#ipaintedthemred

Send Vi some birthday love!!

Status;; Accepting

   How hard could it be to apprehend  o n e  abovegrounder girl? Young, unarmed, alone — and, it seemed, preternaturally skilled at avoiding the patrols Amaranth sent out in search of her this morning. That the rabbits of Westport were having similar trouble in their efforts to corral the girl provided little comfort; there were more of them, and most Wonderlanders would trust the intentions of a rabbit over those of the queen’s forces.

   Time ran against her in this race.

   And so she’d joined the pursuit herself, alone and on foot, following the whispers of the trees. Close now, for Alice’s determination to evade capture couldn’t outmatch Amaranth’s deep knowledge of the forest.

   (Was that a glimpse of blonde hair through the foliage?)

“I certainly do not mind if you wish to keep that one.”

Darcy’s dark eyes flicker to the leather-bound tome in her hands. The party in the main rooms of the house had utterly drained him of any previous inclination towards civility; for once, he had counted himself fortunate that Charles Bingley always performed perfectly in the role of the attentive host — it gifted him the opportunity to slip undetected into the enormous library his friend rarely, if ever, utilized for its intended purpose. Such a venture had been halted once he realized his hideaway was otherwise occupied. Very likely would it have been that Darcy might have simply vacated the room without a word, if not for the book in the intruder’s hands.