BASICS

[William Lawrence]

((No problem! ))

Once they both were standing, Will resisted the urge to offer his arm to Miss Neely, though it did oddly swing out from habit. You're not with Annabelle, Will... But he knew that, of course. Miss Neely was nothing like his former fiancee -- which, he mused, was partly why he was drawn to her so much. Her humor was so kind and unassuming, and despite their families' societal and political differences, he felt surprisingly at ease with her.

William quickly recovered by readjusting his hat, and clasped his hands behind his back as they walked a proper distance apart. A cooling breeze wound through the grass and the budding new leaves , playing with the tails of his coat. Not really having a set path in mind, his eye was caught by a small grouping of trees on the edge of the lawn, where a few other picnickers had gathered, including Miss Neely's brother and the two ladies.

"Don't look now, Miss Neely, but I dare say you might expect to welcome a sister in law to your family fairly soon," Will uttered conspiratorially, trying to hide a grin. He tilted his head in the direction of the trio under the tree.

[Elizabeth Neely]

It was rather refreshing to stand up again, after being sat in one position for about an hour or so. Her brother had been quick to abandon her, leaving her to her own devices, which she did not object to entirely. Shakespeare was company enough. Out of habit, she smoothed down the layers of her dress. Thankfully, she had dressed in a light fabric in only a pale cream, not as confining or warm as some dresses in her wardrobe. Tilting her hat to a slight angle, as she always had it, she clasped her hands in front of her.

If she had thought moving was pleasant enough, the breeze was better. It really was, without doubt, the best day of the year, in weather terms. She raised her lips in a content smile as they walked, glad that her initial hopes of a good day were so far correct. She had enough to look forward to in the rest of the day too. Her easel had been woefully neglected as of late, she had to make up for that, and her mother mentioned something about having guests for dinner. The only ominous part was what her brother would say to her later. However, at this time, she put it far to the back of her mind. She had pleasanter things for her thoughts.

Beth followed his gesture to the sight of her brother still accompanying the ladies. She could not help but beam and let out a merry, if quieter than usual, laugh. "A penny on the shorter one. She's more delicate looking, he prefers women that way." She responded, matching his conspiratorial tone before it was dropped in favour of a more heartfelt, concerned one as she continued. "Oh I do hope your'e right Mr Lawrence. I think he's earnt a little happiness"

[William Lawrence]

Will smiled at her words, tilting his head with a little curiosity. "Just be sure I am not invited to the wedding. That would make him quite happy." He kept his tone light, a good natured jest.

While the feeling might not be returned, Will held no animosity towards Miss Neely's brother. In fact, he was somewhat pained by the distance he had to keep between himself and the Neely family; always mindful of the eyes and ears of Trenton. They could easily comment to his father -- or even worse, Mr Drake, who had enough power to make the Lawrences' position in Trenton quite uncomfortable -- that William was cavorting too often with a Patriot-aligned family.

At least at Harvard, he had a circle of fellow Patriots who he could confide in without worry. Here he had Betsy, of course, and Mr Ashwell to whom he reported, but spending time with either did not appear to simply be a university boys out for a night of drinking.

A faint sigh passed his lips as the world flooded back to him, a world where things seemed to be so black and white but Will was caught in the shade of grey. He hated this sudden melancholy feeling and turned to the charming face of Miss Neely to buoy his spirits.

"Forgive me! Really, I must be Trenton's most tiring conversation partner today." He shook his head with a laugh and added suddenly, "Say, did you know there's a blackberry patch behind the courthouse?"