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"I have some riding clothes from my time when I went riding myself. If you don't mind, ..." Eleanor opens a few more wardrobes until she finds the one. "Here they are." Half a dozen formal riding garbs are lined up here. Probably designed more for the good looks than high performance, but it is high quality made by someone who knows their trade.
"For sure we need much less money without Campbell, don't you think? And with that the whole problem will go away."
"As if you'd show your weakness in nature. That way you get eaten!" Overall Eleanor seems to be somewhere between panic and denial. But for sure not on top of things and handling it well.
"No! They must not know of this." Eleanor grabs the papers and stuffs them into the drawer of a sideboard.
Lady Eleanor is in shock when confronted with this news. With her mouth agape, she stares at the man, unable to speak a word.
"Sure, we can. But what? I don't want to look like a crow. How do we combine this, to make for something remarkable? Black enough to to convey the mourning, without looking depressing."
"Oh, no - the horse race!" Eleanor is alarmed. "Of course I ordered a hat as soon as it was official. But I can't go like that. I need something in black instead!" "Oh, you are such a dear! Of course I will." she replies to Menan. "It is too late now to order something new. But I have several black items - no fancy hat though. Arawyn would you check my wardrobe with me, to see what I can wear to the burial and what to the horse race?"
Lady Eleanor is sitting over tea with her daughter in the green salon. "Oh, Menan, Arawyn, wonderful that you're here. Maybe you can distract me from the thought train about my husband that is ever only running in circles." "Take a seat, do you want tea?"
"I don't know. I don't feel like meeting a lot of people. Can we have a small ceremony at your cemetery?"
Lady Eleanor hesitates to answer.
"I don't know. I don't think so." Eleanor replies.
"Thank you." Eleanor sobs. The tea is very somber, with long times of silence and as it is already late finally Lady Eleanor excuses herself to go to bed. This causes some ado, as she can't sleep in the master bedroom. The butler and the maid prepare some of the guest rooms for Lady Eleanor and the unexpected visitors. It's two rooms with large beds next to each other.
"It is all my fault. Faerveren heard when it happened and I played it down. Said, it was only the clumsy maid. He could still be alive if I had listened!" Eleanor breaks out into tears.
"Yes, please."
"You think you could find out?" Lady Eleanor asks unbelieving. "How?"
"Can we have some tea?" Lady Eleanor inquires. She asks the butler to prepare some and serve it. Over tea she tells of her husband, how he was never one to talk much about his feelings, or what went on in his head. "But I can't really think of a reason, why he would do this to himself. He had a good life, didn't he? We have everything that matters. We are a family, we're well respected, we are wealthy, what else would he want from life?"
"Thank you. I have no clue what came over him. He was fine yesterday and today this!"
Everything where someone else takes care of this situation sounds good to Eleanor. "Yes, please do that."
As lady Eleanor enters the chambers she is shocked. She stares aghast at the scence and hyperventilates. "I can't, ... someone needs to, ... I need to sit down somewhere." She turns and leaves the room to sit down on an armchair in the corridor.
"What is it with this maid?" Eleanor states annoyed. But nonetheless she moves into the direction the scream came from.
"Well, one should show the attitude of noble descent. And Duke Dearil has that air of distinction. But they are squabbling if they should let him join the council. I say why not? If he wants to talk boring politics? You know, the council is the most important assemblage when it comes to decision making in Abadon. And every family gets a seat on the council. They meet every Toilday and Oathday and hold a meeting from the afternoon into the night. Most of it is confidential and my husband can't even tell me what it is about. I think they might not trust the duke with all those secrets." "Anyway, we were talking hats. If they shall be extravagant, what are the limits? High and wide, and any theme? Has it still to look like a hat, or could one wear a kind of nest with exotic birds? Or a flower bouquet? Have you ever been to an occasion that was about hats?"
Hearing about William pleases Lady Eleanor. "Ah, you met the duke? Yes, yes, that is a very interesting turn of events indeed. But it's not clear yet what will become of this duke. He is of noble descent and Lady Margaret has mentioned that his inheritance is quite a sum. But his castle here in town has fallen into ruin and the gods know where he lived before showing up here. But he is indeed handsome. He might be an eligible match, if not a bit old, but we have to see if he can live up to the name. If he will have his seat of the family here in Abadon, then he needs to be accepted into the noble circles. If he ends up a pariah a marriage with him wouldn't help us any. If on the other hand, he already has a family seat somewhere else and just rebuilds his legacy here in addition, that would change things. I seriously asked him the wrong questions. I need to invite him to get to know him better." Lady Eleanor moved up the stairs and along the corridor to the east during the talking. She knocks at a door and enters. "Miss Faerveren, meet my daughter Lady Christine. She is my oldest. I have three more children. All boys. But as you're here to learn about how to be a lady, you don't need to meet them now."
Lady Eleanor ponders a while what to answer. "Why not. This will be a nice change. Of course you'll have to help me with the things I'm doing." Follow me. "It is not the best time to learn things here, as this weeks social event is a horse race. Can you imagine? A horse race, how undignified. As if a lady would race on a horse. But we need to be prepared for that. It will be a horse race and an extravagant hat competition. I hope you have a budget to have one made. William will come this evening. I wanted him to come yesterday already, but he wasn't available. Someone must have beaten me to it. You need to be fast! If you're too late you'll get the lame ideas that no one else wanted." "Maybe I should introduce you to my daughter. I need a proper hat for her too. She needs to draw some more attention. She has the right age for marriage. But this town has a serious shortage of handsome unmarried lords."
"It's very nice to meet you as well." "I'm flattered what your mother thinks of me. But I'm not sure what it is that she requests of me. Could you please elaborate?"
A few minutes later an excited Lady Eleanor comes down the stairs, together with the servant, the opened letter in hand. The servant does the introduction. "Lady Eleanor Vanderbuilt, Miss Faerveren Deverin."
"Well, that Marinelli wasn't content with being a rich merchant. You might have noticed his son on Sunday at the temple. Instead of doing business he always tries to push to get into our circles. But he opens his mouth and you know he is a chav. All that money can't help that." "He himself has withdrawn from public, and his son tries to accomplish this goal, but even though he isn't as bad, he comes with that background. We can't have that."
"Duke Dearil is really hansome, isn't he? And he has that air of nobility around him. It is a blessing that someone new comes to join the noble circles. I was really worried where... no, I'm not telling you. You will just walk back to him and tell him." "But I can't remember telling something about Marinelli, besides the wine. Would you remind me?"
"What a surprise to see you again today." Lady Eleanor greets Menan and Arawyn.
Lady Eleanor is not happy with the decision.
"There will be time for that. I'm have not decided yet what it will be. I'd like to get to know you and your peers, to see what my role might be in this wonderful town." "How about a dinner party to get to know everyone?" Lady Eleanor suggests.
Lady Eleanor gets up and holds out her hand palm down for the duke to take, "I'm Lady Eleanor of House Vanderbuilt. The pleasure is all mine."
"Can you ask him what kind of event he'd enjoy?" Lady Eleanore asks Arawyn.
At the ladies table it gets silent. You don't gossip about the guy at the next table. Especially Lady Eleanore is ogling the duke. She's trying to be discreet but it's hard, when he isn't. "So, you got any plans for next Sunday? I was pondering if I should throw another dinner party." she asks the ladies.
"I don't know what I shall think of that. First he moves around town incognito and then this entrance. And he travels light. Not a single suitcase. I couldn't live a day this way. But he is good looking! And he chose the best place for lodging." Eleanor comments. She is torn between gossiping an fawning over a potential candidate to marry their daughter.
"Thank you for the heads up. I need to prepare a dinner party and our daughter."
"The duke?" She voices, eyes wide. "Do you think he is into dinner parties?"
"She was flirting rather shamelessly with the guy." Lady Eleanor concurs.
"A spy? Really? Who is he spying for? A foreign country? This is all so exciting!"
"My husband hasn't told me about it, so it wasn't talked about in the council, or was it?" Eleanor inquires from Lady Margaret.
"Can you imagine, Mr. Variel told of a heir of the duke! Do you know something about those old times? It's so long ago. But somehow it sounds like good old times. I bet they didn't have the hassle with people like Marinelli." Eleanor voices her unfiltered thoughts.
"And where will you get that information?" Eleanor inquires. You get an idea what the gossip of town will be the next days. Meanwhile the two other ladies arrive for tea.
"Oh my, a heir of the duke you say? That's interesting news. How old would that one be? Do you now him? Could we invite him to a dinner party?" Eleanor is close to hyperventilating form excitement.
"Oh, the usual. A little boring compared to the party we had with you, but I can't complain. And you? Anything interesting happening in your life?"
A few hours later Eleanor arrives first. "Hello Menan, Arawyn, Nice to see you again. You're early."
"That's a pity, but if you have to. Next Sunday at the tea party then."
"It is the best you can get in this town. It's an import. But it's a pity there is no larger assortment to choose from. Impressing your guests with that works only the first time. Meanwhile everyone has it. But it could be worse."
"It was the least I could do." "As your part is over, come in again and enjoy the rest of the evening." Inside the table is gone. Instead there are small standing tables close to the walls. At the far end a quartet of string players is seated. As Menan walks in with Lady Eleanor she asks "Would you honor me with the opening dance?" As Eleanor steps into the room the musicians strike up a vienesse walz.
There are "Aaah"s and "Oooh"s and the crowd applaudes in between the displays of magic. And the grand finale with fireworks is well appreciated. "That was most impressive. A wonderful show. You made this nice event really remarkable." |
