Post by Elspeth Cameron on Aug 29, 2017 13:20:27 GMT -5
Elspeth did not welcome anything that took her away from Marlowe. She could neither help feeling the dread that something awful would happen if she were not there to prevent it, nor the anxiety being around strangers so very different from everything she was used to. But Elspeth was neither stupid nor short-sighted. She knew that allowing this knee-jerk resistance to the idea of leaving Marlowe for Bordelaix to affect her too much could only harm her in the long run - after all, one cannot defeat fears if they do not face them.
And yet, she could not help putting up a fight, and she managed to postpone her own arrival for long enough to give herself enough time to talk herself into viewing this event as a positive. She knew that she was stuck in a comfortable rut and that, even though it felt good, it, in fact, wasn’t, and that she could not even begin to take the first steps to bring her most secret ambitions to fruition if she remained in one place. And, even though a part of her refused to accept it as truth, she knew first-hand that Marlowe had a highly capable staff, because she had a hand in picking and training them. There was nothing to be gained by stubbornly clinging to her position, and nothing to be lost from taking a chance on this new venture... except, perhaps, a bit of pride if she fails, but she did her best not to think about that.
Thus, once she was sure that both her aunt’s and her mother’s needs would be met instantly and with the outmost care, that everyone had their orders and all her clerks instructed about the duties they would temporarily take over in her stead, that the finest of her special bolts of fabric were carefully tucked into insulated carts, ready to be delivered to the warehouse she rented in Bordelaix, and that a first-class stall waited for her at the Capital’s central market, she finally packed up and left her home. It was not the first time she’s done so, but it was the first time she would spend such a long time away, and she knew feeling a certain level of apprehension was normal. But probably not this much, she admitted to herself bitterly as her carriage entered the city walls. It did not do for a noble lady to be this intimidated by something that should come naturally to her as spending some time at Court is. Now if only she hadn’t always felt more comfortable as a shepherdess than as a lady...
Soon enough, the carriage entered the Lavender Quarter and found its way to the Cameron family home in the Kingdom’s Capital, and Elspeth was happy to be able to get out and stretch her sore limbs as the servants unloaded her belongings and took them to her personal quarters. The maid she brought with her, not so much because she needed one but more for having someone who was a part of her home nearby, was put in the small room of her own, as were the three clerks whose job was to maintain correspondence with Marlowe staff under Elspeth’s management, as well as to pay a close attention to the work she intended to do in the city.
As she had arrived some hours earlier than anticipated, she was not surprised that no one from the family was around to greet her, though her heart was a little sad for it. She’d missed them all terribly from the second they boarded their carriages - and cousin Isobel, whom she had not seen since she’d left for Vasile, and who was now in service to Princess Marie-Louise Deveraux as one of her Ladies in Waiting, for an even longer time. But she will be able to see them all soon enough, and, to be honest, she could hardly wait.
And so she ordered some tea and a small repast be brought to her as she slowly unpacked, wondering what mischief her brothers and cousins managed to get themselves into in this short time they've spent in the Capital...
And yet, she could not help putting up a fight, and she managed to postpone her own arrival for long enough to give herself enough time to talk herself into viewing this event as a positive. She knew that she was stuck in a comfortable rut and that, even though it felt good, it, in fact, wasn’t, and that she could not even begin to take the first steps to bring her most secret ambitions to fruition if she remained in one place. And, even though a part of her refused to accept it as truth, she knew first-hand that Marlowe had a highly capable staff, because she had a hand in picking and training them. There was nothing to be gained by stubbornly clinging to her position, and nothing to be lost from taking a chance on this new venture... except, perhaps, a bit of pride if she fails, but she did her best not to think about that.
Thus, once she was sure that both her aunt’s and her mother’s needs would be met instantly and with the outmost care, that everyone had their orders and all her clerks instructed about the duties they would temporarily take over in her stead, that the finest of her special bolts of fabric were carefully tucked into insulated carts, ready to be delivered to the warehouse she rented in Bordelaix, and that a first-class stall waited for her at the Capital’s central market, she finally packed up and left her home. It was not the first time she’s done so, but it was the first time she would spend such a long time away, and she knew feeling a certain level of apprehension was normal. But probably not this much, she admitted to herself bitterly as her carriage entered the city walls. It did not do for a noble lady to be this intimidated by something that should come naturally to her as spending some time at Court is. Now if only she hadn’t always felt more comfortable as a shepherdess than as a lady...
Soon enough, the carriage entered the Lavender Quarter and found its way to the Cameron family home in the Kingdom’s Capital, and Elspeth was happy to be able to get out and stretch her sore limbs as the servants unloaded her belongings and took them to her personal quarters. The maid she brought with her, not so much because she needed one but more for having someone who was a part of her home nearby, was put in the small room of her own, as were the three clerks whose job was to maintain correspondence with Marlowe staff under Elspeth’s management, as well as to pay a close attention to the work she intended to do in the city.
As she had arrived some hours earlier than anticipated, she was not surprised that no one from the family was around to greet her, though her heart was a little sad for it. She’d missed them all terribly from the second they boarded their carriages - and cousin Isobel, whom she had not seen since she’d left for Vasile, and who was now in service to Princess Marie-Louise Deveraux as one of her Ladies in Waiting, for an even longer time. But she will be able to see them all soon enough, and, to be honest, she could hardly wait.
And so she ordered some tea and a small repast be brought to her as she slowly unpacked, wondering what mischief her brothers and cousins managed to get themselves into in this short time they've spent in the Capital...