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Post by Sir Percy on Feb 4, 2008 18:01:57 GMT -5
Percy merely tilted his head.
"Interesting," he drawled. He glanced at his wife.
"Gossip is the poison of the vipers, eh, m'dear?"
He returned his gaze to Rebecca.
"Who?"
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Post by Rebecca on Feb 4, 2008 18:05:52 GMT -5
*Becca didn't even look at Philippe, her eyes instead trained upon the floor.*
"The Dowager Comtess, Papa. She had the somewhat shady evidence of...of a dirty sheet from Monsieur le Comte's bedchamber and a servant who witnessed me going to pay a visit to his rooms."
*She raised her eyes to meet her father's gaze.*
"Nothing happened. It was...a terrible chain of events, and...my...my mother-in-law clearly wanted me to marry her son and would stop at nothing to ruin my reputation and our family if I didn't."
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Post by Sir Percy on Feb 4, 2008 18:08:58 GMT -5
Percy's good natured drawl vanished, and his eyes turned flat and hard.
"I see. Rebecca, if you would be so kind as to excuse your mother and I for a moment?"
He smiled coldly at Phillippe.
"And your husband, of course."
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Post by Philippe on Feb 4, 2008 18:11:24 GMT -5
*Philippe glanced over at Rebecca. This was not a happy change in events. He muttered softly to her.*
"You do not have to leave the room in your own house."
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Post by Rebecca on Feb 4, 2008 18:12:35 GMT -5
"No," *she said with stony defiance--the first she'd ever shown the father she adored.*
"I'll not have my life be discussed behind my back. Say what you like of my behaviour, Father, but I am grown, now. I am an adult with rational opinions, a human being with feelings, and though by law my rights are few, by honour you cannot deny me a voice in this matter."
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Post by Sir Percy on Feb 4, 2008 18:16:17 GMT -5
((Damn you woman, you HAD to bring up equal rights!))
Percy's eyes softened slightlyas Phillippe defended his wife. He no longer considered the man responsible. He had merely been a tool, and if he had fallen in love with Rebecca, well...it was not something Percy objected to.
"Then stay," her father said, "but prepare yourself for hard questions."
He looked at Phillippe.
"If the Comtess spread this malicious lies, why did you not stop her?"
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Post by Philippe on Feb 4, 2008 18:16:39 GMT -5
*Philippe gazed coldly at Sir Percy. He would not tolerate being spoken to like a child by a man who matched him in years and experience.*
"If you have any questions Sir, I shall answer in the same way whether my wife is present or not."
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Post by Sir Percy on Feb 4, 2008 18:19:28 GMT -5
"I see," Percy said calmly. "So I ask for an answer. Why in the name of God would you let her spread vicious rumors about yourself and a clearly untried girl?"
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Post by Rebecca on Feb 4, 2008 18:19:53 GMT -5
"She was poised and ready to drop the news in public at a moment's notice!" *cried Becca.* "There was no time! False hesitation...stalling...she would have sniffed it out and then told everyone, anyway!"
*Never mind that it was more then mortifying to have her father discussing virgo intacta regarding herself.*
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Post by Sir Percy on Feb 4, 2008 18:23:50 GMT -5
"Perhaps," Percy agreed gently.
He looked at Phillippe.
"Still...it is not the sort of rumor a gentleman desires to hear. Why didn't you stop her?"
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Post by Rebecca on Feb 4, 2008 18:25:40 GMT -5
"Have you MET her? She's a conniving, manipulative mastermind!" *said Becca. She grabbed her father's arm.*
"And stop talking to HIM as if I'm not even here!"
*Vianne stood to one side watching all of this with very real concern and interest but also a mild hint of amusement and pride as she listened to her daughter.*
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Post by Philippe on Feb 4, 2008 18:27:32 GMT -5
*Philippe sighed.*
"The rumors had begun far before I had any say in the matter. My mother had suggested the match before but I felt that Rebecca was just a child."
*He paused.*
"Then I realised she was not. I requested to my mother that she returned home, I am a strong willed man but-. Then circumstances occurred in which I believe my mother suspected further intimacy had been gained. It had not. "
*He rubbed his forehead again.*
"I am to blame for the results of that episode, the details of which you can imagine. I had drank and I believed a girl was..."
*He glanced swiftly at Rebecca and then to her mother.*
"...Not the maid. Perhaps then you can understand my unwillingness to disregard a marriage to which I held no reservations other than the age of my bride."
*He stopped short and spoke, to all three in truth.*
"Forgive me."
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Post by Sir Percy on Feb 4, 2008 18:31:06 GMT -5
Percy nodded slowly. He understood.
He had seen it happen to a few of the more foolish young men who followed him, Armand included.
It did, however, leave him with a very real confirmation that this man was very much in love with his daughter.
"It is forgotten, at least by me," he said softly, nodding with new respect to Phillippe.
He turned to his daughter.
"As for the Comtess, I don't believe I've had the pleasure. I would like to make her ladyship's aquaintence."
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Post by Rebecca on Feb 4, 2008 18:33:56 GMT -5
*Becca realized her father wasn't going to run Philippe through and that Philippe wasn't going to punch her father in the face and relaxed slightly. A slow smile spread across her face.*
"Have at her and welcome," *she said with relish, turning to lead the way.*
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Post by Philippe on Feb 4, 2008 18:35:58 GMT -5
*Philippe shook his head but followed his wife, leaning forward to whisper in her ear.*
"You know not what you do. I suspect that they shall destroy each other."
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