As Marley and Cosaria were walking towards the main entrance of the castle, Cosaria couldn't tear her eyes away from a corridor to the right of the stairs.
Marley noticed and asked, "What's there?"
"Hm?" Cosaria answered.
Marley gestured, "That room?"
"That's Delrik's drawing room."
"Oh man. I'll be sure to stay out of there then."
Cosaria didn't understand Marley's apprehension. She asked, "Why is that?"
"Oh, uh," Marley wasn't sure if it was okay to talk about the tyrant duke's reputation in front of his wife. "You know, sends servants to jail, or exiles them from the country, or just kills them."
"He's not like that at all," Cosaria said, "He's really very considerate, once you get to know him."
"Is he? I get a shiver down my spine whenever he looks at me," Marley said. While she had had the pleasure of meeting Delrik on a few occasions, those meetings were not pleasant. Already, he had given her the look of disgust, distrust, arrogance, and contempt. Sure, all his words were cordial, but they were also very cold.
Corsaria's brow furrowed as if she couldn't imagine Delrik being dangerous. She said, "How strange. When he looks at me, my heart starts pounding so loud I'm afraid everyone will be able to hear it. It's like my head is on fire, I feel faint, yet it isn't uncomfortable."
A light of recognition shone in Marley's eyes. She said, "OOOOOH? Oh man!!! I've definitely read enough romance novels to know what that feeling is. For sure!"
"What?"
"You don't know? Oh man. It's so easy. It's love!"
Cosaria shook her head and said, "Oh, it couldn't be that. We're just friends."
Marley furrowed her brow. That sentence made zero sense. Was Lady Cosaria just THAT dense, or was she living in denial? Or both? And did she really not know about the Duke's cruelty? He chopped off the fingers of a servant who tried to steal the Duchess's jewelry and then had her exiled. Marley decided she would have to ask Tilda about it.
༻✧༺
That chance came later as Tilda and Marley strolled along the road going into town to run some errands. No one else was around, so Marley voiced her confidential thoughts.
In response to Marley asking an edited version of, 'Why is Lady Cosaria so dumb?', Tilda said, "I don't think Lady Cosaria has all the same mental functions as everyone else. She doesn't quite understand social cues. Or people in general. It is as if she can't conceive of the idea that people can be bad. And she's just so unnaturally pure, that it makes me wonder if she's been touched by an angel or something."
"So, she's genuine about it?" Marley asked. The whole I'm-so-innocent-thing wasn't an act? It was so over the top that sometimes Marley felt like it was fake.
Tilda said, "Genuine to a fault. A very big fault. It's one of the reasons she needs you so badly. You're not just her lady in waiting now, you're one of her advisors to help her make correct choices based on more than the immediate perception."
Morley stopped walking as the weight of those words sunk in. She finally spoke, "Oh man."
༻✧༺
Cosaria was in the garden. Her visage was that of an angelic being as the wind rustled her hair. Not even the greatest sculpture in all the land could have imitated the beauty that was Cosaria.
From a distance, Delrik looked wistfully on. He was captured by her. He couldn't see anything else, couldn't think anything else. The only thing in his life at that moment, was her.
From another distance, that wasn't so distant, Marley watched Delrik watching Cosaria. She wondered, What is he doing?
Delrik approached Cosaria. Like grasping at clouds, he touched her hair. She twirled around and faced him, blushing when she saw it was him.
He caressed her face.
With her breath caught in her throat, Cosaria said, "Delrik?"
He pulled out a leaf from her hair and said, "You had a leaf."
Cosaria blushed from embarrassment and turned away. Her mind had been anticipating something more. How silly! Cosaria said, "I'm so sorry."
Delrik walked away as Marley ducked behind a tree. She put her hand to her heart, swooning at the romantic tension. She thought, That was so romantic!!! They absolutely need to be together.
And seeing as how it was her job to help make sure Cosaria made correct choices, Marley felt it was her duty to help make it happen.
༻✧༺
It wasn't uncommon for Cosaria to stare out the window, for no apparent reason, other than to conjure up a feeling of pensive astonishment. Marley however, had not yet learned this fact about her mistress, and felt it her duty to know everything that the Duchess was thinking all the time.
"Whatcha looking at?"
Cosaria said, "Delrik said a guest was coming today."
Marley already knew that. The castle had been prepped on his arrival but that didn't stop Marley from joining Cosaria to stare out the window.
Luckily, there was something to look at. Below, by the front entrance, a carriage waited. A young nobleman, modest, handsome with white hair stood by Delrik and Felux. Next to the carriage was also an attractive servant boy who was making googly eyes at the maids.
Cosaria said, "He said they're going to be eating lunch together."
Marley furrowed her brows as she realized that Cosaria always ate her meals alone or with the servants. Yes, it was an arranged marriage, but the two clearly had feelings for each other. Marley asked, "So uh, my lady, how come you and the Duke don't eat lunch or dinner together?"
Surprised, Cosaria said, "How could I?"
"You think that you would, you know? But you'd like to, wouldn't you?"
"Lunch with the Duke?" Cosaria said blushing, "…I suppose…"
Marley understood that this was the perfect time to start meddling, as she said, "You should invite him. Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh man, after the guest leaves, you should ask the Duke to have dinner with you."
"But…"
"My Lady," Marley said, becoming serious, "This is the most important thing you could do, you know. It's for the future of the estate."
"It is?"
Marley nodded thinking about the future Arquix heirs and heiresses running around. "Oh yeah. You'd better believe it."
Cosaria said, "Then I guess I have no choice."
༻✧༺
In the servant's quarters, Bess, Debora and Tilda were folding the castle laundry. As it was only natural, they gossipped as they worked. Today's topic: The castle guest and his personal assistant.
Bess said, "Lord Angelo's new servant is so handsome."
Deborah said, "A flirt is more like it. Did you see how he was eyeing all the maids?"
Bess melted at the memory, saying, "Oh, I saw."
Deborah said, "And you were eyeing him right back."
"Yeah," Bess sighed. "What did you think, Tilda?"
"Oh, I didn't see him."
Bess said, "How could you not see him? Their whole delegation walked right past us!"
Tilda said, "Felux had a hole in his boot and it was really distracting me."
Bess and Deborah exchanged an exasperated glance saying, "Right. Felux."
Everyone knew how happy Tilda and Felux were together and everyone was jealous. It was especially annoying to Bess and Deborah who were both still single and in love with the idea of love.
༻✧༺
In the library, Donalt looked over the books. While his title was 'servant', he referred to himself as Lord Angelo's 'personal assistant'. He mumbled, "It's such a pain to have to get reference books for Lord Angelo."
Tilda entered the library and looked at the words scribbled on her note. It read, 'Love, love, love, and the meaning behind looks.'
Why does Lady Cosaria want a novel like this? Tilda wondered, She's never been interested in this stuff before.
Donalt recognized the maid from earlier. There wasn't anything remarkable about her, except how she had been the only maid to disregard his flirtatious advances. That, in and of itself, won his interest.
Tilda frowned when she spotted her book on a high shelf. She reached up but couldn't quite get it. She would need a ladder.
Recognizing the perfect setup, Donalt took advantage of his chance for a romantic moment. He came up behind her and picked out a book from the top shelf.
Hovering over Tilda, he flashed his dashing smile. Full of glossy sheen suave, he said, "Is this what you were looking for?"
Tilda took the book and looked it over. 'The Lonely, Wandering, Yearning Heart'. She said, "Actually no. No, this is the wrong book."
Donalt's posture slackened as his glossy sheen was torn down. He reached back up.
Tilda pointed and said, "I need that one. No, the one next to that, on the other side, no, that's the wrong side."
Finally, Donalt picked out the book and handed it to her.
Tilda exchanged the wrong book for the book, 'Love, love, love, and the meaning behind looks', saying, "Great, will you put this book back?" Then she said her thanks and departed.
Donalt stood there. Confused. Holding 'The Lonely, Wandering, Yearning Heart', he mumbled, "Did she just take absolutely no notice of me?"
༻✧༺
In Cosaria's room, Marley and Cosaria sat at the couch. Marley poured Cosaria some tea as Tilda entered the room and put the book down on the table.
Tilda said, "Sorry, I've got to run, the castle is extra busy today with the guest and with the head maid on her day off."
Marley said, "Do not even worry at all. I can definitely take care of any of Lady Cosaria's needs."
Tilda smiled, "Thank you." Then she hurried out to help in the kitchens.
Marley picked up the book and displayed it to Cosaria. The cover of 'Love, love, love, and the meaning behind looks' showed a picture of two people staring deeply into each other's eyes.
"Oh yeah," Marley said, "This here, my Lady, this will definitely be your number one guide to romance!"
Cosaria clapped her hands in excitement, saying, "Ooooo!"
༻✧༺
In the servant's commons, Donalt enjoyed conversing with Bess and Nelly. He had finished flexing, showing off his muscles, and was now saying, "I know, it is sad that my Lord Angelo and I must depart so soon, but such it is."
Bess said, "I hope you'll come back soon"
"And I too," Donalt said, nodding sadly. He wished he could remember this maid's name. Betty? Betsy? He couldn't get it, so he gave up trying. Besides, there was another name he was much more curious to remember. "Say, what's the name of the Duchess's personal maid? Purely for curiosity's sake."
Nelly said, "That would be Tilda."
"Yes, thank you," Donalt said, with a charming bow. Then he made his way to the grassy servant's area, where he knew he would find Tilda.
He saw her talking to a foreign knight. Donalt waved his arms and called out, "Tilda!" But she took no notice of him.
Tilda was too busy talking to Felux, saying, "Do you have another pair of boots? The ones you're wearing have a hole in them and it's been bothering me all day."
"Does it now?" Felux said, as he looked down and saw the hole. Surprised, he exclaimed, "It's true."
Tilda said, "I'll fix it for you but I'll need your boot."
Donalt frowned at being ignored. If it was intentional, that was one thing, but this was completely different. He mumbled, "She doesn't even notice me. This is unacceptable."
༻✧༺
Delrik was giving his farewells to Lord Angelo who was standing by his prepared carriage. Cosaria and Marley hid behind a nearby wall, peaking on them.
Delrik said, "By that time I'll have gathered more information."
The two men shook hands as Cosaria fidgeted. Now was the time for Cosaria to ask Delrik to dinner. Now. But she wasn't moving. She was stuck, fidgeting.
"Now's your chance!" Marley said, as she pushed Cosaria out from hiding.
Cosaria stood frozen as the two men glanced at her. Delrik smiled and held out his hand. Angelo's eyebrows rose at seeing Delrik act so kindly towards another. Cosaria approached hesitantly, like a rabbit about to bolt away.
Delrik said, "Cosaria, this is Count Angelo, he's an ally. Angelo, this is Cosaria, my wife."
Cosaria gasped at the mention of 'wife'.
Angelo said, "Truly, to just refer to me as an ally is ever so formal, Lord Delrik. If it were me, I might dare to go so far as to say that we hold the position of friends."
Delrik said, "Perhaps."
Cosaria curtsied, saying, "Welcome Count Angelo. I am so very pleased to meet one of Delrik's friends."
Angelo examined Cosaria with approval. He thought, So this is the woman who tamed the beastly Duke. I've heard of the accounts but to see it… huh. Truly remarkable.
Angelo said, "It is the utmost pleasure my Lady, truly. I haven't the time now, much too busy with business as you know, but I look forward to chatting further. I suspect next I see you will be the birthday ball for the crown prince. I would enjoy to reserve a dance with you, if the occasion presents itself."
Cosaria clapped her hands and said, "A ball! That does sound fun."
Delrik glared at Angelo and said, "Perhaps."
Angelo bowed, and without further ado, he got in his carriage and pulled away.
Donalt, the servant, was sitting in the carriage, not caring that it was a place reserved only for nobles. As he looked out the window, he was frustrated by his lack of female attention. Specifically, Tilda's attention. He vowed that when he returned, he would win over the woman who was hardest to attract. He would win over Tilda.
Meanwhile, gathering her courage, Cosaria said, "D… Delrik."
"Yes?"
"I was supposing perhaps, if you'd like, maybe, to accompany me at the dinner table tonight?"
"I see no reason why not. Is there a special occasion?"
"Oh," Cosaria said, "Nothing like that. I just wanted to spend more time with you."
Blushing, Delrik was caught off guard. He said, "I-uh, I see. It would be my pleasure."
From her spying spot, Marley grinned, thinking, Perfect.
༻✧༺
Meanwhile, Tilda sat on a little log outside the kitchen fixing a hole in a stinky boot. She was too busy for time–wasting drama and unnecessary scheming. She had work to be done.