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Hawthorne.

Five

    “Chloe!”
    Chloe looked up from the letter she’d been writing to her mother. She was in the middle of telling her all about Lord Andrew's housekeeper, which was still hard to believe. Goodness, a whore for a housekeeper.
    Former whore, Chloe! There you go being uncharitable in your thoughts again.
    Lizzie continued to call for her, and soon there were footsteps on the landing outside her bedroom door. Chloe sighed and placed her quill back in the ink well. She would have to finish the letter later, since apparently, duty called again.
    “ Chlo — Oh, there you are.” Lizzie bounded into the room, her blond curls bouncing. “I wish to take a walk, but naturally, I can’t go alone.”
    “Naturally,” Chloe repeated, rising from her desk chair. “I’ll just fetch my pelisse.”
    Lizzie followed close on her heels as she walked to her closet, and Chloe couldn’t help but wonder at her peculiar behavior.
    “Don’t forget your parasol,” Lizzie advised. “It’s awfully bright today.”
    Chloe turned and practically collided with her cousin, she was so close. She brandished her parasol and waved it about, though she didn’t really see the point in them. Her bonnet almost completely covered her face and it was already five o'clock. But it seemed the thing to do in London, so Chloe held her tongue and followed her very eager cousin from the room.
    “Where are we going, anyway?” Chloe inquired after her cousin.
    “Hyde Park, of course.” Lizzie accepted her own parasol from the butler. “That’s where all the fashionable people go.” She delivered this last statement as if everyone should know such a fact.
    “Well, then why am I going?”
    Lizzie turned on the spot and leveled Chloe with a somewhat annoyed glare. “Because you are my chaperone and you love me and you wouldn’t dare deny me the opportunity to mingle with my friends on such a delightful afternoon.”
    A conciliatory smile tugged at Chloe’s lips. She and her cousin could not have been more different if they tried. But she did love Lizzie, even for all her social climbing and city ways, and did not wish to upset her.
    “You’re right,” she said at last. “I’m sorry. I promise not to say another contrary thing the rest of the afternoon.”
    Lizzie seemed pleased, if not a bit skeptical with her apology—if her highly arched brows were any indication—and grabbed her arm to tug her out the door. Chloe practically had to skip to keep up with her cousin’s pace. Usually her cousin strolled in a manner befitting a lady. Today she practically ran to the park. Chloe had never known her to be in such a hurry to get somewhere before. It didn’t help matters that Lizzie’s legs extended at least five inches longer than her own.  
    They reached the park in what Chloe assumed was record time, and she was thankful when Lizzie finally slowed down. She knew it wasn’t on her account, but that was all right, they had slowed nonetheless. It was a lovely day and Chloe didn’t wish to rush their sojourn. Fluffy clouds passed lazily overhead, gravel crunched beneath carriage wheels and children squealed as they ran through the grass.
    Members of the ton made up the majority of the scene, walking, riding, flirting; it was like some kind of civilized mating ritual. Chloe blushed at the thought. She really ought to stop reading so much about animals and their rituals.
    She followed along behind Lizzie, enjoying the warm, April sun, tilting her face towards the light.
    “Why do you lag so, Chloe?” Lizzie asked as she looped her arm through Chloe’s. “You needn’t walk behind me like a maid.”
    “Sorry,” she answered. “What shall I do if you wish to walk with Lord Andrew, or a friend?”
    Lizzie looked at her with a sly smile. “Well, then you should walk behind. Especially if it’s a gentleman.”
    A gentleman? What did that mean? Her cousin was betrothed to one gentleman, and she couldn’t imagine Lord Andrew