Robbie
- Ingenious Pilot -
Posts: 211
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A Pond
Sept 28, 2008 23:11:43 GMT -5
Post by Robbie on Sept 28, 2008 23:11:43 GMT -5
*Robbie had finished his work for the day and quickly bolted his dinner as usual. The next day was Sunday and many servants had a lie-in...except for Robbie. He was used to rising early, and so, he got the horses hitched to the family carriage to take the Pontmercys to church. Most of the bachelors and maids had gone into the village nearby to drink and dance, but Robbie had no liking for the boistrous company, usually. Too many milkmaids and scullery chits making eyes at him made him nervous. True, he'd wanted and wondered often enough...but then he recalled his mother and father, and what their lives had been like. If he had a wife and children before he was ready...how would he possibly support them? On a stableboy's salary, how would he ever? And so he walked, alone by the pond, listening to the crickets and saying a prayer now and again for his baby brother and sisters...wondering...hoping they were alright, wherever they were, now.*
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Johanna
- Ingenious Pilot -
in the bloom of 17
Posts: 235
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A Pond
Sept 28, 2008 23:34:14 GMT -5
Post by Johanna on Sept 28, 2008 23:34:14 GMT -5
*In the twilight there came the quiet sounds of a person in the woods, a person who knew them and had grown up in them. Johanna, the eldest Pontmercy daughter, the heiress, the sought-after bride, was barefoot in her family's estate, wearing only a plain white day-dress. The formal dinner given to the family was finally over (formal only in dress and table-setting; the family themselves had lively conversation and many laughs, especially the younger members) and she had changed and unbound her hair to enjoy the hour between sunset and dark.*
*She arrived near-silently at the side of the pond, and wasted no time in sitting on a convenient log to dip her feet in, pulling out a book to pass the time until the light faded. She didn't note Robbie's presence.*
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Robbie
- Ingenious Pilot -
Posts: 211
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A Pond
Sept 28, 2008 23:38:17 GMT -5
Post by Robbie on Sept 28, 2008 23:38:17 GMT -5
*Robbie caught a glimpse of white in the distance, and moved nearer to inspect the strange-seeming movement on the far side of the pond. He stopped short, realizing it was Johanna, realizing he had no place interacting with the lady of the house who was second only to her mother, and he quickly made his retreat, though the darkness obscured his backwards view of his path, and so his heel caught on an exposed root and jerking him off-balance.*
"Wh--whooooa--" *his arms windmilled for a frantic moment, trying to catch hold of a treebrach or anything before he sailed headlong backwards into the pond with a phenomenal splash.*
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Johanna
- Ingenious Pilot -
in the bloom of 17
Posts: 235
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A Pond
Sept 28, 2008 23:41:48 GMT -5
Post by Johanna on Sept 28, 2008 23:41:48 GMT -5
*Her head snapped to his direction as she let out a little gasp, closing her book and holding her hands to herself in surprise. She had trouble discerning who it was that could be about at this time of night, only able to make out that it was a man.*
*She waited for him to surface, unable to go back to her reading as now the light was fading fast. She had underestimated the time.*
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Robbie
- Ingenious Pilot -
Posts: 211
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A Pond
Sept 28, 2008 23:51:07 GMT -5
Post by Robbie on Sept 28, 2008 23:51:07 GMT -5
*Robbie bobbed out of the water, choking, spluttering, deaf, blind and dumb for the moment as he regained his dubious footing on the muddy, weedy bottom of the pond, the disturbed water lapping in little waves only as deep as his thighs. He coughed roughly, sneezed once, and tried to wipe the water from his face and hair, even as it steamed down his sodden clothes and stuck his long lashes together into dark spikes around his dark blue eyes.*
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Johanna
- Ingenious Pilot -
in the bloom of 17
Posts: 235
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A Pond
Sept 29, 2008 8:19:37 GMT -5
Post by Johanna on Sept 29, 2008 8:19:37 GMT -5
*She couldn't help but laugh a little--a muffled chuckle that was further stifled by her hand over her mouth. She almost felt guilty after doing it, but really it was funny that he'd fallen. And now he looked an utter mess.*
"Are you alright?" *She asked softly, once he had his footing. The murky water lapped at her own pale feet, turning them a light greenish color when viewed from above the water.*
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Robbie
- Ingenious Pilot -
Posts: 211
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A Pond
Sept 29, 2008 13:54:58 GMT -5
Post by Robbie on Sept 29, 2008 13:54:58 GMT -5
*Robbie looked slightly stricken, but nodded.*
"I'm well, miss. I apologize for disturbin' ye."
*Burning with shame, he turned to go, slogging out of the pond and pulling himself up onto the bank.*
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Johanna
- Ingenious Pilot -
in the bloom of 17
Posts: 235
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A Pond
Sept 29, 2008 15:30:40 GMT -5
Post by Johanna on Sept 29, 2008 15:30:40 GMT -5
"No, you di... I mean... it's... you were here first."
*She took a breath.*
"I didn't even know anyone else came out here."
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Robbie
- Ingenious Pilot -
Posts: 211
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A Pond
Sept 29, 2008 15:37:36 GMT -5
Post by Robbie on Sept 29, 2008 15:37:36 GMT -5
"It's your home, miss," *he said softly.*
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Johanna
- Ingenious Pilot -
in the bloom of 17
Posts: 235
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A Pond
Sept 29, 2008 16:32:56 GMT -5
Post by Johanna on Sept 29, 2008 16:32:56 GMT -5
*She shrugged.*
"I'm perfectly capable of sharing."
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Robbie
- Ingenious Pilot -
Posts: 211
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A Pond
Sept 29, 2008 16:36:27 GMT -5
Post by Robbie on Sept 29, 2008 16:36:27 GMT -5
"Not with me, miss."
*For one moment, his gaze held hers before he turned his eyes away with deference.*
"Not with one like me."
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Johanna
- Ingenious Pilot -
in the bloom of 17
Posts: 235
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A Pond
Sept 29, 2008 16:43:30 GMT -5
Post by Johanna on Sept 29, 2008 16:43:30 GMT -5
*She let out a somewhat impatient puff of breath.Unspoken rules were stupid, but she didn't consider breaking this one. It just wasn't done.*
"It's getting dark anyway; I'll walk back." *She said finally, and stood to do so.*
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Robbie
- Ingenious Pilot -
Posts: 211
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A Pond
Sept 29, 2008 16:58:10 GMT -5
Post by Robbie on Sept 29, 2008 16:58:10 GMT -5
"As you wish," *he said, sketching a short, awkward bow before retreating quickly into the darkness.*
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Johanna
- Ingenious Pilot -
in the bloom of 17
Posts: 235
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A Pond
Sept 29, 2008 16:59:00 GMT -5
Post by Johanna on Sept 29, 2008 16:59:00 GMT -5
*She walked in the other direction, towards the house and where her family would be sitting in the library.*
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Robbie
- Ingenious Pilot -
Posts: 211
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A Pond
Sept 29, 2008 17:04:52 GMT -5
Post by Robbie on Sept 29, 2008 17:04:52 GMT -5
*Robbie went back to the house, through the kitchens. The cook, sitting in a rocking chair by the scrubbed hearth, knitting, gave him a look as he crept in soaked to the skin, and he shook his head.*
"Don't ask," *he groaned lightly. She half-smiled and handed him some toweling. A few minutes later, he'd hung his clothes on a rack before the fire and sat wrapped in a blanket and nothing else, waiting for his one set of clothes to dry.*
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