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Christmas Theatre; tag Sally Fleet
Topic Started: Nov 24 2010, 01:14 AM (228 Views)
Isabella Clyde
Unregistered

Issy was quite pleased with herself, she had told someone off, rather than she being the one being scolded. There wasn’t much that she could do as a Duchess, because she simply wasn’t allowed, but the dangerous thing was that she was getting away with far too much and accidentally ordering other people around (just like she had ordered Catherine Dudley to drink that wine, which had caused her to go silly). But one thing that she had never done before was actually go and hit a nobleman, though she would have done it even if she weren’t a Duchess. She probably would have gotten away with it before too, because she was the fool of court, but now she had two reasons, she was a fool and now she was married to one of the most powerful men in England.

But still, Issy had been caught hitting the Earl of Warwick’s brother (not that anyone minded that drunken fool being hit and put in his place). In fact, maybe they should recruit Issy to teach Andrew Dudley a lesson, maybe then he would learn some manners for women. And it would be highly entertaining to see Andrew being scolded like a misbehaving dog that he is.

Even though some were amused by Issy’s antics, she had indeed been caught and was now sitting on her own at one of the tables, happily being served by her flurry of servants as she sat there eating for two. She of course wasn’t allowed anymore wine, the servants had been scared into watching her like a hawk to ensure she didn’t still another’s cup either. They were learning quickly at how to react with her, because like a child she was rather sneaky. It was how she ended up as the Duchess in the first place. First, she had hand-fasted herself to the Duke of Norfolk (without his knowledge) and believing that they were now married; she had snuck into his rooms wanting their marriage night, which is when the rape happened. Issy of course had blocked it out, except for having a fear of being alone with a man in his rooms (which proved troubling for Norfolk to get her into his rooms once they were properly married). She had relaxed since then, because for once in his life, Thomas Howard had been kind to her, but since then letting his people tend to Issy and her needs.

One of these people was his right-hand man, Edward Stanley and it was he who had caught Issy slapping Andrew Dudley. She was lucky that Howard or her other babysitter, Stephen Gardiner hadn’t seen it, because she was likely to be sent to her rooms and miss out on the rest of the celebrations. Edward though was one of those people who had thought it amusing, so he instructed her to sit and eat, so she obeyed. This also allowed for him to keep an eye on her no matter where he was in the room himself.

So with a grin, she picked at the food laid out before her, giving Edward, her Eddy a wave to prove that she was following his orders and staying put. Besides, with her belly growing and the amount of fabrics she had to wear to hide the fact that her belly was two months bigger than it should; she was weighted down, so nothing was better than sitting and watching everyone dance and chatter as if the whole of court was putting on a play just for her.
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Sarah Fleet
Unregistered

As one of the silent and unnoticeable women, Sally had an advantage. Nobody paid a servant much notice, and that was what she masqueraded as this night. In a gown of simple grey, with a pinafore of white, Sally slipped silently past the guards wielding halberds and carrying daggers in their belts. She had a knife, and she wasn't afraid to use it if she had to. Her purpose for being at the palace was that one of Queen Francesa's maids was giving birth-- and her skills had been called for. If she had not been called upon, she would be sitting in her little room in the back of her apothecary, reading beside the glowing fireplace. It was her idea of bliss-- the glowing fire and a comfortable chair and a book-- no glittering night revels for her. Taking a goblet of mulled wine from a passing tray, the midwife glanced around her before taking a sip. It was good mulled wine-- if one liked mulled wine spiced with too heavy a hand of cloves. She much preferred the orange rind to be the dominant flavour.

She always found the festivities too cloying. They were always too ostentatious for her liking, and Sally knew it was not her world. She was merely a visitor enjoying the fabled company that would fade like a mirage upon further questing. The birth she had just attended had left her tired and drained emotionally—but fortunately, both mother and child survived—for how long was now up to the fates, for the mother had lost a lot of blood. It was a pity she did not like to put knife to vein and bleed the woman, for Agnes had warned against it. The old crone’s words rang in her head like the chiming of the abbey’s bell. And harm ye none, lass. That is not our purpose...

She could see Agnes in her mind’s eye, bending over a mother delirious with pain. She had given the woman an herbal concoction, and that had brought relief. Avens had played a part in the concoction—a febrifuge; designed to bring down a fever—motherwort; to relieve the pain—and valerian to bring about a relaxed state of mind. These were things Agnes had taught her over the years, and they served her well, like her father’s old dusty tomes with his recipes for the various concoctions he made as an apothecary. Having done her duty to the lady who had delivered to her husband a son, Sally made her way to the table, sitting down on one of the long bench seats, next to a young blonde woman who was laughing.

She did not know that the young woman was a lord’s wife, and nor did she particularly care. Yet she had been prevailed upon to stay for a while, by some persuasive minstrel. Sally would’ve preferred the comfort of her own hearth and home. But who was she to argue with a pompous noble who would undoubtedly throw her into a dungeon if she even dared put one foot wrong. Had she realised that the lady beside her was one of the nobles, she would curtsy gracefully. Instead, Sally sipped her mulled wine, and wished there weren’t so many cloves in it. Cloves were overpowering, and reminded her of the incense the priests burned.

The mulled wine could do with less cloves,” she observed absently. Whoever spoke to her would know by the outfit she wore that she was out of place; she certainly felt out of place.



[size0]Herbal reference taken from The Master Book of Herbalism by Paul Beryl.
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Isabella Clyde
Unregistered

Issy was so distracted waving at Eddy that she hadn’t even seen the woman approach. Edward of course had and he was a little concerned, but he stayed put. He knew her to be a midwife, so there wasn’t anything wrong for a midwife to chat up the pregnant Duchess. Issy though had no idea who the woman was, or understood what she said. What she did understand though was the word ‘wine’, which made her jump slightly in excitement as she turned to the woman with a gleam in her eyes. “Wine? You have wine!” The Duchess almost snatched the drink from the woman, but a servant knew better and placed a hand of warning on Issy’s arm. The motion was so discreet and brief it was hardly there, but Issy felt it and looked up into the older woman’s stern look and withdrew.

She pouted a little, but returned to her non-alcoholic drink. She then glanced at the woman with her head tilted to the side, so it was more like staring than just a glance. “Who are you, and what are cloves?” Another stern look from the servant and the Duchess straightened up, dipped her head to the woman in greeting and smiled. “I am the Duchess of Norfolk.” She paused for a brief moment as she giggled, well almost giggled. She had done her best to stop it, but it was clear that by the expression on her face of what she was doing. Ever since properly marrying the Duke (she had performed her own version of hand-fasting and deemed herself married to the Duke since then – even though they weren’t actually married, until now), she had gone into a fit of giggles every time she was reminded that she was indeed the Duchess of Norfolk and had married her one true love. It of course was entirely one-sided, for the Duke did not love his wife at all. The Duke was actually in love with his mistress, but Issy of course had no idea of that, she wasn’t even aware that her husband had a mistress and nor will she know either, well not anytime soon.

Issy then stared at the woman’s clothing and then back at her own and then the servants behind her. Slowly, very slowly, she realised that this woman might not have a title to her name or in Issy’s mind ‘not rich at all’, but Issy didn’t mind, she was surrounded by servants or other lesser people working for her husband, some simply employed to keep Issy out of trouble and make sure that she doesn’t embarrass herself, more importantly, doesn’t embarrass the Duke. Leaning closer to the woman who was Sarah, she whispered. “Are you one of my new servants?” Issy actually blushed; she didn’t like embarrassing herself, that is, when she was aware of it, which was very rare.

She smiled softly. “My Tom…” She paused and corrected herself. “His Grace, has so many people working for him, I keep losing track.” She pouts a little and leans back, toying with the food on her plate with her fork. “I never thought it would be so hard to be a Duchess, but Tommy…” Pausing again, she closed her eyes briefly as if cursing herself and correcting herself once more. “His Grace, does loads more than me, but he said I should be resting and giving him a son is all I should be worried about doing.” She smiled brightly now and patted her pregnant belly. “Which is what I’m doing right now, and I already know it is a son, so the Duke should be happy.” Smiling again, she glanced at Sarah, her hand still resting on her belly. “Are you married? Have you ever had a baby before?”
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Elizabeth Grey
Unregistered

Elizabeth had every intention of enjoying herself this evening. She had spared no expense on her gowns, jewels and picked rare flowers to adorn her hair. While her dear friends Anne Parr and Catherine Dudley now found themselves either married or engaged she, on the other hand, was quite unmatched. The only downside to such a thing is that the two women she kept in tow were now otherwise engaged with their men leaving her alone to fend for herself. Not that she couldn’t do such a thing, but she hadn’t yet gotten use to the idea. She fluttered about, chalice in hand, speaking of anything but her brother’s imprisonment. In fact, she tried to avoid those she knew would judge her for such a thing. To say she was irritated at her brother was a phenomenal understatement, but all would eventually be forgiven. In fact, it already was. Elizabeth was just perturbed by it all still.

But the evening took a diverted turn for the worse when she spotted Edward Stanley sulking about the room. It made sense, really, what with the Duchess here and perhaps she should have expected it but she was still displeased by his presence. After all, the last time she had seen him he had physically picked her up and sat her down. That was not a good maneuver with the woman, not that he probably cared to be on her good side anyhow. But aside from all of that she had managed to secure Thomas’ release, all while keeping Stanley’s good Duke of Norfolk in mind. It was as close to an alliance as she’d come for now.

As the time passed, she managed to forget that he was even there at all. That was right up until the Duchess hand hitting Andrew Dudley’s face brought the crowd to a near standstill. It nearly made Elizabeth want to burst out laughing. For as crazy as Isabella Howard was, she was insanely amusing – at least to Elizabeth. She could only imagine what the Duke thought of her. It was a strange match in many ways and then when on looked at her assets, it really wasn’t so strange at all. Norfolk was a master manipulator to be sure and Isabella Clyde had been caught in his web. So much so that now she was a Duchess and there was little said about the matter. It was now time for Edward to intercede however, and get Isabella preoccupied with something else. Anything but Andrew Dudley.

So she had taken to food, which she did not seem overly enthused about. Elizabeth decided that she was, perhaps, the most amusing company in the world and waited for a moment for the chair next to her to empty. Just overhearing the woman ramble on about ‘her Tom’ and ‘Tommy’ was, well, more than worth the entire evening and doubled. That the Duke of Norfolk would be talked about in such terms seemed almost blasphemous, but Elizabeth had already decided she was going to take part in the fun. As soon as the seat emptied itself, she grabbed yet another full chalice for Isabella and sat next to her offering her the wine.
”Pardon my interruption, Your Grace, but you look positively bored. And that simply won’t do. Would you mind if I joined your company?” Elizabeth offered a smile and wine. What could be better? She glanced him, looking at Edward Stanley knowing that he very well couldn’t do much about her being there. ”And have you noticed that rude man who has taken to staring at you? It’s quite alarming.” Elizabeth said it in all seriousness, but she knew exactly who he was and why he was there. Elizabeth was just simply having fun, her way.

When it came to the servant, well, Elizabeth found it odd at all that the Duchess would converse with someone… But then again, this was Isabella. Who knows. So instead she smiled to the woman and then looked back to Isabella. ”It is indeed a blessing that you are with child. I’m sure you and the Duke are very happy.”
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