Betrothed to the earl

chapter 1

1813

Plymouth , England

It was winter, a very cold day one that no one should take a foot outside without thousands layer of clothing. Lady Rose Hamilton and her infamous Spinster friends decided to try the forbidden, well according to Lady Celeste Jenner it is something worth experiencing, ''I believe people have done it in western countries'' she assured causing the lady's to glance at each other before bursting in laughter, ''I pray that this isn't another fool idea like the one we tried last time'' Lady Rose snickered trying to erase her mind of the embarrassing moment when they thought jumping of a building with an umbrella would make them fly like the pilot in what was it called again?... oh yeah helicopter.

''Oh no this one is a splendid idea, lets take of our corset'' Lady Celeste started losing the lace in the corset, Lady rose was already done and started taking of her gown. Standing in nothing but her chemise she waited, ''The water looks cold I wonder Is there any possibility for me to freeze my toes off'' Lady Amelia muttered to herself, being in her usual questioning state before committing the unthinkable, like jumping in a cold lake. Rose always wondered how a person can think for that long, well that was before she met Amelia, in fact even her father seems normal in the company of Lady Amelia. But when it comes to any of them the word sensibility isn't their strongest capacity so to have one like Lady Amelia is very much needed.

Rose turned to Amelia with a wicked grin, ''If that happens, I will warm the toes for you, now take of your corset or do you have any second thoughts?'' and if that was supposed to be reassuring for Amelia,  it did not work the least, Celeste sighed loudly, ''I can finally breath, oh god those biscuits were irresistible''.

After Amelia stripped off her gown, her eyes widen taking in her appearance as Lady Rose and Celeste was appreciating the lake

''We are in a state that no lady should be in! god help me if anyone---'' Amelia panicked getting cut between her sentence, something that was very much needed as Rose snorted, ''Oh put a sock on it! I guarantee you will not get poisoned saying the word naked and I beg to differ we are not in that state, have you not forgotten to include our chemise?'' Rose finished feeling satisfied still knowing a chemise is nothing different than practically being naked, Amelia scoffed, ''And that is supposed to be assuring?''

, if anyone would see them in their chemise may god have mercy. Beautiful and yet frightening of how the waves come after one and other Lady Rose spoke with confidence, ''I'll take the first jump'' her adventures never had a limit. ''Why don't we do it together on three?'' Amelia asked before Rose had the chance to jump from the little cliff, ''Because its better having two alive then none right'' Rose meant it as a joke, but Amelia was mortified while Celeste laughed, ''oh don't frighten me like that Rose you know my heart can't take it''

''you have my deepest apology but believe me when I say you will grow out of it and before you know it we will jump out of mountains and swim in the deepest oceans'' Rose smiled although Amelia never liked being the youngest her lip curved into a grin, ''Hopefully'' she muttered.

The cold made them all shiver and Rose needed to fulfill her list before dying so being a coward is out of question. If anyone besides her friends saw her To-do list before death, they might as well have a heart attack fatal. ''Long live the spinsters'' she shouted at the top of her lungs before taking the jump. It wasn't before she took the first leg off the cliff that she heard faint voices and shouters not having the time to process before the water embraced her.

Bliss. Bliss was the feeling she felt as she swam up to the surface, the cold was worse as she came up. She gulped water without realizing the depth of the water even for her tall length, she was laughing hysterically feeling as if life meant something... freedom and could she dare to say happiness? Whatever it was someone did not share the same adrenaline as her, ''Hold on to this'' A voice so strong it could never belong to any lady said causing her to freeze in place. Her head whipped towards the voice and if it weren't for the water that drowned her she could probably see better.