The hysterics at the house were relentless... She loved her mother and the pair was thick as thieves, but this had to stop... Her mother was going through her bouts of mood... One moment she would be fine, she would understand how it happened and then there would be hysterics, generally when she knew someone was looking. It was all too much. Why had she come back? She could have stayed gone. Been away from it all, she did not have to return, but then... Then her wonderful father would have cut her allowance and that could not happen. 


Alice did not want to go into town, too many people knew the family and knew about the funeral... She wanted to be at a place that she could breathe and just be... She would soon be found at the pavalion. It was a lovely day and, surprisingly, it was not that busy. She was grateful for it. Stepping along the paths that led to the pavilion, she would find herself humming softly. She was not dressed for mourning... She had done it the day of her brother's funeral and that was enough, he was not getting more than that. Instead, she dressed in a light blue dress, her long brown hair was pulled up into a neat bun. She looked appropriate... She looked attractive... She was attractive. What more could one want? 


Sighing, she walked slowly, she had nowhere to be... She had nowhere that she wanted to be. Looking around, she watches the few people that were there, nothing spectacular. Pausing to look at something, her mind would drift back to the day of the funeral... Her brother's behaviors, her father's carelessness... Her sisters.... Then there was one that stood out... The stranger.... Who was he really? Had he been the the one to take her brother down? Surely was something to find out. Twisting her lips in thought, she rolls her shoulders back.. How could she find that man? Maybe he was the interesting sort... Maybe he could be entertainment while she was stuck here.... Maybe, just maybe... 


Maybe that was why she had done what she had did.... She would send him a note... An invitation really to meet her here... She wanted to thank him for his attendance and she had... Questions, of course.... Walking to the pavilion, she would sit down on a bench and now all she had to do was wait...

He was curious as to why he had received a note from one of the Carrington sisters, much to his surprise. The three beauties held little interest for him at the moment, so why did Alice invite him to the pavilion? His curiosity got the better of him and he arrived just as she was sitting down. His brooding blue eyes were on the eldest of the three and he tilted his head ever so slightly in his study of her. "You wanted to see me, Miss Carrington?" he asked in his baritone.

There was a time when he would have gladly tried to pursue one of the beauties, Pearl, perhaps, but Alice was winsome as well and she seemed more interested than her sisters if she was sending him notes. His hands went behind his back and he approached the young woman, then he offered her a hand to shake. "I remember you and your sisters from when you were younger... before I went of to school." He gave a light smile, then it disappeared into a frown. "Are you quite alright?" he then asked.

Always sweet, do nothing wrong Pearl... If she had known that she would certainly be gritting her teeth, but she did not so all was well... For now. Why had she invited him to the Pavilion? Better question... Why wouldn't she? She wanted to know things... Learn things and who better to do that with than the wonderful Mr. Culpepper, right? She always had a motive... Always had a reason... Maybe it was innocent, maybe it wasn't just depended on the other party and what plans she had for them. No harm, no foul... Right?

Hearing the baritone voice, she smiled... Her expectations of someone that she beckoned never failed. Arising from her spot, she stands.

"Of course I do..."

When he extended his hand, Alice took it and she gave him a firm handshake. The polite smile appeared for a moment before it turned soft and inviting.

"Do you? And where did you go? You seem to have done well for yourself, Mr. Culpepper..."

When he asked if she was okay, she would stifle a breath... Damnit, she would have to put on a bit of a show. Sitting down, she motions for him to sit with her on the bench. Her body rigid as she sat against the hard wood of the bench. She took a moment as she seemed to recompose herself. Shifting, she bows her head.

"I... I s'pose I am... It has been a hard time.... I am sure you understand."

Clearing her throat, she furrows her brow as she turns somewhat towards him.

"I know with your... Experience... I know he was not a perfect person... Far from it."

Tilting her head, she drags her teeth across her bottom lip.

"Did you... Were you the one that caught him?"

"Me? My dear girl, I have been out of town and could not have possibly dispatched your brother. I... am sorry that he was such a monster as that where someone had to do what they did, but it was not I who did it." He was confused and rightly so as to why she was asking him such a question. He did understand why someone would think he could kill a man, after all, he was an officer in Her Majesty's army. But Thorne Culpepper had never really bothered to get to know Magnus as a person and didn't know him to be anything other than a man of many vices. He didn't know the truth, all he knew was what he had read in the tabloids when he got home and that it was the polite thing to do to offer his condolences to the grieving family even if the man had been a real scumbag in life.

He looked down at the beauty and then said, "I haven't seen you all since we were children. Other than this... interesting turn of events in your life, how do you fair?"

Alice listened as he answered her question. Frowning, she lifts both brown before twisting her lips in thought. Damn... Well, if it was not him... Who? Oh well... Sighing, she looks almost... Disappointed. She would have loved for him to be the one to have taken the bastard down. Magnus had not always been a monster, but something had happened and he turned out that way. Even though Alice could be a witch, there were some levels that she didn't wish to go and would not go. 


"Almost a pity to hear such a confession.... I was hoping to shake the hand of the man that had done it."


Waiting for the shock of her statement to wear off, Alice looked back up to him. Sitting up once more, she moves to sit on the edge of the bench. 


"I know that is a rather harsh thing to say... I know how my brother was. He had lost all of his kindness and had become a monster... Innocent people lost their lives to someone who was harsh and cruel. They did not deserve that... No one does."


Chuckling at his question, she would move to scoot over on the bench, giving him room to sit beside her. Reaching up, she brushes her fingers through the loose strands from her face... Getting them out of her eyes. Keeping her attention on him, she offers a tender smile, which softens her face. She was a beautiful woman, an elegant woman... 


"With a question like that, you should sit down."


Should he join her, Alice would regain her composure, her hands folding into her lap, her fingers clasping together.


"I fair well.. I have been in London continuing my studies...  I returned home due to the funeral. I will be in town for a while, I guess... Maybe we can get have tea and get acquainted. I have heard you have some interesting stories to tell."

Thorne looked at her with consideration. How forward of her to offer tea to a practical stranger. He wondered if it was tea she really wanted or something else altogether. His mother would be thrilled, of course, if he interacted with the Carringtons more. To be honest, he would rather lick the sole of a dirty boot before spending time with the likes of them. But, ah, his mother had such little joy in her life and it wouldn't hurt to spend time with the eldest sister...

"I suppose you'll want a meal to go with your tea, miss?" he asked with a raised brow. He would do this for his mother's sake, he thought. It wasn't as if he was to wed the chit after all. What harm could tea offer? He offered his arm and said, "As you wish, my lady."

Forward... Practical... Call it whatever you like, it was it was... Why not? Did the Carrington's do anything that wasn't seemingly forward and out of bounds? Negative... Why stop the expectations now? Alice, unlike the others, did not care what others thought of her and her family. She knew who she was and what she was, that was all that mattered. Alice was a confident woman, she knew what she had and she knew how to use it... She had a gift... A knack for getting what she wanted. Why not use it?

When he asked about wanting a meal, she arched her brow. Now that was forward. Chuckling, she sits back against the bench, her ankles crossing one over the other. 


"Maybe.. Unlike the rest of my family, I believe in taking it one step at a time. No need in rushing anything."


And... There it was... The million dollar smile. Her face immediately softened, her body relaxed.... She certainly did not seem so brash or haughty, she seemed... Normal. Hell, she could be normal when the situation called for it. She could be down to earth and easy going... She could be as anyone else.


Standing up, she links her arm with his. She was careful about it. She did not move too close to him, that would seemed desperate and that was the last thing that she was. Unlike her sisters, and maybe even her brothers, she was not racing to get down the aisle. She did not want to be owned by anyone... She did not like the idea of a man telling her what could she do and could not do.. That would just not do. 


 
"So... Tell me about you, Mr. Culpepper... I am fairly certain that you have  lived a far more interesting life than myself. My family can be quite interesting, brash and... scandalous, but I have chosen to reside abroad... Make my own way."

His brows raised. She spoke of not rushing things, yet there she was sending notes to strangers with the hopes they'd come to see her, and like a dummy, he had fallen into her trap. Of course, that part was the farthest from his mind and he was there out of curiosity more than anything. He couldn't help but wonder why she had summoned him so prettily to her side out of nowhere. Thorne peered at her as he wondered what she was up to.

"Alright then," he rumbled and escorted her toward the nearest inn for refreshments. And she was without a chaperone, which meant he was playing with fire. Perhaps that intrigued him a little, as up until now, he had lived a boring life. No amount of adventuring could satisfy the young man.

He would just have to be careful was all. The Carringtons were a cunning lot.

He pulled out a chair for her to seat herself, waited until she sat before following suit. His eyes moved to the waiter as he approached and he said, "We shall have tea, please, to start, and would like to see your menu if you'd please." He was very polite as he spoke, giving her the opportunity to order for herself because he was not the type of man to dictate how a woman chose to eat. In fact, he was interested to see just how she did, if she was dainty and annoying like a little bird pecking at her food, or if she ate like a normal person.

He wouldn't say anything about that though.

Always one with the doubt and the questions. She had sent the note in all of her 'innocence' because she had questions that needed answers. She had ask one question, he had not been the hero that had taken out her brother... Pity really. If she really wanted to 'trap' him, she could think of far more cunning ways to do it. Her summoning him was in all innocence, was his showing up? There was a question that begged for an answer.

Alice rarely bothered with a chaperone when it was not needed... There was no intent of a date. There was no need of 'protection' from the x-rated thoughts of a man. She certainly was not going to be against a wall down a dark alley with him anytime soon... Or was she? Hmmm... There was a thought. Clearing her throat as he leads her to the inn, she arches a brow... How... Convienient... Maybe she did need a chaperone, after all... Whoops.

Following him to a table, she thanked him as he pulled out a chair for her. Sitting down, she glances over to him as he requests a menu... Had she said she was hungry? When the waiter handed her the menu, she thanked him... A demure smile setting on her lips as she looks up to him. The waiter was certainly momentarily captivated. When he walks off, she looks over to Thorne, her eyes settling against his handsome face.

"I do have a question for you, Mr. Culpepper... If you weren't the blessed angel that provided my demonic brother with his eternal sleep, why did you attend the funeral? Most people of moral standing, such as yourself, would not send their blessings to those that have rightfully cemented their place into hell."

Her brow arched as a coy smile appeared. Her features were still striking and elegant, the piercing blue eyes that seemed to crash right into the very soul of man.

"I know what is sometimes said about me... My family... And I can assure you that when we finally take our last breath, we will not burst into flames or rise from our coffins to haunt or prey on the living..."

Pausing for a moment, she chuckles as she continues, "My mother might... She will be desperately dramatic until the very end... That is a final bow that I think she would make... Always like an audience."

Glancing down to her menu for a moment, she falls silent, there was something gracefully breathtaking even in the way she sat. There was no tension, no air that she was putting on... She was confident, but it wasn't suffocatingly so. As she allows her attention to focus on the menu, she would slide the gloves from her hands to expose slender fingers. Stretching her fingers out, she turned her hands palm up... A few callouses... Riding. She was not someone who sat daintly on a horse. She knew how to ride and often found herself racing a friend or a brother. She was competitive by nature, but that would not be something that was shown to the general public, like everything else, she knew what walls to keep up and what masks to wear.