Time Travel With a Rude English Boy from the Nineteenth Century.
Chapter Six
DACRE’S POV
The tapping noise echoed off of the cold walls relentlessly. Honestly, it was getting on my nerves. Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap—
“Stop it, Lionel, just stop it!” I cried while throwing my hands into the air. Lionel stuck his tongue out at me, but stopped drumming his fingers against the window pane nonetheless. I breathed a sigh of relief as Lionel started drumming his fingers again. “Lionel, I swear to God if you do not stop that infernal drumming, I’m going to personally—,”
“No death threats to my brother necessary!” Azalea cried while entering flamboyantly. I nodded and smirked to her: she was wearing the pink dress with the pearl stitches. A nice choice for the mission. She had to appear… alluring to the Duke for the plan to succeed. Crashing the ball was just a small portion of the night.
“Ah, you went with the blonde one,” Lionel smirked while tugging on one of the fake curls. She slapped his hand away and started fanning herself. “Payton,” she called over her shoulder, “come in here and show the boys your new and improved appearance.”
The thought of Payton after seeing her bare skin made me uncomfortable. I fought the blush that wanted to creep over my cheeks. Payton walked in at that moment, and the fight between me and my blush was forgotten, only to be replaced with a baffled expression.
Her golden hair was up so that the nape of her neck was revealed. I suddenly found that my mouth was dry. The dress hugged her torso and … chest, before it poofed out into voluminous ruffles. The periwinkle and grey material made her piercing aqua eyes all the more noticeable. When I looked back up to her face, she snickered and said, “Are you checkin’ me out, Dacre dearest?”
Lionel clapped a hand onto my shoulder and laughed. Azalea seemed proud of Payton’s bold behavior. “I like this girl,” Lionel chuckled. “Dacre stunned into silence? I could get used to this.”
Payton smiled at him and I scowled. “Well, are we going to get to business or not? The ball starts in about two hours. When we arrive there, Lionel and I are going to sneak into the background of the ball while Azalea familiarizes herself with the Duke. Miss Smith will act as her bodyguard, since she has been trained to fight. As we all know, there are forty-eight hours in between each usage of the time machine. If worse comes to worse, we will have to travel back to this very moment and start anew. Once we are able to ‘kidnap’ the Duke, we can take him back to the day where he sees fit.”
“You mean to say,” Payton frowned, “that we are not kidnapping the Duke, but ‘kidnapping’ the Duke?”
I looked at her and smirked my trademark smirk. “Yes, Miss Smith. We are in cahoots with the Duke. As I was saying, once he comes back to the present, he will tell the citizens of London that his captors—that’s us—were thrown into jail, when in reality he will have let us off scott-free with a handsome amount of money for aiding him.”
“I like the ‘handsome money’ part very much,” Payton grinned. “You have to pay me, too. I’m putting my life on the line to protect Azalea dearest over there. And not a small cut, either.”
“And what will you do if you’re not paid at all?” Lionel challenged, his eyes flashing dangerously.
“Then,” Payton smirked, “I’ll have to tell everyone about your little heist. It won’t be hard when I show them the magic little telephone from the future. Hmm, I wonder if there’s reception in the 1890’s?” Payton smirked deviously while holding up a small device.
“You wouldn’t,” Azalea gasped.
Payton only clicked her tongue and tucked the device away into her bodice. She shot me a look that said “If you try to pickpocket this I’ll definitely feel it. Don’t even try it”. I scowled and she smiled once more before nodding for me to continue.
“You devilish girl,” Lionel spat, “You’re just as clever as me. I’m not so certain that’s a good thing.”
I rubbed the bridge of my nose in annoyance before continuing, “Due to recent happenings, we will be sharing the profit.”
Lionel groaned. “Idiots,” Azalea hissed, clearly not happy on sharing her split of the money. Payton simply smiled and fanned herself with the fan Azalea must have given her. I cleared my throat and continued, “We will say that Payton is Azalea’s servant girl. It would explain her tan,” I smiled cheekily at Payton’s scowl. “Payton must act properly and not speak unless she is spoken to directly. She must bow when she meets new people, and do as they instruct her. Otherwise we will strand her right there at the ball, and she will have to go prison for misbehaving.” We all turned to Payton expectantly. She forced a smile and curtsied dramatically, saying, “Yes Sir. Whatever you wish, Sir.” Lionel muttered something that sounded like “Cheeky” underneath his breath.
Azalea smiled and patted her back. “Ah, servant girl, are you ready to go escort me to the ball?”
Payton smirked and said, “Anything you say, Miss Azalea. Shall we go kidnap the Duke now? I’m certain that he must be anticipating our arrival. We wouldn’t want to keep him waiting.”
I swear, this girl was going to be the death of me.
The tapping noise echoed off of the cold walls relentlessly. Honestly, it was getting on my nerves. Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap—
“Stop it, Lionel, just stop it!” I cried while throwing my hands into the air. Lionel stuck his tongue out at me, but stopped drumming his fingers against the window pane nonetheless. I breathed a sigh of relief as Lionel started drumming his fingers again. “Lionel, I swear to God if you do not stop that infernal drumming, I’m going to personally—,”
“No death threats to my brother necessary!” Azalea cried while entering flamboyantly. I nodded and smirked to her: she was wearing the pink dress with the pearl stitches. A nice choice for the mission. She had to appear… alluring to the Duke for the plan to succeed. Crashing the ball was just a small portion of the night.
“Ah, you went with the blonde one,” Lionel smirked while tugging on one of the fake curls. She slapped his hand away and started fanning herself. “Payton,” she called over her shoulder, “come in here and show the boys your new and improved appearance.”
The thought of Payton after seeing her bare skin made me uncomfortable. I fought the blush that wanted to creep over my cheeks. Payton walked in at that moment, and the fight between me and my blush was forgotten, only to be replaced with a baffled expression.
Her golden hair was up so that the nape of her neck was revealed. I suddenly found that my mouth was dry. The dress hugged her torso and … chest, before it poofed out into voluminous ruffles. The periwinkle and grey material made her piercing aqua eyes all the more noticeable. When I looked back up to her face, she snickered and said, “Are you checkin’ me out, Dacre dearest?”
Lionel clapped a hand onto my shoulder and laughed. Azalea seemed proud of Payton’s bold behavior. “I like this girl,” Lionel chuckled. “Dacre stunned into silence? I could get used to this.”
Payton smiled at him and I scowled. “Well, are we going to get to business or not? The ball starts in about two hours. When we arrive there, Lionel and I are going to sneak into the background of the ball while Azalea familiarizes herself with the Duke. Miss Smith will act as her bodyguard, since she has been trained to fight. As we all know, there are forty-eight hours in between each usage of the time machine. If worse comes to worse, we will have to travel back to this very moment and start anew. Once we are able to ‘kidnap’ the Duke, we can take him back to the day where he sees fit.”
“You mean to say,” Payton frowned, “that we are not kidnapping the Duke, but ‘kidnapping’ the Duke?”
I looked at her and smirked my trademark smirk. “Yes, Miss Smith. We are in cahoots with the Duke. As I was saying, once he comes back to the present, he will tell the citizens of London that his captors—that’s us—were thrown into jail, when in reality he will have let us off scott-free with a handsome amount of money for aiding him.”
“I like the ‘handsome money’ part very much,” Payton grinned. “You have to pay me, too. I’m putting my life on the line to protect Azalea dearest over there. And not a small cut, either.”
“And what will you do if you’re not paid at all?” Lionel challenged, his eyes flashing dangerously.
“Then,” Payton smirked, “I’ll have to tell everyone about your little heist. It won’t be hard when I show them the magic little telephone from the future. Hmm, I wonder if there’s reception in the 1890’s?” Payton smirked deviously while holding up a small device.
“You wouldn’t,” Azalea gasped.
Payton only clicked her tongue and tucked the device away into her bodice. She shot me a look that said “If you try to pickpocket this I’ll definitely feel it. Don’t even try it”. I scowled and she smiled once more before nodding for me to continue.
“You devilish girl,” Lionel spat, “You’re just as clever as me. I’m not so certain that’s a good thing.”
I rubbed the bridge of my nose in annoyance before continuing, “Due to recent happenings, we will be sharing the profit.”
Lionel groaned. “Idiots,” Azalea hissed, clearly not happy on sharing her split of the money. Payton simply smiled and fanned herself with the fan Azalea must have given her. I cleared my throat and continued, “We will say that Payton is Azalea’s servant girl. It would explain her tan,” I smiled cheekily at Payton’s scowl. “Payton must act properly and not speak unless she is spoken to directly. She must bow when she meets new people, and do as they instruct her. Otherwise we will strand her right there at the ball, and she will have to go prison for misbehaving.” We all turned to Payton expectantly. She forced a smile and curtsied dramatically, saying, “Yes Sir. Whatever you wish, Sir.” Lionel muttered something that sounded like “Cheeky” underneath his breath.
Azalea smiled and patted her back. “Ah, servant girl, are you ready to go escort me to the ball?”
Payton smirked and said, “Anything you say, Miss Azalea. Shall we go kidnap the Duke now? I’m certain that he must be anticipating our arrival. We wouldn’t want to keep him waiting.”
I swear, this girl was going to be the death of me.