As she studied the letter, she did feel a bit peeved that the dress fit her perfectly, she didn't release her sizes anywhere, and their personal tailor hasn't been to the castle recently due to her father drilling into her, "no buying anything while I'm gone." At this point, she got a creepy feeling that someone was perhaps stalking her--a part of her wanted to take off the dress, but she was already dressed up with makeup and all, and there was no time to change. 

She decided to grab a shawl just in case to cover some extra skin, it was a nice day out indeed, but she figured that the dress might get ruined if someone 'accidentally' spills their tea on her. She already had an idea of who that type of person would be and knew they'd be at the party as well, much to her chagrin. 

She entered her carriage and it took about thirty minutes to reach the Clandence's estate, once she exited the carriage, the Clandence's maids took her to the tea party gathering. There were a few girls there already and once her and Margaret locked eyes, her friend looked so happy to see her. 

There were six round tables in the garden, many of the ladies were chattering away with gossip and eating the snacks provided that complimented their tea. The tablecloths were a silky white with lace decorating the edges, and it seemed some simple but elegant decorations were hung around in the garden.  

"Sorry I'm a bit late," Suzette smiled, and Margaret looked at her, replying, "You're very late." 

She felt like Margaret was staring directly into her soul, and she began to peer around her surroundings and noticed there were several other spots empty, "Well, it seems I'm not the last person." 

She heard Margaret sniffle, "You are, actually...in my nervousness I got too excited and ended up having everyone set up, but a lot of ladies declined the invitations due to prior engagements and such..." 

"Oh." Suzette scolded herself, that she should've been here earlier, but at least she was here now! Margaret grabbed a hold of Suzette's hand and brought her over to her designated table. As soon as she sat down, there she saw her--her enemy, Bella Blanche. 

To be fair, she had never did anything wrong or against Bella, however Bella hates her for an unspecified reason. Bella's eyes already began squinting towards her in annoyance and Suzette ignored it, she didn't want to be roped into Bella's pettiness right now, she had only just got here. Her seat was right next to Margaret's with Bella being on the other side, who then looked at Suzette and said, "By the way, I like your dress--what boutique did you order it from?" 

Suzette pursed her lips, she knew that Bella would give her a snarky response as soon as she said this, "It was delivered to me this morning--as they wanted me to be the model, unfortunately there was no return sender on the delivery and so I don't know which boutique it's from, which is a shame as this is full of beautiful, intricate work. 

Bella looked at her mischievously and Suzette already knew it was coming, "Are you sure it wasn't delivered to you by mistake? It seems that dress might be a bit too good for your standing." 

Suzette couldn't help but snort, as they're both the daughters of a count, she put on her fakest of smiles, "If that's the case then I suppose it's too good for either of us, but I'm glad for this opportunity." 

Bella grit her teeth for a minute and venomously replied back, "It's rather lavish, in a way I suppose it suits you."

Oh how she wanted to shut Bella up, for good. She felt bad for Margaret who was stuck between them, Bella however continued her onslaught, "If that's what you must do to feel like you're not on your last legs than I suppose do as you must." 

Suzette wasn't sure where she got the idea that her family was falling into ruin but she didn't appreciate it, if anyone's family was falling to ruin--it'd be Bella's, after all, she has stuck herself on Margaret's brother and heir to the Clandence family, Claude. Both Suzette and Margaret weren't sure how or why he was so smitten with her, at this point, they suspected she drugged him with a love potion. 

"Talking about falling to ruin, it must bring up some bad memories for you, Lady Bella." Suzette smiled back and she immediately saw Bella's face warp as she began to gnash her teeth. She may have won this round for now, but Bella wouldn't be down for long, she was like a weed in that respect. Before Bella could even bark a comeback, they were interrupted by a servant, "My lady, there is an unexpected visitor." 

"Oh," Margaret rose from her seat--a bit happy to get away from the bourgeois banter, she thought it might be a lady that had declined initially but perhaps ended up coming due to a cancellation, she followed her butler into the main house. For the moment, their table was calm, both Suzette and Bella were quiet as they sipped their tea and munched on the scones in front of them. After a few minutes, Margaret came back out, but she looked very confused. She sat down, as if her sense of self was in a different dimension, not hearing any of them talk to her. Suzette wondered if the butler was still around to figure out what was going on--instead, she saw her would be future husband. 

Why is he here? She thought to herself, almost choking on her tea, she wanted to hide, she would much prefer Bella starting her nonsense again than this, she would've even talked nicely to Bella to create a diversion if she had too, but she was too late, he was already at the table. 

Be calm, Suzette, he doesn't know you. You're in the past--everything will be okay. She told herself, taking a deep breath. Her face turned askew once he reached out for her hand, she wanted to reject him but there was too much of an audience. He kissed her hand, his eyes staring at her a bit sultry and deviously, "I'm glad you're wearing the dress, it suits you." 

She tried to hide it, but she felt flabbergasted, "You sent this...?" 

He continued to hold onto her hand, "Yes, I wanted it to be a surprise, I planned on meeting you before our arrangement later this week." 

This didn't happen in the original past...don't tell me...was he...sent back...too? She thought to herself and bit her lip. She hadn't even done anything to mess with the past yet, why is he already here ruining everything. She let out a small laugh to keep up with appearances, trying to hide how awkward and confused she felt. She decided not to say another word and he suavely asked, "May I take her off your hands for a little while, ladies?" 

They cheerfully agreed--Margaret even winking towards Suzette. She wanted to hurl, why was this happening to her, the very person she had to avoid was in front of her face and stealing her away. Her throat felt tense and tight--she didn't want this type of attention, even if they weren't technically engaged, it'd be much harder to find a different fiancé. He continued to pull her along, and once they were far away enough she snatched her hand back. 

He sighed but then smiled at her, it wasn't fair! With his slightly curled black hair and purple eyes staring down at her, she felt her heart beat faster and she didn't want it to. She ended up becoming hostile from it, even though his status was higher, "What exactly do you want?" 

Before she knew it, he had her hand in his again as he kissed her once more, "I had to see you, after all--I know that you'd probably play sick on our appointed day." He smirked at her. 

She was frozen, if all her other possible plans went awry she definitely would have played sick on the appointed day. She felt like she was being played by the back of his hand, especially as he just confirmed he was also sent back, "Why...why were you sent back to?" 

She wanted to cry, she wanted to hit him like she did to his tombstone--why is he doing this to her, she just wanted to be left alone so he'd still be living! She would be happy with that, so why does he keep pursuing her when he knows he'll just die at the end. She felt her face getting hotter as she tried biting back her tears, he pulled her closer, so she'd be against his chest and from there she began hitting him, "I hate you! I hate you!" Her angry voice quickly turning into sobs. 

He smiled, if a bit sadly, at her, "I'm sure that they wanted to be entertained by this game of cat and mouse." He stroked her hair as she continued to stain his chest with tears, the fact he kept showing skin-ship was irritating to her.