Chapter 3

Bartholomew woke up early to prepare breakfast for himself and his friends. Bartholomew is the quiet one in the group, but despite his quiet presence, he is the one his friends turn to when they are at their lowest. Also, he is silly, as are all of them, but in Bartholomew's case, he rarely shows his silly side. Conrad rose an hour later than him and was not surprised to see Bartholomew already preparing breakfast... he was used to it.

While holding a plate in his left hand and a spoon in his right, Bartholomew heard a noise and turned his head to see where it came from. Conrad stood there with a smug expression on his face.

"Too windy," he remarked. Conrad tilted his head slightly and tried to make eye contact with Bartholomew, but he turned away.

"Am I?" Conrad asks himself, while pointing to himself. He sat at the dining table, not even thinking about assisting Bartholomew with the preparations, he just sat there, waiting for his breakfast. Bartholomew has already finished preparing; he just hasn't served it yet because he thought it was too early; however, he has served it now that Conrad is awake.

"Thank you, Art," Conrad said as Bartholomew placed the breakfast he had prepared on the table. He sat down, ignored Conrad, and began to eat. Conrad simply shrugs whenever he is ignored by him, he is used to it and sometimes laughs it off.

The other three awoke in quick succession not long after. Henry washed his face first before eating, Richard sat down right away, and Antonio was the last person to awaken. Before joining the men for dinner, he did some light exercise. They chatted and inquired about each other's sleep during breakfast, as well as their plans for the rest of the day.

"Mr. Collins notified me that he will host a welcome party for us this dinner," Antonio stated.

"Shoot—-No way?" exclaimed Conrad dramatically. The boys looked at him, perplexed and dismayed.

"I mean... We don't have a woman to bring to the party!" he explained. Antonio shook his head, silently cursing Conrad's dramatic nature.

"We don't have to have one," Bartholomew said. Conrad's eyes widened and he began to sob.

"You don't understand the beauty of having a woman beside you at a party!" Conrad exclaimed again, wiping his fake tears away from his cheeks. Bartholomew stood up and told them to hand over their plates so he could begin washing the dishes, and they immediately obeyed.

"Why don't you go find one right now?" Richard proposed. Conrad stood up and went off to get his newsboy hat, his black trench coat, and his derby black shoes, and he left the boys without saying anything. They, too, have plans to revisit the village, so they decided to prepare. Bartholomew, on the other hand, had no plans to go out; he simply wanted to rest and sleep for a long time.

"One of you should cook lunch, and I'm going to sleep for at least... six hours," Bartholomew said loudly enough for everyone to hear. Antonio heard him but chose to pretend to be deaf. Richard was the one who responded to Bartholomew's announcement.

"I'm not going to eat lunch!" he declared respectfully.

"All right, I'll cook!" Henry exclaimed. He waited for Bartholomew to respond, but he appears to have gone to his own room and fallen asleep. And, indeed, when Bartholomew announced that he'd be sleeping for a long time, he didn't wait for the others to respond; he went straight to his room and fell asleep. The rest of them had already left the house.

Antonio mounted his horse and decided to ride to the mountain he had seen while exploring the day before. He decided to stop at the bakery for a snack while horseback riding. Eleanor heard a horse neighing and went to the front, where she saw Antonio. Antonio waved his hand to her and dismounted from the horse.

Eleanor returned his wave and smiled as she looked at the horse. "Hello, sir! Excuse me, but where are you going to take your horse with you?" she inquired, intrigued. Antonio squinted as the sun shone in his face.

"To that mountain," he said, turning his back on her and pointing to the mountain. Eleanor's gaze followed where he was pointing and she nodded happily when she saw the mountain.

"I recommend you take a break at the river on that mountain, it's relaxing!" she suggested.

"You bet," sneered he. He then bought the bread he desired and left. Not long after he left, a man in a black trench coat approached with a smug expression on his face. Eleanor was busy talking to her customers when she noticed him approaching in her peripheral vision. It piqued her interest, so she gave him a quick glance, and then she stared at him, completely disregarding her customers' orders.

"Are you one of the guys who arrived yesterday?" she asked as he walked up to her. Conrad gave her a flirtatious smile, but Eleanor didn't notice.

"Yes, Conrad," he said, taking off his newsboy hat and offering her a handshake. Eleanor smiled at him, and her eyes smiled back, as she accepted his handshake.

"Eleanor," she introduced herself.

Eleanor's customer, whom she may have forgotten, then interrupted them.

"Oh, sorry," she said as she attended to them. Conrad, awestruck by her beauty, waited until she finished assisting them. Eleanor quickly turned her attention to him.

He cleared his throat, and his smug expression reappeared.

"I was wondering if you'd like to be my partner in a party this dinner," he invited, and Eleanor cocked her head, puzzled.

"Oh, that must be it!" she said to herself, and Conrad became perplexed.

"What exactly is it?"

"Mr. Collins invited everyone in this village to the party!" she exclaimed, her voice excited. Conrad felt at ease.

"All right, so do you agree to join me?" he asked again. Eleanor quickly shook her head, implying a "NO" answer. It hurt his pride, but he got away with it by pretending to laugh. Nobody had ever refused him so quickly! Nobody has ever refused him! He slowly shook his head and laughed as he found it absurd.

"Are you teasing me?" he asked, his smile still on his lips, staring at her, and Eleanor met his gaze.

"I don't do partners," she said simply, laughing heartily.

Conrad accepted her decision, which hurt him, but when he saw Eleanor's sister, Harriet, he quickly moved on and regained his confidence.

Harriet enters her room after hearing her sister laugh. Still wearing her morning hair, but her black hair is stunning in any style. She grabbed a piece of bread from the table and went over to her sister, where she noticed her conversing with a dashing man! Conrad looked her in the eyes, and she was taken aback by how stunning his eyes are! But, of course, she doesn't show her emotions, pretending that he hasn't blown her out when, in fact, he has.

"Nevermind... May I ask the name of that lady just behind you?" he asked, not taking his gaze away from her. When Harriet heard the dashing man's question, she put her other hand at her back and she made a fist and celebrated victory that the man was interested in her.

She does not allow her sister to speak for herself, so she enters the conversation gracefully.

"Harriet," she said it with a sweet sweet voice.

Eleanor snorted and laughed loudly because she had to hear her sister. Conrad and Harriet are both annoyed by her. She laughed again before making an excuse that she needed to do something.

Conrad and Harriet talked for about 15 minutes before he asked her if she was going to the welcome party. Harriet said she would. Conrad didn't dare to ask her to be his partner because of the trauma of rejection from earlier; he would do it at the party.

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