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Post by Blaize de Gogny on Jun 11, 2011 23:55:42 GMT -5
The matter of young people had still to be attended to. Girl children, who would be wanting education soon enough, and toys, and new attire better suited to the damp climate than what they had arrived with. Quite unlike boys, who might rule themselves, and reign over whatever the found, and want dogs, and horses, and pistols...
That had been the general train of thought several weeks ago, when he had put pen to paper and contacted the governess. Well-referred and from hardy country stock -- or not, a flighty slut fresh from London or the Americas who poisoned her last charges with laudanum and fled the country, he couldn't have cared very much at the time of making the appointment, and he certainly did not care now. The drawing-room was sooty dark even in the heat of the day, and the master of the house was sprawled on the divan, having drunk too much in the small hours of the morning.
The appointment was the last thing on his mind. Let her show herself in, if she felt the inclination.
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Linde Reinhold
- Masterful Virgin -
I did not think I'd find my way here.
Posts: 25
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Post by Linde Reinhold on Jun 12, 2011 12:36:57 GMT -5
Having followed the directions to the house exactly, Linde arrived a little bit ahead of time--you never knew what might slow you down on the way from one point to another. She clutched her small satchel to her almost protectively as she approached the sprawling gothic mansion. Used to the bright airy-ness of her previous employers' home, the Gogny house seemed to be even heavier and darker than gothic structures typically were.
She breathed in and exhaled slowly. It was silly to have some kind of uncertainty so soon--you couldn't judge the character of other people by the look of their home. Yet as she approached the door, she couldn't shake the feeling that a cloud of gloom was forming overhead.
You are ridiculous!
Shaking the feeling off, Linde confidently knocked on the door. And waited. For some time.
Did she have the wrong house? But it couldn't be, she'd followed the direction exactly, this was the only Gogny with any great titles, and they knew she was coming, so they had to be home.
"Er."
Biting her lip, she hesitated, arguing with herself about the impetuousness of just letting herself in and announcing her presence--which did anyway, and now here she was, hovering in the dusty foyer, peering around at the interior as the door seemed to shut with a strange finality behind her.
"Hallo?" Wait, what was the word in French? Bon...
"Bonjour?"
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Post by Blaize de Gogny on Jun 13, 2011 7:40:44 GMT -5
There were servants, but they seemed perpetually elsewhere -- and besides, they had no knowledge of their master's plans and any deviation from his regular ritual unless posted long in advance. Two trusted servants in charge of many, many suites of rooms -- and the master indisposed.
He stirred a bit from the settee, moved from his listlessness by the presence of an intruder. The glass remained next to him, why remove it? And a few dagger-thin glimmers of light were penetrating the heavy drapes, last night's lamp did not need relit.
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Linde Reinhold
- Masterful Virgin -
I did not think I'd find my way here.
Posts: 25
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Post by Linde Reinhold on Jun 13, 2011 11:11:46 GMT -5
Swallowing nervously, Linde starting walking farther in, eyes roving the interior. Which way? A house like this was one that you could easily get lost in if you didn't know it well. Hesitating a moment, she started up the stairs, one hand on the bannister.
"Um...it's me, Linde Reinhold." She called out as she climbed.
"I'm here for the governess job?"
Linde cringed a bit at her French--while she knew it was understandable, she still had a very noticeable German accent. Maybe being here for a while would help that out.
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Post by Blaize de Gogny on Jun 13, 2011 23:20:34 GMT -5
Blaize called out listlessly into the hall, slipping into his discarded dressing gown. He looked a drunken fright, and knew it, but he was not altogether sure he wasn't imagining the voice, like an apparition cutting through the heavens.
"Who let you in, girl? I certainly didn't--"
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Linde Reinhold
- Masterful Virgin -
I did not think I'd find my way here.
Posts: 25
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Post by Linde Reinhold on Jun 14, 2011 14:41:19 GMT -5
Linde froze at the voice.
"Ah...please forgive me, but I knocked and no one answered for a long time, and...and I didn't want to be late the first day." She said nervously, one finger twisting a lock of hair around and around.
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Post by Blaize de Gogny on Jun 14, 2011 15:58:43 GMT -5
"Come in, child." The voice sounded perfectly bored.
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Linde Reinhold
- Masterful Virgin -
I did not think I'd find my way here.
Posts: 25
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Post by Linde Reinhold on Jun 14, 2011 17:07:08 GMT -5
"Oh! Yes."
She walked into the room, stopping not far from the doorway. Whatever she was expecting of de Gogny, it wasn't who she saw before her--he looked so...trampled, as though something had been riding roughshod over him for some time now. If that weren't so, he'd likely be quite handsome.
Focus!
Bad line of that for this moment.
"Hallo, ah, again. I'm Linde Reinhold, here about the girls?"
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Post by Blaize de Gogny on Jun 14, 2011 21:54:41 GMT -5
He was an imposing figure, cocking his head back and looking down his nose in a manner that seemed imperious despite a distinct drunken blear.
"Girls? Ah -- yes. No matter what some damned aunt must have informed you of, your services will not be needed."
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Linde Reinhold
- Masterful Virgin -
I did not think I'd find my way here.
Posts: 25
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Post by Linde Reinhold on Jun 14, 2011 23:03:57 GMT -5
Linde blinked.
"Aunt? I don't know of an aunt, I...wasn't it you who put out the notice?"
There was a sinking feeling growing in the pit of her stomach, one that made her worry that this was all for naught, and that she'd soon have to go back into Paris and job hunt again. The thought of having to go through that process again made her determined to win Gogny over...somehow.
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Post by Blaize de Gogny on Jun 16, 2011 21:21:12 GMT -5
He raised a dark eyebrow sardonically and turned away.
"Why, it might have been. You're welcome to the girls, in any case. This house is no place for a child."
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Linde Reinhold
- Masterful Virgin -
I did not think I'd find my way here.
Posts: 25
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Post by Linde Reinhold on Jun 16, 2011 23:10:13 GMT -5
She tried not to breath a too-audible sigh of relief. She wasn't being sent away.
"Of course, I'll see to them right away. Where might I be staying? And them?"
Will have to wander into depths of this enormous house?
She had the feeling it was a place she'd get rather lost in if left to wander.
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Post by Blaize de Gogny on Jun 19, 2011 16:47:58 GMT -5
"They are to be kept in the visiting bedrooms and separated from the rest of the house. As are you" he said. The lord of the house suffered no comical slurring from drink but there was peculiar force in his voice.
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Linde Reinhold
- Masterful Virgin -
I did not think I'd find my way here.
Posts: 25
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Post by Linde Reinhold on Jun 19, 2011 23:01:39 GMT -5
Linde blinked. Well, she would have expected to be in the guest quarters, but hearing that the girls were gave her a bit of pause. She did not question him, however--it was not her place to do so. Still, she wondered as she spoke.
"Of course. I'll head..."
Oh, wait.
"...ah. Which way are they?" She asked sheepishly. Eventually she would have this place memorized. Then, she wouldn't have to look so fumbling in front of the master of the house.
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Post by Blaize de Gogny on Jun 28, 2011 22:33:11 GMT -5
"There are two other woman servants. Ask your questions of them."
The master of the house had to steady himself on the back of an armchair as he took a few loping steps away from her.
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