Chapter 4

Mr. Collins was approached by his guests, the villagers. He only nodded in response, and even though the villagers despised him, they are grateful that he always invites them to every party they throw. Mrs. Collins is the only one they hate, she despises the villagers because they have so little knowledge and she thinks highly of herself and would do anything to degrade them.

Mrs. Collins is standing by her husband's side, her right hand on his arm. They all avoid making eye contact with her because she is staring at them. She directed their sole maid, Grace, to go call Bethy, and that everyone was waiting to see her beauty. As a result, Grace acted immediately.

Mr. Collins excused himself from his wife because he saw some businessmen who had traveled all the way from town to attend the party.

"Pleased to see you, Mr. Ford," he said to an elderly gentleman dressed in an undeniably opulent suit. They talked for a long time and only stopped when the starts of the welcome party arrived.

Conrad enters with a smug expression on his face and a dashing presence. Richard walks in smiling, but his presence exudes a bored vibe. Antonio walks in smiling and buttoning his black tuxedo while looking around for someone. Henry walks in with a cynical expression on his face. Bartholomew also walks in with a clearly sleepy face. The only difference between them is the color of the tuxes they were all wearing. Black for Antonio and Bartholomew, brown for Conrad, gray for Richard, and burgundy for Henry.

The crowd was drawn to them, some villagers greeted them, while others looked at them, curious as to who they were. Mr. Collins excused himself and approached the men. Mrs. Collins, on the other hand, has decided to follow her husband.

"The party's stars have arrived!" exclaimed Mr. Collins. He was then given a microphone and began speaking and greeting the guys right away. The men, well... They stood there awkwardly, silently hoping that Mr. Collins would finish introducing them soon... Except for Conrad and Richard.

"Sirs, welcome to Santa Rosa!" Mr. Collins concludes his speech, to which the audience applauds and asks the men to take one shot each.

"Shot! Shot!" The men are then handed shots, which they all take and drink. The crowd cheers again, and after that the men split up to entertain the others.

The men went to the woman they wanted to dance with as soon as the waltz music began to play. While the others were chatting with some businessmen, Conrad was dancing with the woman he had first noticed.

Mr. Ford asked Antonio, "I'm assuming you have a business you own." It is well known that Mr. Ford was overly proud of his accomplishments and despised the poor, especially the residents of Santa Rosa.

In a panic, Antonio waved his hand and quickly shook his head "no." Antonio noticed that Mr. Ford's good-natured smile was gradually changing into a thin line as he arched his left brow. The person standing next to Antonio, Bartholomew, was just listening and despising Mr. Ford as he changed his approach to his friend, Antonio.

"I don't have any. I work for someone to make money," Antonio admitted honestly. Mr. Ford laughs with a mocking tone.

"You must be kidding, if so... How do you afford to buy such luxurious tuxedos?" he asked, looking him over from head to toe. When he heard Mr. Ford's question, Antonio was perplexed. Bartholomew glared at Mr. Ford, but the old man didn't seem to notice, Bartholomew, instead, he made a fist and took deep breaths to calm himself.

"As I previously stated, Mr. Ford, I work for someone," Antonio stated flatly.

Mr. Ford nodded, appearing to comprehend what Antonio is attempting to say. Mr. Ford asks again, this time with a grin, "Oh? Like a maid?"

When Bartholomew could no longer take it, he took Antonio away from Mr. Ford.

After being left alone, Mr. Ford was offended by the attitude Antonio and Bartholomew displayed, but he soon began to laugh and utter insults as he did so.

"Poor people have bad manners," he said to himself, shaking his head. He then went on to talk to others, never speaking to the villagers, and when they approached him, he gave them an insulting look and they ran away.

When discussing what just happened, Antonio and Bartholomew both muttered profanities at Mr. Ford because they didn't like his attitude. When Mr. Collins approached them after spotting them, they pretended to be having fun at the party and unconcerned with what had happened earlier.

In the meantime, upstairs... Grace nearly cried when Bethy refused to let her into her room. She begged her to help her so she wouldn't lose her job. Bethy eventually let her in. She came across Bethy, who appeared to have just finished crying. She sat beside her bed and whispered to her.

She stroked her hair, trying to comfort her, telling her to stop sobbing. Bethy cried because she despises being told what to do, she has no freedom, and her parents, especially her mother, control her personality. If she advised her to wed a man, she ought to! She despises it and laments the fact that she never experienced her mother's affection.

It took grace a couple of minutes to finally stop Bethy from crying, she then helped her prepare herself and now they both are walking down the spiral stairs. The crowd immediately looks up to see the beauty of Bethy, praises was heard of by Mrs. Collins and she never thanks them and just played deaf as she eyes her daughter walking down, she envy her own daughter.

With Bethy's entrance the stars of the party was enthralled that they haven't noticed the Arrival of Eleanor and Harriet, but they too was enthralled by her beauty.

Contrarily, Harriet thought it was so cliche that Bethy literally took her time going down the stairs. She became bored and cast her eyes around when she noticed Conrad staring at Bethy, and it is clear that he is in awe of her.

Harriet said to Eleanor, "Shall we go to Conrad?" Eleanor nodded and turned her head away from Bethy.

When Bethy finishes descending the stairs, a group of women have gathered around her, forcing her to engage them in conversation. Grace remained motionless, watching Bethy.

The guys quickly found each other and are talking about something that Harriet and Eleanor cannot hear. They all appear serious at first, but then they laugh together. They became aware of the sisters and turned to face them.

Conrad complimented Harriet on her beauty while dismissing Eleanor with a nod and a shrug.

Harriet certainly looks lovely in her white shirt dress, her understated elegance always complements anything! On the other hand, Eleanor wore a shirtwaist dress that was nearly identical to Bethy's, the only distinction was the color. Eleanor wore gray, while Bethy wore blue.

Conrad invited Harriet to dance and extended his hand; Harriet accepted his offer and placed her hand on his. They both walk away from the men and Eleanor, completely disregarding them.

His friends gave their attention to Eleanor, Antonio greeted her with a nod and she smiled at him. The other guys then talk about something else with Eleanor, but when she sees Grace, she excuses herself from them. She approached Grace, they hugged, and they talked about almost everything in their lives. Eleanor's dear friend Grace is like another sister to her.

When Mr. Collins spotted Eleanor and Grace conversing, he went over to them. As soon as Eleanor noticed him, she smiled to welcome him. Eleanor treats everyone with respect, even if they are despised by the majority of people. She was casually engaged in conversation by Mr. Collins, who mainly discussed Eleanor's bakery.

The welcome party went off without a hitch. The guys made a lot of new friends, particularly Richard and Conrad. While Henry, Bartholomew, and Antonio only met a few new people.

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