Jessica, Percival and the House of Humphreys - Book 1

It was, in truth, a most alarming prospect. After a mere 2 months of being her “Gentlemen Friend” as she put it, Jessica had extended the invitation with an eagerness that I suspected was fraught with a certain peril: “I’d love for you to come and hang out with my friends, Percival. It’s just Blake and Ruby, who you’ve met, and one other guy. We’re meeting at a small pub this Friday. Come along. I think they’d really… well, enjoy you.” ...

After three weeks of dating, Jessica had finally reached her limit with the endless back-and-forth involved in coordinating plans through my answering service. “Percival,” she had declared the previous evening, her tone light but pointed, “if you can master a double Windsor knot and recite Chaucer, you can learn to use a phone.” I had protested, of course. Tradition, I argued, demanded dignity, and there was little dignified about clinging to a glowing rectangle that demanded constant attention. But Jessica, ever practical and persistent, had recruited reinforcements, ironically by interrupting a call Aunt Beatrice who had called to arrange our next tea. Aunt Beatrice, unshockingly, had sided with her. ...

After the movie picture, she pointed out this quaint, if not quirky, café off of a side street near her apartment. The café was unassuming but lively, with mismatched chairs and a chalkboard menu offering everything from flat whites to avocado toast. Jessica had insisted on this place, calling it “perfect for a afternoon tea.” I would have preferred something more traditional, perhaps a tea room with a sense of gravitas, but her enthusiasm was disarming. ...

There are moments in a gentleman’s life when the familiar contours of one’s existence begin to chafe ever so slightly, like a well-tailored suit that has inexplicably become snug. This evening was such a moment. I had just departed from Mr. Bernard’s esteemed tailoring establishment, the final adjustments to my winter wardrobe having been made with the usual precision. The late September night air was crisp, carrying with it the faint scent of rain and the distant hum of the city’s relentless energy. As I walked along the cobblestone streets-my preferred route, avoiding the harsher glare of modern thoroughfares-I couldn’t help but notice the world around me with a curious detachment. ...

The University library was quiet except for the faint scratching of pens on paper and the occasional cough muffled behind a polite hand. Outside the mullioned windows, the university courtyard stretched in manicured symmetry, bathed in the soft amber glow of a late autumn afternoon. Freshman Percival Nigel Humphreys III sat at his usual table, his back ramrod straight and his textbook open to a chapter on international economics. The faint scent of old leather and fresh ink hung in the air, comforting in its predictability. ...