The first suitor did arrive and oh what a stir it caused on the whole estate for Hans ver Ottoman appeared with a fleet of porches and every damsel on the estate swooned when they saw him for, he was tall, dark and absolutely handsome gentleman. He greeted Laurie's father with a bow and then bent down to kiss Laurie's hand. However, this did not impress her at all and as soon as they sat onto the table to eat, she turned her back on the poor gentleman and refused to engage in any conversation with him. "Laurie my dear," her dad boomed, "tell Hans about your dancing competition!" Laurie stared stonily at her plate and sighed loudly. "She was absolutely splendid," her father continued after a few seconds of silence. "She won the heart of every man in that hall and made her dear Papa so proud." Hans, eager to please her father, rained a few false praises onto Laurie, and then began to recount his travels all over Africa and how he had fought a bear in Iceland and bought four kangaroos from Australia. Laurie sat there, bored to death and eventually, the meeting ended, Hans and her father having done all the talking. She retired to her room, quite exhausted, and her cat Camilla came over to sit by the foot of her bed and stare at her with large green eyes. "Oh, Camila," Laurie sighed as she threw a pillow over her head. "I've had a terrible day." Camilla purred and went to sit in her lap. "I really don't wanna talk about it," Laurie said very seriously. Then a rap on her door awoke her with a start. Come in, she yelled from under her pillow. The door opened, and a voice she knew all too well asked, "Carrot cake?" Laurie jumped up, "Stefan," she cried, "I didn't expect you to be here" He grinned, "well, I thought you would want some company and," he pointed to the plate he was holding, which contained a rather large slice of carrot cake and two forks, cake. They sat on the floor and talked about the day. "I just feel like I am not ready for marriage," Laurie said as she forked a large piece of cake in her mouth. Stefan nodded, as if in contemplation. "I want to get married at my own time, wouldn't you?" she asked. Stefan sighed, " I don't know Laurie, it is some of the best suitors in the whole country, maybe give them a chance. Laurie sighed, "But what if I like someone else?" Stefan looked at her for a long time. "Then tell them," he said softly. Laurie immediately got up, "actually, I think it's time for me to go to bed," she said hurriedly, she shoved the plate back into Stefan's hands, "but thanks for the cake Stefan." "No worries," Stefan said as he stood up and picked up the forks. I'll see you tomorrow princess, and don't run off again, he said with a wink. He left and closed the door quietly behind him. Laurie groaned in frustration, "ohh Camilla," she said to her cat who had retired to it's bed in the corner of the room, "I could have told him, I really could have," she sighed as she looked hard at Camilla, Camilla mewed as if to say, "Go tell him!", "I can't," sighed Laurie, he is just too gorgeous with those pretty eyes of his and my mind actually turns to mush when I look into them." The cat purred softly and Laurie scooped her up in her arms and placed her on the bed, "you are sleeping next to me tonight!"