A game for Wednesday

[Picks-at-Flies]

Haniel walked down the road, a gentleman out for a late stroll complete with cane and hat. This was a night for strength and it had been planned for a while. George… with the absence left by George, there was a sense of urgency that Haniel had to suppress. But the same absence was leaving the remaining brother feeling like his strength had gone.

It wasn’t that he relied on his brother for anything. But it was the knowledge that there was someone who Haniel could depend on, whose buttons he could push with reliability, that he missed. That unfailing happiness in his voice when he saw his brother, despite his unhealthy and mutual infatuation with the delightful Vex girl.

He tried to wipe it from his mind. Not his fault. Not his concern. There are plenty of others who need help.

And here is the door. Time to play a new game.

[Eglantine des Rosier]

A gentleman opened the door, dressed neatly and with a polite expression.

"Good evening sir." As it was highly unlikely for someone to knock at this hour without dire urgency unless it was an invited visitor he only paused a short moment to see if the gentleman would start some rapid patter about selling the latest snake oil or shout about a fire or theft before continuing. "Lady des Rosier is in the parlour along with Miss Kira, if you would care to follow me? May I take your hat?"

[Picks-at-Flies]

"Thank you so much." He hands over his hat, complete with scarf and gloves.

The politeness was more of an old habit. Vampire etiquette... it just doesn't work the same way. But it paid to be polite to the comparatively innocent employees so he had maintained some semblance of manners through the years. He remembered one occasion when he waited in absolute agony for two hours because the lady was out. Not that he had much choice at the time. But of course that didn't lead to idle conversation. That was a lesson also learned with pain.

[Eglantine des Rosier]

The butler took the items, handing them off to a maid who disappeared to place them somewhere as he led the way into the house, past large darkened rooms on the ground floor and up two flights of stairs before showing him into a parlour where Eglantine sat, she set aside her needlework as he entered.

The room was decorated in pastels, soft pink seats against a pale green carpet and white wood fittings, even the fireplace was pale pink veined marble. The only splashes of colour in the room were the painting of roses, violets and ivy over the fireplace and the gowns worn by Eglantine and Kira. It made them stand out all the more clearly like jewels against a white glove.

"Mr Haniel, what a pleasant surprise. I am so glad you chose to honour us with a visit, please do have a seat." Eglantine smiled cheerfully as she rose to greet him and her words matched the sincerity of her tone.

[Picks-at-Flies]

"It is my delight and pleasure to take advantage of your invitation."

He gives a small bow, and sits almost opposite her with Kira to one side. It's proper and non-confrontational.

He smiles and continues, "The fact is, I love what you are trying to do here and wanted to get better acquainted with it - with your permission of course. So naturally, I took up your invitation as soon as I could."

[Eglantine des Rosier]

Eglantine's smile grew wider at the interest. It was always nice to feel appreciated and that ones work met with approval, even if he hadn't actually specified which aspect of the several she was working towards he was hoping to become involved in. The raising of a foster childe, the building of a women's club, the gathering of ladies (and later select guests of both genders) for a salon, trying to build the artistic and scientific interests in the city in general... or, given the clan she suspected he might belong to, it might have been any number of things real or imagined otherwise that he believed her to be doing.

"Well you are most welcome indeed and I am sure we will have much to discuss, which aspect were you most interested in exploring?" She asked, encouraging his inquiry.

[Picks-at-Flies]

"The very fact that you seem to have so many, hm, projects" ambitions "is intriguing in itself and I pray that later you might talk about those as well. But what piqued my interest was your desire to create a women's club. It's quite a break from convention, but in a way I wholeheartedly support."

[Eglantine des Rosier]

"Well with many young women moving to the cities to work, taking rooms in lodging houses and having no parlours in which to entertain guests and cannot afford the regular hiring of chaperones in order to speak with people there seems likely to be a demand for such. It could be quite satisfying to meet it, financially as well as emotionally and perhaps even nutritionally. As for it being a break of convention, I suppose it will likely be seen as such, but in many ways it is more an extension of tradition. There are many clubs for young men of the middle classes to engage in much the same activities, and for much the same reasons." Eglantine's tone was politely casual, allowing the project to appear more of an interest than a passion for now. Until she was certain exactly what his interest in the project was it might be wise to keep her emotional cards close to her chest.

[Picks-at-Flies]

Sincerity is lost in kindred circles. Well, then, let's play on.

"Ah, I see. So in the absence of the larger drawing rooms of the country, you are seeking to offer a place where women can calmly sew together and drink tea, while their men get on with the hard work of earning money and running the city. Clearly you won't be catering to servants who need to always be on hand for the needs of their generous employers. Slaves, well I'm not sure why I mention them. No, you are talking about the wives of the middle classes, those growing fat on the hard work of their husbands. They lack the graces or refinement of the upper classes but want a place to feel special. I can see how a place like this which will clearly be designed to pamper their rising egos will give them the emotional feeding that such greed demands. Presumably you would employ their own class to provide the cooking.

He wondered how long he could go on for - he always felt his soliloquies were part of his art, so probably a long time - and how long he would be allowed to continue.

"Yes, I can see how fortuitous and profitable such an establishment could become. A grand may to make fame and of course connections in the ever developing middle classes. Hmm..."

[Eglantine des Rosier]

Eglantine raised an eyebrow at the tirade. She waited patiently for a pause before responding.

"I think you mistake me. While I would welcome the good wives of Bath should they have an interest in coming, the women I was referring to work. They are the nurses and the secretaries, the women of education and perhaps breeding, although that is hardly necessary, but with little wealth, the unmarried and perhaps the unmarriageable. Those women whom I have often found make up for any refinement they may be lacking through passion and kindness." There was a faint note of disapproval in her tone at his judgement. "I would ask also that you consider what it is to be a wife, something I doubt you have experienced, before disparaging women for seeking the security in such a position and consider the scarcity of alternatives available to them."

It was all very well for men to judge women for living off the hard work of their husbands, never knowing what it was to be a wife, any wife, and to belong to a man by law so completely that there was nothing left of themselves that was truly theirs save what their husbands gave them. It was a state she was not keen to return to, but then what choices were most women given? It was that or playing nurse to ailing fathers, companion to more fortunate sisters, the workhouse, the street, or the life of a prostitute and who would not judge them for that harsh attempt at independence? The world was set against women and it was far easier to point and condemn than to face such trials for oneself. But it was an old anger and one that she was well practiced in keeping in check, despite its depth, and aside from a slight sternness to her voice and a hint of a frown in her features there was little sign of it on her surface.