Amanda doesn't seem too focused on her question and Nickolas interrupts "What?! We don't have cake until last! We're you raised in a barn?" He smirks with great satisfaction.
Mrs. Tinkerage sighs "Yes they are! It makes quality textiles so very... Common. I prefer hand-made, of course."
Amanda giggles but shakes her head. "No you silly boy! That's not how one should eat!" She selects the proper spoon and begins sipping daintily while casting amused looks at Ives. Nickolas scowls at Ives and demands "What do you mean you were raised in a tree? That's ridiculous. You are making up tales, sir!"
It's apparent Nickolas wants Amanda to think Ives is worthless and pay attention to him. Her friendly amusement isn't the result Nickolas was hoping for.
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"A-yup. A tree, sir. And I suppose you were raised in a... house? How very towny of you. Tell me, do you have an indoor water closet to do your business in? I heard Miss Teleri talking about those."
Some inkling of the social dynamic gets through to Ive's brain. He picks a flower from his own hair and hands it to Amanda.
"A pretty flower to a pretty girl."
"It seems machines are popping up everywhere," Teleri says. "Why, I heard there's some sort of mysterious project for some really large machine going on -- something with huge gears. I wonder what it could be for."
Amanda smiles and accepts the flower from Ives, putting it in her hair. She turns to Nickolas and says ”See Nickolas? He can be nice after all!” She turns back to Ives, beaming, and giggles. ”Of course we have a water closet. I can show you to it if you need to relieve yourself.” While they speak, a servant arrives with the fudge. A generous piece the size of three fingers is set in front of each guest. It is immensely sweet and rich, unlike anything Ives has ever tasted.
After eating half of his fudge and leaving the rest out of politeness, the quiet boy next to Ives speaks up ”So Amanda, what do you think our fathers are talking about?” Amanda smiles but shakes her head. ”I know. I heard last time. But I wouldn’t just tell a thing like that.”
Mrs. Tinkerage nods with a smile ”Yes, yes. Industry certainly is proliferating rapidly. And while we must take care to preserve proper standards, the development on the whole benefits society.” She smiles at her husband ”For example, Archibald’s contributions at Peterson’s Iron Works have brought many new jobs and opportunities for employment to the city.”
Mr. Tinkerage and the gentleman sitting to his right exchanged quick, furtive glances at the mention of a new device composed of large gears but otherwise have maintained a calm and casual composure.
"Oh? I would be most interested to hear what you've been up to there, Mr. Tinkerage."
Mr. Tinkerage looks up from his cutlet and smiles "Oh industrial things, Miss ver Rhosyn. Devising plans. Sealing contracts. Nothing you'd fine interesting." He looks back down at his meat and resumes cutting.
"Perhaps not," Teleri agrees politely. How odd, she thinks. A man who doesn't want to talk about himself!
Mrs. Tinkerage speaks over the awkward silence. ”Dear, I did hear some interesting news recently. Wasn’t one of your clients quite upset about something? Said you must have made a mistake?” She turns to her friends sitting near her with a smile ”Of course, the client was incorrect. Mr. Tinkerage showed beyond a shadow of a doubt that his work was accurate. Was even commended by the president of the company.” She turns back to her husband, who is bending lower over his food ”Isn’t that right, dear?” Mr. Tinkerage mumbles back ”Yes… Yes it was dear” but doesn’t offer any follow-up comment.
The man sitting to Tinkerage’s right is certainly agitated by what Mrs. Tinkerage is saying.
Amanda grins and giggles at Ives’ love for the food. Coyly, she says ”Well, I’m sure you’d be interested to know if I told you what it was but of course I wouldn’t do that. That wouldn’t be proper.” The others finish up their desert and Nickolas declares ”Come! Let’s play a game! Shall it be Fool’s Chess or Capture the Flag?” He turns to Ives ”Or perhaps you’d like me to show you a marvelous trick? Did you know that salt can make gelatin burn?”
It’s clear that Amanda isn’t sure whether or not she’s warming up to Ives but if she warmed up to him sufficiently, she’d probably enjoy sharing the secret.
Yeah yeah you know what Nickolas is up to with the jello.
"It is certainly nice to be vindicated," Teleri says soothingly.
"But I would much rather have a mistake I made corrected than undetected. I imagine that particularly holds true in engineering, where an undetected mistake can throw production off schedule, ruin a machine, or even injure people. Best to keep everything running smoothly. Don't you agree, sir?" she addresses the man to Tinkerage's right.
The man to Tinkerage's right (Jacque Demain as she learned during introductions) looks surprised at being addressed by Teleri directly. "Why, yes that is quite important, Miss ver Rhosyn. Though I'm no expert myself. My position is with the Merchant Guild. Do you have any experience in engineering?" He looks at her skeptically.
Amanda is very taken aback by Ives brash announcements and abrupt offer of another flower. She smiles uncertainly, far from bored by this strange boy.
Nickolas brings the gelatin over to Ives and sprinkles it with salt. "Now the gelatin is burning. It is quite hot. Just put your hand ove..." but he stops abruptly as Ives leans his face over the gelatin, granting a far better opportunity than Nickolas hoped for. But as Nickolas reaches over to push Ives' face into the gelatin, the shifter slides out of the way so fast that Nickolas finds himself off-balance.
He regains his balance before almost thrusting his own hand into the gelatin and straightens his jacket, cheeks flaming red. Amanda laughs and laughs "Bravo, Mr. Tunn! Bravo!!! You were much too quick for Nickolas. Come now. You shall decide what we will play. Will it be Fool's Chess, Capture the Flag, Hide and Seek Me, or something else altogether?"
"Of late I have been picking up a bit of the basics," Teleri says, "Primarily in connection with mining and water filtration. But I will readily admit that I'm no great expert. I recently assisted the Sackbury Mining Corporation with an issue at their facility in Pentrefan ..."
She goes on to describe the issue with polluted water at the mine. She omits any mention of the labor dispute, and leaves out the naiads entirely. She includes the trip to the swamp, but glosses over her own involvement in the fights against the grippli, instead praising Ives as the hero of that particular hour. " ... and when I left, Mr. Trenton was in the process of installing a filtration pond, on the theory that digging a big hole is substantially easier and less expensive than dealing with native uprisings."
She looks thoughtful. "I suppose the lesson I've taken away from this experience is that it is often difficult to foresee all the outcomes of an endeavor. Particularly when it involves novel methods. As we venture forward into this new, mechanized world I suspect we will see many more cases where well-intentioned people discover that their new approaches come with unintended consequences."
Mr. Tinkerage and Mr. Demain raise their eyebrows in surprise at Teleri's unexpected proficiency. As she wraps up her story, Mrs. Owens nods with a smile. "That's right! Mr. Owens praised how useful she was to the company."
Both Mr. Tinkerage and Mr. Demain reacted subtly to Teleri's talk of new technology and unintended consequences.
Amanda replies "What's chess? Oh Ives I must show you!" She gets up from the table and leads everyone into the library. There, she pulls out a fine ivory chess set. She walks Ives through how all the pieces move with great pleasure. Then she states "But we like to play Fool's Chess! I made it up. The winner is the one who forces the loser to capture all of the winner's pieces. The king isn't special at all in Fool's Chess and there's no check, checkmate, or castling. If one can capture a piece, one must. If one can capture more than one piece on a given turn, one may choose which piece to capture." She beams at Ives "Shall I show you a quick demonstration? Just a few turns. Let us say that I moved thus." She moves a white pawn up two squares.
Nickolas looks on scornfully, sure that Ives won't catch on quickly at all.
Amanda smiles and shakes her head. "No, silly! The knight can only move two spaces in one direction and one space in the perpendicular direction. See? Like this." She moves Ives' knight for him. Then she moves her bishop. "So now you must take my pawn but my queen won't have to take your knight." She beams at him. "So I'd already be winning by one pawn." Nickolas rolls his eyes at her careful explanation. "That's plenty, Amanda! I want to play him." Amanda turns to Ives and asks "Are you ready?"
Teleri notices Mr. Tinkerage and Mr. Demain's reactions to her story, particularly its end. She thinks about pressing them further, but judges that perhaps it would be best not to do so in front of a room full of other people. Instead she takes a bite of her meal and allows the conversation to flow on around her. Perhaps I can find an opportunity to speak more privately with one of those two, or both, later in the evening, she thinks.
Nickolas, going first, moves a pawn and smirks at Ives. Amanda watches him closely, interested to see if the boy from a tree has a mind to match his tongue.
Talk floats back to more amusing matters, tending to form a divide between the women and men who are conversing. The young man seated across from Teleri (Patrick Hemming) tries to engage her in conversation "So those grippli must be real barbarians, eh?"
"While they are definitely primitive, I do not think I would describe them as barbaric," Teleri responds. "I didn't care much for their methods of conflict resolution, but they treated our wounds quite effectively with medicinal herbs from the swamp, and fed us simple but nourishing food."
The young mister Hemming looks somewhat taken aback by Teleri's response but nods agreeably. "Ah yes of course. An important distinction."
After dinner, the adults break up to chat in smaller groups. Mrs. Owens, Tinkerage, and Demain head out to the garden for a walk. Separately, Mr. Tinkerage and Demain also head out to the garden. The three other gentlemen present head to a sitting room to smoke while two ladies stay behind to chat in the dining room. Patrick Hemming delays, attempting to determine where Teleri will go.
It's clear that his poor opinion of the grippli is unchanged but he wishes to get along with Teleri.
After a flurry of moves, Ives finds himself forced to capture piece after piece in an endless combination. Nickolas smirks as he lines his pawns up for Ives' bishop to gobble up one by one.
Teleri notices Mr. Hemmings' interest. Well, that's deuced inconvenient, she thinks. She drifts towards the two ladies chatting in the dining room, hoping Mr. Hemmings will follow her.
"Pardon me," she addresses one of them, "But would you be so good as to direct me to the water closet?"
"Down the hall on the left," one of them says.
"Thank you, Ms. ... ah, Riding, was it?"
The young woman nods. "That's right; Sally Riding." Sally's gaze shifts slightly, taking in Patrick' presence. "Oh, have you come to keep us company, Mr. Hemming?" Sally asks as Teleri makes her escape.
Teleri makes her way to the water closet, waits a suitable length of time, and then attempts to sneak past the dining room to the garden without attracting Mr. Hemmings' notice.
Teleri makes it out into the garden but the two groups have already split off. There is a fork in the garden path to the left and to the right.
Teleri can tell that two men went to the right and three women went to the left.
Teleri calmly takes a right, following in the general direction that Mr. Tinkerage and Mr. Demain went. She walks steadily but without hurry, making no particular attempt to hide her approach, and pauses periodically to admire the early flowers blooming in the cool of the evening.
I wonder how Ives is getting on, she wonders idly. My, what lovely lilac bushes. She leans in towards the lilac blossoms, breathing deeply. "Lovely scent," she remarks to no one in particular. "I've always liked lilacs."
Teleri rounds a hedge to find Me and Tinkerage standing awkwardly, apparently having ceased their conversation at the sound of Teleri's footsteps. Mr. Tinkerage offers a forced smile and nods. "Enjoying the garden, Miss Ver Rhosyn?"
"It's lovely, Mr. Tinkerage," Teleri says. "Clearly the work of someone who loves flowers. I particularly liked the lilacs -- such a heavenly scent!"
She grows more serious. "I want to offer you an apology, sir," she says. "I noticed that some of my dinner conversation seemed to cause you some discomfort. That was not my intent, and I'm sorry for it."
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Ives continues to study the board. This is fun! Hard. I don't think I am very good at it. Might as well try to get some information while I can. That is what Miss Teleri would do.
"So what do you guys's parents do anyway? Everyone here seems rich. They must have good jobs. Probably do lots of neat stuff."
Tinkerage and Demain look surprised. Hurriedly, Tinkerage reassures Teleri ”Oh not at all, miss. Nothing you said was remotely offensive.”
Amanda smiles ”My father has a position at an iron works. He helps design and sell wonderful new inventions.” Roland adds ”My father works with the merchant guild. He helps arrange shipping schedules, I think.” Smugly, Nickolas says ”My father owns lots and lots of land for farming. It nets him quite a deal of income.”
"It's just that I noticed you both seemed a trifle put off by my talk of new technology and unintended consequences," Teleri clarifies. "Which made me wonder if I was, perhaps, being a bit preachy."
A look of comprehension dawns on the faces of Tinkerage and Demain. Mr. Tinkerage smiles and shakes his head "No you did not offend. It is simply a subject Mr. Demain and myself have discussed before." He smiles again "Now, shall I help you find Mrs. Tinkerage? Surely you intended to walk with the ladies."
Amanda nods with a smile and a smirk at Nickolas "Yes my father does all sorts of interesting things. Three guilds paid for one particularly large order, recently. For some reason, however, the lumber barons were upset." She shrugs. "Papa didn't say why. I just overheard him mention it to mama."
"Oh good," Teleri says. "I'm glad to know that it wasn't a problem."
She accepts Mr. Tinkerage's offer by turning and falling into step beside him. As they walk, she says "Actually, Mr. Tinkerage, I have a question; perhaps you would be good enough to assist. I'm trying to get in contact with a particular engineer, and -- unfortunately -- the description I have to go on is rather vague. Since you work in the field of engineering yourself, perhaps you'll be able to point me in the right direction? Or tell me who to ask."
Mr. Tinkerage merely raises an eyebrow. "Hmm? Oh yes I suppose I could try."
"Wonderful. The description I was given was that he lives here in the City, and that he works 'under and over turning metal' all day. The only other thing I know about him is that he's supposed to 'understand the turning metal better than any other'. I'm working on the assumption that the 'turning metal' must be gears of some sort, probably large ones, and that he's an engineer working on them. Any ideas, Mr. Tinkerage?"
Nickolas stands up from the board in frustration as he realizes he can't win in this position. Amanda smiles at Ives "Very good! Maybe you should play me sometime." The smile dances teasingly on her face. "Maybe noe Nickolas will learn to respect people he doesn't know. They may be smarter than him!" She laughs at the plain anger and embarrassment on the young man's face. He storms out of the library muttering something about needing the water closet. Amanda leans forward and Roland looks expectant "Now that it's just us good friends here" she smiles warmly at her new friend Ives "Let's talk about something important. Last time your father was here, Roland, I overheard him and my father in the garden. Apparently, my father's company built a very, very expensive and new project for the Merchant Guild and it sounded like a couple other buyers. Some sort of giant calculating machine. And one of the other groups was very upset abouy something it calculated." She smiles at the others "Isn't that fascinating!? I wonder what's going on..."
Tinkerage and Demain are silent for a moment then Tinkerage replies "Well perhaps he is one of the caretakers of the great city clock? Who gave you this description?"
It id clear Tinkerage doesn't believe his own answer. He and Demain we're quite struck by the description.
"Hmm," Teleri says, and meets their gaze for an uncomfortably long moment before going on to say "I suppose it could be the city clock. I'll be sure to check on that. If anything else occurs to either of you, do be sure to let me know."
"As for the description, why, odd as it may seem, I heard it from a little old lady who lives in a cave outside of Pentrefan. She seemed to think that it was very important that I speak to this man, whoever he is."
Tinkerage stops dead in his tracks when Teleri mentions her source. He stares at her "Are you jesting, Mrs. ver Rhosyn? An old woman in a cave gave you this information? Do you believe she was in contact with friends from the city?"
Amanda smiles and shakes her head "No silly Ives!" She pauses and looks at him. "You pretend to be so goofy... but you're not just goofy are you..." She shakes her head to refocus on the question at hand. "It's not here, of course. From what I've heard, it's much too big for that."
"I am quite serious, sir. And I sincerely doubt that she had ever met anyone from the city before I showed up. She seemed -- reclusive. Unless I miss my guess, she's never been further than a few miles from Pentrefan."