[Oscar Moncrieff (Aida)]

The weather seemed to be particularly fine that morning. Oscar inhaled deeply, looking at the passing houses through the small window, feeling quite happy as he sat inside the carriage, a bouquet of blue irises - her favourite flowers - resting next him on the seat, towards which he tossed concerned glances now and then. The concern, although diminished by the passing of time, still had not left him and the closer he got to his destination, the more he could sense its revival.

Stepping out of the carriage, he noticed another vehicle coming into a halt in front of the Duchess' residence. Picking up the bouquet and his cane, he slowly approached the house, bowing his head at the two ladies who had exited the other carriage, and who seemed to be heading towards the same house he was going to visit. While waiting for his footman to present his car, he wondered if they were friends of Lilias...

[Cassandra Edgeworth (Francesca)]

"But Mama!" Cassandra objected, wincing slightly as the carriage bumped just a little too fast over a rut in the road. "Aunt Portia and Phoebe and I visited the Duchess but four days ago -- no, no, I'm not trying to be rude, truly I liked the Duchess very well indeed, but does this not seem a little, well, excessive? Yes, of course, I understand that you did not have a chance to convey your own greetings at the time, but surely I have done my par-" She spotted the gently reproving look on her mother's face and subsided. "Oh very well!" she said with a sigh.

She wondered what her mother was plotting. For there was no doubt in her mind that Lady Saxton was up to something; she had known her far too long and far too well to mistake that distant look and dreamy smile for anything else. She would have pondered its meaning a little longer had they not drawn up outside Brixton House at that moment. Alighting from the carriage, she smoothed down her skirts and looked around, spotting a man who seemed as though he had come on a similar errand.

She laid a hand lightly on her mother's arm. "Look, Mama!" she said in an undertone. "That gentleman looks as though he has also come to call on her Grace. Perhaps we should come back at a more convenient hour?"

"Oh no, dear, I am sure it is of very little import", her mother said placidly. "Besides, we have a dozen other things to do today. Now come along!" She led the way up to stairs to the house before turning around to look a little too casually at the other visitor. "Why, I do believe it is dear Lord Avening!" she said brightly. "Lord Avening! How do you do? It has been a veritable age!" She paused in this effusive greeting to cast a meaningful look at her daughter. Cassandra was familiar with the look but not quite sure what she was supposed to do; she settled for smiling weakly at the man whom her mother clearly seemed acquainted with as they presented their cards and waited.

[Lilias Aldridge (Crystal-lee)]

The front door to Brixton House was opened before anyone had a chance to knock.

Frederick Carew had happened to be watching from the window when the two carriages rolled to a stop outside of the town house and he had gone immediately upstairs to the study where he found her Grace sitting in an arm chair, looking blankly at an unfolded letter in her hands.

He cleared his throat to warn her of his presence and stood nearer to the door to allow his lady to have her space. She was, after all, in a dressing gown tied loosely at the hip and moderately under-dressed for this time of morning.

Lilias looked up distractedly at first, blinking and sitting up in her chair as if she only just became aware of the hour, of her location, of her existance. Her blue eyes met Mr. Carew's grey ones and then flicked back to the page in her lap and she closed it as one would close or secure something to be kept from roaming eyes.

"Mr. Carew." she smiled, her eyes leaving the paper clasped in her fingers and gently lingering on the flickering fire in the hearth. There was a lilt of question in her tone, perhaps curious to his sudden presence.

"You will excuse me, my lady. Two callers have just arrived in the same instance. It appears to be Lady Saxton and her daughter, with Lord Avening in company." Lilias had nodded at the former party but her chin tilted towards Mr. Carew on the later. "Lord Avening?" she asked and Mr. Carew bowed his head, "Yes, my lady."

"Will you show them into the parlour and serve them tea? I will not be but several moments to dress appropriately." Lilias spoke in a kind tone as she rose from her chair and moved past her butler towards the door.

"Certainly, my lady." Mr. Carew kept his head bowed and followed Lilias out of the room at a respectful distance. He watched her as she walked down the hall, noting her shoulders slightly more rounded then usual, a sign that all might not be right with his mistress. He did not say it, naturally.

He made his way down the stairs, combed his fingers through his unruly dark curls and then opened the door to the street without realizing that neither had knocked.

[Oscar Moncrieff (Aida)]

"How do you do?" Oscar addressed both ladies, bowing his head. The older lady looked very familiar, but he could not recall where or when they had met before; nevertheless, he confirmed her remark regarding how long it had been since that alleged meeting with an "Indeed," and enquired: "I hope you have been well?" with a rather apologetic smile, meant to excuse him for his poor memory.

Before long, however, and before they had even knocked, a footman appeared at the door and invited them in. While waiting for the ladies to enter, Oscar slightly tilted his head upwards, and looked at a random window for a few moments. He then followed the ladies into a spacious parlour, carrying the flowers in his arms, until quite reluctantly he had to give them to a maidservant. He had hoped he would be able to give the flowers to Lilias himself, but come to think of it, perhaps that would not have been an entirely appropriate gesture in front of her guests.

Once they had taken their seats, he turned towards the older lady, first having smiled kindly at the younger lady, and waited to see if the former would want to resume their conversation.

[Cassandra Edgeworth (Francesca)]

"Oh yes", replied Lady Saxton comfortably, adroitly manoeuvring her daughter into the chair adjoining Lord Avening's. The look of faint confusion and the sheepish smile on his face spoke quite clearly to the fact that he had quite forgotten who she was. She was not in the least put out, for her disposition had always been too placid for her to take umbrage at such things. "We passed a very pleasant winter in Saxton Park", she added in the interests of providing the necessary information in as delicate a way as possible. "There has been a new addition to the family", she added proudly. It was hardly a delicate event (and at her stage in life too!) but little Cecilia was undoubtedly a very pretty baby.

Nevertheless, it was her oldest daughter that she was more concerned with at the moment. After observing her for a week, she was convinced that the girl was going to do absolutely nothing to attract any acceptable suitors unless she was pushed to it, and their conversation yesterday had merely confirmed her suspicions. Well, she was only too happy to administer the necessary push, and now, a golden opportunity had presented itself. Lord Avening was a most suitable young man. Well, if not exactly young, then eligible at the very least.

"May I present my eldest daughter, Lady Cassandra, to you Lord Avening? She is in London for her very first season", she said cheerfully. "Cassandra, the Marquess of Avening." She glanced meaningfully at Cassandra once again, hurriedly withdrawing her gaze as her daughter cast her a look of reproach and betrayal. Looking around the room for an appropriate distraction, she fixed her eyes on a landscape. "My, what a pretty portrait!" she exclaimed. "Do excuse me, for I simply must examine it a little more closely. Rising from her chair, she walked over to study the painting with seemingly rapt attention, while she was, in fact, keenly studying the scene that she had left not three feet behind.

In the mean while, Cassandra was dying in agonies of mortification. How could her mother do this to her? It was simply dreadful! What in the world was she supposed to say to this Lord Avening? Why, he was quite old! This was utterly awful. "How do you do my lord", she said in a tight, colourless little voice, feeling the weight of her mother's gaze on her back. "Have you been in London long?"

[Lilias Aldridge (Crystal-lee)]

Lilias listened to the sound of the laces as they were threaded through each eyelet at the back of her corset. With each tug that rose higher along the slope of her back, she found herself becoming less and less self-aware.

The pull of the fabric at her hips softened; the stiff bone husk against her flat abdomen didn't press as firmly; the hiss of the laces became a distant reminder as she glided into an oubliette of thoughts. It was Clarisse's comforting voice that brought Lilias back to the present as her maid's long fingers knotted the laces securely in place."Your grace?" she tried though the formal address went unnoticed by the distracted duchess.

"Lilias?" was Clarisses's second attempt and she smiled when her mistress's blond crown rose to face her. Lilias didn't speak but she seemed more attentive as Clarisse helped her into the remainder of her underclothes and the new ivory, muslin dress.

She held out two ribbons and Lilias studied the pale lilac colour of one and then the rich blue of the other. Nipping a bit at her lower lip, Lilias chose the lilac one just as a faint knock sounded on her bedroom door. A younger maid entered carrying a large bouquet of Siberian irises set in a crystal vase filled just below its brim with fresh water. The flowers were beautiful and Lilias' lips widened into a large smile, the first of the day.

"From Lord Avening, your grace. Where may I set them for you? In the parlour?" the young woman asked and Lily almost missed the question all together.

He remembered. Oscar had remembered her favourite flower.

She wondered if her cheeks were spotting, like a young woman's might when a gentleman kissed too closely to her wrist.

"I would like very much to see them on my dressing table." Lilias's eyes followed the maid as she carried the striking blue blossoms to the requested area and sat them down.

Only when Lilias felt both women watching her, did she realize she'd been staring at the arrangement. "Yes Sarah. That will be fine." Sarah curtsied and hurried from the room leaving Clarisse holding the lilac ribbon in her hand. A wise smile graced the Scottish woman's lips and her green eyes seemed to sparkle.

Lilias swallowed her own abashed smile and lifted her hand to press at the ornate comb fixed into the back of her softly curled hair. As Clarisse moved toward her, Lilias put a hand on hers, "I think the blue, Clarisse."

Clarisse looked at the lilac ribbon in her hand, then towards the bouquet of tufted perennial blue. She pressed her smiling lips together as she bowed her head in acknowledgment, "A fine choice, your Grace."

Lilias turned away, letting Clarisse glide the rich blue ribbon through the small loops below the swell of her breasts. Finally ready, the duchess looked at her reflection in the looking glass. Her eyes traveled to the sash of color just above her middle and she allowed herself a small smile. After wrapping an ivory colored cashmere shawl around her shoulders Lilias left the room and made her way towards the staircase.

Now alone, Clarisse's cheeks rounded at the apples and a delighted laugh pushed past her lips.

[Oscar Moncrieff (Aida)]

"My congratulations to you, Lady Saxton, for this most... happy event," Oscar smiled mildly, forgetting to ask whether the baby was a boy or a girl, as he watched the flowers leave the room. His reflective gaze remained on the door until the younger lady was introduced to him. "It is a pleasure, Lady Cassandra," he bowed his head, still bearing the same statuesque smile, "allow me to congratulate you for your debut." Feeling rather guilty for wishing so, he hoped there would be no more occasions to congratulate anyone about. Too long a word, Congratulations...

He nodded amiably as Lady Saxton left their side to observe the painting, and turned to the younger lady as she spoke, replying to her 'how do you do?' with one of his own, then resuming: "I believe I have been in London for two weeks and three days," then seeing as his answer was too exact to sound serious, he smiled amicably, adding: "unlike the country, it is quite difficult to lose consciousness of time in the city!" Especially if one is on a mission one does not look forward to. But as it was, Oscar had forgotten about his mission at that particular time, and so he was quite oblivious to Lady Saxton's intention on leaving him alone with her daughter. "I hope you have found the city to your liking?"

A moment later, scarcely had he spoken the latter words, when he imagined hearing a soft rustle behind the drawing room's door, towards which his eyes were quickly turned.

[Cassandra Edgeworth (Francesca)]

"Thank you", said Cassandra, ducking her head in response to the Marquess' congratulations and then turning her gaze to her hands as she tried to think of other things to say. Lord Avening's reply to her original question caused her to look up and cast a doubtful glance at him. What was she supposed to say to that? At the moment, her own thoughts were so clouded in discomfort and dismay that she could not think much beyond the present. If anyone had asked her how long she herself had been in the city, her sole reply would have, perforce, been a blank stare. "Er. How precise!" she answered for the lack of having anything better to say.

Thankfully, the need to make some other brightly inconsequential remark was obviated by the Marquess' own contribution to the conversation. She did wish, however, that people would not keep asking her that question for at present, she found herself greatly disliking London. At least people were not forever foisting unwelcome acquaintances and awkward conversations on one in the country!

Feeling the weight of her mother's stare on her back, she attempted to pull herself together. "Oh yes!" she said in her best attempt at a happy tone. "It is a very novel experience and there is a lot to do." Having had nothing to say earlier, she could now feel herself beginning to blither nervously. "Indeed, my days have never been so full! I believe that there is always some event I must be rushing to. Dinners, assemblies, parties, musicales, balls, calls..." She would have continued in the same vein had not the same noise that had distracted Lord Avening attracted her attention as well. Lapsing into relieved silence, she waited for their hostess' entrance.

[Lilias Aldridge (Crystal-lee)]

Lilias reached the end of the stairs and walked carefully across the carpeted floorboards until she came to stop just before Mr. Carew. He smiled warmly and waited for the dip of his mistress's chin, then stepped in to the parlour that her guests occupied.

"Her Grace, the Duchess of Brixton." Mr. Carew announced and then bowed his head and stepped to the side to allow Lilias to step past him. She saw the young Cassandra first before finding Lady Saxton and then finally Lord Avening. Her smile widened quite clearly against her will and she tried to swallow at least half of her delight.

After the initial formal greetings, Lilias placed herself in the chair that seemed the most appropriately placed across from Lord Avening and the ladies. She sunk into its familiar cushion and folded her hands in her silken lap.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this combined visit?"

[Oscar Moncrieff (Aida)]

Oscar stood up to meet Lilias as she entered the parlour, returning her lovely smile with a light-hearted smile of his own.

"I suppose my impertinence is to be held responsible," he answered her question, his smile still lingering, "I would have waited until the ladies had paid their visit, had it not been for the..." he was going to say something about the flowers and his concern for their withering, but then it occurred to him that the Duchess might think he was purposefully reminding her of them to see her reaction. Trying to find another excuse, he cast a look at the other guests, his searching gaze pausing on the younger lady for a moment before an idea struck him: "but then Lady Saxton was kind enough to remind me of our acquaintance." Well, the idea was probably not a brilliant or even convincing one, but it was enough to prevent awkwardness, he assumed.

Deciding he had spoken too much already, Oscar resolved to remain silent for the next few moments and let the ladies come up with a proper subject for discussion.