Rikkard Ambrose

Mr  **Rikkard Ambrose** is the deuteragonist of the *Storm and Silence* series. He is one of the leading business magnates of the British Empire during the 19th century.

With a past shrouded in secrecy and even more mysterious motives, Mr Ambrose's goal is to be the richest man in the world. However, one day his life is irreversibly altered after a rather unusual encounter with a fiery-spirited feminist named Lilly Linton.

## Early Life

Mr Ambrose was born to the Marquess Ambrose and his wife, Lady Samantha. He lived with his parents and his younger sister, Lady Adaira on an estate called Battlewood in Northern England, a few miles away from the Scottish border. He attended school in Eton college and one of his closest friends was Lord Dalgliesh. Their estates neighboured each other and their families had a long-standing aquaintance.

When Mr Ambrose was fifteen years old, his father made investments that failed and had to mortage Battlewood as a result. Mr Ambrose begged Lord Dalgliesh to help him. Dalgliesh agreed to help him by convincing him and the Marquess to spend the last of their money on some investment opportunities he had. Convinced that his families troubles were over, Mr Ambrose took a trip to Southern England. However, when he returned to Battlewood, there were removal men that were taking away his family's possessions. It turned out that Dalgliesh's investments were nothing more than a scam deliberately set up by Dalgliesh himself. The Marquess confronted his son and yelled at him, blaming him for the predicament and telling him to get out, saying that he never wanted to see him again.

Mr Ambrose left the manor immediately, taking a few belongings with him including a stone and a miniature portrait of his family. He found refuge in an abandoned country house in Collundale for some time before boarding a ship to the colonies. After living homeless and hungry on the streets for months, he saw a poster for a job opening. Realising he needed money to survive, he worked endlessly doing manual labour and all sorts of other jobs, vowing to build an empire big enough to crush his former friend that had betrayed him. Once he had enough money, Mr Ambrose sent a front man to buy back Battlewood and give it to his family, but even then his father was still bitter and refused to forgive him, especially since he could not get the estate back himself but his son was successfully able to.

## Throughout the Series

* Before the Storm
* Storm and Silence
* In the Eye of the Storm
* Silent Night
* Silence is Golden
* Silence Breaking
* Hunting for Silence
* Storm of Bells
* New Storm Rising

### *Before the Storm*

Mr Ambrose is first mentioned by the female employees of an brothel in Georgia as the man who rented out the attic, having been described as a tall, very handsome young man with his two dogs, Barb and Wire, seen guarding his door. He was seen by Pearl Hayes doing business dealings with Arnold Kingsley in his typically cold demeanour. Later on, Pearl approached him in his room in the brothel's attic. During the exchange, he agrees to help Pearl free slaves from Kingsley. He meets with Pearl and her lover, Jabari, to discuss plans to bring down Kingsley, while being outwardly annoyed with Pearl's and Jabari's relationship. Mr Ambrose takes down Kingsley with their help and the Sheriff's, freeing the slaves and Jabari's sister. After Pearl's and Jabari's wedding, Mr Ambrose immediately departed to England— returning after nearly a decade of living in the colonies.

### *Silent Night*

On Christmas Eve of 1839, Mr Ambrose was walking through the snowy streets of London with Karim. After mistaking a citizen for an assailant and letting him go, they reached their destination, stopping in front of an store located in a dark alley. Mr Ambrose threatened Karim to not tell anyone about his business there before stepping inside. Approaching the man behind the counter, he asked to see the store's merchandise, stating that he needed to buy a Christmas present.

After buying the gift, Mr Ambrose headed back to Empire House. To his surprise, when he opened the door to his secretary's office, he saw Lilly sitting there, bundled up in an old coat and eating snacks on her desk. He inquired why she was there and while trying to his question, he saw her hide a chocolate bar behind her back. He accurately deduced that she had felt miserable at her home and thus went to the office to be miserable alone. Nonetheless, she heatedly denied his statement and retorted that she had forgotten to file some papers. Mr Ambrose picked up an orange off her desk, sarcastically remarking that her snacks might not fit into the files. She snatched the orange back and admitted that she felt miserable. When she asked him why he was there, he responded that he had forgotten to file paperwork and ordered her to help him, stomping away into his office.

Several minutes later, Lilly entered with one of the files she was instructed to bring, and set it on his desk. After looking at the file, Mr Ambrose noticed that she was staring out the window sadly. When he asked what was wrong, she glared and asked why he would care. He said that he didn’t and was more concerned about her work efficiency being affected, saying that she had brought him the wrong file. She started to argue back but stopped and apologised, saying she would fetch the correct one. As she started to leave, he grabbed and spun her around, trapping her between him and his desk. He admitted that he made up the file and she started to curse him– only to cut off an insult mid-word when he abruptly hugged her.

Stepping back, he admitted that he went to Empire House to think about the present he bought, reaching into his pocket and setting a small package wrapped in brown paper on the desk. He said it was for her, and she stared at him in disbelief. He handed the present to her when she asked to see it and after dramatically thanking him, she opened it. In her hand was a small yellow figurine of a dancing piggy. Lilly examined it and thanked him again but in confusion. Mr Ambrose intensely stared at her, asking her if she remembered. She almost asked about what he was referring to and then realized, her ears turning red consequently. She turned the figurine until the bottom pointed up and saw the inscription he had painted on it: *"In memory of a memorable night."*

Looking up at Mr Ambrose with tears in her eyes, she told him it was the most important thing she had ever held in her hands. He asked her if she liked the gift and Lilly described it as miserly, cheap and ridiculous, then saying that she loved it. Touching his cheek, she asked if she could share her Christmas food with him in appreciation. He responded positively and she started to walk ahead of him– abruptly stopping when she noticed something hung at the top of his doorway. Followed her gaze, he noticed the piece of mistletoe. Lilly said she had heard about the mistletoe tradition to which he retaliated that traditions were useless and antiquated. Stepping closer to him and cupped his face with her hands, Lilly pulled him down to her and kissed him, asking if it felt useless. In response, Mr Ambrose's arms wrapped around her and he pushed her back into his office, slamming the door shut behind them.

## Physical Appearance

Mr Ambrose is described as a tall, lean and extremely attractive English man on numerous occasions throughout the series. He has short black hair and a pale complexion, with a clean-shaven face consisting of angular, chiseled features. The most distinct one are his expressive sea-coloured eyes, falling in a shade somewhere between blue, green and grey, and framed by long lashes. He has a deep voice, described to be both curt and cold.

Due to his earlier days of manual labour, he has an impressive amount of both physical power and endurance– emphasised by his accomplishments of strenuous feats and illustrated by a muscular and hard physique. His body also bears tell-tale signs of the dangerous, toiling lifestyle he has experienced, as he mentions having a burn on his scalp from an explosion and a scar from a broken finger after once failing to pay a debtor on time.

From his stinginess, Mr Ambrose wears clothes that are at least a decade old and has been described by others to dress like an undertaker. His attire that he considers to be in "mint-condition" consists of a white dress shirt with all black top hat, tailcoat, bow tie, vest and trousers. In *Silence is Golden*, he revealed to wear underwear well over twelve years old and a tarnished, worn-out belt for his trousers. In addition to his usual outfit, he wore a pair of old grey breeches and black boots when he went horseback riding with Lilly in *Silence Breaking*. He carries a loaded revolver on his person at all times and owns a custom-made cane with a hidden sword. He also keeps a silver pocket watch in his tailcoat that has his family's crest on the lid, an heirloom that he received from his father.

## Personality

Mr Ambrose is known to be have a cold, ruthless and intimidating demeanour. Throughout the series, he has proven to be authoritative to the point of making others reflexively compliant and responsive to his demands. He does not like to socialise without purpose of self-gain or express his emotions, often to the point of confusion and denial when he experiences them. As a man of his time period, he does not deny his chauvinistic beliefs, often arguing with Lilly that women are inferior to men and not as capable as them. Although he ebbs away from the societal standards of conduct, he does follow the viewpoint that women and men have their own standardised gender roles to follow, something that causes him to be at constant odds with her.

The myriad of hardships he faced after leaving his home at a young age and building his financial empire from scratch has made him have high expectations– for others as well as himself, settling for no less than the best. From his experiences, he has demonstrated to be very calculating, deductive and sharp-witted, save for matters of romance. It has also caused him to be completely frugal to the point of utter stinginess, having the goal of obtaining as much wealth as possible and taking pride in being labelled as a miser.

Besides his obvious achievements in financial and business aspects, he is fluent in many languages other than his native tongue of English– with French, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese to name a few. He is a very adept fighter, being able to defend himself with his bare hands, close-range weapons and firearms as well as showing that he can handle multiple opponents at once.

## Appearances

* *Before the Storm*
* *Storm and Silence*
* *In the Eye of the Storm*
* *Silent Night*
* *Silence is Golden*
* *Silence Breaking*
* *Hunting for Silence*
* *Storm of Bells*
* *New Storm Rising*
* *Storm over the Caribbean*
* *Up and Down*

## References

1. ↑ *In the Eye of the Storm*
2. ↑ *In the Eye of the Storm*, Ambrose POV Chapter: Chapter Titles are a Waste of Ink
3. ↑  *Storm of Bells*, Chapter 32: A Fighting Chance
4. ↑ *Storm of Bells*,
 Chapter 34: The True Story
5. ↑ *Storm and Silence*, Chapter 69 (Wattpad version)/39 (Radish/Published version): 'Seeing Stars'
6. ↑ *Storm and Silence*, Chapter 1: 'Arrested for Good Manners'
7. ↑ *Silence Breaking*, Chapter 49: 'Au Revoir'
8. ↑ *Storm and Silence*, Chapter 92 (Wattpad Version)/54 (Radish/Published version): 'Mine and Yours'