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She looked on as he went ahead to paint the picture of what had pushed him to take up the cause of the commoners.
Apparently after his father had resigned, he’d been reluctant to step in and fill his father’s shoes in the House. However, he’d been out with friends on a drinking spree at Brooks’s one night, when he and one of them had decided to head home.
They’d stepped out of the gentleman’s club, intoxicated, and instead of getting into their respective carriages, decided to have a little walk about town. Somehow they’d ended up in parts of London’s red light district, which looking back, had been a deliberate ploy by his friend who had a reputation of philandering with doxies.
He’d been about to suggest to his friend that they turn back and begin retracing their steps before they got robbed when his friend suddenly froze in shock.
“Marie?” His friend had called out in shock as one of thewomenin the pair ahead of them had turned abruptly. She’d approached with caution as his friend continued to stare in disbelief.
Eventually, he’d found out from their conversation that Marie had been a maid in his friend’s household. When they’d let her go, she’d been unable to secure a replacement job and as such had resorted to selling her body in order to survive. The painful part of the story being that Marie’s termination had been unjust.
Kenneth explained that the whole experience had left a bad taste in his mouth. When he’d gotten home, he had gone on to talk to his valet and realized that such experiences were commonplace in Britain’s high society. There were a number of commoners who’d lost their jobs and were forced to do anything to survive on the streets.
As he continued, Rose realized that he was correct about it being a common tale in Britain’s high society. She herself had a couple of true-life stories, and most certainly understood the Marquess’ pain.
She listened on as he said that was the turning point for him, to stand up and help people like Marie who had been failed by society. It had also spurred him into finding others like Marie who were in dire straits as a result of society’s unfair and unbalanced wealth distribution.
His valet had put him in touch with a lot of common people who had formed the basis of research. Before he knew it, he began working on a bill that would address a lot of these issues.
He’d gone from being reluctant at taking his father’s place in the House of Lords, to being grateful that he’d been given a platform to tackle issues that had become very dear to his heart.
“And what does your father think about it all?” she asked, when he finally finished his rendition of events.
“We’ve had our differences, thanks to my ideals. But I think it’s safe to say that I’ve finally encountered a breakthrough where he is concerned.”
“A breakthrough?” she asked animatedly.
“Yes. He is helping to garner support for the bill amongst his peers who are still in the House. That’s what your father was talking about at the ball.”
“I remember that conversation. So my father is on board with your bill? I don’t know why I find that hard to believe,” she chuckled.
“Well, he hasn’t read the bill yet. He might just be aware of what the bill is trying to address in general, and not the actual details. In fact, I only just sent the final draft to my father this evening before heading out here.”
“Well, I wouldn’t mind reading your bill, My Lord. I’ve been intrigued since I stumbled across your paper. I imagine the bill would be as interesting.”
“Speaking of my paper, how did you get to read it?”
“Found it in my father’s study. I couldn’t put it down nor leave the study till I was done going through every detail of it,” she confessed.
“Your father has a copy of my paper in his study? You can’t imagine how much he mocked me over that paper. I would never imagine that he kept a copy for himself.”
“Yes. He doesn’t like you very much,” she joked, causing both of them to begin laughing.
“Well, I have told you the foundation for my ideals, My Lady. What about yours? What caused you to look at the plight of the commoner with compassion?” he asked after their laughter had died down.
“Elsa,” she said, without skipping a beat.
“Your lady’s maid?” he asked in shock.
“Yes. Believe it or not, my friendship with her started the process for me. Growing up, Mother had been displeased that she and I were so close. They’d tried to separate us on numerous occasions. However, the more they tried, the more we stuck together.”
He laughed then, obviously having a firsthand knowledge of what she was talking about.
“And anyway, my family eventually gave up on trying to separate us. As a result, I practically grew up with her and dare I say it is impossible not to notice the plight of a commoner when you are best friends with one.”
“Tell me about it,” he chimed.
“Well, through her eyes, I was able to see firsthand their struggles. There is only so much I could do, but I was certainly not oblivious to them. Eventually, my notice turned to empathy and before I knew it, my political ideals had been altered completely in favor of the commoner.”
