12 - Derbie has Intent

                                        

                                              
Derbie had been over the moon at how both the Ram's Garden party and the Wignell picnic had gone. Lady Ban had given him permission to call her Ban when it was just the two of them, and he'd spent the entire day of the treasure hunt wanting to ask her to let him Court her, but Alaric was still resisting the idea of it. Or at least Derbie had believed he was, until he went to confront Alaric about the matter and instead found all three of his adult siblings already together, apparently struggling on how to formulate a Letter of Intent for him to send. 
"No, no, no, the Letter is supposed to convince the Family that you're worthy, all the Courting is so you convince the lover of the same," Calvin argued. 
"I think its safe to say that she's already smitten with our little Derbie," Blair's voice called out sweetly and Derbie knew she'd filled everyone's cup with wine. 
"He's been taller than you since he was fourteen," Alaric seemed to be trying to retain order.
"We've all received Letters of Intent," Calvin once again, and Derbie felt a little foolish lurking in the hallway but he was too curious to leave.
"None of which worked considering that we're all still single," Blair pointed out. 
"That doesn't mean we can't write a suitable Letter of Intent," Alaric once again aimed for order. 
"Wouldn't this be easier if we got Derbie involved?" Calvin suggested. 
"Derbie's in love, he deserves to simply enjoy it," Alaric argued and Derbie realized he'd underestimated his eldest sibling. "We're here to do the hard work of making sure the Ruma Marquisate accepts our brother as the Suitor for their daughter."
Now he felt guilty, his elder siblings were trying to let him simply enjoy the process and here he was eavesdropping on them. Derbie turned to leave and spotted the fleeing shadow of one of his younger siblings slipping down the main staircase. None of the younger siblings should be awake at this time of night, and certainly not trying to sneak their way outside. He only knew it couldn't be Edwina as she had started the long journey to the Zappeas Dukedom for her gallery showing, and it wasn't short enough or pink enough to have been Hida. Either Farran, or Gavin was skulking about. 
Since his elder siblings were taking care of him, Derbie headed to the backyard entrance, curious as to why one of the younger ones was lurking about. Maybe he was a little anxious to know if they saw him eavesdropping on the others too, just to get their stories straight if needed. Out in the yard he was surprised to see Gavin slipping out what seemed to be a hidden hole in the fencing, and Derbie was too broad to easily fit through. Though he really didn't have to guess who his little brother was sneaking off to see; his sweetheart Eniola. Derbie gave a soft laugh and couldn't really blame his brother; they'd been sweethearts for years while Derbie had only just found Ban.
And he already found it remarkably hard no to swoop in and kiss her whenever she gifted him one of those precious smiles. He loved the way her whole face transformed into happiness or glowed with passion when they discussed the books they were reading, or they had a chance to see all the different statuary each Estate had. Even when Calvin and Danilo had dumped themselves into the pond at the Wignell Estate, Ban had been more focused on the statue they'd capsized next to than the spectacle going on. 
Since this was clearly not Gavin's first time sneaking out, Derbie decided to trust his little brother and headed back inside. At sixteen, Gavin was old enough to be held accountable for his actions, so at worst Derbie expected a whip-crack wedding to occur. 
The distraction of Gavin's escape fades as Derbie once again climbed the stairs and saw the light still coming from Alaric's office. But he decided that like Gavin, he would trust his older siblings to do their best too. Besides, they could always discuss it in the morning.