[Introduction] A horrid turn of events

[regency_twihard]

The coach ride to Bath proves utterly imperilous, with no great calamity than a stop at an inn -- its taproom sadly lacking in sinisterly scarred ruffians or raddled wenches with sharp tongues, much less a kitchen with a fat, surly chef cuffing the kitchen boys. Once they resume their journey, they nearly turn back to the inn, when Mrs. Allen

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[in_summer_leaf]

If Miss Morland should happen to return to the out-of-doors to walk in the wasted garden near the pond, she will find Hisoka sitting on a bench, gazing up at the sky. He is back in his 1890s naval uniform today, partly because its coat is warm, and partly because he's feeling nostalgic. And if Catherine believes there should be a ghost on the grounds, Hisoka might conceivably fill the bill. (He is dead, after all.)

He has a wistful expression on his face, and he is singing softly, not knowing anyone can hear. It is a poem of Christina Rossetti's, entitled "Shall I Forget?" which he has set to music. He has a sweet voice, that boy with the striking green eyes. Surely he is some dead hero, returned from a grave in the deep ocean, to sing his true love this remembrance of happier days and of his deathless devotion!

Shall I forget on this side of the grave?
I promise nothing: you must wait and see,
Patient and brave.
(O my soul, watch with him, and he with me.)

Shall I forget in peace of Paradise?
I promise nothing: follow, friend, and see,
Faithful and wise.
(O my soul, lead the way he walks with me.)

[regency_twihard]

Now that she is settled in the Mansion, and feeling more at ease, Catherine is venturing outside to explore the grounds. She only glimpsed the pond as she hastened up the path to the door, but now she seeks it out. In her eyes, it looks like a painting, but spying the young man seated on the bench, she pauses, listening to his angelic voice. She ducks behind a snowy young tree, shyly, watching him, wondering if he might indeed be a ghost of a young naval sailor, who died in battle with the French and who returned to his home, only in spectral form, seeking his sweetheart.

[in_summer_leaf]

Hisoka breaks off and gives a soft sigh.

Then he speaks, softly, into the air, "Seph, you jerk!"

Suddenly he realizes he has vocalized his thoughts, and he stares quickly around, this way and that way, to see if he is alone. There is a tree nearby, and perhaps he may glimpse a flash of flowing skirt or cloak...?

[regency_twihard]

Hearing his sorrowful cry and startled that he's turning to look around, she quickly ducks back behind the tree she'd stepped out from behind. Has he seen her? Is he here to take revenge on his lover? Did he run away to the sea to flee the sorrow of a lost love?

[in_summer_leaf]

Hisoka stands up. He rewraps his muffler, as he has become colder while he was sitting there brooding over things that cannot change.

"Who is there?" he calls, making his voice kindly. "You can come out...I'm harmless."

[regency_twihard]

She steps out from behind the tree, realizing that this young man is nothing more than a youth like her (so it would appear...). "I hope that I did not startle you, sir," she says. "I'm Catherine Morland, of Fullerton. I was on my way to Bath with friends, but I ended up here somehow."

[in_summer_leaf]

Hisoka replies, "It's all right, I was just...thinking. Peased to meet you, Miss Morland! I'm Hisoka Kurosaki. Won't you come and sit down?"

"No, wait. Have you had a chance to look over the grounds, yet? Shall we walk a little?"

[regency_twihard]

"I've only just started to have a look about the grounds, and I would be delighted to have some company," she says, blushing a bit, not wanting to seem too forward with the youth.

[in_summer_leaf]

Hisoka offers an arm, like a gentleman.

"The gardens around the far side of the house are lovely, even in winter. They planted rows of fruit trees, and there are trellises with climbing rose plants and other vines. Those forms are striking, against the snow."

"What is your home like, Miss Morland?" he asks.

[regency_twihard]

She takes his arm gladly, smiling up at him before looking away modestly. "They sound lovely, like how I'd imagined the gardens of the Castle of Udolpho," she says. "My father is the parson at a church in a small village, so my family lives in the parsonage. There are trees about it and a grassy area where my brothers and sister and I like to play, and my mother keeps a kitchen garden, but nothing as fine as the gardens here."

[in_summer_leaf]

Their steps sound on the cold walkway. "The Castle of Udolpho...oh, I have read that book. So, you enjoy gothic literature?"

[regency_twihard]

She blinks at this phrase. "Gothic...? Isn't that a kind of architecture?" she asks. "Though, I suppose that it figures in the books that I'm fond of, with crumbling castles and ruined abbeys."

[in_summer_leaf]

"It is," replies Hisoka. "And in my time, the literary critics call these kind of books gothic as well. What else did you like about the Mysteries of Udolpho, besides the crumbling castles and abbeys?--oh, and I liked those, too!"

[regency_twihard]

"I enjoy the heroine, Emily: she's an ordinary girl pushed into an extraordinary situation," she says. "The villain, Montoni, excites and repels me, but the Count seems silly at times. Nobody tries to abduct the same girl twice, except in novels, do they?"

How little she knows...

[in_summer_leaf]

"It does seem a redundancy, doesn't it?" responds Hisoka, regarding the repeated abduction attempts. "And I do like Emily!"

"But tell me, if a villian such as Montoni were to arrive in person and pay his addresses to you, today!...would you give him a hearing, or send him packing?"

[regency_twihard]

She considers this for a moment. "I would like to say that I would flee from him, but I think that it is more likely that I would end up giving a hearing, though I hope that I would see through him before he could weave his webs around me." Ironic, since later in the day, she will cross paths with a different kind of gothic villain. Then she asks, a bit mischievously, "There aren't any brooding, silver-tongued villains in this place, are there?"