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Post by SYLPHEN ELLIOT HARLOW on Feb 4, 2012 22:54:37 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 340px; background-image:url(http://i56.tinypic.com/20gfl1v.jpg); padding: 30px; border: #2D2729 solid 30px; ]to live and move only you  WORDS 579 | TAGGED CORA | our first thread together! Sylph couldn't say that he enjoyed the boring repetitive form of ballrooms and galas. One of his family's old friends was holding a party in honor of their daughter's engagement, and he had showed up to give his support and encouragement. He didn't know the girl that well, truth be told, though he knew he had met her in his youth and she had been suggested to him by his staff as a potential marriage candidate. However, he was still enjoying the life of a bachelor, and as she was eager for marriage, she had accepted the proposal of a young count. She seemed happy in her decision, at least, from the brief moments Sylph had spoken with her, but he found they hadn't all that much in common, and thus he had retired to a corner to watch and observe the party in all its glory.
He wished that Faust or Zane was there to entertain him. At least he would have been in the presence of friends and similar minds. Faust would have provided him with an opportunity to exercise his knowledge and age over the other male- something about being able to guide him like he would his younger brother made Sylph feel as if he almost had a family. And Zane would have joined him in drinking and merriment. They would have retired early, no doubt, to the gentlemen's room to smoke cigars and discuss the latest politics and art.
Yes, his company that night could have been much better, and he scanned the room for any potential source of entertainment when he saw her. He knew of Cora, and how could he not? He'd spoken with her once or twice out of polite obligation. However, he'd never really gotten to know her save for the rumors and gossip that surrounded her. No one should ever trust societal gossip as nothing more than rumor (though many seemed to treat it as solid fact), and he knew as much. But to have had such things said about her before, while none were particularly threatening to her reputation, still intrigued him as to what she had done to make women dislike her.
Granted, women were often cruel. Unlike the men who would pick their fights with their fists on the battleground, women were underhanded and cut-throat. it was better to have a broken nose than a broken reputation. He decided that perhaps tonight would be the night that he finally got to the source of these rumors.
After his decision had been made, he walked briskly over to where she stood with the other females and couldn't help but notice a few of the girls in the area stop talking. Of course, they did this when any male walked to the group of the single females- it wasn't just him. They were all waiting to see what would happen. "Lady Mayfair, how good it is to see you again," he took her hand and kissed it, as was customary. He wondered what she would do now. Would she give him the pleasure of her company or would she reject him? Either way, he was intrigued to see exactly who she was and what she would do.
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Post by CORA ANNE MAYFAIR on Feb 4, 2012 23:55:44 GMT -5
The night so far had been a beautiful spectacle. The venue was perfect, the food impeccable, and the creme de la creme made up most of those present. That did not mean that Cora did not quickly get bored of her company.
The girls' vapid gossip was even more trivial than usual. Speculations about possible new and broken engagements about uninteresting matches. Boring people made boring matches, where was the excitement in that?
She needed a little excitement. Why did these galas offer so little of it? There were beautiful men and women, excitement should be filling the air she breathed.
As if summoned, she saw the approach of the enigmatic Sylphen Harlow. She had briefly conversed with him before, but had not known quite what to make of him. There had not been much gossip of him either for her to enjoy which was simply a pity to her. A name and title that great should be spoken of more often, it was just not right.
"Lady Mayfair, how good it is to see you again."
She smiled smugly as he kissed her hand. With his head briefly bowed, the girls around her shot her envious looks.
It was so good to inspire their envy. And what a more perfect remedy to cure her boredom than a handsome, interesting duke?
She looked at them to indicate that she no longer desired their company.
"The pleasure is all mine, Duke Harlow," she replied, happy as much at hearing the annoyed whispering of the girls as she was at the attention of the duke. "What have I done to earn the pleasure?"
When she could no longer hear them, she leaned and whispered. "And please, do be honest with me. I would like to know how your opinion of me."
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Post by SYLPHEN ELLIOT HARLOW on Feb 5, 2012 16:40:59 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 340px; background-image:url(http://i56.tinypic.com/20gfl1v.jpg); padding: 30px; border: #2D2729 solid 30px; ]to live and move only you WORDS 384 | TAGGED CORA | talk talk talk talk The young duke was very observant by nature.He watched the way her lips curved upwards in a smile, and he realized he was not completely sure it was due to the attention she received from him or the other females. Perhaps, then, she was a bit wicked, but he found that he could not much fault pride. Too much of it was a terrible thing, but to be too humble was a sin of its own.
"I was simply looking for someone interesting to converse with for the evening... you caught my eye," he told her as they moved away from the group and towards the dance floor. Sometimes, masquerading in the language of dance could be the perfect opportunity to have a more meaningful conversation. If they were to sequester themselves alone, rumors would spread like wildfire, and he did not need any reason for his name to be tarnished.
No, even the simplicity of speaking to a member of the fairer sex had to be done in a most unobtrusive manner. Her question made him give her a hint of a rare smile- he seemed amused by it, no less. "My opinion of you, Lady Mayfair? I haven't spent enough time with you to form anything of the sort," he spun her in the dance as it was customary to do, before falling back in step with the music and the crowd.
Perhaps, he wondered, she may have been seeing what he had to say about her. Of course, knowing the gossip, she may have been worried that he was led to believe some of the very untruthful rumors, but no one really believed those. No one could prove them, and there wasn't enough weight on the purse-strings of those spreading them to cause her any real societal damage. Yet.
"The other ladies do not seem to appreciate your company as much as I do," there was a hint of his reason for speaking to her, but nothing more than that. He would find no fun in revealing too much too soon... unless her answer was more intriguing than his question.
these dry bones cry for you |
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Post by CORA ANNE MAYFAIR on Feb 6, 2012 19:26:31 GMT -5
“I am flattered that Your Grace finds me interesting,” she said as he led her to dance floor.
As the music started, she added, “You are also very chivalrous as to take me away from a very tedious conversation.”
She hoped she could sink her hooks into him for awhile. She had no naive hope to marry him and doubted she would be the type of girl he would court, she only desired some interesting (and hopefully, entertaining) companionship for some time. There was also the advantage of knowing there would be innuendo and her title intertwined with the duke's until some more salacious bit of rumor could be produced.
She was pleasantly surprised at what a fine dancer he was. He moved well, held himself well...Overall, she was surprised that he was not mobbed by admirers and their mothers. It was a welcome change to dance with a gentlemen who seemed to not be trying to remember the steps or who was so skilled as to be more pleased with his own talent than having her at his side.
She laughed at his vague reply to her question before he spun her.
When she fell back into step with the music, she smiled at him. “I would not have thought that I am a man such as yourself would be so coy. I just wanted to know which rumors Your Grace was most interested in. Unfortunately, since they concern me, I do not get to hear all of them. I hope some of them are at least creative. I think I am important enough to have earned an interesting story.”
It dismayed her that the dance was ended. But since he commented that he enjoyed her company more than the other girls had, she thought that her chances were good.
She briefly looked at the girls who were pretending to be absorbed in their own conversation. “Envy is a pitiful state for the envious. But, should an adequate gentleman ask them to dance I'm sure they will be become more agreeable.”
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Post by SYLPHEN ELLIOT HARLOW on Feb 7, 2012 16:34:16 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 340px; background-image:url(http://i56.tinypic.com/20gfl1v.jpg); padding: 30px; border: #2D2729 solid 30px; ]to live and move only you WORDS 500 | TAGGED CORA | whee! chatting it up yo. Sylph found Cora charming in her own way, not like most of the ladies of the court, but rather in a darker sense. There was something about her that he couldn't put his finger on but it seemed to be almost sinister. He didn't feel that it was intended for him, however, thus he didn't inquire along that line of knowledge. However, he had to wonder if she really didn't care what other people thought of her. Surely, she must, but he had never seen her hide in shame for any of it.
Perhaps it was the lack of proof.
His thoughts only paused once the song had come to an end, and another one began. She seemed to be in no hurry to get away from him, but he couldn't complain about that. She was a beautiful girl, interesting at the very least, and she was providing him with entertainment. None of it was meant in a bad way, not at all. In fact, it was a good thing considering how easily Sylph grew bored of people.
When she called him coy, he had to laugh. "Perhaps. But I did not come here to find if there were any truth to the rumors. It's important to hold little faith in societal gossip." he danced without missing a step, completely poised and full of grace. "I wanted to meet the woman who had spurred such vicious gossip." There was a hint to his true motivations, but she had figured out that he was hiding something, so he saw no harm in rewarding her effort.
After all, it was sometimes difficult to find a girl willing to play true mind games. Most wanted to bring emotion into the picture and spent all of their time talking of marriage- very few wanted to actually engage in banter and meaningful conversation. In his years, he'd found that it was becoming more and more rare. His older acquaintances often took mistresses that had no interest in bearing a child simply to have a more meaningful relationship than they had with their wife and daughter.
And this was what was so odd, why did they marry women that they had nothing in common with? Why not marry the mistresses in the first place and have a happy life? His father had married a noble woman of lower status simply because she was not like the others, and through all of their years of marriage, they were one of the happiest couples he knew. But he digressed. He wasn't looking for a mistress, just entertainment for now.
"It is a shame... but the barrier is set from a young age. In truth, many men do not find having a complacent housewife as the definition of true happiness." he spoke idly.
these dry bones cry for you |
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Post by CORA ANNE MAYFAIR on Feb 7, 2012 20:01:37 GMT -5
She would have scowled if she had not found their game fun. She knew he was teasing her, letting her know he was keeping something to himself, but keeping the answer out of her reach. Cora was confident in her ability to find out his true intent. She knew how to keep her own secrets which made it all the easier to know when someone else was keeping one.
“It is pleasing to see someone of the upper classes who acknowledges rumor for what it is. I don't consider it to be vicious gossip especially considering the type of people starting it and giving it life. I think petty and imaginative are better terms to describe them.”
The second song was already drawing to a close which made her wonder what type of salacious words had just now slipped from the lips of the worst gossips. She knew that rumors had been brewing in the minds of the ladies nearest to her the moment the duke had taken her hand. No doubt they had gotten more ridiculous and over-reaching.
She could tell by watching their behavior that some of the girls and women she socialized with desperately wanted affairs and banter. But, they had been taught that a woman must be meek and virginal and were too afraid to go beyond the rules demanded of them. She knew some of the virginal girls wanted banter so as safely enjoy something with the opposite sex, but doubted their own wit. In some cases, they were correct. She knew that others were too petrified of a scandal of bastard child to act on their carnal urges. Or in other cases, the fear of scandal of being found out to dislike the presence of any man in their bedrooms for reasons other than modesty.
Trying to be the epitome of demure purity seemed quite an arduous task. Thank goodness, she had never strove to achieve it! A woman's very livelihood depended on pleasing the men in her life. And at the same time a rumor from an unhappy woman could tear her reputation to shreds. So much worry about keeping oneself intact that there was little time to actually life.
That was why it was so much better to be the scarlet woman in her eyes. That way life was pleasing. Although, Cora knew that the other thing that made life good for her was the fact that she had enough wealth and a title that could keep her protected from the bad things in life that could happen to a “bad woman”. It was too bad that men could not often marry women that entertained them and women could not marry men that made relations gratifying.
She heard the duke comment about obedient housewives not being a man's ideal and nodded.
“That is true, why else would there be such a market for mistresses and women of ill repute,” she agreed. “It is a shame. I'm sure that some of the standards were set forth to protect those it applied to, but it leaves many in misery. A woman cannot express her opinions and behavior for fear of being cast out and that leads the man to be unamused. It is ludicrous to pretend that carnal urges are only a minuscule part of interactions.”
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Post by SYLPHEN ELLIOT HARLOW on Feb 8, 2012 19:40:16 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 340px; background-image:url(http://i56.tinypic.com/20gfl1v.jpg); padding: 30px; border: #2D2729 solid 30px; ]to live and move only you WORDS 551 | TAGGED CORA | it looks like this thread's coming to an end soon D: At least the girl had a positive outlook on the way she viewed society and its ruthless behavior. Although, he wasn't quite sure if this was her true outlook or a coping mechanism. It was hard to say if anyone was really so callous by nature. He found that, for the most part, environmental factors determined more of a person's mentality and emotional state than anything else. A traumatizing event or strict upbringing tend to be factors that weighed heavily in such situations.
But she was proving to be more interesting than he could have hoped, and he could see why the women were jealous of her as he spoke to her. She understood perfectly the pressures of the noble class and the inconsistency between reality and desire. It was hard to find a woman who was cunning enough to play a man's game. He knew many women adept at playing their own, but when it came to understanding the men of their class, they fell short. The illusion of a perfect housewife was one a man had to maintain in order to become well-respected, but many women did not understand that they wanted all barriers to vanish in the privacy of their own home.
Of course, this wasn't a rule. There were many men who saw a subservient woman as ideal and perfection, but it was only the girls who were truly innocent and naive with their spirits beaten that would do well in those house-holds. Any woman with free thought of her own aside from home life and motherly duties would not find their marriage so easily and happy with such men. While Sylph did not much agree with this mindset, he could see the appeal for some, but it was not his picture of a perfect family. Then again, his mother and father had both been free-thinkers, and he had considered the woman his equal. Perhaps that is why he had such a strong opinion of it for himself.
For he, at least, never wanted to be unfaithful when he did find the one to settle down and raise a family with. He would not be a father whose children despised him nor a husband whose wife was heartbroken because of his mistakes.
"You are very correct... But I believe that women set up such ridiculous standards in order to eliminate the competition, wouldn't you agree?" for the women who would spread rumor often were very forward thinking, some even serving as mistresses themselves. None of them had shame, but they had men who fawned over their every whim for a strong woman was ideal, but then again, men did not want women to be so strong as to challenge their authority... it was a very mixed up society.
"Your conversation has most pleased me tonight, Lady Mayfair. Ah, but that sounds so formal... Might I call you by your Christian name?" he asked for permission to refer to her by her first name, not an unusual request for a man such as he with his status and power, but it also was a signal to her that he wished to extend forth a friendship- and a hidden message that he would wish to call upon her. Not as a mistress, of course, but he found that he enjoyed her company and words. It would do to have a feminine touch once and awhile.
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Post by CORA ANNE MAYFAIR on Feb 9, 2012 18:25:44 GMT -5
“It would make sense to put in place a system where failure is almost always guaranteed,” she agreed. “No one could rise too high if there are enough forces suppressing them. But, fortunately, I do not much care for that system. It can ruin a good time.”
Cora had never much liked the idea of marriage for herself. Her parents were married and did not love each other. So, she dreaded that marriage would be the same for her. She despised the thought of being like her mother. Yes, she would admit freely that she was vain and not warm and open like the woman had been. She was beautiful, why deny it? And it would not be beneficial to let her guard down and risk pain or disgrace. The thought of being indebted or owned by a man made her feel sick. It would be best to avoid it.
The thought of being without power was not a happy one. Being single allowed her to have power over men. When she was courted, they were at her mercy. Still, she knew how to let them think that they had some deal of influence and that she desired them too. If she had their attention, she could get their adoration if she wanted. It was thrilling to have power. Why would she ever want to give that up?
Marriage seemed like a confining cell based on her observations, but being unmarried meant that she could focus on pleasing herself. However, the system was restrictive and did not being broken free of. The stigma of the rumors sometimes hurt the possibility of a simple connection with others though. It was refreshing to have someone of good breeding not care about rumors.
“I am happy that I could please Your Grace. And you may,” she said, giving him a true smile.
She greatly liked the thought of having more conversations with someone such as the duke. Hopefully, she could learn more about him. It would be nice if she could have a friendly male companion. She looked forward to him calling on her.
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