Note: My second story ever written, so . . .there are many grammar errors and such. So for those of you who enjoy reading fictions with tolerable grammar, check out my other fictions.

--A Rose for Eleanor--

Chapter I
Prologue: The girl with blue eyes

London 1812

A gentleman stepped out of the shop and cursed feeling cold raindrops sting against his skin, he looked around for his carriage but saw it a little down the street – he decided that he would have to dismiss his driver from his position due to the fact that the driver was doing something else when he should be in watch for his master! He cursed again knowing that he had to run out into the rain. He had to squint his eyes in order to keep the rain from piercing into his eyes. He made sure to stay off the streets so that he would not get run over by a carriage – but what a blessing it would be if I did?

As he was running down the street a young lady ran out of a gloomy looking orphanage – unfortunately, she ran right into his pathway and smashed into him.

The gentleman tried to grasp onto her before she would go tumbling onto the ground, he had meant to grasp her shoulders but ended up grasping onto a thin chain around her neck. Of course, a thin chain would not be strong enough to hold a lady from falling! The chain snapped – there was a silver shaped rose jewel dangling from it-- and the necklace fell onto the stone road making a little “ting” sound. It lay lost on the ground as rain heavily drizzled.

His efforts to catching the lady were of no avail as the lady let out a screech as she fell backwards. Yes, he had not caught her – but ‘she’ had caught ‘him.’ He followed her to the ground as his black top hat was knocked off his head.

He crouched next to the lady asking if she was fine, he held out his hands. She took hold of it – he noted how warm her hands were – no gloves to hide her flesh. He pulled her up onto her feet; he looked up and could not help but feel his gaze rest upon her beautiful eyes. How blue it is, he thought, like the clear skies on a warm summer day…

“My apologies,” he said a bit too coolly – he could not help it, he had taken a habit of being cold mannered that he could not be warm when wished.

She smiled and laughed, her eyes looked up at the gloomy sky as rain drizzled upon her face.

He noted that she had been carrying a traveling bag as if she were leaving for somewhere. He noted from her dress that she lived in the orphanage, but that fact did not match: an orphan running out of an orphanage with a traveling bag… it did not look well to him at all! She could not possibly be more that seventeen or eighteen! “Where are you going madam?” he asked suspiciously.

“Oh – nowhere at all, well – then I bid you good day sir!” she smiled.

He gave her a curt nod as he watched her run off after glancing at him once on her way. He felt his dark hair soaked as it stuck against his forehead. His top hat lay soaked on the ground. He bent down to pick up his black hat – and hiding under it was the jewel shaped of a rose that had a silver chain running through it. He picked it up and felt the necklace cold against his palm like ice, he raised his gaze and looked for the lady but she was nowhere in sight. She had disappeared into the faded distance.

He looked back at the necklace and slipped it into his coat pocket.

What charming blue eyes she had…