelm his frame. The way he seemed to try and fight the urge to grin like an absolute fool in front of a woman he’d known for a total of five minutes. Looking at her didn’t feel like a chance meeting with a stranger that he would later regard as a quirky coincidence or a twist of the fates. He would later look upon it and see the exchange for exactly what it was: dabbling with destiny. Now, though, Benjamin was still struggling against the queer range of emotions that were currently at war in his system; he wanted to draw her nearer and simultaneously push away and keep their space perfectly cordial. He wanted to tell her that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and also apologize for being so…forward towards a girl who looked a handful of years younger than him to begin with. There was just…too much to say; too much to think about. Too much to process.
Where the hell was he even supposed to begin?
He hoped that he hadn’t been too forward in asking the pretty brunette if she had anywhere else to be; generally, Benjamin tended not to be so very forward with women he’d barely met…especially considering the fact that he was now tied down and all tangled up in this…arranged engagement situation he’d been forced to enter into. The reminder that he was set to marry a woman he barely knew and did not love was a constant presence in Ben’s life, pressing at the back of his mind and weighing him in from dawn until dusk. It wasn’t that he disliked Darcy or anything (in fact, Benjamin had only recently and accidentally met the eldest Lark heiress, and he had managed to compose very litle of an idea about her whatsoever), it was just that…Benjamin Prewett felt his entire life was being decided for him. As a noble and the son of a knight, he was expected to act a certain way simply by existing; how to dress, how to talk to others, which people were acceptable to have as playmates during adolescence and which were not…was he ever going to be able to choose anything on his own in life? Or would he be told when to have children, too, and who to name them after? The thought was…appalling. Unsettling. It constantly made him feel like he was on the verge of ripping apart.
But now, none of that seeme to matter. He could forget all of his worries and troubles, and it was all thanks to the petite woman standing and blushing before him. He couldn’t explain it (mostly because Ben had never experienced anything like this before), but there was something almost…relieving about her presence. Something that brought Ben both serenity and excitement—as baffling and contradicting as that seemed to be—and he didn’t want the sensation to end.
He didn’t want any of it to end.
"…Melody…" he repeated her name in a low murmur, finding that the way his lips formed the word caused his mouth and tongue to tingle deliciously. He wanted to utter that name in her ear; wanted to mouth it against her skin and whisper it when he pulled her body tight against his own. A million different scenarios flashed before his eyes, and it was only due to the sheer shock and intensity of their meeting that Ben was able to refrain from acting on any of his rather strange impulses. “It is…such a genuine pleasure to meet you, mademoiselle.” A slow smile stretched across his face when she stated that there wasn’t anywhere else she wanted to be, his eyes twinkling with excitement and his heart hammering something fierce within his chest. Trying to remain as calm as possible in the wake of such exhilarating news, Ben nodded once and inched a bit closer to her, trying to talk over the crowd surrounding them and gesturing over to some of the food tables located off to the side of the town square.
"Would you be interested in taking a stroll with me through some of the food venues?" he asked sincerely, and then awkwardly held his arm out for her to slip her own into (God willing). "…Anything you’d like, mademoiselle, it’ll be my treat." He hesitated for a minute, and then—feeling bold—cleared his throat and finally added:
"And…you don’t have any other gentleman callers waiting on you?”
Melody wasn't used to this at all. For as long as she could remember, she had never been the sort of girl to have men falling over themselves in a desperate attempt to talk to her--no, that had always been Darcy's role, and her elder sister had made sure that she never forget just who it was that was more highly sought-after between the two of them. Melody was so used to living in Darcy's shadow that she had all but forgotten what it was like to bask in the light, but now...with the man who went by the name Benjamin Prewett standing before her and asking if she would be willing to accompany him for a walk, the youngest Lark felt as if she had ascended to the heavens above and was now shrouded in bright and effervescent sunlight that seemed to be making its way through her veins. She felt so flustered and warm and out of breath that she hardly knew what to do with herself--at only nineteen years old, she had never been courted before, and while it was presumptuous of her to assume that that was what Ben was even doing in the first place, it was still difficult for Melody to fathom the fact that he was just talking to her. He was an attractive older man, and she didn't doubt that there were plenty of women, sultrier ones who were closer to his own age, who would have gladly taken him up on his offer to stroll through Ronsanella's streets on Valentine's Day. But for some absurd and vexing reason, Ben had...he had chosen to spend time with her instead.
The mere sound of her first name slipping past his lips was enough to have a tremulous quiver sliding up and down the length of Melody's delicate spine. No one had ever said her name like before, with something like wonder and...and want. She was more used to the irritated snap from her parents and the condescending drawl from her elder sister that hearing anything else started her beyond measure. Still, she managed to offer Ben a genuine smile in response, nodding daintily to reassure him that yes, her name was Melody, and he was more than welcome to say it as many times as he would like. "The pleasure is...it's all mine, monsieur. I'm sincerely happy that it was you I ran into in the streets, and not someone else," she said softly, breathlessly, with a tittering little laugh and a nervous smile that made it very clear that she was tentative and afraid of what she was feeling and how it was too much. She didn't know how to behave around men, especially ones who were older than her and absolutely heart-breakingly handsome, because she wasn't Darcy, and she would never be Darcy, and that was where her problems laid.
He had to step closer to her in order to be heard over the bustling crowd, and Melody's heart pounded unevenly as he offered his arm for her to take. She had been told time and time again that it wasn't appropriate to walk on the arm of a man who wasn't, at the very least, in the process of courting her, but just like the fact that she was currently missing a very important dance performance, thoughts of propriety and what her parents would have approved of went right out the window in favor of doing anything and everything that Benjamin Prewett suggested. She hesitated for just a moment before gracefully fluttering over to his side, and she very gently reached out and tucked one of her slim and delicate arms around the length of his much more brawny and muscular one. He was even bigger up close, and she was positively dwarfed by his strong frame, nestled snugly up against his side like little girl. Here, she...she felt safe. Safe from Darcy and her parents, safe from the expectations of court...here, she felt happy and even wanted.Â
With Ben, she...she felt the prospect of being loved.
"That sounds wonderful, monsieur, but...it'll be my treat. I insist, especially after I very nearly crashed into you like a train," Melody said with a small wince and a sheepish laugh, dropping her gaze from him shyly before glancing up at him once more from beneath lashes that were as dark as ink and as long and thick as feathers from a midnight-colored crow. She felt hypersensitive and overwhelmed by his closeness, and as they fell into step alongside one another, Melody was shocked by just how easily they moved in tandem. "And there...there isn't anyone waiting for me, monsieur. That you can be one-hundred percent certain of," she continued with a small smile, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment because oh dear God, she didn't need to make herself sound even more undesirable than she already was. "What...what about yourself, Mister Prewett? Is there anywhere else you need to be this afternoon?"
Only if For a Night || Benjamin & Melody
The issue with Benjamin wasn’t that he was idly trying to find something to do with the remainder of his afternoon, but rather that he wasn’t paying a damn bit of attention as to where he was headed. So set on trying to find a familiar face or figure above the crowd—anything that would give him a bit of reprieve from feeling awkward and uncomfortable and utterly alone in the middle of the town square—he hadn’t been paying close enough attention to the people down on the ground around him. Sometimes, his height prohibited him from doing that; often times, Ben was prone to forgetting just how very tall and big he was; how his height seemed to completely engulf those who were of a more dainty build and average stance. Now, for instance, was most definitely one of those times. He’d been craning his neck to take a good look over at the line for entering the pie contest, trying to see if his aunt was among the women present, when he felt a small body slam against his own. Taken aback by the sudden and forced contact, Benjamin faltered and fell back a step, his eyes widening and his brows drawing together in confusion as he looked down to see who had caused their bodies to jostle together. It was difficult to tell anything apart through the thick crowd, but he saw a tuft of dark reddish brown hair, almost an auburn color, peeking up through the crown of a young girl’s head, and immediately his hands were falling to grip her arms to steady her…just as her hands were fluttering up to clutch at his chest.
By the time that her eyes finally lifted to meet his own, the young girl babbling out a string of apologies all the while, Benjamin was just tilting his head down to get a better look at the girl who had, quite literally, run into him. And when their eyes met—his as bright and blue as the seas; hers as rich and brown as melted chocolate—Benjamin swore he felt the rest of the world stop around him. His heart was hammering out an uneven staccato in his chest; one that caused his pulse to ring in his ears and his throat to grow dry and aching with the great need for thirst. He could do nothing but stare at the younger girl in absolute and complete wonder, his eyes greedily soaking up every line, inch, and freckle on her face; memorizing it. Committing it to memory. Committing her to memory. His hands were still on her arms and his eyes were still locked onto her face..he was frozen in place; unable to move, unable to speak, unable to breathe.
For a long and achingly silent moment, Benjamin Prewett could do nothing but gaze at this stranger as though he’d somehow known her his entire life. His heart ached and fluttered painfully within the confines of his chest as he became only all too aware of the fact that his hands were still on her person, and it was when he begrudgingly acknowledged how odd she must find this that he withdrew his hands. Immediately, his fingers felt the loss of her, and his hands grew cold and clammy in the aftermath of what had been an otherwise electrifying bit of physical contact.
"…Please, mademoiselle, the fault is entirely my own," he breathed, struggling to keep his voice from shaking as he addressed her. The girl was beautiful; delicate and sophisticated-looking, as Benjamin had grown to notice all noblewomen were, but if he’d ever seen her in court, he certainly didn’t remember it…and something told the Prewett heir that if he had come across this young lady in the past, she would have been burned into his mind. Permanently. “I should have been watching the ground rather than gazing up at the sky.” He hesitated for a moment when she asked if they knew one another…so she felt it, too; the strange sense of familiarity that accompanied her being in his presence. He felt so relieved that he wasn’t the only one experiencing these strange sensations that Benjamin nearly cried out in relief. Unfortunately, he had no words to place her own mind at ease.
"I don’t think we’ve met before…" he trailed off softly, his eyes warm and filled to the brim with fire. "…I’m sure I would remember a face like yours." Hesitantly, he nodded his head slightly by means of showing respect, reaching out to take her hand within his own and pressing his lips against the back of her hand. Her skin was soft as velvet against his mouth, and his kiss lingered for a moment too long before he relinquished his grip on the fair maiden and stepped away. "I’m Ben, by the way."
"Are you…in much of a rush to get anywhere else, mademoiselle? Or would you mind maybe accompanying me for a walk?"
One moment, Melody had been doing her absolute best to make it on time for her performance in town square, and the next...she was rushing head-on into the very tall and very well-built body of a man she had never met until now. All that she needed to do, theoretically, was apologize and make sure that he was alright for continuing on with her day, and yet...all it had taken was a glance upwards as she all but stumbled into his arms to realize that she was practically frozen right where she stood. Because this man, this nameless man, was unlike anything that she had ever seen before in her entire life. It wasn't just that he was attractive, and unbelievably so at that, but it was the fact that looking into his bright blue eyes had been more like coming home than anything that she had ever felt before. There was something so achingly familiar about him, almost as if they had met in another life, and while it was an absolutely ridiculous thought to harbor when she had yet to even learn his name, Melody couldn't help but feel more...more attuned to this man than she did with anyone else, and that included her family as well. All he had to do was look at her, and she was swooning where she stood...later, she would realize exactly what it was, exactly what it had been: love at first sight.
For now, though, she was trying not to make a fool of herself. She was all but cradled into the warmth of the man's very big and very brawny chest, and her delicate hands were clutching at his strong shoulders as if they belonged there. He was touching her, too...he steadied her with his much larger hands, holding onto her dainty waist to keep her from falling over, and she could feel the heat of his palms sinking into the thin cotton of her dress and into her skin as well. As a noblewoman, she wasn't supposed to allow anyone that she didn't know to touch her so familiarly, and her cheeks were flaming because of it, and yet...at the very same time, she feared the moment the stranger before her would be forced to pull away and disentangle them. It was the first time she had ever been held intimately by a man before (and the fact that it had only been after she had nearly tumbled onto him was embarrassing in and of itself), and Melody was struck breathless by the overwhelming sensation of it all. Oh, she...she wasn't Darcy. She didn't know how to twist men around her finger to get what she wanted from them; she didn't even know how to talk to them.
Eventually, the man was gingerly letting go of her, and he took his warmth with him as he allowed for a bit of space between them once more. He seemed rather dazed as well as he looked down at her, towering over her with ease in all of his tall and muscular glory, and Melody could feel her small hands trembling with the need to reach out and touch him again. When he spoke, it was in a voice that was as smooth as velvet and as rich as dark chocolate, and the pounding staccato of her heart against her chest seemed to be insisting over and over again that this--this accidental meeting between two kindred soul--meant something. Darcy would call her a naive idiot for even thinking something so absurd, and yet...Melody could feel it in her heart that it was true. "And I shouldn't have been running so carelessly in the streets, monsieur," she breathed in his attempts to refute her apologies, earnest and insistent and unbearably flustered as she struggled not to embarrass herself all over again.
When he met her gaze for the second time, there was something undeniably heated in the way that he looked at her, and it almost seemed as if that very same heat trickled right down into Melody's young bones. He reached for her hand then, and her eyes widened as he brought it to his lips to bestow the silken-soft back of it with a chaste kiss. It was a common gesture, one that she had gotten used to when she had first been displayed at court, and yet...it was different when this man did it. His lips were warm and full, and they seemed to linger far longer than any of the other men that greeted her regularly at court did, and just like that, she was blushing for him all over again...clearly, it didn't take much. Her pulse was fluttering anxiously by the time he pulled away, and she found herself unconsciously rubbing at the back of her hand where he had kissed it, as if to somehow engrave the shape and sensation of his lips into her skin for her to feel them there forevermore. "Ben," she said his name with a soft smile, and it seemed to fall from her mouth so effortlessly, as if she was meant to know it and love it for as long as she would come to live.
"My name is Melody, monsieur, and...I can't seem to think of anywhere else that I'm supposed to be at present time," she said with a breathy laugh, looking down shyly as any and all thoughts of her dance performance fled her mind entirely. Self-consciously, she smoothed out the hem of her skirt; years and years of Darcy's insistence that she would never look as neat and tidy as she did had done a number on her self-esteem, and it was only so much worse when she was in the presence of such a...such a gentleman. "And so...I'd love to accompany you, sir. Wherever you'd like to go, I'll happily follow."
Only if For a Night || Benjamin & Melody
It was Benjamin Prewett’s duty to attend the Valentine’s Day Festival, and had his life been the way it was five years ago, the young man would have been fairly excited about the grand event. Truly, the Valentine’s Day Festival had been one of the knight’s favorite days out of the entire year; he loved the parade that happened every evening, loved the food that local bakeries, chefs, and castle cooks made for the event. He had once loved the music and the bar, as well as the different contests and crafts that various civilians could participate in at their choosing. It was a lovely event, truly, but…Ben couldn’t quite manage to get into the holiday spirit of it all, so to speak. What had once been a fantastic day spent away from the castle was now another dreaded day where he had to feign smiles and pretend as though he was thrilled about marrying a woman he’d only just recently (and by accident) stumbled across on a hilltop. For the first time in his life, Benjamin felt as though he couldn’t be honest wiht anyone about anything…he couldn’t let his aunt and uncle know just how much he utterly loathed the thought of marrying a complete stranger, and he couldn’t let the Larks know that he had no genuine interest in his betrothal to their eldest daughter.
Secrets, secrets, secrets…Benjamin felt as though his entire life was being built on lies. If his father was alive, he surely would have been disappointed in his only son for keeping so many things hidden; from himself, from his family, from his loved ones. This wasn’t the sort of man his father had raised him to be, and each and every time Ben acknowledged that, he felt his heart sink with grief. His father wouldn’t have stood for any of this…
Aside from how he was feeling about his future wife and the mess his family had managed to get him into, Benjamin was in relatively high spirits for the day. While the festival wasn’t the same as it had once been for him, he was still extremely optimistic about how the day would turn out. There was music and dancing and beer and food for as far as the eyes could see, and so it was with this in mind that the young and eager knight departed from some of his friends in armor, weaving through the throng of people in search of some entertainment for the afternoon. And with merchant tables set up and contests to participate in, Benjamin was almost certain he’d be able to find some reprieve from the hecticness of his life. He just had to figure out where to start and where in the hell to head off to first. So, stepping through the crowd of people and immersing himself in the middle of it all, Benjamin lifted his eyes and scanned across the top of the crowd, looking for a familiar face or an interesting place to spend his time at.
It shouldn’t be that hard, right?
"Excuse me--excuse me, coming through!"Â
Her family would have disapproved of young Melody more than they already did if they could see her now, rushing through the crowded streets of Ronsanella in one of her dance ensembles as she raced towards town square where she was supposed to have met with the rest of her troupe nearly twenty minutes ago. She hadn't meant to run late, of course--usually, she was nothing short of annoyingly early when it came to her social obligations, but today had been an absolute struggle in terms of finding her way out the door. First, two of the buttons that ran up the front of her delicate camisole had snapped off, and Melody had been forced to sew them back on as hastily as she possibly could. She knew better than to ask her mother for help, after all, or Darcy, heaven forbid, but even once she had managed to deem herself presentable once more, yet another challenge was smacking her right in the face. Her family had planned on taking a horse-drawn carriage to the Valentine's Day festival, having refused to be seen walking like commoners, and while Melody would have greatly preferred to keep to herself and enjoy the balmy air near the ocean, they had all but ordered her to join them, if only to keep up with appearances. However...the moment she stepped outside after fixing her camisole, she realized that her family was long gone--fed up with waiting for her, presumably, they had chosen to leave her behind.Â
Hence why she was currently running through the streets. She was meant to lead the first series of dances that King Bennet's royal troupe would be performing for the public, and yet she had a feeling that was well on her way to being replaced by her understudy instead. Oh, she...she hated the thought of anyone taking her place; at home, she was overlooked and ignored in favor of her sister, but on stage...on stage, Melody felt as if she was loved and adored and wanted. Dancing was one of the only ways she could express herself, or so it seemed, and so to miss out out an opportunity to do so was...devastating, to say the absolute least. Desperately attempting to smooth out the fluttering hem of her delicate pink skirt that was longer in the back than it was in the front, Melody's cheeks were flushed she was panting breathlessly as she pushed her way through the the gaggle of people that had taken over Ronsanella's streets that were usually so peaceful, trying her best not to run anyone down in the process. Town Square was so close, and yet not close enough, and Melody felt as if she were on the verge of crying out in frustration, when suddenly--when suddenly--
"Oh!" A startled and breathy little sound fled Melody's lips the moment she realized that she had collided with one of the many celebrators that had come out to enjoy the Valentine's Day festival...one who just so happened to be very tall, and very...big as well. She had accidentally managed to run right into their chest, and she was pressed flush against them now, the top of her head just barely clearing their shoulders as she blushed a deep shade of crimson and struggled to steady herself. Oh, for heaven's sake...this was precisely why her parents chided her as much as they did. Flustered and apologetic, she straightened herself with a little wince, and--as if they were being controlled by some unseen force--her dainty hands instinctively found themselves lingering on the broad expanse of the unfortunate stranger's chest, fluttering in place as if they belonged there. "I--I'm so sorry, oh my word," she breathed, nothing short of mortified as she blinked down at the ground instead of up at the man standing before her. "Are you--are you quite alright? I'm afraid I wasn't watching where I was going, sir, and I'm dreadfully sorry for it, I--"
Finally, after she had unconsciously begun to smooth out the rumbled front of his shirt, Melody was raising her head and looking at the man for the first time, and that was when she gasped, her eyes opening wide and her lips parting to form a small little 'o' of wonderment. He...standing before her was undoubtedly the most handsome man that she had ever seen. He was tall and broad shouldered, with chiseled features and bright blue eyes that seemed to twinkle for her and her only. He had the build of a man that worked hard every single day of his life, and while Melody had seen more than her fair share of attractive noblemen at court and in the castle, she had never felt so...so...so intensely drawn to any one of them, not like she did right now. It was a strange sort of feeling, one that made her feel breathless and weak and light-headed, and she very nearly swooned into the stranger's arms because of it. He...what was it about him, exactly, that made her feel as if he had been made just for her?
"I..." she breathed softly, her eyes still impossibly wide as she gazed up at him with something like awe and shock combined. "We haven't...met before, have we? You just...there's something about you that seems so familiar to me."
"You are beneath my notice, why can’t you seem to understand that? Papa and mama love me the best, I’m the one being married off to a knight. Darling sister, you’ll never be me. Oh please, I don’t have time for sisterly bonding."
"Melody, what I want doesn’t include you. Once I marry, I hope I never have to see you again."
"I don't wish to be you, Darcy, because the absolute last thing that I want is to be so devoid of love and compassion that I might as well not have a heart at all. I'm happy for you and the knight who is soon to be your betrothed, because I know it's what you've always wanted--to marry a fine man, a noble man, and to carry on the traditions of our family, but--how on earth are you supposed to become someone's wife when you...when you won't even make an attempt to be a sister? We're supposed to put each other first, Darcy--as women, as Larks, as the branches of the very same tree that have been entwined since birth. And yet for as long as I can remember, you've always found one man or another to make a priority instead. And that...that's something that I will never be able to understand."
"I--no, Darcy, you won't. You won't ever have to see me again if that's what you want. I wish you all the best for you and your betrothed--hopefully you'll find something to love in him, and hopefully he'll be able to find something to love in you as well. Until then, I...I won't bother you anymore."Â
"Oh, do take your pathetic whimpering somewhere else, Melody. Your voice is so irritating, I’m sure to get a headache now. See, there is where you’re wrong. I don’t hate. I don’t even think about you when you’re not in the room, that’s how little you mean to me."
"Nothing happened. I grew up, Melody, and you stayed the same. Why should I bother with you if we’re nothing alike? You’re not even fit to be a pebble in my shoe."
"Pathetic whimpering? I--I'm trying to talk to you, Darcy, and just because I'm not mum and dad, or--or one of your friends from court, or one of your lovers, doesn't mean that I should be deemed beneath your notice! I could understand if I had done something to harm you, if--if I had somehow managed to severe the bond we once had either on purpose or accidentally, but you...you...for absolutely no reason whatsoever, you treat me as if I'm the ground in which you walk upon. It isn't right, Darcy--I didn't do anything to deserve this!"
"I...I...fine, Darcy. Fine. Have it your way. I'll keep my distance from now on, and you can do whatever it is that you please without having to worry about your baby sister getting underfoot. If this is what you want, if this is what you really, truly want, then...so be it."
"Keeping your tongue still would be a better idea, then asking stupid questions."
"Cruel? You think this is cruelty? Oh dear sister, you would never know how cruel I can be so do not tempt me. I could go to mama and ask her to send you away to boarding school."
"I--everything is a stupid question when it comes to you, Darcy! I can't say a single thing to you without having it shot down within mere moments! You...I...it's as if you hate me, and I don't even understand why!"
"You...you wouldn't do that, Darcy. I know you wouldn't. That--I--you wouldn't have mama send me so far away when you know that I belong here at the castle. Please, I...don't you remember when we were younger, and we'd spend nearly every single second of every single day with one another? We were so close, Darcy, and I looked up to you as if you were the sun shining down upon me. What happened?"
"Did I ask you what your thoughts were on how men speak to me? Do not be so meddlesome, Melody. It’s unbecoming and you already have so many bad qualities."
"I was just--I was only--Darcy, I was just asking you a question."
"I'm your sister, and--and I care about you! That's why I inquired as to how the men you surround yourself with treat you when you're alone; that's the only reason I wanted to know! I...there's no need for you to be so cruel."
"And then I told him that he had no business in wondering how my corset is laced up! Really as if I was born yesterday."Â
I...do you allow the men you surround yourself to speak to you like this on a constant basis, Darcy? It seems so--so disrespectful.
