ScholarandSpinster

From IMiA

It's some time in the interval between the arrival of the guests and the announcement of dinner when Evie sees the dark woman dressed in deep burgundy with simple accents of gold. Her outfit and jewelry seem plain, almost severe, next to those of many of the other noble ladies present, including the Duchess, but the style suits her.

When she notices Evelyn, she makes her way through the guests to the other woman's side and extends her hand in greeting. "I'm Patrice Pinegar, the Duke's sister. I don't believe I've had the pleasure ...?"

Young, maybe in her early twenties, Evelyn Devereux was a slim girl with dark brown hair and bright green eyes. .

Tonight the dark hair was elegantly coiffed with a few artistically arrange curls hanging loose.  She wore little jewelry, and instead of trendy her gown was classically fashionable. Simple and cut conservatively, it could have been considered demure if it weren't a deep, dark scarlet. The dress brought out the color in her cheeks and prevented her from blending in as well as she sometimes wished she could.

"Evelyn Devereux, your Grace." She bobs in a small, polite curtsey, her nervousness betrayed by the way her eyes only occasionally met Patrice's.

"Oh, please, not so formal. When people call me anything other than Patrice, I look around for my mother." Patrice gives her a friendly, if toothy, smile.

"As you wish," Evelyn answered, "...Patrice." She wasn't quite comfortable with the informality, but she wasn't going to dispute it.

"I was just admiring you--how well that dress enhances your looks. Is it a Worth?"

"Oh... thank you." Evelyn looks down at what she's wearing. "Mother bought if for me. I'm not certain where she found it." Her brows drew together thoughtfully. "Left to myself I would likely have chosen another color, but Mother is much better at these things than I."

"Your mother's done very well by you," Patrice says. She leans a little closer and says very quietly "I'm afraid the Duchess has been shockingly negligent in telling me about her guests, so you'll have to point your mother out to me and tell me all about her, so I can tell her what a fine job the two of you did when we're introduced later."

Perhaps aware she's a little overwhelming, Patrice retreats a little, giving Evelyn her personal space back.

"Oh..." Evelyn looked uncertain, her eyes immediately picking her parents out in the crowd before darting back to Patrice. "Mother is there." She indicated a woman not too far away in the midst of an active, boisterous conversation. 'Mother' bore a resemblance to Evelyn and was wearing a gown of blue and silver. Presumably, the man with his arm resting around her waist was Evelyn's father.

"Oh yes, you two look very alike, don't you?" Patrice asks, but it seems to be rhetorical.

Evelyn looked at her mother, trying to see the resemblance every one saw but her.

There was pause before Evelyn added anything else.

"She likes the theater...." Evelyn wasn't sure what else to say, like most children she didn't give much though to what her mother did with her days.

Patrice seizes on the opening. "Theater is a very pleasant way to pass one's time. Do you enjoy the theater as well? Have you seen any worthwhile productions lately?"

"I don't go so frequently as mother." Evelyn shook her head. "I like concerts, mostly." She wasn't sure that was the right thing to have said, but there it was.

"I've always loved music," Patrice said. "It's been a long time since I've been to any concerts in Amber. I always enjoyed Lord Rein's music, but I haven't heard him in many years. Have you heard him play?"

"I have, but not recently. These days my schedule tends to leave me limited to the younger artists trying to attract interest around the University." Evelyn sounded almost apologetic.

"I haven't heard him in many years myself," Patrice says, and she smiles sadly. "They used to tell him he'd never be half the singer his brother was, but they were wrong."

She changes the subject. "Perhaps I should come down to the University sometime and see who's playing. I haven't been there in many years, not since I took my diploma. You're taking classes, then?"

Evelyn nods at Patrice's notion of going to the University and then again at the question.

"I am. I showed no talent for music, but I have settled into Antiquities nicely." There is a hint at self-depreciating humor from the normally staid and serious young girl.

"You and I should get along just fine, as I am something of an antique myself," Patrice says with a grin. "I took a few courses from the Antiquities Department when I was a student, but I suspect all of my old professors are long since gone." She rattles off several names.

A few were, a few weren't, but Evelyn knew the names even if she didn't know the men themselves and could tell Patrice what had become of them.

"So you have not outlived all their carreers and cannot possibly be the antique you would claim to be." It was a light-hearted compliment, in much the same tone Patrice had used to make her initial comment.

"You're kind to say so. I do feel quite the antique this evening, I must admit, because I know so few of the young people, and so many of the older. But I do enjoy the chance to meet the younger folk at these events. They're always doing something interesting, whether it's studies or getting up to some dreadful mischief."

"There never seems to be a shortage of michief with some people." Evelyn mused, "and with some it seems to carry on well past age for which it is acceptable." She looked around the room, mentally identifying people and the tidbits of scadal she'd heard. Aunt Lillian might be challenging in many ways, but the amount of gossip that went through the old woman's parlor was stunning. Quite inappropriate, of course, but impossible not to listen to nonetheless.

Patrice nods at Evelyn's comment. "I know a few of those." Her smile is both fond and vaguely exasperated-looking. "Some people think escapades keep them young. Others just realize they look younger when they've given everyone around them grey hair."

Her eyes come to rest on a lovely blonde girl dressed in blue, and decides to change the subject. Or not, as the case may be. "Have you met Miss Frewin of Begma yet?"

Evelyn shook her head. "No." She answered simply, "I have not."

"Then I shall have to have you both for tea. She's recently arrived, I think, and she could use some new friends of her own age. That's her over there in the blue, with blonde hair." Patrice says. Of course, she does not point.

"Certainly," Evelyn agreed, "and hopefully we shall have something to talk about." Evelyn seemed genuinely concerned by this. "I'm afraid my interests are sometimes out of sync with what others expect them to be...."

"So are most of ours, Miss Devereux. So are most of ours." Patrice smiles.

"I do believe I see my brother giving me the 'come rescue me from this conversation' look. I should go and do that. It's been my pleasure, Miss Devereaux. I look forward to further our acquaintance. And please do remember me to dear Professor Gribble."

"Of course." Evelyn promised, bobbing in a quick curtsey as Patrice made her exit.

-- Main.GingerStampley - 22 Apr 2005