(((ooc: Yey, I made it! It's short and rushed, but at least it's something.
Oh, and Ghanima/Alissa, everything sounded just fine to me.
Alissa - Aww, thanks. When I get home tomorrow morning, I have the rest of the day off, as well as Thursday. Man am I going to sleeeeeeep. *lol* )))


Much like the two ladies of the quartet, when the music started and the curtains rose, Octavien found himself completely captivated by the story that unfolded before his eyes. It had been a while since last he had attended the opera, despite it being one of his favorite ways to spend an evening. Life at court had simply been too hectic lately, and back when he had still been a new addition to life at the Palace, he hadn't yet befriended anyone with whom he felt comfortable enough to go.

Hopefully, César and Joséphine would make their visit a long one, and the Baroness would turn out to be just as pleasant and good-natured as she had seemed so far, ensuring many more evenings of good company and enjoyment, perhaps even several more visits to the Opera. For judging by the looks on the ladies faces, they had both enjoyed 'Isis' just as much as Octavien himself. In Joséphine's case, he'd had a good inclination that she would, avid fan of the opera that she was. But Bella... Things had been a bit more uncertain where she was concerned. She had expressed a passion for music similar to Octavien's own, back in the Grand Ballroom, but because of his ever present suspicion, he had been unsure of whether or not she was being truthful, or had known who he was despite acting otherwise, and just trying, for some reason, to befriend him. Therefor, he had glanced over at her every now and then during the course of the performance, and had been delighted to see the spellbound look on her face, as it alone showed a genuine appreciation for what she was just witnessing for the first time. And when she stood up along with the rest, once the last act was over, and applauded as fervently as the most ardent opera enthusiast, all doubts regarding her passion for music were laid to rest. Such zeal simply could not be feigned.

César, on the other hand, appeared to be only relieved that it was all over. Always the restless one, he had spent the majority of the performance fidgeting in his seat, picking at the ruffles of his shirt, and studying just about everything but the performance itself; the decor, the seat, the rest of the crowd, Joséphine...
In many ways, he reminded Octavien of a small, bored child.

With the performance having ended, and the four of them making their way back down to the foyer, however, his usually charming side reappeared, along with his enthusiasm when the subject of eating was brought up. He declared himself to be 'simply starving'.

"Perhaps we can arrange something together?" Joséphine said; a suggestion that clearly won the approval of the others, as it seemed that even though to most the evening would have been drawing to a close, the four of them didn't wish it to end just yet.

"That is a splendid idea," Bella agreed, and they all came to a halt in the lavish foyer, in order to decide on an arragement, right in the middle of the crowd of people streaming past them on their way outside. "Any ideas? It is getting quite late."

The question was quite clearly directed at César and Octavien, as both of the young women seemed to be looking expectantly to the two of them; something that in turn caused the two of them to look at one another.

"Why don't we all go back to my suite," Octavien suggested after a few moments, "and we can dine there?"

Questioning looks were briefly exchanged once again, to see if anyone had objections or other suggestions, before three heads nodded in agreement. A late supper in the Prince's suite sounded to them like a marvellous idea, not to mention a privilege.

When the carriage rolled to a slow stop, delivering the young party of four safely to the very same spot where it had picked them up hours ago, it was nearly midnight, and it seemed most of the Palace inhabitants had retired to their suites quite a while ago. The Prince and his friends did their best to be quiet, but in a large, deserted Palace entrance, even the tiniest sound seemed to amplify tenfold, and faint echoes of their voices and their laughter bounced between the walls, following them up the stairs and through the upper and equally large hallway, until it was all abruptly cut off when the doors to Octaviens suite closed behind them.

"Gilles", Octavien greeted his aging but still very much awake manservant. "Would you please have some food brought up for the four of us? Neither of us have eaten all evening, and we are simply famished."

"Of course, Your Highness", Gilles gave a bow. "Right away."

Then, after greeting Octavien's guest with another bow, he swiftly made his exit, to see to his young master's request.

"Please", Octavien said, making a sweeping motion towards the various furniture of the room. "Make yourselves comfortable."



(((ooc: I think this could possibly serve as a wrap-up post, if we are to move on? Though should Ghanima and/or Alissa want to/have the chance to get something in before we progress, that would of course do the trick as well.

Alissa - I would say the question is rather 'where is Furry at the moment'? Not a peep in days. And the same goes for Elektra... )))

Mercy was now holding her breath, waiting for something to go wrong, to mess it all up but he opened her umbrella and walked to catch her up, there was silence but through the rain she just about made out some grumble coming from Dimitri she smiled, men always had something to say... But unlike with her ex-husband he was actually rather attractive when he grumbled incoherently. He move slightly, she watched his out of the corner of her eye, he had removed his coloured cloak single handedly and had managed to cover her from the shoulders down in navy fabric, she was actually tempted to keep the cloak, she felt like a young girl dressed in a slim red dress with a cloak, it was almost like a fairy tale... for a woman of fourty-something...

They reached they orangery, she had said nothing and he had been pushed into silence by that fact and her apparent confidence in silence, I was a ploy, Mercy knew her best chance was not to explain but just to let him find out and was too polite to challenge her in that matter, as they entered the orangery the mood changed, her confidence once again ebbed, he had yet another chance to change his way of acting or take the risk. She knew the room had looked near perfect when she had left earlier put now she was picking out the minutiea of the room in true Obsessive fashion.

She didn't look at him but waited for a response, the air was heavy and humid her breath felt even more so, he did not speak but lead her to table gently, and pulled her chair out, and in true gentlemanly fashion seated her, removed and removed his wet cloak he paused for the briefest of moments before moving aroung the table to look in her direction, not at her, but in her direction, he sat. And spoke oh so gently. “This is… very kind of you, Baroness. It must have taken quite a while to prepare.” The eyes continued to look beyond her, Dimitri was different, the change was slight but it was there...

She spoke hesitantly at first "if it did..." but soon managed to return her voice to almost her normal level of confidence "then it was worth it." the atmosphere in the room was still heavy she could hardly bear it herself, so she followed it up with a laugh, not a girlish titter but a proper laugh, it was nice to feel slightly less false, this was not a severe problem for Mercy who had ways of giving herself freedom from some class rules but it was still nice to let it slip even just a little. Mercy shifted slightly, the gold chain on her left wrist glinted in the candle light, the solid gold band had been excellently polished and the four small red stones and four small white pearls glistened also, it was cool on her wrist, the only part of her that was cool, the only part of her that reminded she was in France and not in some distant tropical land, however perhaps that distant land would be easier to deal with than this...

((Atropa I understand but I think Mercy is also pretty confident it wont happen!

Allissa Mercy has made herself immune by keeping secrets which is why she can be an integral character so a little of both!

And as I'm going out now (sorry) 17 hours until Morning will be finally called, I shall check in with FurryPanda shortly.))

((OK, can I press my point about OCC comments again, I make it 6 hours 'til morning now, I'd do it now if I had the time....

But whilst Mercy SHOULD be scared for Isabella, Octavien can't exactly tell anyone why she was threatening him without implictacting himself and Isabella also, so whilst Mercy, would indeed never say anything because she cared for Isabella (if she thought it through which I must say she still hasn't...) there is no way Octavien would either, unless he was feeling rather suicidal... hense Mercy is not fearful. Believe me I am not trying to stop Mercy getting hurt/threatened along the way... as you may soon see... Hehe I shall say no more BUT in fact you may find she'll regret what she did to Octavien then...

Finally I hardly think Edouard is going to kill the woman who brought his wifes infidelity to light... that just wouldn't be good business would it?

*EDIT* I have checked it over and can find no source to suggest you can commit treason against a Prince only the sovereign, or in the case of petit treason murdering your social superior, but that only applies to murder... however I shall admit I have only searched for 5 minutes and shall check again when doing my morning post later today))

((Yes Atropa it would have been but sadly, it can't some to fruition as Mercy, I and you see it from very different angles, :banana: plus with a man as weak minded as Edouard I'm sure that if Dimitri were to as Edouard to hear Mercy out he would, after all that is the whole premise of his character, i.e. beinging in need of direction, and of course as I brought to light in our PMs Mercy herself does not recognise Octavien as having a claim to the throne and so through her own train of thought, again would have no reason to call it treason! (Yay that rhymes :D)

Anyway off the point of Mercy being totally oblivious to the minds of everyone else (including myself) I am now going to launch into the business of the post for morning!

Feel free to wrap up your evenings in your early posts!

I would also like to add that a weather report will be given during my morning posts outlining how the day will shape up, this is to stop any confussion on the matter if anyone has a problem with the days weather for a reason feel free to PM me and ask for a change!))

It was a bright morning as a lazy sun rose slowly on the new day, spring was in the air, daffodils and other seasonal blooms were showing their heads, Edouard rose and dressed earlier than usual, he was dressed even finer than usual in bright whites and rich golds. This morning he would take the platform in front of his courtiers alone, the Prince would not be joining him today on Edouards insturction, delievered by his manservant, Alfred, the note suggested that he had some changes to make and wanted to give them a more personal touch.

He stood there looking out at his nobles, the new and the old, friends of his wife, aquaintances of his daughter, and the ones he himself trusted.

"Good morning Loyal Courtiers." His tone was clear, important and intelligent, much like Edouard himself.

"I have many things to discuss with you, first of all Monsieur Benedetti informs me that refurbishments have finally finished and the new suite of offices have opened here at the Baroque court, and anyone wishing to obtain use of one of these offices should speak to him," Edouard sighed gently good news was always a good way to begin the day.

"Next I would like to make you aware of the presense of my wifes paternal uncle at our court. He shall be her representative here until further notice," he indicated to Larkin with one hand.

"I would also like to bequeath two honours to two Baronesses," he indicated for the two women to walk on stage.

"Please greet Comtesse Isabella Devine and Comtesse Mercy Venn both of these women have been promoted due to excelelnt services to their Country, Court, and King." Polite applause was recieved for the two women, who stood beaming upon the platform until Edouard nodded to convey they should step down.

"In other news two more social rooms have been added to the court on the upper floor, these however are limited access, Access to the Rotherham rooms is a sign of my trust and access to the de Mollier offices is a sign of my highest esteem." He paused and inhaled deeply. "I would therefore like to grant access to these rooms to the following courtiers."

"Duc d'Lorraine please make use of the Rotherham rooms and the de Mollier offices as you so wish, your loyalty is much appreciated."

"Family is important at this time even more so than usual and so the Prince and Baron Larkin d'Marius are both to be granted access to the Rotherham rooms as will our new Comtesse Mercy Venn for her loyalty and friendship to the Queen."

"With that my business is finished, I shall only make you aware of the iminent arrival of an esteemed guest from Spain, Elena Sánchez de Suárez y Torre treat her well and show her the true colours of the Baroque court. And so I bid you good day and ask that you seek to enjoy whatever endeavours you take part in."

((As I did not ask for suggestions before making this post I ask each of you Seiza and FurryPanda to invite one person to join you in the room to which you have the power to grant access (I would request it is a person whom has not had any access already granted today, but it IS your choice) after a person has been admitted to each then it will have to be done via suggestions to the King.))

Marie-Elisabeth : Her Rooms
 

The previous night had proved to be one of the most boring and depressing Marie-Elisabeth had had in a long time. She had been seated at dinner between a man that had to be even older than Charles would have been if he were still alive and another who was easily four times her weight and appeared to be allergic to soap. The only time she could remember a more boring dinner was when Charles’ family had come over and she was forced to be seated between his two ridiculously boring brothers Chadwick and Chauncey.

She had escaped from the dining room as soon as politeness had allowed and hurried back to her suite to go to bed. She couldn’t stand another minute of the awful company and going to sleep was better than sitting around and feeling suffocated.

The next day dawn had come and gone hours beforehand, and Marie-Elisabeth had yet to leave her rooms. And she didn’t have plans to anytime soon. She had missed the morning announcements but she just didn’t feel up to getting out of bed. She felt completely miserable and was still curled up inside the covers, with the drapes pulled shut tightly around her to prevent the sun from coming inside. Her depressive state of mind hadn’t abated with the dismissal of the rainy weather, which reminded her of so many unfortunate things. She had spent most of the night having dreams about her father’s death, which had the obvious effect on her.

Marie-Elisabeth had been so young when he passed away, and she had been so attached to him it had devastated her perhaps more than any of her other siblings when he died. As the youngest, and arguably prettiest, girl she had been her father’s well acknowledged favourite.

Francis de Normandie wasn’t one for the running of the household and preferred to leave such duties to his formidable wife who was more than happy to take the reigns. So he would often be found being lead around somewhere by his tiniest daughter, or out horseback riding with her sitting in his lap. There hadn’t been anything Marie-Elisabeth had ever asked him for that he hadn’t granted her and she had genuinely adored him in return. It got to the point that if anyone ever came to the family’s residence looking for him, that whoever they asked would just say “Just look for little Lisabeth and you’ll find him”. After he died she had refused to speak to anyone for weeks and just sat silently holding onto the small lapdog he had given her.

With thoughts like that swirling around in her mind, Marie-Elisabeth was perfectly content to stay in bed and be miserable as long as was possible. But her solitude was soon broken by the timid voice of her maid. “Madame, are you awake”.

“No” she muttered, pulling the blankets up over her disorganized mess of long blonde hair “Please leave me be”. “But you have a note Madame, and there’s a rather fancy seal on it, so it looks rather important”. Marie-Elisabeth sighed and pulled the blankets off of her head, shifting on the bed to stick a night gowned arm out from the curtains. “Give it here then” she said, as the letter was placed in her hand which darted back inside the curtains.

She pushed herself up into a sitting position and cracked open the seal on the note, seeing that it did indeed look important.

Dear Comtesse de Valois

If this morning does not find you otherwise engaged, would you do me the honor of granting me a moment of your company? Perhaps over morning tea in your suite? We never did get to finish our theological discussion the other day...

Cordialement à vous,
César de la Valliére

If it had been yesterday morning that she had gotten the note, she probably would have been more thrilled and excited about it. But given her current state of mind all she could think was. “Wonderful, his wife’s probably managed to convince him not to talk to me ever again and he’s trying to find a polite way to tell me to leave him alone”. She sighed and figured it probably was time for her to get out of bed; she’d just have to ignore feeling miserable and hope her headache went away.

“Fetch me my writing materials, I need to write something back” she called, folding the note back up “And get my things ready, it’s about time I got up”.

She sighed and yanked the bed curtains back before sliding out of bed. Her nightgown pooled around her feet as she stretched and her maid Jeanne approached her with a curtsey. “What dress would you like me to fetch for you Madame” she asked “Perhaps the pink one with that pretty trim? It always looks lovely”.

“No, I don’t want that one” Marie-Elisabeth replied, lowering her arms and walking over to her vanity, placing the note down on it “I’ll have the white gown , with the fur”. “The higher necked one, with the lace round the throat Madame?” questioned Jeanne. “Yes, I don’t have to be in the mood for fancy things all the time” she snapped and the maid curtseyed and hurried out.

While she was gone, Marie-Elisabeth pulled her necklace out and fastened it around her neck, saying a silent good morning to her son. The maid came back quickly and it managed not to take very long for Marie-Elisabeth to get dressed. This was mostly due to the simplicity of the gown she had chosen. For her hair she decided to do something just as simple. She had no desire to sit there for another hour and have her hair curled, and so it was simply pulled back off her face with a black silk ribbon .

Thus finished with her toilette and dressing, she asked the maid to arrange for morning tea to be sent to her rooms. After slipping her feet into a pair of shoes, she sat back down to write a quick note in response. “May as well get this over with now” she thought, as she began to write.

Dear Marquis de Mont-de-Marsan,

I am not otherwise engaged this morning, so I would love to see you for tea. I have felt rather under the weather this morning, so it would be nice to have someone inform me of what has happened in my absence. I shall await you here.

Cordialement à vous,
Marie-Elisabeth de Valois

Finished with her note, she sealed it up and handed it to another maid to have it sent off. She could hear the rattling of china in the other room that told her that the tea she requested had arrived. She stood up and walked into the other room, settling herself down on one of the chairs to pour herself a cup of tea and wait.




(((OOC: I’m going to sort of go by the type of rooms show in Marie-Antoinette. There’s the bedroom part where ME actually sleeps, gets dressed etc, and then there’s the other more public room, like where Marie-Antoinette was always meeting with Count Mercy. That’s the one I mean Marie-Elisabeth in right now)))

((You know what, I don't think I can handle this anymore either. I have exams to revise for and a funeral to deal with and I made a mistake accepting this position, so i shall leave it to you, the remaining courtiers to decide whether you want this rolplay to continue or not and shall do whatever i can to aid a transition to yet another roleplay host, or to give this thread a fitting good bye. I hate to say it but i think I was right in what i said to shenan weeks ago, I do need to leave S2C.))

Okay, I just wanted to say that, everyhing else notwithstanding, I think that people have invested a lot of time and creativity into what is one of the best written RPs on this board and to make sure it doesn't perish I am willing to offer my help in keeping it alive.

Okay, let's all just take a moment to breathe. I agree with Ghanima, this is probably one of the best written RPs - if not the best - on S2C, I don't want to see it perish over this.
Fay, it really isn't fair to keep Mercy so protected. She's a courtier, she's a step down from Octavien and she really should take that into account. I mean, fair enough, she has tabs on him, but when it comes down to it, she does have to act like a courtier (she doesn't know she's protected). I think that was the main problem here, right?
When it comes down to it, guys, this is an awesome RP, I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to see it live. Let's just sort it out, we can do this.

((This RP does not have to close, but Mercy has finished her time, I am not capable of this position and leading my life is a litle to complex, i have exams, my grandfather has offcially announced he is "waiting to die" and I have a funeral friday so what ever you need to do as a collective to keep this thread alive I will paly along with but Mercy will be returning with her sister to England and that will be her, and my end.))

I'm glad your staying, i have a feeling your presense will keep this roleplay ticking over.

But yes I am leaving, I feel the people in my life need and deserve my attention, so if you would like to agree on a new host and provide me with a message detailing anything I can do to help transtition I will comply whole-heartedly.

César & Octavien
 

The Marquis de Mont-de-Marsan, most of his friends and acquaintances had learned, was in many ways unlike most others. Sleeping peacefully when most were hurrying off to mass, encouraging his daughters' adventurous streaks when most would have reprimanded their own that little girls should not be running about and dirtying their pretty dresses, and subtly leering when most were trying their darndest to keep their dislike carefully hidden. He spoke his mind, sometimes with the kind of finespun edge that would leave many wondering if they had just been complimented or insulted, and sometimes he would be downright blunt, almost cruelly so.

So then, to most that knew him it would come as no surprise that instead of feeling comfortably exhausted by an eventful day, or even tired, César could be no further from wanting to go to bed, once he and Joséphine returned to their suite during the early, early morning hours. The evening of good company, tolerable music, good food, and, not to be forgotten, good wine, had delivered him into a creative flow, a rush of energy that refused to let the thought of unwinding even enter his mind. And much like the past night, who was once again made to suffer the consequences of his inability to fall asleep, if not poor Joséphine. César bombarded her with this one idea, one out of quite a few, that had presented itself to him during the course of the evening, but had had to remain unspoken until he was alone with his wife, as it had been for her ears only. She had seemed rather unimpressed at first, but eventually, as he explained himself further and better than he had apparently managed to the previous night, she seemed to warm up to the idea, and the two ended up spending a little while discussing and planning.

Before long, however, Joséphine could no longer fend off her exhaustion, and she drifted off to sleep, guided into a blissfull state by her husband's absent-minded stroking of her hair. César himself, on the other, had still been wide awake, and even moved on to another plan that had formed in his head the other day, and even been partly put into motion. His thoughts now, concerned the other part of that plan, for which he had just been awaiting the right moment. Now, it would seem that moment would occur the next morning.
Which left preparations to be made.

Leaving the bed as carefully as possible in order to not wake up Joséphine, for more reasons than just being considerate, he had quietly made his way over to the desk, and sat down to compose a little note. A little note that, as soon as he heard footsteps in the hallway outside the suite, signalling that the servants were now up and about, he had snuck out of the room to hand to one of them, instructing them to deliver it to a certain young Comtesse, once it was no longer offensively early in the morning for such a delivery to be made. He had then halted another servant, a middleaged man that seemed like the fairly trustworthy type, and set him on another mission with another set of instructions; those of not returning to the de la Valliére suite to deliver what he had been sent to fetch, until Joséphine had left to go outside.

With that done, most pieces of the chessboard had been moved into position. Only one remained; Octavien.
Knowing his friend had a tendency to rise with the sun - or, during winter, long before - César set out to track him down, and soon found him, much to his satisfaction, in his suite, just about to have breakfast. Ah, such perfect timing it was, for just like any good friend, he invited César, who at this point was starving once again, to join him.

It wasn't until about an hour later, that the two young men felt they were properly sated, and César suggested that they'd go for a stroll in the Palace gardens. He had only seen a glimpse of them when arriving, for even though he had partly ventured through them during his first encounter with Comtesse de Valois, he had been too... preoccupied to pay much attention to the surroundings. And besides, the weather was warming up, and there was spring in the air; the perfect time for admiring the beauty of such a magnificent garden.

Though no sooner had they exited the Palace, and started on their walk along one of the paths, than Octavien noticed his friend slowing down, his attention caught by something up ahead. Curious to see what it was, Octavien himself turned his head to look, and found that what had caused César's slowing pace, and eventual halt, appeared to be... Joséphine.
At first, he found it incredibly odd, that César would slow down his stride rather than to speed it up, in order to catch up with his wife.
But, one look at César's face would prove enough to turn initial puzzlement into sudden realization, helped along nicely by the words that were soon to follow;

"Octavien", César said, and turned his gaze from the beautiful brunette to the Prince instead. "I need a favor."

Having heard the same words a few times before, accompanied by that very same look in the Marquis' eyes, as well as knowing there was another young lady in court that had managed to spark his interest, Octavien instantly knew what he was going to say next, and started protesting even before César had the chance to utter the first syllable.

"César...", he said, his voice leaving little doubt that he did not approve of what his friends had in mind.

Still, César pretended not to hear. As always, when someone tried to talk him out of something he had every intention of going through with.

"Keep her occupied, just for a while? Please?"

Then, without giving Octavien the chance to answer and object any further, he continued, while giving his shoulder a quick, friendly pat.

"Excellent."

And with that, he quickly turned and headed back towards the Palace entrance, leaving Octavien to softly call out another protest, in a vain attempt to stop him, and at the same time, keep Joséphine from hearing it. Only one of those things succeeded. César just kept going, and when turning back with a deep, frustrated sigh at being left to serve as a diversion while César went off to do something Octavien really didn't condone, the Prince found that Joséphine too had disappeared from his sight.
Splendid. And ironic. He was made to chase after César's wife, while César himself was chasing after another woman.

"Great", he muttered to himself, as he started following the path once again, walking slightly faster than earlier, so that when he reached the spot where he had last seen Joséphine, she wouldn't have had time to disappear behind another corner or a hedge.


In the meantime, César quickly made his way back to the de la Valliére suite and was pleased to find that both servants from earlier this morning, had completed their tasks. On the desk, a small white box was waiting, and next to it sat a response note from Marie-Elisabeth, declaring that the Marquis was indeed welcome to stop by her suite for tea; words that drew a rather satisfied smile from the young man's lips. He simply loved when things were going his way.

The small, flat box tucked safely into one of the inner pockets of his flatteringly snug frock coat, he wasted no time returning to the hallways. Destination; la suite de Comtesse de Valois. Though once there, he retrieved the small box once again before giving a firm knock on the door, after which he placed his hands gingerly and casually behind his back while waiting, intentionally keeping the small box from being spotted.



(((ooc: Sorry, kind of sped through those last parts, but I felt it was getting rather long. )))

Marie-Elisabeth et César : Her Rooms
 

Tea was, according to the English, the solution for everything and anything that ailed you. Not that Marie-Elisabeth would ever admit to knowing any English sayings or putting any stock in anything that came out on an English mouth for that matter. But she would admit that tea had a remarkable tendency to get rid of headaches. Hers had all but disappeared, but had unfortunately left the less than pleasant mood behind.

When Marie-Elisabeth was in a mood it was difficult to pull her out of it. Sitting around while waiting for César to arrive and contemplating the, at least in her frame of mind, awkward conversation that was about to follow didn’t do much to improve it. In fact it had quite the opposite effect of making it worse.

She sighed and reached across the table to add another small spoonful of sugar to her teacup when her locket swung out from under the lace at her throat. She put the spoon back down and sat back up in the chair with the locket in her hand. “Oh chou d’amour” she thought, smiling and biting her lip to prevent any tears from falling “I don’t know why I ever left you sometimes. If I didn’t know better I’d just send for you and get you right here beside me”.

A knock at the door startled her slightly, and she quickly tucked the locket back under the lacy neckline of her gown. “Here we go” she thought, taking a deep breath as the murmured sound of voices could be heard coming from the door Jeanne had gone to answer. Said maid came into view a few moments later, curtseying in front of her. “The Marquis de Mont-de-Marsan to see you Madame” she said, rising from her curtsey and moving aside to allow César room to pass through.


(((OOC: HAHAHAHA, I can just picture Cesar grinning like he does and Octavien shaking his head at him. *resists urge to contemplate him shaking a finger at him or I might spit my drink all over my keyboard* I’m getting a strong feeling it’s not the first time the poor guy’s had to cover for Cesar and be on Josephine detail :P)))

César & Marie-Elisabeth - de Valois suite
 

While waiting in the hallway for one of the Comtesse's servants to open the door, César was casually looking around, observing the paintings on the wall, the statue in one of the corners as well as the armor in another, and also the names on the plaques next to the other nearby doors. Much like the Palace Gardens, he had been there before, but with his attention on more important and interesting things to notice such details.
Now, however, he was free to notice that one of Marie-Elisabeth's neighbours was none other than Octavien's new 'friend', the charming Isabella Devine; formerly Baroness, now Comtesse, according to the one of Octavien's servants that had filled them in on this morning's announcement, which neither of them had attended.
Now wasn't that interesting? A new arrival at court, gone from Baroness to Comtesse in the blink of an eye, after befriending the Prince... César smirked slightly to himself. Perhaps octavien had learned a thing or two from him after all.

Though it was a smirk that was short-lived, as when his gaze fell on the plaque next to the door of Marie-Elisabeth's other neighbour, it slowly faded away. Mercy Venn. Another Baroness just made Comtesse. But unlike Comtesse Devine, there was not even the slightest possibility that this was the work of Octavien. César could tell just by the frown that stole across the young Prince's face when her name had been mentioned, that he was no great admirerer of hers. Which could only mean she had actually managed to anger him somehow. Not an easy task, considering Octavien's rather amiable nature, always with a smile for everyone. Though it would seem that was a quality that had undergone some changes lately, as those bright smiles were somewhat more of a rarity here at court than they had been at home. But, César had yet to find out just what it was Comtesse Venn had done, as Octavien had merely dismissed it with a comment along the lines of "There will always be people that when offered honey, are capable of offering only vinegar in return". What he had told César though, was to watch himself around 'that woman', for she was known to run her mouth and put her nose where it certainly did not belong.
And she lived right next to Marie-Elisabeth. Wonderful...
Then again, César had never lacked imagination when it came to pursuing his interests, away from prying eyes. Comtesse Venn was a problem that could be easily solved.

With that, the faint smirk returned to his lips, just as the doors finally opened. Judging by the way the maid stepped aside without asking his business but instead merely greeting him, he was expected. Yet he still lingered just inside the doors, just long enough for the maid to return to the salon and properly announce his arrival. Only then did he follow.

Finding Marie-Elisabeth seated by a small table, looking surprisingly demure compared to how he was used to seeing her - wearing a white and rather modest creation instead of one similar to the more lavish ones he had seen before, and a somewhat serious expression, instead of that mischievous smirk of hers - he greeted her with a faint smile, and a bow.

"Comtesse de Valois", he said, and then straightened his back. "Thank you for recieving me, and on such short notice. It is very kind of you to indulge a man of such impetuous behaviour."

Marie-Elisabeth & César - Her rooms
 

Marie-Elisabeth was exceedingly good at being pleasant to everyone and anyone regardless of the situation. That is if she chose to be. The only exception would be anyone English but she had thankfully not yet had the misfortune of having to be in any English person’s company. She even managed to be polite to her husband’s brothers when they came to visit, and their idea of good conversation was talking about the makes and models of various guns or discussing how sick they had been last week.

So it certainly was not difficult at all to be pleasant to a person whom she at least knew was interesting and capable of decent conversation. No it certainly wouldn’t be hard, which she supposed would help her get it over with faster. “It’s perfectly alright, I don’t mind in the slightest” she said, smiling and putting her teacup down, turning over to where César now stood “I would have had to go out and look for someone to tell me what has happened this morning anyway, due to being somewhat under the weather earlier”.

She looked from side to side, noticing that Jeanne had politely made herself scarce, and continued. “And to be honest, one of my neighbours has rather a tendency to be in the business of others and the other is an annoyingly pretentious little thing I’d prefer not to engage in conversation again any time soon if I can help it. I'd much prefer the current company”.

She laughed slightly and indicated the other chair next to her. “Please do sit down Marquis” she said, picking up the teapot. She poured a second cup and topped up her own half full one, all the while thinking to herself "So far, so good".





(((OOC: Seriously, my ancestors are beating me with sticks for all this English bashing! Well my English ones. The French ones and probably just nodding their heads and agreeing with me LOL And as to Charles’ brothers, they’re like the kind of guys that live in their mom’s basement till they’re 40 :P)))

César & Marie-Elisabeth - la suite de Valois
 

While the look claiming the pretty and currently beautifully framed features of Marie-Elisabeh's face upon César's entrance into the room, had been rather serious and sombre, the smile he shot her during his greeting seemed to have the desired effect; it thawed them from their somewhat rigid state, and granted him a soft one in return. Not her usual one, with the hint of a devil's grin tugging at those invitingly plush lips, the one that made him feel that the two of them connected on a level much more profound than what appeared on the surface. But it was still pleasant nonetheless. Although by the looks of it, it would indeed seem that she wasn't really up to par, quite possibly because she had been feeling a bit under the weather, like her response note had suggested, as well as the reply she offered him now, along with yet another hint that she desired to know what she had missed.

And César was only too happy to accomodate such a pretty, young thing as her. Especielly when she, by her own admission, seemed to enjoy his company as much as he enjoyed hers.

"Please do sit down Marquis", she said, indicating one of the nearby chairs, and then went on to actually pour him a cup of tea.

Now, while she may or may not be perfectly aware that tea and the interrupted 'theological discussion' had only been excuses on César's part, they did serve as a good place to start, and so with a slight bow of his neck, César accepted the offered seat, though not without first bestowing a gentle but proper kiss upon her delicate knuckles.

"Thank you", he said as he sat down.

In doing so, he had no other choice than to place the little box on the table, next to his cup, as her comment required an answer before he could change the subject to the contents of the box, and he could no longer keep it hidden behind his back without coming across as acting rather strange.

"I regret to say that I do not believe I am the one to ask, as yesterday my presence among the other courtiers was rather limited. Certain circumstances prevented me from leaving my room until around noon, and then me and my wife spent most of the afternoon in one of the Salons. I can't recall anything of much importance happening there, except for a recital of one of the Prince's compositions. Turned out to be quite the success, it did."

There he paused for a moment, deciding that while he was very proud of Joséphine's performance, this was hardly the right time to emphasize his wife's talents, or even her existance.

"And then for the evening I simply was not here at all, as the Prince decided to drag us off to the Opera", he concluded his report of yesterday's events, before moving on to this morning's announcements, as he assumed by Marie-Eisabeth's choice of words that just like him and Octavien, she had not attended. "I am better informed regarding the events of this morning, however. You'll be interested to know that both of the ladies of whom you spoke, have, for some reason or other, moved up in the world, as they have both been granted the title of Comtesse."

While he spoke, he had been slowly stirring his tea to allow the small pinch of sugar to dissolve, following the motions of the spoon with his eyes, but now let them return to her face, as he added;

"Though while they might now be your equals in name, I dare say they will never be your equals in beauty and charm."

He didn't give her much of a chance to reply, however, but instead continued once more, having decided that he did not wish to delay part of the reason for his visit any longer.

"Now", he said while putting the cup of tea down, untouched, and then pushed the small white box across the table surface, placing it right next to hers instead. "As you have not been feeling well recently, I feel that it is only my duty... nay, privilege, as a gentleman, to do what I can in order to make you feel better. Perhaps this will be a good start?"

Octavien and Joséphine - in a tree ;)
 

(((ooc: funheart? FurryPanda? Elektra? We're missing you guys. RP posts as well as feedback on our current situation. )))


Continuing down the path towards where he had last seen Joséphine, Octavien was still grumbling to himself, wondering how exactly it was that César managed so easily to get Octavien to cover for him, time after time. While Joséphine had only been the target of such diversions on one other occasion, when one of César's mistresses had defied his rule that she was not to attend any social gatherings at the Mont-de-Marsan estate, Octavien had several times been made to distract one mistress, while César courted another. Not that he had that many of them, and was rarely juggling several at a time, but women tended to resent seeing past lovers with new flames, and César's conquests did move in the same circles, so it was bound to happen. And when it did, who was left to try and keep everyone out of trouble?
Octavien. César's good-natured sap of a friend.
That's how he felt, at least, whenever these things happened, and he somehow ended up being the one expected to provide César with enough time and room to take care of whatever it was he set out to do. And, no matter how much he disliked César's various affairs, he couldn't help but to resign, and do what César asked (or didn't) of him. The two of them were like brothers, perhaps even more so than Octavien and Nicholas, his real brother, and he knew that there really wasn't anything malevolent in what César did. No ill will towards Joséphine, or anyone else. No bad intentions, or spiteful purposes. He simply figured that as a man, it was his privilege to seek a bit of extramarital fun, when the mood hit him. A notion handed down to him from his father, and frankly, not an uncommon one these days. Even among women.
Though it appeared that Joséphine was not one of them, and to be perfectly honest, Octavien thought it would kill César if she was to seek the arms of another. Hypocritical as it may be.

Finally reaching the small crossroad of paths where he had seen Joséphine stroll by, Octavien stopped and looked along the one she had been following, and then, as it was now completely empty, scanned the surrounding area, thinking maybe she had ventured away from the rugged and noisy gravel and onto the increasingly green grass.
But no. She was nowhere in sight.

Where had she gone off to? And how on earth had she managed to disappear so quickly? Between Octavien seeing her and reaching this spot, not that much time had actually passed. Far from as much as it would take for her to disappear behind one of the other hedges or cluster of bushes.

With a furrow of confusion forming between his eyebrows, Octavien started hesitantly down the path he had seen her following, turning his head in constant lookout for that set of chocolate curls bouncing around slender shoulders clad in purple. Surely she had to be around here somewhere? Skilled and elusive though they may be, women did not just vanish into thin air.
Though if there was ever a time to start wondering if perhaps it really was a well kept secret of theirs, Octavien figured this would have to be it. Either that, or he and César must have simply imagined seeing her in the first place. An absurd idea, yes, but then again, so was Joséphine simply disappearing like this.

The further he went down the narrow but well maintained path, the louder a voice in his head grew, protesting that there was no way Joséphine could have gone this far in that short period of time, and finally, he gave up and stopped, taking the famous one last look around that all humans seemed programmed to do, before slowly turning to start back the way he came.

But, as ever frolicsome fate would have, it was in that exact moment he heard a faint cry for help being carried over one of the nearby hedges, and he stopped again, unsure of whether it had been real, or if it had simply been his senses playing tricks on him. Again.
It had been a female voice, and... He'd be darned if it hadn't sounded just like her.

"Joséphine?"

He ventured a soft call, while once again moving along the path, in the direction from which the distressed cry for help had come. Rounding a cluster of high and closely placed bushes, what he saw made him stop dead in his tracks, and stare. First in confusion, and then in complete disbelief. Not too far from where he was standing, there was indeed Joséphine. Dangling precariously. In a tree.

"What in God's name...? Joséphine?"

That's when it suddenly dawned on him. She really was in trouble. No matter what the reason, she was clinging to a branch that didn't seem all too sturdy, about thirteen or fourteen feet from the ground, and looking as though she might slip and fall any moment. A fall in which, considering the height, she would risk getting seriously injured.

Unlike a few other courtiers that had been drawn towards the scene by her call for help, to Octavien, that left no time to stand around and simply gawk at her. Within seconds, he reached the tree, having freed himself of his frock coat in the process so that he would be able to move his arms freely, unrestrained by the inflexible fabric.

"Hang on", he said as he started his own ascent up the trunk, mostly as a way of trying to comfort her, as he was well aware that if she let go, it would hardly be by choice.

As a man, with the superior strength that came with the gender, and no layers upon layers of skirts to weigh him down, get in his way, or otherwise restrict his climb, it wasn't long until he could heave himself onto the same branch as Joséphine was clinging to, and then onto the next one only a couple of feet above it. Due to the uncertain state of the one she was on, he didn't want to add to the weight and possibly have it break, but instead decided to position himself just above her, in order to help her into a safe, seated position from there with one hand, while holding on to yet another sturdy branch with the other.

"Jo", he said calmly. "Give me your hand. Just reach back, and I've got you. Okay?"



(((ooc: *lol* Don't know if this makes any sense. I have a clear image of it in my head, but MAN it's hard to describe! I swear I will draw you all a picture if I have to. )))

Marie-Elisabeth et Cesar: Her rooms
 

Marie-Elisabeth had simply nodded her head at the mention of the events in the salon; having been there to witness it herself she was quite aware of what transpired there. “It was a lovely piece” she said while Cesar stirred his tea “I had no idea the Prince was so talented. Aside from robbing those others blind at cards, that was probably the highlight of the day for me”. She had shuddered slightly at the memory of her less than desirable dinner companions, making a mental note to simply have her meal in her suite were anything like that to happen again.

She was also starting to wonder why, as she had expected in her current frame of mind, he hadn’t just said he wasn’t going to be speaking to her much anymore. If fact she was starting to think it was quite possible that such an idea had just been the product of her unpleasant mood. That thought made her smile, but she was soon very hard pressed not to make a highly unpleasant face and groan upon receiving the news that her neighbours had moved up in the world.

“Wonderful” she thought, taking a sip of tea to hide the grimace she wanted to make "Now that insufferable little Baroness is only going to be even worse. I can’t believe she’s my equal now. Though is she could advance so quickly there’s no reason I couldn’t too. I can just imagine it now, my little Charles could be a Duc”.

Marie-Elisabeth smiled again but that quickly turned into her seemingly ever present smirk at the compliment. She had been expecting a completely different sort of visit from him and was really quite pleased to see that it wasn’t the case. She could already sense the mood she had been in dissipating, if not disappearing all together.

But the smirk turned into a quizzical look when the small white box was placed near her cup. She put her teacup down and picked the box up, shooting him another confused look before carefully opening it. Once she saw what was inside it, she couldn’t help her eyes widening in surprise. It was a beautiful bracelet made of pearls and gold. “My goodness, it’s so beautiful” she said finally, torn between looking up at him and staring back at the box “Thank you, I don’t quite know what to say”.

She held the box out and smiled up at Cesar, holding her other hand out. “Would you put it on for me?”



(((OOC: *snickers* Jo and the poor prince in the tree is a pretty dang amusing mental image I must admit Poor guy always having to run interference!

And DANG this took a long time to type up. But I wanted it done before I go off to work so I got it done )))

Hey guys :howdy:

Don't worry I'm not announcing my return, I said I'm leaving and I shall go through with that, but I'd first of all like to say that this is not actually because of certain negative feelings you have towards me or Mercy, that may have added to it, but my life has severly changed as of recent, and I owe the people in it my time and attention and I know that means I would neglect you all.

My final word on Mercy is that she hasn't changed, she was always a self important so-in-so she was when Eternal started the Roleplay she was under Shenan and she was right up until the end, Octavien she felt was no more dangerous than the Duchesse Marie, and if Mercy wanted to believe that then it was technically my descision. I shall have a leaving post for her and Charmaine to tie up her character more neatly than her vanishing without a trace, which really wouldn't suit such a loud character... unless Octavien did do away with her... but that would still leave Charmaine, trust me I did concider having her hung for treason, which I felt in a way would be the fitting end.

Ayway the main point of this post is like I said if there is anything you need from me I am willing to do it to make your transition easier, I only ask that you PM me in the next 3 to 4 days with that stuff, because after that I can't even promise that I will be able to check (not me being difficult just circumstances changing meaning I physically may not be able to access the internet for a little while.)

Anywho, some much lamented thank you's will be in Mercy's leaving post.

Fayreview

César & Marie-Elisabeth - la suite de Valois
 

(((ooc: We're still not sure, but I think we may have to start a new one, as a GM does need control of the initial posts, what with keeping character lists and vital info etc up to date. But, as we have still to determine who'll take over, it's too early to say anything at all for sure at this point.
Glad to know you're still with us, btw.)))


Always having had a certain luck with women, whether it be in pursuing them with the intention of eventually bedding them, or simply flirting for the sake of flirting itself, César tended to think rather highly of himself and his talent for courting the fairer sex. He had, over the years, come to notice how a minor change in women's behaviour would often occur when he was around, robbing their eyes of their usual boredom and detachement, and sprinkling them with life and interest instead; sometimes cool, sometimes not, depending on how experienced they were, and in what manner they had been brought up. Like the confident young man he was, he accredited such reactions to none other than himself, and more often than not, he was probably right.

And, it just might be that this was one such time, where a young lady's demeanor changed from somewhat rigid to pleasantly relaxed and amiable, all because of him. At least, that's how he chose to interpret things when that initial and somewhat glum look slowly faded away from Marie-Elisabeth's face, and that smirk he enjoyed to much returned to her lips. Add to that her reaction upon finding a beautiful (and rather expensive) bracelet of gold and pearls - wide-eyed and speechless awe - and there was nothing to suggest the lightening of her mood had been the work of anyone or anything other than César.

"My goodness, it’s so beautiful", she breathed, seeming as though she had a hard time tearing her eyes from the delicate piece of jewelry, which only went on to deepen César's sense of satisfaction, and assure him that placing such an order with the court jeweller, while it might've have been a rather rash thing to do, had been a good move.

During every single one of their encounters, Marie-Elisabeth had reached for the gold locket around her neck, and for that reason, as well as the location of said locket, his attention had kept being drawn towards it. And he had decided that such a necklace, which was obviously very dear to the Comtesse, required something to match, and thus bring out it's beauty. As well as her own beauty, for that matter. He couldn't help but to have noticed how the metal of the necklace had brought out the golden tinge of her hair, and how the pearls complimented the glow of her pale skin. It was for women like her that the combination of gold and pearls as jewelry had been created in the first place.

"Thank you, I don’t quite know what to say", Marie-Elisabeth added, as most do when they find themselves at a sudden lack of words, and then held out both the box and her arm. "Would you put it on for me?"

The bright smile on her lips drew an amused one from César, still laced with satisfaction of his good judgement, and he inclined his head ever so slightly, as if to indicate that he would be most honored to help.

"Of course", he said, and picked up the bracelet before putting the small box away to the side.

With nimble fingers, he then carefully fastened the bracelet around her delicate wrist, making sure to brush his fingertips gently against that area of sensitive skin whenever given the chance. Once he was done, he took his time withdrawing, and instead allowed his hand to remain resting on the cool table surface, with hers in a grip so gentle that she could easily slide it away from him, should she want to, without having to actually free herself.
It was time to find out just how much she enjoyed his company, and how ready she was for things to progress. And, if so, what part she herself intended to play in order for them to do so.

"I noticed your necklace", he said, with only a faint but undeniably sly undercurrent in his voice, hinting at how he was very well aware of her efforts to guide his gaze during their very first encounter, and when he continued, it took on an increasingly ambiguous tone; "And I couldn't help but feel that such a beautiful thing deserves a match. A partner, if you will, to further bring out it's beauty."

((Yes I have, but after the four days I shall disable them again, I don't really want to clutter the site with useless PMs saved for an inactive account.

And that's not a problem I shall hold on for as long as possible here,and I know this is a terrible thing to say, but I actually thought that was the problem... but I don't wannna drag it back up either.

But live long and fly high Atropa. Your a wonderful Roleplayer even if we don't see eye to eye.))

Roseline ;; [Palace Gardens]
 

I can so see them up in that tree - and don't worry, your descriptive skills are amazing I got it perfectly :P



Roseline woke late. She had fallen out of the early rising routine she needed in Court because of the late rises in the country. She had planned on an early night as she was already tired from travelling but Louisa had seen that out of the window, and the two women spent most the night talking of all that Roseline had missed during her time away from Court, which the most obvious of which was the Queens departure from the Palace. Roseline had arrive back too late to share the shock of the news with any of the courtiers but she could share it with Louisa and for that reason Roseline doted on the young woman. The pair had become good friends, which Roseline could only see as a bonus – the two constantly talked over the day’s events and often spent evenings together where Louisa would tell Roseline of all the gossip going on in the Court, which of course Roseline often joined in on – what woman wouldn’t?

A small smile danced over Roseline’s pale features at the thought, and forced herself into a sitting position. A small shaft of light spilling into the room through a gap in the curtains reminded Roseline of her already late rising and she reluctantly released herself from the warm cocoon that was her bed. She crossed to the curtained windows almost immediately after forcing herself up and opened the heavy curtains wide, filling the room with light. The day was a glorious spring day and already the sun was shining. It was a welcome change from the heavy rain that Roseline had arrived in yesterday, and after only mere moments of gazing longingly at the Palace grounds, Louisa bustled in, a warm smile lighting up her face.

“Bon Matin, Baroness.” She said warmly, “It is good to have you back.” Roseline turned to face the young woman, her own features mirroring the happy expression on her maid’s.

“It is good to be back, Louisa – I am sorry I have risen so late.” Roseline said, her thoughts turning on the strange change of weather but determined to enjoy it while it was here.

“It is no problem Madame.” She said, and paused carefully, allowing Roseline a moment to give her a gentle, querying look, “You will still be in your mourning dress, Madame?” Roseline nodded, the small smile that was gracing her lips disappearing as Louisa bowed out of the room. Of course, Roseline’s mood was far too good for her to seem in mourning, but her family at home treated her almost the same as many of the courtiers because of her beginnings, and so she had never felt as close to them as she could have. It was for that reason only that she couldn’t feel too bereaved, and had come back to Court so soon after the funeral. She had surprised herself in going back at all – which of course could be seen as the most insensitive thing possible to think at all but it demonstrated how much she felt apart from them.

The only real reason she returned was to see her best childhood friend, Kaitlin, who had now settled down with a husband and had two gorgeous boys. They had spent the days following the funeral catching up on life, and Roseline was badgered by her only remaining sister to do the same as Kaitlin and settle down. Roseline though felt no need to tie herself down – she wasn’t born inside the ‘rules’ of society and so felt no need to follow the customary early marriage yet.

Louisa’s return into the room cut short Roseline’s rambling thoughts though and soon after Roseline was dressed in a simple yet elegant black dress and her hair put up in a simple up-do. She quickly exited her room and began walking down towards the Palace Gardens. Unbelievably, she had forgotten completely about her breakfast with Baroness Venn, but now it was much too late, and she would have to hope to see the older woman around the Palace to apologise.

Finally escaping out into the cool air and warm sun, Roseline allowed a quick smile to flicker over her features before beginning a slow saunter across the gorgeous grounds.

Marie-Elisabeth et Cesar: Her rooms
 

Marie-Elisabeth was, for more than one reason, seriously beginning to regret what she had worn this morning. The first being it no longer suited her mood at all, being far to plain and boring. The depressing mood she had been in had decidedly vanished and she had already made herself a mental note to change and re do her hair before leaving her suite. The second being that, with such a high and lacy collar, along with such long sleeves, it made it difficult to see her jewelry. Particularly the beautiful new piece she had just received. Thirdly, the fur-trimmed dress was starting to get uncomfortably warm, due in no small part to the proximity of the man sitting next to her.

She was exceedingly tempted to reach up and start fiddling with her necklace, which if course she tended to do when she needed to think, but couldn’t as that would mean removing her hand from its’ current position. And she really didn’t want to do so.

When Marie-Elisabeth had gotten up that morning, she had no idea that this was how her morning was going to end up. When she had gotten the note from César that morning, she had assumed that their amusing little game was going to be over. But now she could clearly see that wouldn’t be the case. No the game was still going on and becoming more and more serious every moment. It was a continuous test of her ability to keep her reactions under control, which was becoming increasingly difficult with César’s proximity to her and his hand covering hers. And she wasn’t even going to bother trying to control the direction her mind was going in. That was an exercise in futility if she ever saw one.

"I noticed your necklace", she heard César say and her head snapped back to the situation at hand "And I couldn't help but feel that such a beautiful thing deserves a match. A partner, if you will, to further bring out it's beauty."“I can certainly see that you did” she replied, looking down at her hand“ It’s very beautiful”. She then looked back up, the smirk still on her face.

“You know something else?” she said, full well knowing what she was about to say, “We still haven’t finished that discussion we were having the other day. Remember the one about horseback riding? You did mention that in your note after all. I seem to recall someone offering to help me practise”.




(((OOC: Sorry that took so long, got kinda stuck for a while. *continues giggling about Jo and the prince in a tree*)))

Bella - Devine Suite // Bella and Rosaline - Palace Gardens
 

(((OOC: Prince and Marquise in a tree!
Sorry about the delay! )))

Thankfully, Bella was not one of those people who needed extensive work to look presentable in the mornings. In fact, Bella, within minutes of just having woken up, usually looked far more than presentable. She was thankful for that indeed as she overslept following the late night dinner in Octavien’s suite. As privileged as she felt for that experience, Bella did not want to miss the morning announcements, especially when it included something important for her.

Therefore, it made sense when she rushed her maid Grace during her morning duties of having her dressed and styled. Although, whether it made sense to Grace was a different story. She’d requested her maroon gown with a small pearl necklace and claimed she’d do her hair herself, leaving Grace wondering whether it was her ability that was in question.
“My lady,” she’d stuttered hesitantly. “Are you sure that’s all you want?”
“I’ll be fine, it’s alright,” Bella had waved her off with a laugh. “Thank you.”

Of course Bella made it in time; she would not have missed the morning announcement for the entire world. Being made a Comtesse through her own doing, that was Bella’s first tangible achievement and she wanted to relish every moment of it. It was to be a permanent feature, her new title, but Bella wanted to savour the moment that it all changed. She was entitled to that much.

Following that burst of excitement, she found herself in need of some relaxation. She thought back to the events of the previous night and decided she would definitely look forward to the company of Octavien, Joséphine and César again; Octavien, in particular. In return for his gracious act of exposing her to what she had so sorely missed, Bella resolved to return the favour somehow. Right now, however, she wished to simply take time off.

Therefore, armed with her favourite book of late, she’d stalked the gorgeous palace gardens, finally coming to a rest by an isolated bench, where she could steal moments away from the commotion that happened to be arising further ahead to lose herself in fiction. However, the morning air and the beauty of the gardens proved too distracting and Bella found her eyes wandering again.

Coursing the green lands, she saw another figure such as herself, apparently not part of the circus that was erupting nearby. A young blonde woman, noble, but someone she had met as yet. Or heard of, in fact. Bella waited until the other woman’s gaze fell upon her and released a slight, if not beckoning wave of hand with a welcoming smile to match.

Octavien and Joséphine, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I.... Okay, so not quite.
 

Had the situation unfolding infront of the eyes of about a dozen courtiers in the budding Palace Gardens not been so profoundly laced with a sense of imminent danger, it would have probably appeared quite comical. A beautiful young Marquise, a fair creature of purple and white, sprawled on a thick branch of a cherry tree, with the dark rugged bark as a cruel contrast to her soft and now scratched lily white skin. And the very Prince of the kingdom, a nobleman supposed to turn his nose up at the mere thought of dirtying himself or acquiring even the tiniest blemish to his skin through actual effort, scaling the tree to come to her rescue like some knight in shining armor right out of a fairytale.

It seemed a scenario so unbelievable it could not have sprung even from the minds of Molière or Desmarets themselves, and would surely be the cause of some rather loud and incessant buzzing as well as quite a few laughs in the court for some time to come. But at the moment, there was not one snicker or giggle to break the spell of astonishment and breathless agitation amongst the courtiers watching the scene unfold from the ground below. Only whispers and a gasp here and there as Joséphine slowly started her risky venture back towards the trunk, all the while with Octavien's hand hovering over her form, ready to grab onto whatever he could grasp, should she wobble or loose her own grip, and start to fall. Consequently, when their hands finally clasped one another, there came a loud and joint sigh of relief from the onlookers.
One which, despite it's indiscreet volume, was heard neither by Octavien or Joséphine, as they both sat staring at eachother's faces, Joséphine's flushing red with effort and embarrassment, and Octavien's marred by genuine concern; feelings that then slowly started to dissipate, as another sensation began to intrude, slowly sneaking into the air between them, and staining it with something they had both sworn to forget. For a moment, Octavien found himself unable to tear his gaze away from Joséphine's pale features, and the way loose curls were framing her face, adding to her beauty an air of something wild, and untamed, and suddenly, he became painfully aware of how firmly clasped their hands were, her skin burning red hot against his.

"Octavien...", she said as she pressed even closer to him for extra safety, her voice somewhat ragged in the immediate aftermath of her perilous stunt. "I am so sorry! My hat... was caught in the wind, but I did not wish to disturb anyone else, and decided to retrieve it myself... I know, it was a foolish thing to do. Thank you... thank you for helping me."

While she spoke, she motioned towards a cluster of twigs at the end of the branch, where her hat remained stuck, and Octavien managed to tear his eyes away from her long enough to glance in it's direction, actually noticing it for the first time. Until now, he had been so concerned with her well-being, that there had been no room in his mind for questions of why she was even where she was in the first place.
Though his gaze soon returned to her, and as their eyes locked, he realized that she was now looking at him much in the same way as he felt he had been looking at her, and still was; with breathless tension, and a new wave of red crashing over her cheeks as confirmation that the feeling stirring within him was a mutual one.
It lasted only for a few seconds, but when Joséphine finally opened her mouth to speak, it felt as though an eternity had passed.

"We should... get down from here."

It was a mere whisper, little more than an audible breath, but it managed to rouse Octavien from his slight trance, and after blinking a few times to clear his mind of her bedazing lure, he turned his head to look at the trunk, and try to figure out the best way to put them firmly and, above all, safely back on the ground. From where they were sitting, there was another lower and thicker branch protruding in a slightly different direction, but with a gap narrow enough from where they were for Joséphine to be able to fairly easily lower herself onto it's base, and then slide down the last few feet before he could grab her by the waist, and lower her the rest of the way himself.

Carefully freeing one hand, though not without placing hers firmly against the branch he was sitting on, so that she would still have something to hold on to, he began to point and explain their route down, and once Joséphine nodded in understanding and agreement, he gently freed his other hand, to start his own descent. In clothes that allowed him much more freedom of movement than hers, and, again, being male, it took him only seconds to move himself onto the bottom branch, and then lower himself from there, ending up swinging himself from it and landing on the ground with catlike grace. From there, he motioned for Joséphine to start her own way down, all the while ready to catch her, should she happen to slip and fall.
However, she handled herself with as much dignity she had left - which was an amount far larger than most would have in her situation - and soon enough, Octavien could reach up and grab her by the waist, and finally lower her to the ground.

But, as he did, as he felt her body slide down along his, with only the thin fabric of his shirt seperating his naked skin from her form and the touch of her hands resting gingerly on his shoulders, and then her face ending up mere inches from his own... It was as though the feeling from just a few minutes ago had only been an echo of what now returned full force to land a punch in his gut, so that for another fleeting moment, his breath caught in his throat, rendering him unable to do anything but gaze down at her face, and those rosey lips, that had once...

"He's bleeding!"

This time, it was not a soft whisper from those lips that pulled him out of his slight daze, but the sharp gasp from a nearby woman, and as he looked up, he found the audience of courtiers - whose presence he only noticed now - staring and pointing at his arm. Confused, he glanced down and found that, indeed, he was bleeding. It appeared that his 'heroic bravura' had caused the wound on his arm to open once again, and create the dramatic contrast only blood upon snowy white could accomplish. His concern for Joséphine and the adrenaline that had been pumping through his veins for the past couple of minutes had kept him from feeling the pain, and made him forget he was even hurt in the first place. But now, following in the footsteps of the visual, came the dull, throbbing ache of an open wound, and a slight frown to steal swiftly across his features.
Yet he said nothing, but simply turned back to Joséphine.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "Would you like for me to arrange for a carriage to take you back to the Palace, or would you prefer that we walk?"

She did look rather pale to him, and knowing how easily ladies tended to faint when put through an emotional ordeal, especially one as intense as this one, he really would prefer it if she allowed him to see to it that she returned to the Palace with a minimum of effort on her part. But, he wouldn't go as far as to refuse her to walk, or even suggest that maybe it would be for the best that she didn't. Joséphine was strong and proud, and he suspected such a suggestion would only offend her.

"I'll send a servant to fetch your hat", he added, just in case she was about to insist she would not leave without it.

César & Marie-Elisabeth - la suite de Valois
 

"I can certainly see that you did. It's very beautiful."

Whether the Comtesse was intentionally dodging his subtle insinuation, for the sake of their ever ongoing game, or if she was simply still too taken with the newly recieved jewlry on her arm to pick up on the tone in his voice, César could not tell. And it mattered little, for when she looked up from her gift to lock gazes with his again, he made sure that there was a certain twinkle in his eyes that was guaranteed to remove any and all doubt from her mind that while his first words of his last statement had been about the necklace, the 'beautiful thing' and it's 'match' of which he had spoken, had little to do with the bracelet, and far more to do with the Comtesse herself.

And, mission accomplished. The smirk that still held her inviting lips captive told him that her mind was travelling along much the same path as his own, and that not only had she registered the small challenge, but that she intended to rise to the occasion, once again.

"You know something else?" she said, sounding rather casual, and yet her voice held an to César unmistakable undertone of her usual level of mischief. "We still haven’t finished that discussion we were having the other day. Remember the one about horseback riding? You did mention that in your note after all. I seem to recall someone offering to help me practise."

The sly smile that appeared on César's lips at the sound of those words, was only just outdone by Marie-Elisabeth's own smirk. It would seem she was indeed ready to take things a little further, and even though the conversation he had referred to was not in truth the one about horseback riding, he was not about to correct her. For all he knew, it was an intentional mistake, meant to guide them onto the path she wished to go. And frankly, he had enjoyed discussing horseback riding more than he had enjoyed discussing theology.
Much, much more.

"Indeed I did", he said, while absent-mindedly (or so it would seem) allowing his fingertips to toy with hers, watching them at first, but then looking suggestively up at her from under the unruly strands of hair hanging slightly into his eyes. "Shall I take it you feel ready to get back in the saddle? Or would you prefer a slow ride along the countryside?"

An odd statement perhaps, as only one with a mind similar to César's would register the difference between the options given. But judging by how their previous conversations had played out, César didn't really doubt that his words were no mystery to Marie-Elisabeth.



(((ooc: Hope you get what he means, slytherin. But if I had him be too cryptic, PM me. )))

Marie-Elisabeth & César - Her rooms
 

Marie-Elisabeth had proven herself to be very good with words. It had started in her childhood, she had often been able to talk her tutors into writing her lessons for her and she would trace over them later. The talent had only gotten better as she had gotten older, and tended to be particularly effective on members of the opposite sex.

But that was when she had time to consider her words. Undistracted time where there weren’t a thousand other thought milling through her head. And most of the thoughts floating around in there right now were the sort that would earn her a week’s worth of Hail Marys and Our Fathers were a priest to hear them. And quite possibly a liberal sprinkling of holy water for good measure.

She was having a very hard time coming up with a response to his question in the first place, the primary reason being that César's hand on top of hers was beginning to get more distracting than she could handle at the moment, and the way he was looking at her didn’t help matters. There was also the fact that she simply didn’t know quite how to answer it. She knew how she would have liked to answer it, but didn’t quite think she could just yet.

Marie-Elisabeth gently pulled her hand out from underneath his reaching up to twirl a strand of hair around her finger. Normally she would have reached for her necklace, but as it was buried underneath her neckline she couldn’t without sticking her hand into her dress. And she wasn’t about to do that.

“I suppose” she said, trying to choose her words carefully “That I would have to say I would prefer the second of the two”. She let go of her hair and glanced briefly down at her wrist, then up at him again, before continuing. “As I did say before, while I did used to ride more often and would love to do so again, I’m ashamed to admit I’m a bit apprehensive about “getting back in the saddle” as you put it.”

She paused and looked down at her wrist again, keeping her gaze there as she finished speaking. “It’s just been so long that while I certainly remember how to do so I’m, again as I said the other day, somewhat out of practice”.





(((OOC: That made more sense in my head, I swear. If it's too confusing or anything, like you said last time Atropa, let me know!

I swear I didn’t imagine her doing air quotes when she said “get back in the saddle”. Nope, not at all…..*whistles innocently*And I mean (by the prayers thing) like if a priest were to hear it in a confession. I went to catholic school for 14 years, I may as well use all the knowledge: P


On a more relevant note, I’m going to be away from Friday to late on Sunday, as I’m going to be at an Anime Convention. Where I get to run around dressed like Rikku all day! *fangirly SQUEEEEEEEE*

Just wanted to give you guys a heads up so you don’t think I’m ignoring anyone or being inactive. :howdy: )))

(((ooc: *lol* Elena's gonna be a handful, and then some!)))


To say that César was surprised by Marie-Elisabeth's answer to his subtle dare, would be an overstatement. To say that he was not slightly disappointed; a lie. While he was more than used to the games women played, especially their way of playfully withdrawing when their pursuer advanced, it would have certainly made things... easier, if the nature of their relationship could have been established sometime soon. Preferrably now. It was an unusual situation, having his wife and another young lady in whom he was interested, in the same household, under the same roof, with hundreds of prying eyes all around. The keenest pair beloning to Marie-Elisabeth's very next door neighbour. Had they ventured a little bit further, he could have suggested other places and other times of day (or night) to meet, away from said prying eyes, and thus more easily prevented rumours from spreading, than he could in a situation such as this, where their encounters would be more or less public, and word would far more easily get back to Joséphine, and anyone else who might take an inconvenient interest.

But as long as Marie-Elisabeth wouldn't welcome him any further than to hold her hand - and now, as it seemed she had chosen the strategy of withdrawing, possibly not even that - such suggestions would not be made. Instead, he too would have to cool off and withdraw, as he couldn't afford to be careless and allow rumours to spread by increasing his efforts, like he might have, had they not all been living under the same roof. Couldn't afford it while others were around, at least. On a deserted country road, however?
Welllll... Maybe.
Mainly from now on it would be up to her to give the signal for when, or if, she was ready to take things further, as he had shown quite clearly that while she might be 'apprahensive' to do so at this point, he was not.

"One does not get back in practice if one does not practice, Comtesse", he said, mildly reproaching, and shot her a teasing glance.

Then he suddenly withdrew his hand, which had remained on the table surface even after she had withdrawn hers, and stood abruptly, leaving little time for her to even react to his words.

"But very well", he said. "A ride along the countryside it is then. Shall I wait outside, or would you rather we do it some other time?"

Marie-Elisabeth & César - Her rooms
 

It wasn’t very often in her life that Marie-Elisabeth would find herself at a loss for words. With the exception of the time following her father’s sudden demise, she was quite well known for her constant and lively chattering. Her mother had, when annoyed with her, insisted she would have been better off being born to a less affluent family so she could run off and become an actress.

“People would appreciate your nattering there Elisabeth” she would say, and Marie-Elisabeth would laugh and say “No maman, they would probably be upset with me for being so pretty and stealing all the applause, and throw me right back out from where I came”. And that would usually cause a faint smirk to appear in the usual impassive façade of Marie-Therese Normandie, and Marie-Elisabeth would be dismissed with a wave of her mother’s hand, often swearing she could hear the faintest laugh after she exited the room.

Yes she was usually a person who was very good with words, but it appeared now that her infamous talent was failing her. And miserably so. It seemed that what she wanted to say made so much more sense inside of her head than it did when she spoke it aloud. She had meant what she said; it wasn’t as though she didn’t want to continue the oh so interesting game that they were playing. On the contrary, she had been quite upset in the morning to think that the game had been over so suddenly and much relieved to find that it was not.

She didn’t have a great deal of time to process any more of her thoughts however as César abruptly stood up and made as if to leave. She silently swore in a most unladylike fashion, she had been married to a soldier after all so she knew more than a few colourfull phrases, and got up off of the chair she had been sitting in. “I’m quite aware that practice as you say is necessary” she said, unfortunately not having a great deal of time to consider her words “But that is precisely the point. There has been no real opportunity for me to do so in quite some time, and is it not a part of human nature to be reluctant about things we are less than certain of? No matter how much we may desire to do them".

Marie-Elisabeth wanted to give herself a mental smack on the head after that, she hadn’t quite intended for it to come out in such an abrupt way. She really had no idea where her sudden reluctance was coming from, and was currently experiencing a strong desire to go right back into bed and pull the curtains shut where no one could see her.



(((OOC: Oh yeah, they’re subtle all right. *snicker* Bout as subtle as a brick through a window. You should see them in game. I feel like Octavien because I'm always on distract Josephine detail.

And have I ever mentioned that Elena scares me for some reason? No idea why, probably because her sim looks so creepy :P)))

Roseline and Isabella // Palace Gardens.
 

Roseline’s thoughts were not distracted even by the curious crowd that seemed to be beginning to appear a short way across the gardens. She should probably be more interested in the crowd, and what could have drawn so many courtiers to one place. The courtiers of the palace, on the whole, rarely gathered in great groups unless there was likely to be something for them involved or it was an occasion that may cause a surge of gossip later on. The crowd now moving in slightly with more people attempting to see what was going on, was likely to have been caused by the second reason of the two. Courtiers tended to keep themselves to themselves, and although Roseline was hardly any different it didn’t stop her from recognising it in others, most came from privileged backgrounds, and large manors in the country and so were used to getting their own way. A little like an only child, being forced to share all their toys, courtiers are, for the most part, simply not used to being so insignificant in a household.

She carried on walking away from the cluster of courtiers and instead settled for a slow stroll in the opposite direction. She allowed her eyes to wander through the sun-lit gardens, and soon, though her eyes moved her mind was elsewhere. Her dark dress didn’t feel fitting at all to the weather, and though her thoughts were somewhat more sombre after Louisa’s inadvertent reminder to Roseline about the death, she was still in far too much of a good mood to seem in mourning. Her thoughts rested for a moment on this.

Why did she care so little for her family? And, could it be perhaps, more for people here – in Court. She couldn’t know whether she had never cared, or just become more detached from them. It was true that she wasn’t particularly welcomed at home, but here she had made some sort of name for herself, hadn’t she? Was it truly awful for her to prefer not to be dressed so sombrely though she should be in mourning for her dear sister? Perhaps it was, and Roseline had become too detached from it all, caring for only herself. Yet, even as she thought it she realised it wasn’t true, she did care for people – Kaitlin among them. She pushed a stray blonde hair back off her face where it had fallen from the grasp of her hairpins because of Roseline’s downward turned head. She looked up. No, she had never really treated that place as home. Really, they cared as much to see her as she to them. But, that didn’t stop the fact that she had to wear this dark dress the first day of the year that the sun decides to appear. A quick flicker of a smile fluttered across her lips as the thought entered her mind. Here, she should be sitting upstairs in her room, mourning the death of her poor, dear sister – and she was out instead mourning the fact she must wear the black dress.

It was only when she had shaken her head to rid it of the amusing thoughts, and looked up again, back in her mind that she saw the young woman, obviously a noble of some sort but not one that she had seen around court. The girl gave Roseline a warm smile and beckoned her over. Roseline, after moving only a few steps closer, immediately realised that she had been reading, so she was most definitely of a title, though which Roseline was still no more aware.

She approached the woman with a smile, though she should probably not be taking this moment to socialise she thought a moment after moving toward the young woman and the corners of her own mouth lifter slightly more at the probably social faux-pas she had committed there. She soon approached the woman though, and Roseline could see that she was certainly a few years younger than herself – perhaps 19 or so.

“Bonjour Madame,” Roseline greeted her with a smile nodding her head down slightly, “I don’t believe we have met before. I’m Baroness Roseline Taylor, you arrived at Court recently?” Roseline then remembered Louisa telling her something of a ‘new’ arrival to Court gaining a new title this morning, and Roseline wondered if it was the pretty young woman in front of her who did – and why, of course.

César & Marie-Elisabeth - la suite de Valois
 

César's last statement had been meant to conclude the discussion; a way for him to let Marie-Elisabeth know that while he would be more than happy to help her dust off her 'talents', he would not push. For while he might be widely known for being quite restless, when it came to women, he could be a very patient man. Just as long as they didn't end up being more interested in seeing how much toying they could make him take, than in having the toying actually lead somewhere.

As fate would have it, however, Marie-Elisabeth seemed to either completely miss or completely ignore that last statement, but instead came to her feet just as swiftly as he had, apparently given the impression that he intended to take his leave and wanting to comment on his first remark before he had a chance to do so.

"I’m quite aware that practice as you say is necessary", she said, a slight urgency in her voice mirroring that of her actions. "But that is precisely the point. There has been no real opportunity for me to do so in quite some time, and is it not a part of human nature to be reluctant about things we are less than certain of? No matter how much we may desire to do them."

Quite frankly, it was a statement that left César somewhat unsure of what to think. When saying that she would actually prefer a ride in the country over 'getting back in the saddle' with him, he had thought she'd been sincere in that she was not yet ready to go any further, at the moment. Yet when he withdrew, and indicated that he was willing to accomodate her, she acted as though she really wanted him to somehow persuade her, much like some more experienced women desired for men to do, either by sweet words, or by methods a bit more... forceful. It was all part of the game; women feigning disintrest or even reluctance, only to be made to give in, to surrender and to submit.
César was in no way a stranger to that game. He just hadn't gotten the impression it was one that Marie-Elisabeth was playing. Yes, the two of them were playing games, but up until now, he hadn't thought hers was that particular one.
Or, was her reaction simply a sign that she afraid that her apprahension would make him loose interest?

"I do believe I have recently, as well as just now, provided you with all the opportunity you may require," he said, allowing his voice to take on a slightly softer tone. "But as much as I would like to be of service to you, I simply will not force a lady to learn, or in this case practice, if she is truly reluctant to accept my assitance."


(((ooc: Sorry, kinda crappy. have a splitting headache. :/ If something doesn't make sense, you know the drill.)))

Bella and Rosaline - Palace Gardens
 

(((OOC:LOL, ME's subtle! And Elena sounds awesome!
It's fine Niamh, sounded pretty good to me. Let me know if I've gone off on a tangent here)))


Bella watched with the welcoming smile as the other woman approached with a similar amicable countenance. She seemed to be dressed completely in black, standing out as a stark contrast against the lush green and her golden locks. Bella decided not to question the woman’s attire, perhaps she was in mourning. Either way, she didn’t want to – nor saw any way to – get involved in whatever explained her colours.

As the form grew closer, Bella decided upon the polite thing to do and stood up to greet the other woman while she introduced herself.

“Bonjour Madame,” came the courteous greeting with a slight nod of the head to match the body language to that of the speech. She did not seem to be one of the more haughty nobles that hunted in these lands. Well, it was an assumption that Bella treated with a taste of salt given her experiences with the elitist Marie-Elisabeth, lecherous Larkin or the illusory Octavien, although the last proved to be a pleasure rather than an insult.

“I’m Baroness Roseline Taylor,” she introduced herself. “You arrived at Court recently?”

Bella could feel herself being studied briefly, in relation with something else. She could imagine what that was about; a new arrival at court immediately gains a title, it was bound to raise a few questions. Of course, it played straight into Bella’s hands; it gave her the exposure she wanted. That everyone had heard of her, at least in passing.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Baroness,” she returned the slight nod with a gracious smile. “I am Comtesse Isabella Devine.”

Bella lowered her eyes to the ground momentarily before glancing back up at the Baroness, finally shutting the book that she held in her hands. Escapism would have to wait another day. Bedtime reading, perhaps.

“I arrived at court only yesterday,” she replied the early question, still keeping the pleasing expression upon her face. The Baroness seemed agreeable enough and Bella was far from likely to pull ranks on her. “Have you been at court very long?”

Marie-Elisabeth & César - Her rooms
 

A thirteen year old girl is really just that. A girl. While physically it is quite a possible that she could be considered as mature as any grown woman, mentally she is still just barely a teenager. That 13 year old girl had been Marie-Elisabeth, who had ironically been interrupted playing dolls with her eldest brother Joseph’s young daughter, when she was told she was going to be married. In a matter of months she went from being a carefree little girl playing with dolls, to being the wife of a man four times her age and all that entailed. And scarcely a year after that she was a mother; growing up fast had been an unavoidable fact of life for her.

All of these things of course meant that Marie-Elisabeth was certainly no stranger to the more carnal aspects of human nature. She did have a child after all, she was aware of how these things went. But all her insinuations and double entendres, despite their less than innocent nature, were perhaps an intentional concealment of ignorance. The more that you pretended to know the less people would question your knowledge. I was not that she didn’t want do dispel said ignorance, she certainly did, but it was that same lack of knowledge that was holding her back. She just wished she could figure out a way to voice that aloud that made as much sense as it did floating around in her head.

“It isn’t” she began, stopping her speech almost as soon as it began. For one of the first times in her life, words just didn’t seem to want to come out and of her mouth. She let out an annoyed sounding sigh and dropped back into her chair. She took a deep breath and tried again. “It’s not that I truly am reluctant, but in a way it also is. I know that probably doesn’t make any sense at all and I’m sorry but”. She paused for a moment, biting her lip and intently studying the pattern of the chair. “I’m just sorry” she muttered, still staring at the chair arm, marveling at how fast things had gone from bad, to good, and right back to dreadful again


(((OOC: Since when do any of the conversations these two have ever make sense Don’t worry, tis just fine Hope your head feels better

And yes Alissa, I am definitely the Queen of all things subtle)))

César & Marie-Elisabeth
 

(((ooc: Gah! I should be in bed by now, but... I just... can't... help myself!
Oh, and, slytherin, did I tell you I'm OCD about your avatar? I can't read posts with animated avatars rolling, so I always press the "Stop" button to make them stop, and with yours, I just HAVE to make sure it stops on Anne's pic. *lol* (Yes, I'm weird. And proud of it, too!)))


As far as men goes, it has never been a secret that sometimes, they are simply blind. Especially when it comes to women. There are times when the fairer sex feel they could hit their men over the head with the most obvious of observations, and they would still not notice until two weeks later, or quite possibly when sensing from the curt and aggressive replies they were given when attempting to hold a conversation with their woman, that something was wrong. At that point, it would be time for the notorious question of "What's the matter?", with the equally notorious and hostile answer "Nothing", followed by a bit of snapping back and forth, perhaps even an appearance made by the classic "If you can't guess, I sure ain't gonna to tell you" comment that has been known to drive men up the wall. Only once that whole scenario had played out, would there - sometimes - be put an end to the bickering, and a reconciliation made.

Then there were of course the few times when hitting a man over the head with an observation would actually work right away. And this one, would be one of them. When Marie-Elisabeth collapsed back down into the chair and began muttering, not unlike a sulking child, it suddenly dawned on César that she probably was not as experienced as she would let on. It was even part of the reason why he had taken an interest in her in the first place. Yet somehow, probably helped along quite nicely by her way with words, it had eventually slipped his mind, and he had started thinking of her not as a young widow, quite possibly with her only experiences of carnal pleasures being the ones shared with her husband - the old git - but rather as a woman very much familiar with the things she so skillfully alluded to.
Ah, such a fool he was!

Unfortunately, things weren't exactly made any better by her rather insufficient and incomprehensible explanation.

No, this simply wouldn't do...

"How am I to interpret that?" he asked, deciding that in light of how the conversation was going, it was perhaps best to drop all the charades and insinuations, and speak fairly bluntly instead. "Sorry for not making sense? For indeed, you are not. Or sorry for being unable to the point of hopelessness to allow me to... physically express my admiration of your beauty and your wits?"

Then he gave an aimless wave of his hand, to suggest a wide array of other possible answers.

"Or sorry for something else I have yet to realize is a possibility?" he added. "And what exactly is it that feeds your reluctance? Me, the deed itself, or just simply the insecurity born of your lack of practice?"

((Hi everyone. First I'd like to apologise for dropping off the face of the earth. I've been staying after school until 5 everyday then having massive amounts of homework and family issues on top of it all. But I know that's no excuse, and I feel bad enough as it is, but I need to hold off for a post until this weekend. It's a 4 day one and i should have no homework or responsibilities then, which will be perfect for post writing.

Once again I'd like to apologise for any inconveniences on my behalf and for disappearing.

~Elektra

ps - I am aware I posted this twice, but some people are not in VtM))

Marie-Elisabeth & César - Her rooms
 

In a way, Marie-Elisabeth was relieved at the way the conversation was going, and at the fact that her half muddled statements had made some sort of sense. She really didn’t think she would be able to concentrate on anything enough to come up with any more thinly veiled insinuations or concealed statements. But on the other hand, she was quite possibly about to embarrass herself in a most colossal fashion. There didn’t seem to be any way around it though, so she supposed that she was going to have to bite the proverbial bullet and get it over with.

“Sorry for a lot of things” she said, using what little self control she still had to keep her tone level “Sorry that I don’t make sense, it’s really not my intention to be confusing. Sorry that the only experience I ever had was from an old man who must have had someone in his corner up there to even father a son at all”.

She gestured up to the ceiling with her braceleted hand, finally looking up from the arm of the chair she had been so intently studying. “I’m sorry if anything that I’ve said made you think my attitude has anything to do with you because I swear it doesn’t. And finally” she said, twisting her bracelet around her arm in lieu of her necklace “Sorry that you’ve apparently somehow managed to figure the truth out and that I’m suddenly wishing I could just disappear to save from being completely embarrassed”.

After finishing the statement she realized just how true it was. The prospect of going back into hiding in the drapes of the bed was starting to look increasingly attractive to her. At least it would save what small bit of silly pride she had left and she wouldn’t have to face anyone else for the rest of the day. And it would give her time to try and figure out just how a façade that had been so perfectly practiced and cultivated for so long had been broken so quickly, and by someone she had only known for a few days. Though it felt like much longer to her. Some of the things she had just said she had never spoken aloud to anyone before and she wasn't quite sure why she had said them now; especially in a situation with such a huge potential to explode in her face.

She finally looked over at César, half certain she was about the same crimson colour as the upholstery she had just been looking at so carefully.


(((ooc: HAHA! This is seriously the best avatar I’ve ever had! And obviously it needs to be stopped on the best one! *snickers* I should be in bed right now too, but I had to get this in first!!

“What’s the matter” *NOTHING* “Okay then” *explodes* Oh lord, I’ve had that exact conversation way to many times to count.)))

César & Marie-Elisabeth
 

(((ooc: *lol* What can I say? They call me the 'man whisperer'. And poor Octavien! The two of them will be the end of him! *s* Or his sanity at least.)))


With all his antics and escapades, many of them nothing short of mischievous and naughty, César had never exactly been prone to feeling the weight of a guilty conscience. With him, the little devil inside reigned supreme, and the little voice in the back of his head, the nuisance beckoning him to behave and be good, had been silenced a long time ago. The only times when he would in fact feel the sting of guilt, would be when in a moment of careless rage, he'd allowed his sharp tongue to move quicker than his mind, and he had ended up throwing something hurtful in the face of a friend, or even worse, of his wife. For while he was in many ways a pure-bred rascal, he wasn't really a mean or evil person, and though while he might not be the most humble man around, he would still offer an apology - a truly sincere and willing one - when he knew he had been at fault, or hurt someone he cared about. Even unintentionally embarrassing them, especially if he knew them to be somewhat fragile, could be the cause of such an apology.
As was the case now.

In just a matter of seconds, he had realized that in spite of his 'good' intentions, he had managed to unintentionally push Marie-Elisabeth into a position which she found to be highly embarrassing, and to confess to him things that really were none of his business. And as she looked up at him, with waves of scarlet shame washing over her pretty face, he knew that he was to blame, and for once the scales of his conscience actually tipped to "guilty".

"But such a shame it would be if you did", he said and his voice took on an even gentler tone, mirrored by a faint, reassuring curving of his lips, as he slowly crossed the few feet seperating the two of them, "... for it would indeed make the world a much duller place."

Reaching her chair, he squatted down next to it and carefully took on of her hands in his, gripping it so gently that once again she would be able to slide it away from him, should she want to, and planted a soft kiss on her knuckles.

"Forgive me", he said softly. "It was not my intention to embarrass you, or make you feel uncomfortable in any way. I simply... I suppose one could say I simply got carried away by my desire."

Marie-Elisabeth & César - Her rooms
 

Pride was something that ran strong in the Normandie family, the chief example being Marie-Elisabeth’s own mother. Never mind that she had married into the family; that made no difference to her whatsoever. Every single one of her 16 children had been raised to be proud of thier heriatge and of who they were. To carry themselves in a way that showed everyone who saw them that this family was not one that showed any kind of weakness, or preferably didn’t have them at all. They were trained to be polite at all times, no matter how annoying or uncomfortable the situation was. To smile graciously when they wanted to smack the person they were talking to silly. To not tell other people if they were having problems, for that would imply a wekaness, but to solve them on their own. And above all, to never let that that façade have the tiniest crack in it.

Marie-Elisabeth had no doubt that her mother would be quite ashamed of the way she was acting right now, allowing the ever present calm demeanor she was supposed to display to crumble into little pieces on the floor. She could practically hear the angry voice in her head and that didn’t really help matters much. “There’s nothing to forgive. It’s no fault of yours, only of my own” she said, taking deep breaths to try and get rid of the blush still spreading across her face “I don’t really know what’s come over me; I swear I’m not always like this”.

She then smiled and looked down at César . “I’m just immensely grateful that you somehow seem to understand what I’m saying. I know I probably make about as much sense as someone in bedlam and most people would probably laugh at me for it. It’s just…”. She paused for a moment to think, she didn’t want to be confusing again.

“It’s just that…well...for all I’ve said I do feel the same way I’m just…well I suppose you already know that anyway, I don’t have to say it”. Actually, she really didn’t want to have to say it aloud, her pride had taken to many hits already this morning for her to admit she was afraid of something. She just prayed to whoever was up there that he understood and she wouldn’t actually have to say it out loud.


(((OOC: Man whisperer *snicker* Very nice It really is amazing that you can write guys so well though Atropa. I can’t do it worth crap, and believe me I’ve tried. So kudos to you

And I've said it already, but poor poor Octavien)))

Roseline & Bella // Palace Gardens ..
 

---

With a small smile, Roseline took the small pause before the woman before her spoke again to allow her eyes to travel over her. In every classical sense, the girl was beautiful and didn’t hide it – though unlike many of the ... less blessed courtiers in that area she didn’t give the impression of spending hours and hours on end getting ready though.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Baroness,” the woman replied, a smile flickering across her lips that Roseline returned quickly. “I am Comtesse Isabella Devine.”

The Comtesse’s eyes lowered traditionally to the ground momentarily and quickly found Roseline’s and shut her book, a glimmer of regret, perhaps, that she would not be able to carry on reading after being interrupted crossing her pretty features.

“I arrived at court only yesterday,” she replied to Roseline’s question, a happy expression fixed on her face, though not as if it were forced. A forced smile could always be seen quickly, and in Roseline’s opinion appeared worse than if they had simply allowed themselves to appear how they felt, yet the Comtesse appeared perfectly at ease and quickly continued. “Have you been at court very long?”

A simple enough question but Roseline couldn’t help the corners of her mouth turn upwards in a memory of her earlier thoughts.

“Much too long,” she replied quickly, the signs of her small smile still evident on her lips. Yes, perhaps it had been a little longer than she had been expected to stay – but Roseline didn’t regret that, many men stayed on at Court for years and years, and suddenly Roseline felt a need to go into further detail just in case her statement had sounded too complaining though a smile had accompanied the words. She didn’t know if the young Comtesse standing before her would take it as mere light-hearted joking or whether she took Roseline’s words as pure fact.

“Some months now,” Roseline elaborated finally, “I adore it here too much to leave.” She said, a light laugh spilling past her slightly parted lips as the final syllables left her.

Yet her thoughts took her down a different path, about the previous thought on the young woman. So, this must have been the Baroness to arrive, and within her first hours in Court to gain a title. Roseline would hate for her thoughts to lead her down cynical paths about various non-innocent reasons that the Comtesse to have gained a title. Yet, for once she seemed to settle that it must have been a perfectly innocent reason. The corners of Roseline’s lips twitched upwards once more at this thought, once – well most of the time before the death – she would have jumped to the conclusion that it had simply been a covered up reason for someone so new to progress so quickly. She was glad of that part of her demeanour changing, well at least for this young woman.

Roseline shot another warm smile at the Comtesse as the light laugh’s faded and finally gave a pointed glance at the book that the Comtesse was reading when Roseline had interrupted her.

“I do hope I haven’t detracted from your enjoyment of the day too much. It’s wonderful weather – finally – to get out into the gardens.” Roseline said with another warm smile and glance around the garden’s for just long enough to see that the small knot of courtiers had almost dispersed completely now.

Octavien & Joséphine - Palace gardens
 

To be perfectly honest, while Octavien had his doubts as to the wisdom of Joséphine's desire to walk back to the Palace instead of having a carriage take her there, he was only too happy to leave the excited onlookers and the most annoying cacophony of voices behind. Offering Joséphine his left arm for once, to spare her from having to make the walk back supported by his injured right one and it's bloody sleeve, the two started slowly down the path from which they had both come not too long ago. All the while with Octavien keeping close watch on Joséphine's face for any signs that she might be about to collapse, mostly from out the corner of his eye to keep her from noticing, and with the only exception being a few seconds when he realized that the gathering of babbling courtiers had started following them like a trail of lemmings. He turned his head then to dismiss them with a warning glare, leaving them to think that he was still concerned about Joséphine and what dignity she had left, and thus wanted no more witnesses in case her decision would prove to be a foolish one, and she would end up passing out. Though it was only partly the truth, for while he was indeed worried about her, and didn't want her to have to suffer any additional humiliation, for the most part, he just wanted to get away from those nosey courtiers, and their incessant cackling that had started to eat through his skull and left him unable to hear his own thoughts. Thoughts that he desperately needed to hear, so that he could sort them out.

Luckily, it seemed that most of the courtiers realized that following the weary Marquise and the bleeding Prince was hardly the polite and proper thing for cultured nobility to do, and so they reluctantly fell behind, some of them still following from a safe and discreet distance, but most either stopping to keep exchanging juicy details, or hurrying off to pass the gossip on to friends and acquaintances.

In less than a minute, Octavien and Joséphine were granted blessed privacy, and Octavien breathed an internal sigh of relief. The experience from the other night in the Blue Salon were still memories fresh in his mind, and thus he'd had quite enough of courtly spectators for the time being, thank you very much.

At the same time, the new-found solitude posed yet another problem; that of the tense and uncomfortable silence inevitably bound to arise, following in the footsteps of what had just happened back there. A spark rekindled. A spark that they had both told themselves was long forgotten, gone, buried underneath layer upon layer of guilt and self-reproach, not to mention denial. The tension it - 'the incident' - had caused between them had been sorted and laid to rest the other day. But not the reason for it. Not the fact that it existed in the first place.
And now it came back to haunt them again, and add to the tension in the air. Simply because neither of them were like César, who, unbeknownst to him, was in turn one of embers that kept the spark glowing. Neither his friend nor his wife gave in to temptation as easily as he did, and they both felt it would be a betrayal if they did. Unlike César, who merely considered his indescretions to be his privilege for being born a man.

"Octavien...", Joséphine began in an attempt to break the silence, and Octavien felt a lump of ........ immediately lodge itself in his throat, in fear that she would want to talk about it.

Unlike the other day, when they had been riding in the forrest, he wasn't quite ready yet. His head was still spinning, and not only because of tangled thoughts eithers.
Much to his relief, however, Joséphine seemed to be on the same wavelength, and just as reluctant to address the issue as him.

"Your arm...", she said. "You should let... someone dress it."

She was completely unaware of it herself, but those were words that had pretty much the same effect on Octavien's senses as a bucket of ice cold water. A memory of Isabella instantly flashed before his eyes; of her sitting gingerly perched next to him on his bed, cleaning and re-dressing his wound while opening up to him in a way that she, according to herself, had not done with anyone else. And then him doing the same, confessing to her exactly what he had done to protect them both and their relationship, followed by a rather intense intermezzo, with Isabella's temper flaring and a slap burning harshly across his cheek, before it all suddenly began to ebb away, leaving only peaceful calm, and Isabella's soothingly soft voice lulling his senses to sleep, and her head resting heavily on his good arm.

She had only been gone for less than a day, and already he missed her. In truth, he had missed her long before she had even gone in the first place, for even though she had been there, he had not gotten to see her. Not alone. The King, the Queen's mother and Duc d'Lorraine had always been there to turn the exchange of gentle words and carresses, even their communicative glances, into an impossibility.

Was this why he felt so drawn to Joséphine? Was her appeal to him only the effects of his longing for Isabella, a way for his heart and his senses to express feelings whose true nature he could not afford to even acknowledge at this point, in fear that the look in his eyes might somehow betray him? Even though they looked nothing alike, was it Isabella he saw when looking at Joséphine?
It seemed plausible. Somewhat far-fetched, but plausible. Especially since he conveniently neglected to take into account the fact that the attraction had already been there months before, long before he had fallen for Isabella, or even met her. Deep down he knew it, that he was only fooling himself with thinking there was a connection between his feelings towards Isabella and his attraction towards Joséphine, but... right now, such self-deception was simply the most comforting option. And, there was of course always the minute possibility that there was a grain of truth in it; that there was a connection, and the spark between him and Joséphine had indeed been buried so carefully, that had he not missed Isabella so, it would never have come back to life...

"Have you any idea where César might have gone to?"

With Octavien having been too wrapped up in his own thoughts for it to occur to him that perhaps Joséphine had been awaiting an answer to her first comment - for Octavien to do his part in smoothing things over - it seemed Joséphine made yet another brave attempt.
Sadly, and unbeknownst to her, it only took things from bad to worse for Octavien. He knew perfectly well where César 'might have gone to', but he couldn't exactly tell the truth. No matter how annoyed he was with his friend and those womanizing ways of his, Octavien just couldn't betray his confidence, and hang him out to dry. Nor could he stand the thought of lying to Joséphine's face. Especially when he didn't want to take sides, and doubted that he would have been able to even if he had wanted to. In this matter, he was on Joséphine's side, as he did not condone cheating in a marriage that was filled with love and affection. But César was one of his very best friends.

"I...", he slowly started, and managed quite well to mask the frown her question had caused, as being a slight wince of pain, as luckily, he was just inspecting his bleeding upper arm, gently feeling and examining the area around the cut with his fingertips, but stopped to turn his head and look at her. "I think he said something about having a few things to take care of."

Not a lie, but a truthful reply so vague that neither party could blame him, should César's current doings and whereabouts come out somehow.
Still, it was probably best to change the subject again. Just to be on the safe side. And as it turned out, Octavien had the perfect excuse for doing so, without it seeming too sudden, as the matter was a bit of an urgent one;

"Will you allow me to escort you back to your suite?" he said just as the Palace entrance came into view from behind one of the tall hedges, and then added with a bit of an bitter sting in his voice as well as in the faint smile curving his lips; "Even though I suspect that if I do not promptly return to the privacy of my own, I shall have another lecture coming, as I do believe it is rather unrefined of me to have the audacity to bleed."



(((ooc: *random burst of happiness* I got the DVD box of the first season of The Tudors yesterday! Yay! *happy dance*)))

Okay guys, I believe it's time for our courtiers to move on to Afternoon since it is Thursday, but I see no reason for most of you not to continue the arcs we're currently involved in, if that's what you want.

Bella watched as Roseline’s lips began to mould into a distant smile as she lent herself to memories. It seemed as if the other woman had been at court very long indeed, much longer than Bella in any case. And she obviously had had quite an experience.

“Much too long,” she said with that half-smile still lingering on her lips. Much too long and yet she somehow seemed to have definite pleasant memories associated with this place.

“Some months now,” Roseline continued after a short pause, perhaps feeling the need to explain her ambiguous statement. “I adore it here too much to leave.”

And yet the laugh that followed the statement seemed almost a scoff. Roseline appeared to be divided between the idea of delving into court and running from it, a similar predicament to most people unless they were cunning enough or simply ignorant. The problem lay in the fact that it was difficult to distinguish one from the other. Well, at least Bella could claim not to know the difference between the two and she was astute enough to assume she was the latter while everyone else was the former. While that always let the shadow of doubt linger in the back of her mind, it never stopped Bella from being charming and amicable.

Bella found herself the recipient of yet another warm smile from the Baroness. It was most certainly refreshing to experience sociability at court, but it was always a double edged sword. For her time at the English court, Bella had learned how the smiles always hid calculations, assumptions and plans. Perhaps that was just the English. Or perhaps the French hid even more. Either way, that mask of sociability was nothing to be compromised on and Bella made sure to keep the pleasant, welcoming look over her features.

“I do hope I haven’t detracted from your enjoyment of the day too much. It’s wonderful weather – finally – to get out into the gardens,” the Baroness continued, looking over the suddenly abandoned gardens. Bella realised that she had caught onto the fact that she’d held some regret about not finishing the book. Ah. It was no fault of the Baroness’s and of course, Bella would prefer the transient human company to that immortalised in the pages of a book. For now.

“No, not at all, Baroness,” she gave an assuring smile to Roseline. “I’m sure I’d enjoy the day far more with good company.”

Marie-Elisabeth & César - la suite de Valois, fighting fears and needs, respectively
 

(((ooc: Just a bit of a head's up, and, I know, a way early one too, but there's no time like the present, right? Anyway; June 4-7, I won't be around much, if at all. Why? Because I'll be at Sweden Rock Festival (whooooo!) which means I'll get out of bed, go there, rock out (in my own cool, mellow way of course), come home, crash into bed, sleep, wake up, go back and continue rockin' out... Rinse and repeat, until the festival is over. June 8 I'm planning on being comatose, but after that, I should be back to normal (as normal as I get). Just to let you guys know. )))



The vast capacity of women, had never ceased to amaze César. Avid fan of female charms that he was, he would still marvel at the many layers hidden underneath their pale skin, behind their gleaming eyes. They could be as strong as they could be fragile, as stubborn as they could be accommodating, and as virtuous as they could be passionate. The Madonna and the whore, all wrapped into one complex creature of immense beauty. And power. A woman that knew how to use her assest and her wide range of faces, was a dangerous thing indeed. And one that did not, even more so, for there would always be that tiny extra pinch of sincerity that could not be feigned, and would deliver her blows to a man's heart with twice the impact of those that first took aim.

Thus, it was no wonder that the fragile girl Marie-Elisabeth, once the very verbal and suggestive Comtesse de Valois, had César on his knees, quite literally, with her apparent shame at having been caught in her act, which had since been shattered into what seemed like a million pieces.
One spell broken, another one cast.

"Apprahension towards the unknown or unfamiliar is a part of human nature indeed", he said and smiled softly up at her. "But sadly there is little comfort I, or anyone can give, as the only way to overcome such apprahension, is to just close your eyes and take the plunge, for it is the only way that you can truly find out for yourself that there is nothing to fear. Everything else will just be hearsay, another person's take on the matter. But if it can bring you some sort of comfort to hear mine, then I will gladly share it with you."

With that, he stood once more, still gripping her hand and tugging gently at it to indicate that he wanted her to stand as well, having decided that it was only fair to allow her a while to ponder his words, should she feel she needed it. Thus he changed the subject back the question that had already been asked once, but never answered;

"Now", he said with another smile, this one being a bit more cheerful than the last. "How about that slow ride along the countryside? It is much too beautiful a day for such radiant beauty to be cooped up inside a boring old Palace."

Marie-Elisabeth & César - Her rooms, actually talking about horses for once
 

Marie-Elisabeth marveled at the fact that a morning that had started out in such a dismal fashion had turned into something vastly different than expected. She had gotten up that morning in the most unpleasant of moods, and had thought that was how the rest of the day would go. Instead she had spent the rest of the morning going from depressed, to happy, to embarrassed beyond all reason, and finally landing back at a sense of relieved happiness.

She listened to César’s words as he stood up and found herself agreeing with nearly every one. He was absolutely right; there was really nothing else better for being apprehensive about something then just getting over your fears and doing whatever it was. She knew that, it was something she told Charles all the time when he was afraid of doing something. She laughed slightly as she remembered herself telling Charles that when, of all things, he had gotten on a full grown horse for the first time.

It was good advice, and advice she intended on following.

Now looking back on the situation she was growing increasingly embarrassed about how she had acted, but was thankfully able to keep most of it under control. Her state of mind had returned to something resembling normal, and she sincerely hoped the strange person she had been a few moments ago would not make another appearance again for some time. She stood up and smiled back at César, nodding her head. “I would love to” she said, looking over at the window and back again “It really is much too nice outside to sit around in here”. Marie-Elisabeth laughed and ran her free hand across her sleeve.

“Though I’m afraid you’ll have to give me some time to change first. This isn’t the most appropriate thing to go out riding in” she said, already doing a mental run-through of her extensive wardrobe to figure out what she could wear. “I’ll be as fast as I can if you don’t mind waiting for me”.


(((OOC: Ooooooooh you got the box set Atropa! Awesome! Watch the bloopers, they’re hilarious :P

And just a reminder to everyone, after today I’ll be gone till Sunday, so I’ll try to wrap things up/fix them in a way that’s okay with me not being here. That is in between Con prep, which means me running around trying to find all my costume parts, pack a giant suitcase, and raid my pocky stash)))

César & Marie-Elisabeth
 

Knowing women and their fickle nature, and having just been subjected to a surprising transformation of Comtesse de Valois, from worldly young lady to something resembling an insecure and inexperienced girl, César almost breathed an audiable sigh of relief when Marie-Elisabeth complied with his silent request, and stood, flashing him a genuine smile that looked very much like the ones he was used to seeing from her. It wasn't that mischievous smirk that he had come to love, but then again, nor had he expected it to be. That side of her had just caused her a great deal of embarrassment and frustration, and revealed to him layers of her being that he would venture a guess were not among the ones she wished to display, and so she would probably think twice before adapting that daring image around him again. For a little while at least. César would be greatly disappointed if it would turn out to be a permanent change, for he so did love that little game of theirs, regardless of the fact that she might not have the experience to back it up. It didn't matter much, since she did have the wits, and to him, that mattered more.

He was equally relieved when she went on to finally agree to that slow ride he had promised her, not to mention pleased to hear that she did indeed consider a change of clothes to be necessary. Good. Although the creamy white creation with the fur trimmings that she was wearing was indeed a beautiful one, it was far too... conservative, in comparison with what she usually wore, and he much looked forward to seeing her in something more along those lines, as it tended to bring out her beauty and her... female attributes a bit better. Not vulgary so - no, far from it - but rather in a way that would make it enough for men to admire and appreciate, and women to envy, but still modest enough to evade condemnation by anyone.

"Not at all, Comtesse", he said, and while she might have dropped the ambiguous tone for the time being, he, on the other hand, had not, leaving his words to ring true not only in regard of her changing clothes, when adding; "I am patient man, and will gladly wait. Please, take the time you need."


(((ooc: Oh God, talk about a Freudian slip! When I was typing this up, I accidently typed "rise" instead of "ride" in the "that slow ride he had promised her".

Also, slytherin, by the way you described ME's suite, I assumed that she would go into another room to change, so that César could remain where he is, correct?

FurryPanda - Glad to know you're okay. Sounds like you've been through quite an ordeal. :/ )))

Marie-Elisabeth & César - About to go riding (Take that as you will ;) )
 

"I am patient man, and will gladly wait. Please, take the time you need."

Marie-Elisabeth smiled to herself at the last comment, somehow feeling greatly relieved by it. “I’ll be as fast as I possibly can,” she said, taking her hand away from his “I don’t want to keep you waiting for too long”. She smiled at him as she walked across the room to the doorway that connected the room they were in to her bedroom, that faint smirk she was usually so fond of making slowly creeping back onto her face.

Once the door was shut, she called for Jeanne to help her get dressed. Marie-Elisabeth had not been lying earlier, in the real or implied sense of the word, when she said she had not been riding in quite some time. She honestly hadn’t had much time to do so when occupied with the business of the Valois lands and estates. But that had not stopped her from having some lovely riding outfits made to bring with her to the palace; there was no chance that she would pass up any opportunity to have pretty new clothes to wear.

“I’m going to be going out riding” she said to Jeanne who had appeared in front of her with the usual curtsy “I’d like the red outfit please, and the hat and gloves to go with it”. Jeanne nodded and Marie-Elisabeth continued “And to apologize for being so short this morning, it was un necessary”.

“It’s allright Madame” Jeanne replied and she exited the room “Everyone’s entitled to a bad day once and a while”. Marie-Elisabeth smiled as she left, sitting down at the vanity to pull the ribbon out of her hair. She picked up the brush and a larger bright red ribbon, brushing her long hair back into a neat ponytail, and tying the ribbon into a bow.

Jeanne soon returned with the requested items of clothing and they set about changing her dress. She was quite fond of the riding outfit , the bright red colour looked beautiful on her and it was done in the militaristic style that was so popular among noble ladies. Of course there was the fact that it was much more fitted and closer to the body than full court dress, which showed off her figure even better. Except for certain upper parts of it which were concealed from view by the high lace cravat and white shirt underneath.

Marie-Elisabeth just shrugged and supposed she couldn't have everything, as the tri corner hat finished of the look and was carefully placed atop her head. she was carefull to tuck her locket underneath her dress, she didn't want to chance anything happening to it. Her new braclet was left on her hand as well, it would be well secured underneath her gloves when she put them on.

“You look lovely Madame” Jeanne said as Marie-Elisabeth twirled around in front of the mirror, admiring her reflection. “Thank you Jeanne, you may go now. I don’t think I’ll need you again until dinnertime” she replied and the maid nodded and departed the room. Aware that she had already been in her room changing for quite some time, and not wanting to make her company wait, Marie-Elisabeth hurriedly slipped on her shoes and took a final look in the mirror.

“Perfect” she said, grinning as she picked her gloves up off the table and walked back across the room to the connecting door.

“I’m ready to go now” she called to Cesar as she pushed it open “I’m sorry it was such a long wait. You men don’t know how lucky you are that all you have to do is put on a pair of breeches, a shirt, and a jacket”.



(((OOC: Atropa: *snicker* Freudian slip indeed.

Yup, you’ve got it right. I based her rooms (Like far to many other things about her) off Marie-Antoinette’s. So there’s the room they’re in, for receiving guests and such, and the other one for sleeping & getting dressed.

Furrypanda: Wow o.0 I’m glad everything’s okay now. ME looks forward to taking Larkin’s money again )))

((OOC: Aww, thanks for the sympathy. Everythings all better, there's been electricity for three whole days now! No computer, but electricity, and the flooding has gone way way down, is only ankle deep in most places. So yeah, things are looking up, and I am back for the forseeable future... which in my present state of mind is about a week ;p))

Larkin had eventually retired to his room and had his valet go to the kitchens to filch something for them to share. The boy, Ambrose, had been with him since he had left d'Aurvilies and despite the difference ina ges, they had become close. Close enough that Larkin was more inclined to share a meal with Ambrose than say, go down and further introduce himself at court, when he had already lost at gambling and probably greatly annoyed a neighboring barony, whom he hadn't been on good terms with to start. All in all a quiet meal seated on that glorious feather bed, as opposed to a rigidly formal affair in the dining hall seemed more pleasant, if a bit antisocial.

Ambrose had done quite well and impressively quickly, the valet having acquired several prime slices of pork, a leafy salad, and a nearly full bottle of brandy, all of which Larkin shamelessly enjoyed. The last time any pork had gotten down to Africa had been more than five years prior, good brandy eight, so Larkin and the boy, although by now he was in his twenties, set to with great gusto, and Larkin dismissed him for the night after he cleaned the sheets from thier luxurious little feast.

Feeling pleasantly drunk from the brandy Larkin pulled a book from the shelves which someone had thoughtfully set up in the suite, a treatise on agricultural efficiency. So mentally starved was Larkin that he actually read the whole thing before dropping off into sleep combined equally of exhaustion, liquor and boredom from the not all to fascinating tome.


Larkin awoke certain of only two things. Whatever he was sleeping on was very unfamiliar and very comfortable, and that he was unpleasantly hung over. Once those two facts settled into his mind, the latter superceded any curiousity about the former, and he rolled out of bed to single mindedly splash some water on his face. His wits slowly returning Larkin called Ambrose from the glorified closet that he got to sleep in, and with some amused and, from anyone else, offensively improprietary comments was dressed and ready to go out into the baroque court.

That option established, larkin decided to stay in his rooms awhile longer, see what books were there, read any that appealed to him. Eventaully Ambrose brought up a carafe of fruit and some clean water, which larkin ate whilst perusing some dusty geneology. From two hundred years ago. He glanced up from the book to see the sun falling at a sharp angle through the windows, much to Larkin's consternation. He hadn't quite intended to stay in his suite til afternoon. He tore himself from the book and stepped out, traversing the palace quickly to go outside into the gardens. It was a lovely sunny day, and on the carraige ride to the palace Larkin hadn't taken the time to appreciate the careful horticulture around the gorunds.

((OOC: Approachable))

César & Marie-Elisabeth
 

(((ooc: Ghanima - I'm sorry Elena couldn't make it this RP day. I feel responsible, since I fell completely out of the RP scene this weekend. Still, at the same time, it gives us something to look forward to. )))


César had just told his first lie to Marie-Elisabeth. While he didn't often flat out lie to women - not to Joséphine, not to his mother, and not to his mistresses - but rather preferred to dodge and evade anything that might need dodging and evading, he did sometimes find it a necessity. Or, as was the case now, what he said served his purpose so well that he didn't always reflect on the actual truth in it.

He was a patient man, he'd said.
He was not.
Those who knew him would have testified in a heartbeat that he was probably one of the most impatient people they knew, unable to keep still for very long, always looking for something to do or to keep him entertained. Unless, of course, he was asleep.

However - and this would be what kept his statement to Marie-Elisabeth from being a complete lie - when it came to women, he was quite the enduring pursuer, willing to play the game of hunter and prey for as long as the 'prey' was able to resist him. Provided, of course, that he was given the impression that he was indeed still making progress, and wasn't just being toyed with. It was a fine line, but one that César had learned to recognize. And so, while the 'official' point in his latest statement to the Comtesse might not have been completely truthful, it was still true for the more hidden one; he was not too keen on the idea of spending possibly an hour, an hour and a half, waiting for Marie-Elisabeth to change her clothes, but as far as waiting for her to grant him more than just a kiss on the hand was concerned... Well, on that one, he really would be patient, and allow her to take her time in coming around.

Though that all only occured to him once she had exited the room, and he was left to keep himself amused somehow, all by his lonesome. Then again, a little while spent in boredom in return for a longer while spent in her vivacious company seemed a fair deal, and so he figured it would all be well worth the wait. Plus, he was intrigued to see in what kind of wonderful creation she would re-emerge, while at the same time he was grateful to have had the opportunity to see her so simple and modest, as it had only confirmed to him that she was indeed a genuine beauty, and not one of the many ladies that had pretty dresses and expensive, sparkling jewelry bring out their beauty, or perhaps even shine so bright that it blinded the beholder from the fact that she was not as beautiful as one would think before taking a true closer look. In fact, just like Joséphine, Marie-Elisabeth was the kind of woman that would bring out the beauty of everything that had the good fortune of being worn by her, and not the other way around.

Spending the first few minutes of the wait pacing the room and studying the decor, the paintings and the overall feminine touch, César eventually returned to his seat, from where he went on to survey the room a second time, and a third, all the while drumming his fingertips lightly on the table surface. Then, just for the sake of having something to do, he began sipping his now lukewarm tea, and once the cup was half full, heated up the remaining ounces with some more from the still warm pot. Adding a spoon of sugar, and stirring the golden liquid to make the tiny crystals dissolve, provided for some additional seconds of keeping himself occupied, and he had just started sipping this second helping, when finally he heard Marie-Elisabeth's voice.

"I'm ready to go now", she called out, just as the doors parted and she returned to the lounge area of her suite where he had waited 'oh-so-patiently'. "I’m sorry it was such a long wait. You men don't know how lucky you are that all you have to do is put on a pair of breeches, a shirt, and a jacket."

Having allowed his eyes to wander her newly re-dressed form from top to bottom and back again, finding the red number she now wore delightfully snug in all the right places, albeit still a little too modest in some, César cut short his silent appraisal by giving a slight cough at her words, and his lips curving softly with a faint smile.

"You'd be surprised, Comtesse, at what lengthy procedure it can be for a man to be dressed", he said, thinking of all the hours he himself had spent in the hands of servants over the years. "Though I do suppose that in comparison, it would seem a rather swift one."

Then, eager for their little adventure to commence and without further ado, he offered her his arm, and together they left the suite.

"Perhaps we ought to bring along a guide, as it seems neither of us are particularly familiar with the vicinity", César said as they began making their way through the hallways, towards the Palace entrance. "But I find that it is much more exciting to discover things for oneself, rather than have them pointed out."

Marie-Elisabeth & César - Wandering outside
 

Marie-Elisabeth was definitely pleased with the outcome of the morning so far. Strolling along the hallways, now much more busy and full of people than they were in the previous few days, she was certainly in a mood far better than the one she had awoken in. She even managed to smile politely and wave with her free hand as they happened to pass by the old man she had been seated next to at dinner last night.

She was privately considering it a miracle that she was where she was at the moment. She had expected that César would be angry with her once he figured out about the front she put up, and no longer want anything to do with her. She was quite honestly surprised it hadn’t turned out that way. She had thought her reluctance and indecisiveness was going to spell the end of their oh so enthralling little game, and that wasn’t something she wanted. She had, after all, come to Court in search of amusement and diversion. And this was by far one of the most exciting things that had happened to her in quite some time. She had decided to do everything she could to convince herself to put the things holding her back behind her, she only hoped it wouldn’t take very long.

"Perhaps we ought to bring along a guide, as it seems neither of us are particularly familiar with the vicinity", she heard César said as they approached the palace entrance "But I find that it is much more exciting to discover things for oneself, rather than have them pointed out."

“I agree, I think we’ll be just fine on our own” she said, smiling as they walked out the massive front doors into the afternoon sunshine “Besides, haven’t you heard the old saying “Two’s company, three’s a crowd? Having another person along would just spoil all of the fun”. She laughed and squinted slightly at the sudden brightness, pulling the brim of her hat down more to shield her face from the sun. She was hard pressed not to fall back into her usual habits and manner of speaking. She knew there wasn’t really a point to it anymore; he knew it was nothing but hot air. But he just seemed to have the effect on her that she couldn’t entirely keep her mind off of less than proper things.

“And besides” she quickly continued, turning her head back to look at him “How am I supposed to pay attention to the lesson I’m being given if a boring guide is pointing out the clearing where the his Majesty's great uncle fought a duel or some other such nonsense”.

(((OOC: Don't worry about us re-posting apps, that's why cut and paste was invented )))

Padme Going to the Gardens
 

Padme slowly awoke from her suite with a smile. She had this feeling that today would be a good day. Rising from her most comfortable bed, Padme began to wonder whta she may have missed yesterday when she was reading. Though she had only been reading for about 5 years, she was learning quickly. A fellow servant had given her a copy of Shakespears First Folio. Apparently it had been Padme's father's. All day yesterday, she had, slowly, read several of his works, her favorite being Twelfth Night. Padme's first language was English, but she did learn to speak French so she could communicate with the other courtiers.

She started to dress shortly after awaking, knowing she had to look her best today because she wasn't going to stay locked up like she did yesterday. But soon after she had to call for a maiden to help with her corset. After she left, Padme slid a small box out from uner a chest of drawers. Slowly opening it, a gold necklace with a medium sized ruby charm sat of a pile of cloth. It was Padme's prized possesion. Something she always hid no matter where she was or who she was with.

Before stepping out of her suite, Padme brushed a bit of dirt off her peach colored dress. That would have been a rumor starter. A courtier having dirt on her dress. The palace was even more elegant inside than outside. Eyeing a starwell going downstairs, her exploring personaity wanted to go down, but she knew thats most likely where the servants slept. Padme didn't want to knock on any doors or open any that might lead to a bad first impression, so she decided to go outside to the gardens.

An older man stood outside, looking like he was taking deep breaths of fresh air. It was a beautiful day outside, no wonder he was out here. Padme approached the man and curtsyed, assuming by the way he dressed he was of higher social status.

"Hello there, your....?"

Larkin had slowly wandered the palace's extensive gardens, delighting in the heady scent of flowers and the precise manicured beauty of the lawn and gardens. He had become quite infatuated with the allures of the wild African countryside, but there was little that could compare to a neat garden, flavored by the loving care of the small army of gardeners the court doubtless still employed.

Eventually he had gotten back to the main entrance, and he found himself staring at a tree, one unusually large and with a sharply forked trunk, the only such one he had seen on his stroll. He remembered as a teenager at court that there was a tree in that same place, and he, Ambrose and a servant boy had all, in a fashion most unbefitting Larkin's age and station, occasionally thrown bread crumbs to birds or down unwitting ladies' bodices, depending on the day. They ahd never been caught at it, but staring at the proud old tree brought the fond memery rushing back, the boyish amusement, the free camraderie of stupidity, the occasional biting fear of getting caught and admonished...

"Hello there, your....?" A female voice interrupted his reminiscing and it took a great deal of self control on Larkin's part to not whirl around and offer an explanation for his being out of doors when he should be attending some court function. Inside he was rather amused, he ahd been so caught in reminiscing that he had almost seen himself back then. He must be getting senile in his advancing age. Nice.

He instead turned as though bored and smiled genially at the young woman standing there. He couldn't place her accent specifically, it seemed a bit too melodious to be any noble's, although the far south sometimes had that sort of inflection. Or a second language perhaps... either from English or bad Portugese. So much for finding anything out from speech then, he had been gone too long to place her as anything more specific than either a foreigner, a southerner, or a commoner. None of which were helpful in guessing the woman's name, if she was someone of importance propriety said he should know on sight.

The woman's dress undoubtedly pointed to either great eccentricity or little wealth- a peach colored gown, cut stylishly enough he supposed, but most definitely not the altest fashion- he had seen someone wearing the same basic template the last time he'd been to court, and thirteen years was not enough time for a style to peak in popularity, die and start climbing again. then again wealth, or lack thereof, did little to help him identify her, a southern squire, a foreigner or a comparitively wealthy commoner could wear an outdated gown without noticing. Not that Larkin paid any great attention to the matter.

He decided that the longer he stood there smiling the more of an oaf he would seem, so he answered, in a tone much more cool and humorous than he actually felt, "Lordship. Although really, I do not put overmuch precedence in titles, you may call me Larkin"

Now where had that bit of frippery come from? He really did not put overmuch precedence in titles, true enough, but that was not something one freely admitted to a person of unknown rank chance met on a garden stroll. Probably a beat too late he added, "Mademoiselle" and bowed properly, not a subservient one, more to equals than any other relation, but probably a bit overmuch. Few courtiers that were his superior would have melodious southern accents.

((OOC: I really hope that I was right in assuming she was talking to Larkin?))

Octavien & Joséphine
 

In spite of his vague reply to her question, or perhaps even because of it, Octavien knew it did little to divert Joséphine's mind from the route it was bound to already be on. She knew her husband, better than César himself seemed to be aware of, and Octavien highly doubted that in answering her the way he had, he had managed to do anything to put her worry to rest. In fact, he had probably managed to do the exact opposite instead, to poke a stick into a hornet's nest, and turn a mild and faint sense of uncertainty into fully blossomed concern and anxiety that her husband was once again off doing... well... exactly what he was doing; pursuing another woman, despite the fact that he and Joséphine had seemed to be quite close and affectionate the night before.

And so, Octavien found that despite his efforts, all he had really managed to do, was to cause the tension in the air between himself and Joséphine to thicken, due to yet another highly awkward situation causing yet another conversation which it seemed both of them wished to leave unfinished, preferrably forgotten altogether.

Thus, it was much to his relief when his change of subject passed smoothly and was accepted, leaving the past tense silence as well as the currently uncomfortable topic of César's whereabouts to fade into oblivion. For the moment and on the surface, at least.

"Ah yes, princes don't bleed", Joséphine said dryly, yet with a smile that Octavien found to be surprisingly compassionate for someone he had assumed knew little about his recent hardships with the King and most of all Duc d'Lorraine.

Then again, she had been in the Blue Salon the other night to witness his somewhat less-than-royal behaviour as well as the rather cool and defiant welcome of many of the courtiers. It wouldn't be far fetched for her, or anyone who had been there, to assume that Octavien had somehow been reproached for it. Even though he hadn't. Everyone still seemed to be too busy judging him to actually give him a few helpful pointers.
But that didn't mean other lectures hadn't been given, such as Duc d'Lorraine's cold "You shall not do her or our King dishonour..." when speaking about what seemed to be Octavien's betrothed, even though it had never been said in so many words. It was, after all, that exact conversation and the Duc's lacking personality as far as tact and understanding were concerned, that had been the cause of Octavien's assumption that there was yet another equally unpleasant conversation to be had soon, regarding the fact that he was so impertinent as to bleed in public.

"I hope you can find some comfort in the thought that there are still a few of us who remember the man behind the title", Joséphine continued, "...a man of flesh and blood. Of course you may accompany me if you wish, although I fear the longer your cut remains untreated the greater your discomfort will be, and perhaps it needs priority. I promise to reach my suite unharmed."

At first, Octavien didn't really register her last words, his attention having been caught by the first ones instead. 'A few of us', she'd said. He couldn't help but to wonder how many 'a few' were. On the top of his head, he could only think of her and César, quite possibly Bella, who had seemed so very down to earth and... human, compared to other unsympathetic, stuck up gits who should not be named. And, of course, Gilles and Isabella. But one of them, Joséphine had never had the chance to meet and thus could not know where she stood on the matter, and the opinion of the other sadly did not matter to the court.
So, three people then.
'Isn't that comforting?' Octavien thought bitterly to himself, but regretted his sarcasm almost immediately. He wasn't a haughty person, that would frown at and dismiss the support of a few, just because they were just that, a few, and as such may not have that much of an impact in improving his situation. On the contrary, he really was grateful to have them around him, and valued their company as well as their opinions. To him, they were much like rare gems among... well, frankly, he couldn't think of a more fitting description for what he currently thought of the rest of the court, than 'lumps of coal'. Despite their dazzling exterior.
And he would not win their approval by conforming to their rigid standards and become just as blasé as they were. He refused. Though that did not mean he would not carry himself with pride and refinement, for he had been raised to be every bit a gentleman and a noble, even though he had at that point still been untitled. While he may not know everything there was to know about what was expected of a Prince, he was far from a brute, and had over the past few months in court shown a dignity that had given the other courtiers a run for their money. But, there was one thing in maintaining it, or even increasing it (as seemed to be expected of him, now that he had risen to the position of Prince); he would never leave passion, and compassion, behind. He would not let the arrogance eat away at his heart, and have him eventually thinking only of himself.

Thus, he turned to Joséphine with a faint smile, her full statement having seeped into his consciousness somewhere along this winding trail of thoughts

"I may not yet have earned approval as Prince", he said, "but nothing will stop me from being a gentleman. I do indeed wish to see you safely to your suite, or wherever else you may intend to go. But I will not insist, if you would rather go alone."

He was, after all, well aware of how concern for someone else and keeping them from their own business, would often mask an excuse to part with them, so that one could get back to doing what one could not while still in their company.


(((ooc: Okay, the last sentence is kind of messy, and I can only hope it makes sense. *lol*)))

César & Marie-Elisabeth - going riding (yes, on actual horses)
 

Much to his satisfaction, César found that Marie-Elisabeth agreed with his suggestion, rejecting the idea of bringing along a guide of some sort, and along with it, his subtle hint that perhaps she want someone to act as a chaperone. She even went as far as to indicate that not only was it not needed, but simply not wanted at all. That could only mean that while she had been apprahensive about accepting the small but rather straightforward (albeit discreetly so) advances he had made, she held no aversion to the idea of welcoming any further attempts. Not necessarily determined to fully respond to them all the way, but at least accepting them and willing to test her limits. A very pleasant idea indeed, even though he intended to take things slow, and allow her to adjust, and set the pace herself; to have her give the signal of when she was ready. Or at least of when she thought she was.

Furthermore, the lack of a guide opened up for the possibility of the two of them getting lost and having to spend hours together, maybe even the night, which in turn would give César the opportunity to... help keep the young lady warm somehow, during the dark hours of nocturnal chill and dampness.
Well, in all honesty, it wasn't likely to happen, since the area around the Palace was bound to be easily navigated with it's plenitude of landmarks - manmade and otherwise - but he could still toy with the idea, and enjoy the mental images it spurred in his mind, right?

"Besides", Marie-Elisabeth continued just as the two of them stepped out into the bright sunlight on the equally bright and splendorous stone steps outside the Palace entrance, "haven't you heard the old saying "Two's company, three's a crowd? Having another person along would just spoil all of the fun."

Indeed. When with the pretty little Comtesse, three was most definately a crowd. Especially, César mused to himself, when the third party happened to be his wife, as had been the case the other night in the Blue Salon. What a minor disaster that had been. And it was all the more reason to try and keep things with the Comtesse far more secret than his usual affairs, as both ladies now moved within the same household, and would most likely talk to the same people. Joséphine seemed somewhat suspicious already, and César really didn't wish for her to hear how he had been seen with the young and pretty, not to mention widowed Comtesse de Valois on several occasions. Partly because it would fuel her suspicion, and partly because it would be humiliating for her, to have someone point out to her that her husband, according to them, seemed to prefer the company of a woman not his wife.

Yes, he would have to be careful indeed, and could not afford too many of these official encounters with Marie-Elisabeth. He would even be extra attentive to Joséphine and her needs. And not only because he wanted to keep her from getting suspicious, but also because he honestly did want to be. There was a good chance that she was pregnant, and if she was, she would be more sensistive than usual, and thus need to know now more than ever how much he really did love her.

"And besides", Marie-Elisabeth continued once more as they began making their way down the stone steps, towards the stables. "How am I supposed to pay attention to the lesson I’m being given if a boring guide is pointing out the clearing where his Majesty's great uncle fought a duel or some other such nonsense."

At that, César couldn't resist a soft chuckle, and he shot her an amused glance. Did he detect a hint of that suggestive way with words returning to her way of expressing herself, despite the embarrasment it had caused her back in her suite a little while ago? Or was he simply reading too much into her statement? It was, after all, difficult for a man with a mind like César's, to climb out of the gutter when it had already been so gently ushered down there by her very words in the first place.

So, was she, or wasn't she? Such a tough call...
Hmm... Perhaps it was best to try and play it safe? Just in case, and just until further proof had been provided.

"A good point", he nodded with a slight smile. "A very good point, for I shall indeed require all of your attention."

Okay, so that statement wasn't playing it completely safe, but still, it was close enough, and close enough would do just fine, since considering their previous conversations, she was well aware of the way his mind worked when it came to the subject of riding. She was partly responsible for it, after all.

A few minutes later, they reached the Palace stables, and César immediately motioned for one of the stableboys, telling him that he and the Comtesse de Valois wished to go riding, and that they would thus require horses.

"See to it that we are brought a well-behaved and gentle gelding for the lady", he said, and then shot Marie-Elisbeth another amused and slightly self-ironic glance when delivering the request for his own beast; "... and a valiant steed for myself."

Marie-Elisabeth & César - Going riding, yes on HORSES
 

As the stableboy darted off to get the requested horses, Marie-Elisabeth couldn’t help the direction her mind was wandering off in. She had thought she would be able to keep her mind out of the gutters, especially considering that its’ previous place there had brought her nothing but trouble and embarrassment. But it appeared as though it was determined to go off and make a home for itself there and it was taking most of her willpower not to let the rest of her pack its’ bags up and move there too.

“All of my attention indeed” she mused, as she watched the servants and stableboys running around doing their various tasks. “As though my attention could possibly be anywhere else at the moment” she thought, glancing over at César “It seems to be firmly fixed on the same thing, despite the rest of me’s best efforts to the contrary”.

She continued to look around while they waited for their horses, realizing quite a few of the boys didn’t look very much older than her own son. That made her even more grateful for the fact that he was safe at home. Though she had to admit she did miss him a great deal, and had seriously been considering brining him to the palace for a visit. She knew he’s enjoy it, and what better way for him to finally put faces on all the important names he was always being told about.

Of course the return of the stableboy with the horses jolted Marie-Elisabeth out of her plans and she carefully walked forward to the horses. She really hadn’t been around the animals much unless they were towing her carriage or she was supervising Charles’ riding lessons, so she was being somewhat cautious.

“What beautiful animals” she said, placing her gloved hand on the gelding's forehead and petting it. It had a lovely golden coat and was being remarkably still and well behaved as she ran her hand up and down its muzzle. In fact, it reminded her a great deal of the horse her father had owned that they used to go out riding together on. Francis had purposely chosen it for its calm and gentle nature, as opposed to the rather fearsome stallion he rode when he was on his own. Marie-Elisabeth made a mental note to acquire a similar one of her very own sometime in the future.

Now the stallion, on the other hand, was not being quite so well behaved. It was making some rather impatient snorting noises and stamping its’ hooves on the floor. She couldn’t help but giggle slightly at that and backed away slightly over to where César was standing.

“Someone looks like he’s a little bit impatient to get started” she said, pulling her gloves up and making sure her hat was securely fastened on her head. The last thing she needed was for it to fly off her head and loose it. She glanced over at the horses and back to César. “I suppose we had better be off then. Would you mind helping me get up onto the horse” she said, another faint trace of her signature smirk making its way back onto her face “I’m afraid he’s rather tall and I don’t want to fall off and make myself look silly”.




(((OOC: Oh dear god, now you've got the image in my head of the lot of them doing terrible disco dancing or something to that song. Thaaaaanks a lot Remind me NOT to ever put the Karaoke machine in any of their houses.....*gets mental picture of César singing Mambo #5 and dies again*

And yes I got a picture for her horse. It's pretty, actually is a gelding (Which I'm ashamed to say I had to look up), and I like it)))

Padme and Larkin in the Gardens
 

"Lordship. Although really, I do not put overmuch precedence in titles, you may call me Larkin"

Padme stood from her curtsy-ing position and smiled at Larkin. It seemed as if her had been examining her before. Going through a checklist in his head on how she dressed (which was poorly), the way her hair was done, her wealth, etc.

"Mademoiselle"

"A pleasure to meet you, Monsuier Larkin. You may call me Padme." She paused for a moment, thinking of something to say. She was very shy, and that was an understatement. Gazing at a bush of roses, she suddenly remembered that it was goregous outside. Silly me, I got caught up in staring at roses than making conversation. (Something Padme wasn't very good at.)

"Lovely day isn't it? I was inside most of yesterday, so I figured I'd catch up on fresh air."

((sorry, I just got done writing an essay But the narrative will revive me of my expository failure - tehe))

Bella, Octavien and Joséphine - In the palace and somewhat disturbed
 

The conversation with the Baroness had been somewhat monotonous, despite efforts on both their parts. Rosaline seemed amicable enough, but there had not been enough to sustain tête-à-tête at that point given that Bella had ventured out to read and Rosaline apparently for a break from mourning. Perhaps things would have been better if they had not been preoccupied to begin with. Still, Bella was sure she’d have another – possibly pleasanter – encounter with the Baroness during her stay at court.

Having given up on the book for now, Bella had walked around aimlessly through the gorgeous green grass carpet that defined the gardens, stopping to smell and feel the flowers and the small intricacies of the ornaments. It’d been somewhat of a solitary morning, most of her company had been derived from silent disclosures imprinted as words on a page while the rest of it had either been fleeting encounters or the beautifully delicate view before her.

She’d somehow made her way back to the palace, absently turning the corner that lead to the great marble staircase as her sight fought free through the window, falling upon the image of Marie-Elisabeth and César walk off into the distance sure to claim their horses or visit them, at least.

Well, that’s… odd, Bella could not help but think as the forms of the Comtesse and Marquis disappeared into the stables. She wondered where the lovely Marquise, Joséphine, was while her husband had apparently taken it upon himself to ensure that Marie-Elisabeth received her share of masculine attentions.

Little did she know that her question was about to be abruptly answered as she turned the corner to the sight of Joséphine and Octavien in mid conversation, arrested in their ascent up the stairway. They both looked somewhat dishevelled as if their own horseback riding venture had backfired somehow and they’d decided to return while César and Marie-Elisabeth continued on. Well, that may have been the case, she supposed.

Bella continued her smooth glide closer to the pair as a small smile of mixed incredulity and admiration flowed upon her mouth. They looked like they’d been attacked by vegetation somewhat with leaves in Joséphine’s hair and matching stains of tree-bark over Octavien’s shirt.

"You know, there's a time, place and attire for adventure....” she could called out to them as she ascended the staircase with the that affable smile still playing over her features. As she ventured closer, her eyes widened in pure shock as she saw the more serious aspects of their state, namely the scratches over the Joséphine’s hands and the steady stream of blood that carried on down Octavien’s shirt. What on Earth…?

“My goodness, are you both alright?” Bella’s voice dropped to the hushed whisper of concern as genuine worry manifested for the wellbeing of her new acquaintances. “Has anyone seen to your injuries?"

Well, the question struck Bella as rather stupid once she'd actually said it. Of course no-one had seen to it yet, otherwise they'd have looked less like victims of some branch-wielding mob.

"We must see to these right away."

(((ooc: Since we're still in the re-application stage of the new thread, I didn't want to make things messy by posting my RP post there just yet. Hope that's ok?)))


While waiting for the horses to be brought to them, it seemed Marie-Elisabeth and César both lost themselves to deep thoughts, and for once, rare silence settled between them as they absentmindedly looked around themselves, each with a vision stained by their personalities and experiences in life. Marie-Elisabeth saw the young stableboys, and thought of her son. César saw the magnificent Lippizans, most likely specimens from one of the acclaimed Lahance stud farms, and thought of Octavien, and through association, Joséphine, wondering if everything had gone according to plan, and, more importantly, if Joséphine was alright. During the previous night, intoxicated by hours of fine wine and good company, his plan had seemed a marvelous one, but now, in sober daylight... Not so much. Not only would Joséphine's dignity end up bruised, but most likely so would her delicate frame as well. If she fell, she could end up seriously injured, and on top of it all, if she really was pregnant... He didn't even want to try and imagine what the consequences of this endeavor might be.

When it came to César de la Valliére, it had to be some kind of a record, but for the second time during a single day, he felt guilty. What had he been thinking, asking Joséphine to risk her neck just to maybe successfully boost Octavien's popularity? And not even be around himself, to make sure that she came out of it alright? The fact that it had ultimately been her decision to do it or not didn't feel like it made much of a difference, simply because César knew that she too had an adventurous streak, and was just as disheartened as her husband to see Octavien treated with such disrespect by people ten times more flawed than him. Of course she would agree to do what she could to improve his standing.

Yet, at the same time as he was feeling guilty, he couldn't help but feel that if there was a woman that could pull of a stunt like the one they had planned, it was Joséphine. Her adventurous streak was not just a bad thing, but also provided her with a bit of skill and know-how, and what she lacked in César's amount of experience of similar enterprises, she made up for in the common sense that he lacked.
And, not to be forgotten, there was also Octavien, who would never allow Joséphine to get hurt, if he could help it. So... She was alright, surely? Had something serious happened, a servant would have been sent to fetch César a long time ago. And no such thing had happened. Meaning, Joséphine had to be doing quite fine, and the only thing he should worry about, was making it all up to her. And explaining why he hadn't been there.

His ponderings of how to do that were cut short however, as the sudden clatter of several pairs of hooves against the cobblestones roused both him and Marie-Elisabeth from their thoughts, and had them look up at the two magnificent beasts approaching them, led by the same stableboy that had taken their request. One a gelding as requested, a light brown, almost golden animal that appeared as calm and dependable as the other, a dark brown stallion, appeared restless and moody, dancing slightly in the teenaged boy's firm grip.

"Someone looks like he's a little bit impatient to get started", Marie-Elisabeth said with a soft giggle.

At first, César almost thought she meant him, as he had been paying more attention to her and the way she behaved around the gelding, than he had the stallion. He'd been watching the way she approached the animal, to get an idea of how much out of practice she really was, and had been pleased to find that while she was catious, and maybe just a little but overly so, she didn't appear to be afraid. That was a very good start indeed, as it was a sure sign that they would not have to start from the very beginning; that it was simply her riding skill that needed some refreshing.
Thus, her comment made him blink with momentary surprise, before his eyes fell on the beautiful but impatient stallion, and it dawned on him whom she had really been referring to. It seemed a spirited horse indeed, and César's lips parted slightly in a satisfied smile. He was pleased, to say the least, and knew instantly that he and the stallion would get along quite nicely.

"I suppose we had better be off then", Marie-Elisabeth continued, while seeing to the last details of her attire before turning to César, and if he wasn't mistaken, he did catch a vague glimpse of her trademark smirk as she added; "Would you mind helping me get up onto the horse? I’m afraid he’s rather tall and I don’t want to fall off and make myself look silly."

A request for him to get close to her and assist her in mounting the animal, with all bodily and electrifying contact that could entail? She didn't have to ask him twice!

"Of course, Madame", he said, with his lips curving into a smile rather similar to her own, and he gave a slight bow before moving on to help her into the saddle, taking full advantage of the opportunity to have his hands linger around her waist a moment longer than necessary, and also his arm resting gently against the many layers of fabric covering her thighs, when handing her the reins, and making sure she held them correctly.

Once that was all done and she had assured him twice that she was sitting securely and comfortably in the saddle, César himself mounted his horse with the lithe ease of a young and skilled horseman, and the animals were gently urged into motion. Side by side the couple rode slowly out of the stables, and as they began heading for the gates and the country road beyond, César offered a few pieces of advice in general, since it turned out Marie-Elisabeth had, according to him, been quite modest about her skill.

"Why, Comtesse de Valois", he said, with a tone of gentle and playful reproach in his voice. "I believe you must have played me for a fool when saying you were out of practice. You're doing quite well."

((ooc: Well most of the active members' applications are in already, so I think it's just better if we tried to migrate there and get things going ))

Posting for non-purge purposes.