18-04-2019, 11:23 AM
That evening, back at the castle; Troy, Julie, Susan, Maria, Stavro, and Colleen's work/sleep/activity schedules had finally synchronized to the point that everyone could gather for dinner and conversation. They invited Generalissimo Ramirez to join them, however, he informed them that "the other woman besides La Contessa whose wrath he fears" would rather have him home for dinner on time for once.
They gathered in the front third of the dining hall; the remaining two-thirds of the large room not being needed for such a small number of guests. Therefore, the lights in the other two-thirds of the room were off to conserve electricity, causing the long banquet table to seem to disappear off into the darkness. Maria had asked the chefs to prepare a tasting menu of local dishes for Susan's first proper dinner in San Finzione. Jeanne served the small group; getting unrequested, but she knew to be well-meaning and unavoidable, assistance from Stavro. He proudly pointed out that the meat for the dishes had been provided by his father's shop.
"Thanks for this," Susan said, gesturing to the table and the six of them. "It's been a lot to take in, and I'm happy to see 'just you guys,' you know?" She turned to Maria. "You have every room on the Clue board in this place; did you know that?"
"Oh, si," Maria responded. "I laugh at the picture you send, where you are pretending to hit Troy with a candlestick in the Conservatory."
"Oh, aye," Colleen added. "Feck live chess, let's play live Cluedo!"
Julie hadn't seen the picture and started laughing first, which got everyone going.
"My God," Julie exclaimed. "You're right! There's even a fucking secret passage in the Study!" She turned to Troy. "Ok, you GOTTA get one with me and the rope in there!" She got up to show the picture to Jeanne and let her in on the joke in French.
"I'm glad you're in a good mood, Mistress," Troy replied. "Because Helen told me what we'd have to do to get Propappou's smoking jacket back."
Julie turned at that. Troy's great-grandfather had always worn a red velvet smoking jacket around the house; having been convinced by 1930s and 40s movies that smoking jackets were what successful American businessmen wore when they got home from a long day's work. It was in that jacket that he'd found his Propappou's old pocket watch, which he gave to Julie instead of the traditional ring, due to their shared life-long obsession with hypnosis and mind control that had led to them discovering the secret of how to do it in reality. It was that obsession that led to the habit, developed years before they became lovers, of calling each other "Master" and "Mistress" as pet names.
"Is she going to be all right to do that before we leave?"
"No, Mistress, the other thing."
"Well, which other thing," Julie asked. "There's like, five of them."
"The one that's probably going to keep us both busy most of the day tomorrow. I had to go shopping for supplies after the hospital." He looked down at the floor. "And a nice suit."
Julie's eyes widened as she realized what Helen wanted in exchange for the jacket's safe return. Troy walked over to the light switches as she responded.
"No, dammit! She can't do this!"
"Dearest One," Troy said back. "It's Helen. We both know she can, and she will. And before I left her, she said to tell you that if you're thinking about doing a half-ass job, I'm supposed to show you where she's going to hang it."
"I can fucking well tell you where she can hang..."
Troy flipped the switches that lit up the other two-thirds of the room. When the far end was visible, Julie could see what Troy was trying to show her, causing the insult to trail away.
A chair was placed some distance away from the table, facing the far wall. Next to it was a small table with an ash tray and a box of Kleenex tissues on top of it, and a small wastebasket underneath.
On the wall that the chair faced were two paintings, which looked small from where they were standing, but they could make out the subjects. The one on the right was a painting of Count Vincenzo Ramon de San Finzione, Maria's great-grandfather and Helen's late husband. To his left was a painting that had clearly been based on a photograph, taken of an old Greek man with a bushy, white beard, who might have looked like Santa Claus with his red velvet smoking jacket on, if he'd been wearing the cap and red pants instead of tan. It was the same man whose name was on the building where Helen was currently recuperating.
Byroni Medina, Troy's Propappou. He'd been the first adult to understand that Helen's home was not a safe place for a little girl, and the first person to call her "Helena." He'd loved her like his own daughter and fought in the courts to get her away from Wade and adopt her, but lost every time. By the time Wade had killed her mother and been locked away, the courts had declared him too old to take care of her.
They gathered in the front third of the dining hall; the remaining two-thirds of the large room not being needed for such a small number of guests. Therefore, the lights in the other two-thirds of the room were off to conserve electricity, causing the long banquet table to seem to disappear off into the darkness. Maria had asked the chefs to prepare a tasting menu of local dishes for Susan's first proper dinner in San Finzione. Jeanne served the small group; getting unrequested, but she knew to be well-meaning and unavoidable, assistance from Stavro. He proudly pointed out that the meat for the dishes had been provided by his father's shop.
"Thanks for this," Susan said, gesturing to the table and the six of them. "It's been a lot to take in, and I'm happy to see 'just you guys,' you know?" She turned to Maria. "You have every room on the Clue board in this place; did you know that?"
"Oh, si," Maria responded. "I laugh at the picture you send, where you are pretending to hit Troy with a candlestick in the Conservatory."
"Oh, aye," Colleen added. "Feck live chess, let's play live Cluedo!"
Julie hadn't seen the picture and started laughing first, which got everyone going.
"My God," Julie exclaimed. "You're right! There's even a fucking secret passage in the Study!" She turned to Troy. "Ok, you GOTTA get one with me and the rope in there!" She got up to show the picture to Jeanne and let her in on the joke in French.
"I'm glad you're in a good mood, Mistress," Troy replied. "Because Helen told me what we'd have to do to get Propappou's smoking jacket back."
Julie turned at that. Troy's great-grandfather had always worn a red velvet smoking jacket around the house; having been convinced by 1930s and 40s movies that smoking jackets were what successful American businessmen wore when they got home from a long day's work. It was in that jacket that he'd found his Propappou's old pocket watch, which he gave to Julie instead of the traditional ring, due to their shared life-long obsession with hypnosis and mind control that had led to them discovering the secret of how to do it in reality. It was that obsession that led to the habit, developed years before they became lovers, of calling each other "Master" and "Mistress" as pet names.
"Is she going to be all right to do that before we leave?"
"No, Mistress, the other thing."
"Well, which other thing," Julie asked. "There's like, five of them."
"The one that's probably going to keep us both busy most of the day tomorrow. I had to go shopping for supplies after the hospital." He looked down at the floor. "And a nice suit."
Julie's eyes widened as she realized what Helen wanted in exchange for the jacket's safe return. Troy walked over to the light switches as she responded.
"No, dammit! She can't do this!"
"Dearest One," Troy said back. "It's Helen. We both know she can, and she will. And before I left her, she said to tell you that if you're thinking about doing a half-ass job, I'm supposed to show you where she's going to hang it."
"I can fucking well tell you where she can hang..."
Troy flipped the switches that lit up the other two-thirds of the room. When the far end was visible, Julie could see what Troy was trying to show her, causing the insult to trail away.
A chair was placed some distance away from the table, facing the far wall. Next to it was a small table with an ash tray and a box of Kleenex tissues on top of it, and a small wastebasket underneath.
On the wall that the chair faced were two paintings, which looked small from where they were standing, but they could make out the subjects. The one on the right was a painting of Count Vincenzo Ramon de San Finzione, Maria's great-grandfather and Helen's late husband. To his left was a painting that had clearly been based on a photograph, taken of an old Greek man with a bushy, white beard, who might have looked like Santa Claus with his red velvet smoking jacket on, if he'd been wearing the cap and red pants instead of tan. It was the same man whose name was on the building where Helen was currently recuperating.
Byroni Medina, Troy's Propappou. He'd been the first adult to understand that Helen's home was not a safe place for a little girl, and the first person to call her "Helena." He'd loved her like his own daughter and fought in the courts to get her away from Wade and adopt her, but lost every time. By the time Wade had killed her mother and been locked away, the courts had declared him too old to take care of her.
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