ʟᴀᴅʏ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴛɪᴍᴇ

𝐈𝐈. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐄𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞

"Poor man! I heard that his parents have long ago passed on and that his younger sister had recently departed as well due to an unfortunate carriage accident."

"I believe he is still in partial mourning. One of my acquaintances had informed me that he shall only be in London for another sennight in order to complete some matter of business."

"My mother heard from her dear friend, Lady Grey, that Mr. Cavendish has a reputed income of 8,000 a year!"

"8,000? Why, I heard that it was 9,000, perhaps even 10,000 a year!"

"Mr. Cavendish and I were recently introduced yesterday evening when my parents and I paid him a call. He was the perfect gentleman and he is much handsomer than any man I have ever met!"

"Seven and twenty yet still unmarried? With a grand country estate and relatives in nobility, he would make a brilliant match for any lady!"

╭─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╮

𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐘, 𝟏𝟖𝟏𝟑
𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐎𝐑 𝐒𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐄,
𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐍, 𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃

╰─━━━━━━━━━━━━─╯

Mr. Henry Cavendish was currently taking his early-morning ride around the streets of London. He was riding in a leisurely stride when he heard signs of the neighborhood waking. With this, he knew it was time to return back to his townhouse before any more gossip and rumors started to circulate.

Sighing deeply, he foresaw another uneventful day of being forced to entertain callers, conversing with acquaintances, and completing numerous paperwork and documents. Although the death of his sister, Mary, had occurred earlier that year during January, the painful grief that had struck his heart had made it so that he still observed partial mourning.

Most likely the Ton does not even notice. All they see is what they want to see, a single man in possession of a good fortune.

As he neared the front entrance to his relatively simple yet elegant townhouse, he was stopped by one of his neighbors, Mr. Downer. "Good morning, Cavendish!"

Mr. Downer was an amiable enough man but Cavendish did not quite appreciate how much he acted as if they were the dearest of friends. He could, however, remain polite about it. "Good morning, Mr. Downer."

"I see you are engaging in a morning ride. Why, as you well know, I am actually quite a horseman myself! If you would like, I can lend you some of my expertise."

"Thank you, Mr. Downer, but I am afraid that I shall have to decline your generous offer as I have several other pressing matters to attend to."

"Of course, of course! But do make sure to pay us a call the next time you are in Town! Mrs. Downer and I have certainly missed your company!"

"I shall endeavor to do so."

He bid his farewells to his rather enthusiastic neighbor and made his way to his townhouse. As soon as he neared, one of the grooms immediately set forth to take his horse to the stables. He brushed some of the road dust that had accumulated on his clothing and made his way towards the door.

"Welcome back, sir. Shall I inform Mrs. Hudson to prepare a bath?" his butler, Higgins, greeted him as he assisted Cavendish out of his great coat and hat.