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"After he lost his wife, may she rest in peace," Egan nodded, "Lord Perrywise... well, he took quite a curious detour in terms of personality. Perhaps the madness of loneliness clung too tight to his mind, but after that long period stuffed into his mansion with only maidservants to keep him company... suffice it to say, he's been this curious manner of fellow ever since. At least you'll have a constant source of those heady chortles you enjoy, hmm, m'lady?" Egan joked boisterously, his cheeks lit up brightly. Lady Havenshire sighed in grudging admission; one of those few things that had always brought the little Nadia of the past joy was seeing what absurd outfits and manner of speech Lord Perrywise would adopt each time he came calling on the Havenshires' doorstep.
"Such frivolities can only catch my attention and occupy me for so long, Egan," she lamented, imagining the rest of the night would consist of rather dull chatter about matters of the empire and other such nonsense that held little interest for Nadia. "Besides, you're forgetting, once that initial burst of laughter dies away, Lord Perrywise manages to make himself so insufferable."
"Well... worry not, Lady Havenshire, for I'm certain your night will be alit with entertaining conversation," Egan said, wary sarcasm thick in his voice as he spun the carriage roundabout the roadway, the light of the manor and the light chatter of partygoers filling the air.
"Have you spotted another insufferable memory of ours, Egan?" Lady Havenshire asked jokingly; Egan looked through his little window to Nadia, frowning.
"Your favorite memory, perhaps. Make certain you invoke no treasured social faux pas tonight, Lady Havenshire," Egan implored. Nadia's heart sunk, and she immediately knew which insufferable socialite would be 'entertaining' the ballroom tonight.
"You don't mean..." Lady Havenshire sighed. The door to her carriage flung open, the high-pitch squeal of delight nearly deafened poor Nadia, who winced away from the lantern-light and the gossamer glo
w of the manor's illuminated windows, pouring into the small carriage like a flood.
"Lady Havenshire! Nadia, my darling, it's been so very long! Your father told me he'd sent for you, my—I recognized his carriage and I knew he had to have sent you to see us all! M'lady, you're looking wonderful!" she spoke, her words flowing an overwhelming mile every minute. Nadia had rested in the carriage's silence, with only the rhythmic hoof-clops to bother her, for too long; to be so suddenly overwhelmed with a familiar old woman's erupting tone snapped Nadia from her dreams of freedom back to the gilded cage she'd returned to England to suffer in.
"Yes, hello, it's... good, to see you, Lady Henrietta," Nadia responded, woefully sarcastic. Either the gray-haired woman in the sky-blue gown didn't notice, or didn't mind the young woman's impudence; instead, she took Nadia's wrist and jerked her from the carriage, loudly and proudly introducing the prideful heiress to the gathered assortment of pale-white dresses, spotless breeches and curious, clean-shaven expressions.
"Everyone, everyone, please! I'd like to present to everyone the fabulous, the esteemed, world-traveled daughter of our dearest friend, Lord Havenshire, who due to ill health is unable to join us this evening - the beautiful, the alluring, my sweetest god-daughter, Lady Nadia Havenshire!" the old woman tugged Nadia forward, showing off a woman who shrunk away from all the attention. A light round of applause filled the air and Nadia forced a small smile. Lady Henrietta had been a long-time friend of her father; though, worse than anything, she had proudly held the impromptu title of rumormonger of all the northern English nobility. She proved with exceptional skill the ability to embarrass and expose immediately; Nadia had looked forward to an evening of hiding in the corner, enduring boring conversation, and sneaking through the front door as quickly as possible to flag down Egan and escape. Instead she'd now been made a feature, a highlight of the night; Lady Henrietta had even revealed the nature of her father, which was certain to attract the wandering eyes of vulture-like men looking to add another name and title on to their estates by preying on the dying wishes of her distraught father. The crowd looked expectantly on Nadia, who offered only an anxious smile, before realizing the gathered assembly expected some manner of speech. Instead, she simply curtsied, bowing her head until the chatter resumed and she felt those eyes wander away.
"Certainly, certainly, the entrance of the year! Darling, you're going to make more waves than your father ever would have expected, little Nadia," Lady Henrietta rambled, pulling Nadia by the wrist. "Now, I've spoken to your father, and he's quite excited about everything tonight, thinking it will be a wondrous evening for you—"
"You spoke to—to my father?" Nadia inquired, bristling a little. Had this all been some ill-advised manner of setup? "What did he say?"
"Of course I spoke to him! You don't think a man as smart as your father would thrust you helplessly into the clawing arms of these gossipy, backstabbing nobles, do you?" Lady Henrietta laughed; ironic, coming from the queen of all gossip herself. "He's quite worried about you, you know, Nadia. And your inheritance," Lady Henrietta reminded, and Nadia deflated immediately. This had all just been another plan to push Nadia helplessly under the thumb of a controlling lord, to 'keep the family line' going. Full of disgust, Lady Havenshire resisted Lady Henrietta's pull, but the old socialite dragged Nadia along, the young woman's muted, gold-trimmed gray gown dragging at her feet, nearly tripping young Nadia.
"Now, I've a few ideas for lovely men I think you'd get along with quite well, Nadia," Lady Henrietta began, leading poor Nadia through the front doors and into Lord Perrywise's foyer. A grand crowd had gathered, and Nadia at once felt utterly dizzied by its size, and by the winding sounds of conversation echoing through pitched hallways. Lord Perrywise's reception, painted over the color of sky and the pink of sunset, blinded her gaze; so accustomed to the calm and dark corridors of Havenshire Manor was she that the pastel glow of lanterns reflected from cherub statues and Greek marbled carvings covered in warm yellow and white nearly knocked the breath from her. She scarcely had time to adjust to the wild colors or the dozens of men watching her, for she still had yet to contend with the old woman dragging her through the assortment of gentlemen.
"You—you have men, you want, me, to talk to?" Nadia asked incredulously.
"Well, of course! That's what a lovely young heiress with an ailing father comes to these occasions for, is it not?" Lady Henrietta chortled obnoxiously. "Now, Lord Avery, and Lord Tybalt, they're wonderful men—a tad on the old side, but—"
"Lady Henrietta, perhaps, did you happen to think upon whether I chose to attend simply to make my father happy, and NOT to search for some suitor to sweep me away and wait for my father to die?!" Nadia protested breathlessly.
"Oh, come now! If you wish to make your father happy, you'd have your eyes peeled hawkishly in search of a man worthy of your attention! A good woman like yourself needs a man, you know," Lady Henrietta insisted as she tugged Nadia along through the crowds, the sound of spring-colored sounds from light strings plied by musicians doing little to soothe poor Nadia's pounding heart. "You know, he cares quite a lot about you, and he knows that you still have a lot to learn about life as a proper lady. That's why he's asked me to—"
"Lady Henrietta, I beg your pardon, please, but I doubt quite a great deal that my father asked you to match make for me—"
"He wanted me to look after you! So that's what I'm doing, looking after you," Lady Henrietta announced proudly. "Now, Lord Avery, he's a lovely man, a tad old, but certainly a worthy husband. He does have that... small issue, he's quite a bit... well, touchy. But that's a good thing, is it not? Oh! Or the Duke of Thrushcross, he's such a lovely old man, and he lost his poor, lovely wife, so young! He's—"
"Lady Henrietta, touchy?! You're trying to set me up with—" Nadia exclaimed in exasperation, her tolerance for the old bat reaching its limit. "I think we need to stop and discuss—"
"Oh, discussion! I love discussion. Have you any rumors to share? You visited Siam, didn't you? Such a ghastly place! But I met a man there, Lord Chester—did you meet him?" Lady Henrietta continued unabated, and Nadia was already quite exhausted. "Lord Chester! That's a man we should meet together. Certainly, he'd love your father—"
"Love my father? But what about—"
"What about you? What about you, darling?" Lady Henrietta smiled obliviously. "Now, come, let's talk to-"
"Quiet, everyone! Quiet, for just moment!" The squirrelly, sniveling tone of Lord Perrywise gave to Nadia a much-needed reprieve from the endless stream of Lady Henrietta's banter. Nadia took a deep breath, barely able to recover from the dizzying experience; but the crowd fell silent and, perched at the top of the stairwell, the tiny, bald-headed Lord Perrywise appeared, wearing a waistcoat and jacket quite big on him, in the gaudiest combination of blinding colors Nadia could imagine - pink pastels, sky blues, and greens! His curious sense of fashion would no doubt inspire a laugh, had Nadia not been all too tired for that sort of exertion.
"I'm so-so-so very pleased, to see all of you gathered here," Lord Perrywise said, before laughing his horrifying laugh, like the melodic chirping of a bird. "I'm so wonderfully fortunate to have so many lovely friends here, willing to extend a hand of friendship, in such a friendly way," the odd man spoke in circles. Nadia had to shake the confusion from her head to make sure she'd heard his odd declarations accurately. "Now, lovely friends, dinner is prepared, BUT! I've a fun little game for us all to play. You'll find in the dining room, small plaques at each seat! You'll need to find yours - and once you find it, you'll be forced to sit among strangers! Now, friends, meet new friends!" Lord Perrywise declared; the doors to the dining room squealed on their hinges and Nadia swallowed a lump in her throat. Great. Saved from the endless irritating chatter of Lady Henrietta... only to be exposed to who knows what manner of endless, irritating chatter from strangers she'd be forced to sit next to.
"This is unexpected," Lady Henrietta frowned, before the brief moment of sadness passed and her face lit up once more. "Certainly, you'll find a lovely man to speak to—think of your father! Now," Lady Henrietta declared, hustling with excitement towards the dining room - this was just the sort of ridiculous thing she'd enjoy, but for Nadia? She could only scoff at the thought of whatever ridiculous, old-fashioned ideas she'd be forced to endure as she yawned and pretend to need to excuse herself for the evening.
Nadia pushed her way through the crowd - so many tall people, with tall heels, long gowns; flowing jackets, laughing. She felt alone, strange, as if she'd stepped out of the real world outside of England and stepped in to a bizarre little bubble of madness - mad men, mad women, drinking wine and laughing at bad jokes together. Nadia slunk with doom in her footsteps along the long table, searching for her name; searching, searching, recognizing the names and titles of people her father had often spent time with. She recognized the names of old friends of hers; women who had once been headstrong, but who abandoned their ideas and independence when money and title and men came into their lives. Finally, at the very end of the table, she found it: LADY HAVENSHIRE. She sighed, glancing curiously at the name next to hers: LORD BECKHAM. Just perfect, she thought facetiously; a man to lecture her on the nature of marriage, or to try at her father's fortune, or both.
Nadia slipped into her chair, sinking down into the upholstery as violin music and guffaws echoed through the dining hall. She almost found a moment of uneasy peace, before a familiar voice broke into her thoughts again.
"Lord Beckham? Hmmm, isn't that the reclusive chap from Berrewithe?" Lady Henrietta asked, startling Nadia from her moment of self-reflection.
