Who: Julius and Charity, one of the Brisbois' servants What: Gossip Where: The Brisbois Stables When: Evening, Sunday the 19th Rating: Stupid Boy Status: Narrative, complete.
Every year since Genevieve and Penny's debut, Julius counted down the time until their birthday with a quiet sense of dread. Another year gone and, if he knew anything of the girls' mother, another year of planning and schemes that all had to come to a head- and likely sooner rather than later. This year, especially, he'd been wary of the date. He knew all too well that he and Gen couldn't continue on as they were for very long- sneaking about, talking about the maybes and the somedays. It would drive the both of them mad before long- something had to change.
That change, however, came from an unlikely source- Charity, one of the cook's helpers, came out to the stables halfway through the evening. Her cheeks were flushed after running from the main house, and Julius looked up from his work- he'd already cleaned and fed the visitors' horses, and had instead been working on a separate project at the forge. (It was a birthday gift for Genevieve, but one whose technique was unfamiliar to him- he'd been consulting with another farrier in town, but the present had been taking more time to make than he had otherwise expected.) "Good evening, Charity." He tried to sound calm, not worried as to her presence in the stables.
"She's getting married!" Charity had never been one for subtlety or avoiding a subject. She was obviously thrilled at the news- the redness had faded from her cheeks, replaced with a cheerful smile. "Young Mistress Brisbois! Her betrothed was at the party tonight, and Madame Brisbois was to make the announcement! The whole kitchen is just buzzing with excitement! You should just see the cake that Cook's made to celebrate the event!"
For all of Charity's enthusiasm, however, Julius just shook his head and gave a faint smile. He'd seen quite a few noble-looking men come through the stables that night- and they were always the ones who didn't know how to treat their own horses properly, he thought, wryly. He wondered which was the 'betrothed' to which Charity was referring, but in the end, it mattered little. They were all the same, weren't they? "I'm sure that Penny will be very happy," he replied, casually.
Charity giggled at that, her fingers covering her mouth as if to stifle the sound. "Oh, Julius, you just don't know!" Another giggle, which made him set his tools aside and glance over, quizzically. "It's isn't Mistress Penny at all, but Mistress Genevieve that's to be wed! Cook said within the fortnight she'll be someone's Missus!"
Julius' face fell. He had no reason to doubt Charity- she was a gossip, to be sure, but then all of the servants were. And there was always truth to what they said, even if it was exaggerated at times. This, though, felt all too real. His stomach felt as if he'd swallowed several heavy stones, and his mouth was dry. Frowning, he turned back to the forge, angrily sweeping the small pieces of Genevieve's present aside into the straw on the floor and closing the vent on the chimney so the coals would cool and dim. "Excuse me, Charity," he gave a brief nod to the seemingly bewildered servant girl as he found his coat, shouldering it and crossing to Zephira's stall. He didn't take the time to saddle her- right now he just needed to be gone, no matter where he ended up.
Unsurprisingly, he ended up at Madison's Pub- there were other places in town he might have gone, but their seedy reputations were not something he wanted to deal with at the moment. Julius stabled Zephira then promptly found a stool at the bar- and didn't move from that spot until the inn was closing down around him. He'd lost count of the pints of ale he'd consumed, and could barely think clearly enough to add an extra few coins to his payment to secure a bed in the common sleeping room. As Julius stumbled his way across the inn's grounds, all he could think of were Charity's words: Cook said within the fortnight she'll be someone's Missus!