The Crown's Obsession

11 Behind the pillars

"Miss Madeline," Mr. Heathcliff gave her a bow and Madeline returned it, "You look beautiful. I knew the dress would suit you well," he complimented her, and she had to hold in the blush so that it wouldn't reach up to her cheeks.

"Thank you. You look well yourself," she thanked him.

"You must be surprised to see me here. Lady Catherine asked me to accompany her here," so that's how it was, thought Madeline to herself. For a moment she had wondered if Mr. Heahtcliff had entered the castle without an invitation, "She went with a gentleman to speak over the lands she bought that's having disputes. I thought I would come to look for you," his pale green eyes looked down at her.

"You found me," she said, and he gave her a nod.

"I did," he said, unable to take his eyes off of the girl who stood in front of him. Madeline felt the tiny spark of joy that ignited in her chest, and she was somewhere happy that Mr. Heathcliff took an interest in her. She shared an affinity towards the man and to hear that he came looking for her.

"Are you enjoying your time here?" Mr. Heathcliff asked her, his eyes turning away from her when two guests were passing through the corridor, and he moved back, giving her the space to move towards the wall for people to walk.

"I am. It is a beautiful castle," she replied to him before silence filled between them as she didn't know what to say. The night was cold, and the light in the corridor was soft and gentle on the things around it.

Madeline might not have been to the par of her sister when it came to beauty, but she was pretty enough to hold a man's interest when one took heed to her. But the young daughter of Harris knew the amount of competition when it came to men and women; therefore, she had kept her conversation always to be polite and minimum.

"Lady Catherine might wonder where you are if she were to find you missing," Lady Catherine was one of the women who belonged to the higher society. She dropped by the tailorman's store often enough to see him, which made it quite evident that the lady was interested in the man.

"That's alright. It was important to find you," he said, and Madeline's eyes met his who was looking at another person walking by.

And while Madeline had stepped away from the ballroom, Calhoun had left the room shortly, unable to get her scent out of his head. Like a bee finding the flower that was the sweetest in the garden.

On stepping out of the room, he met his friend Theodore who was with a woman. Theodore whispered something in the woman's ears that had the woman smile and leave his side to get inside the room.

"I did. I am looking for something."

Theodore tilted his head to the side to ask, "Hm? You could ask the guards to find it unless you lost it."

"A King never loses what belongs to him. He finds it himself," Calhoun's eyes had a glint that had Theodore give him a look of curiosity. It didn't take the man to know what the King was on about. It seemed that someone had caught his fancy, thought Theodore to himself, "Anyways, you shouldn't keep the lady waiting unless you want to see her dance with another man."

"I am sure she can wait," answered Theodore looking towards the doors of the ballroom and then looking back to say, "I heard Marcel is planning to attack you in the court tomorrow."

"And how is he going to do that?" Calhoun started to walk away from the ballroom to be accompanied by Theodore, "He's already lost the favour of the church. Even if he appeals in the court, he needs a majority of votes to sway the decision. He should know better than stand against me unless it's his last dying wish to spend his time locked in the prison."

With the mask that Calhoun wore, only Theodore knew who was behind it, which made the men and women in the corridor walk past them without stopping to bow. That didn't mean the people didn't take a second glance at him as no one else wore a silver mask that covered the entire face.

Theodore couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped his lips, "That might be the reason, but rumour has it that he found the body of Miss Lipton."

"Miss Lipton," Calhoun remembered the young woman.

She was the daughter of Duke Lipton in the East side of the land. She was a voracious girl who had been too eager when it came to the matter of his business and him. Enough to see what she was not supposed to that led to her demise.

"Wasn't her body buried away?" he asked.

"It was. It would be hard to find her. Marcel must have created a body double to make it look like it was Miss Lipton," answered Theodore dutifully as he was the one who had made to sure to have her body hidden safely. It was nearly three months since that time, "What would you like to do about him?"

Calhoun and Theodore were still walking through the corridor when Calhoun's steps paused. He looked at the other side of the hallways, which was parallel to where he stood. If it weren't for the flowers and other plants that partitioned the two corridors, one could easily look who was standing on the other side.

He looked at the girl who had caught his attention, standing in front of a man who wore a mask that covered his eyes.

"..I have something I have been meaning to ask you," Madeline furrowed her brows at his words, "I have liked you for some time now. Would you like to go out this Sunday?"

Madeline hadn't expected a request like this from him, not that it was bad, but she hadn't been prepared for it.

"I-I have to accompany my sister. We are going to visit my uncle's house."

"That's alright. Maybe some other day," the man laughed with the quick refusal.

Calhoun, who was on the other side, listening to their conversation where even Theodore had turned his head in the direction where the King was looking. He noticed how the girl parted her lips, her eyes looking up at the man in a way that had Calhoun's eyes narrow subtly.

Madeline could tell that it was an unfortunate plan that had been made. If she were to know that Mr. Heathcliff was going to ask her to meet him, she would not have agreed to go with her sister. The man didn't seem to find another date and had only said 'some other day'.

"I should get back," said Mr. Heathcliif and Madeline agreed to it.

She didn't know if she was sad that their dates didn't match or if she was happy that he had asked her. And then he did something more unexpected by taking her hand that was resting at her side, leaning forward he kissed the back of her hand and then pulled away, "I will see you tomorrow," Madeline was too stunned to speak, and she saw him leave her side to go back to Lady Catherine.

"Find out about the girl. Also, the man" came the order.

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