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Lara Croft took a deep breath.
This was fine.
Before her father had time to say anything more she turned around. "Sorry, Father. I think I should go and mingle."
She stepped to the door and opened it. If her father wanted to say something more he'd have to cause a scene.
But he was too much of a coward to!
Lara stepped out, her heels clicking on the marble floor. She was trembling and didn't want her father to see it.
"Lara!"
She turned to look at the blonde man. "Oh, there you are. Dear." She spat out the last word out like a curse.
The Earl of Farringdon paused for a moment, before smiling again. "Yes. Had a good talk? With your dad?"
"Absolutely."
God, he was so... Boringly pleasant.
She had known Thomas Farringdon since she was ten, and had been as unimpressed by him when their parents had made them play together.
Lara wanted to spat on the polished floor. Of course, even then, her father had wanted her to marry the boy one day!
Her father's words echoed in her mind.
"You would be a fool to turn down an earl, Lara! Don't be a child!"
She was in her twenties! She had experienced things her father had no idea of!
She turned to glare at the man next to her. Or him.
He reminded her of a dog. And not even one of those sleek racing greyhounds, or feisty hunting dogs that would disappear into the undergrowth, running after a fox. If he was like that at least Lara could have respected him.
No, the blonde young man was like a Labrador, kind and friendly and loyal.
And so very very boring.
He offered his arm to her. "Shall we go?"
"Yes," Lara told him.
Instead of taking his arm she started to walk towards the main hall where most of the quests were.
Thomas walked after her. "Um, so. About the wedding..."
"Wedding?"
"I thought you talked about that with your father? I mean, my parents think, my mother told me to ask you when you-"
When Lara had gone to talk with her father it had been with the intention of telling him she was breaking off the engagement. But she hesitated now to tell it to him.
"I'll see-"
He was still following her. She looked around the room full of quests, trying to think of an excuse.
She felt like she was suffocating at the sight of aristocrats talking to each other, exchanging superficial greetings.
Her eye caught something.
An old man who looked completely out of place, standing up the stairs, apart from rest of the people.
He was not, apart from his battered old fedora, dressed untidily as such. But the quality of the tailoring on his old-fashioned suit and bow-tie set him apart from the other quests who would not have been seen dead in anything but the latest haute couture.
Lara started walking towards him. He seemed to be examining the stained glass window.
"I see someone I know," Lara lied.
The earl looked up. "Oh?"
"Be a dear and go get yourself some refreshments. I am going to catch up with him."
"Who?" He looked at the old man. "Doctor Jones?"
The name was familiar somehow.
"Yes." Lara turned to look at him. "So?"
Finally the earl took the hint and walked off.
Figuring out she might as well talk to the weird old guy, Lara stepped to the man.
Doctor Jones turned to look at her, and Lara noticed he had an eye-patch covering his right eye. He glanced at the earl. "Was that boy giving you trouble?"
So, nothing wrong with his hearing, at least.
"That boy is my fiance," Lara informed him. "Also yes."
"Long story I take it."
He turned to point at the window. "Wonderful work. 13th century, I believe. It might be even be older. Unfortunately it's hard to track that down, I believe it was moved to this mansion from a French church some time in the 19th century."
"Are you here for the windows?"
"Yes, actually. I heard this mansion was very interesting architecturally, so I managed to get an invitation. I did a favor to the count some decades ago."
Lara gave him a look. He looked old, at the very least in his 70's.
And the name was familiar...
Then it clicked. "Doctor- You are Indiana Jones!"
Indiana gave her a look and tipped his fedora. "The one and only."
"You wrote the adventures of Henry the Cat!"
Indiana gave her a surprised look before a pleased smile spread on his face. "Yes, I did indeed."
Lara blushed. "I mean, I read them when I was- very little. I did read your traveling books later, of course, and some of your historical novels."
"I hope you enjoyed them. Henry the Cat especially."
"I did."
"I did write them for kids. I wanted to write something children could read, or their parents could read to them, and it would teach them about history and different cultures in a child-friendly way. And maybe get them interested in actual archaeology and history and languages when they got older."
"It definitely worked with me."
She had treasured the books depicting the adventures of a smart little cat with a suddenly-familiar looking fedora. He had gone on adventures and traveled to different countries and learned new languages and discovered treasures in mysterious ruins. At the time Lara had not fully appreciated the way the author had woven real facts and lessons into the books, but they had first gotten Lara fascinated with mysteries and ancient civilizations, and when she had discovered the author had written books for older kids and even adults, she had been delighted.
Indiana smiled. "That's the best feedback you could give me."
Lara nodded. "Of course, just sitting behind the desk, writing, that's easy."
She couldn't keep the bitterness from her voice.
She shifted her weight slightly. Her side was still bandaged, and there was pain when she moved her body in certain ways. She couldn't have worn her favorite dress because of it, and had gone for something far more baggy than usual.
Indiana gave her a curious look. "It's a big world out there. I know you probably feel like an adult but trust me, I did think I had seen everything too when I was your age."
"Really? Had you? Had you watched your friends die in front of you?"
"Dear child..."
There was something more in Indiana's look now. Suddenly his gaze seemed sharper as if Lara was just some interesting historical artifact for him to examine.
He took Lara's hand and examined her fingers. "Frost bite."
"Yes."
"It should heal fully... You were lucky."
"Lucky, huh?"
"You are alive."
"And for what?" Lara turned to look at the party. "For this? For a marriage with some... Man who has never set foot outside England except to go on a beach holiday."
"You are still young."
Lara turned to look at him. He had to understand.
So she told him everything.
How she had been returning from a skiing trip with her friends. How the plane had crashed on the Himalayas. How she had been the only survivor, and fought to stay alive.
When she had set eyes on the small mountain village she had felt like she was saved.
But now that she was back home, she would have rather died.
"Or not died," she corrected. "Disappeared into the mountains. I was... I felt alive."
Indiana, who had been listening without a word, nodded. "But you lived to fight an another day. There is nothing stopping you from going back into the nature, to the unknown."
"There is."
Lara took a deep breath. "My father. Lord Henshingley Croft. I told him I couldn't... Even if I stayed, I can't live the life he wants me to."
It was easy to tell Indiana all this. Perhaps it was because Lara was convinced they would never meet again after this. She could finally put to words what she felt. What it was that felt so especially suffocating.
"I can't marry the man he wants me to. I don't think. I can't see myself marrying anyone. Definitely not someone picked up for me like we were two pedigree horses to be bred."
"And your father is... Old-fashioned like that?"
"I told him I was going to break off the engagement, and he told me I was free to do so. But that he would cut me off financially."
He would do it, Lara was certain of it. No more skiing trips to Switzerland, or holidays in exotic places. He would do his best to clip her wings.
"Ah. I know a thing or two about unsupportive fathers."
"What did you do?"
"I left home. Joined the Belgian army."
"To fight the Nazis?"
Indiana patted her shoulder. "First world war."
"You're old!"
"And I have seen a lot. Known many people. Believe me, you have it better than many people do. If you make preparations, and have at least some family members who will support you, you can do it. You can walk away."
"Maybe I will," Lara told him. "But I could marry the earl. Old Tom is very dull, but kind. I could wrap him around my little finger. Would it really matter I don't love him? Most of the marriages here are not based on love as much as being able to tolerate each other."
"That's not true. Well, not all of them. But want a piece of advice from an old man?"
"Why do I get the feeling you are going to give it to me whether I wanted it or not?"
"Fair. But indulge me. At my age it is sometimes fun to play the wise all-knowing sage." Indiana raised a finger. "Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."
"I think I have seen that on a greeting card," Lara mumbled.
She turned towards Indiana. "Anyway, once I'm back home, I will find my old Henry the Cat books and send them for you to sign.
Indiana tipped her hat. "It would be a pleasure."
Lara felt better now. There was clarity. She had clawed her way through both a Girls boarding school, and icy wilderness. She could find a way to support herself.
Be herself.
Be free.