InsaneJournal

Mixed Blessing
Who: Bryony Capper, Iris Capper [NPC]
What: Repercussions
Where: Pineview Hall
When: Friday 7th August, mid-afternoon [backdated]
Rating: SFW

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Iris Capper asked, standing by the fireplace in Ephron's study. It was Bryony's favourite room in the house, even though it had been here that her father had told her he'd refused Marcus's request for her hand in marriage. She'd always been able to come in if she wanted to find her father alone, and he'd never turned her away, even when he was busy with his research. Bryony had spent many hours avoiding her mother and sisters, sitting quietly drawing while Ephron murmured to himself over his notes. Iris seemed out of place in her fashionably cut jade green robes and jewellery. "Well?" she snapped. "Don't stand there staring like an idiot - I asked you a question."

Bryony took a breath and straightened her shoulders. "Marcus's mother died," she said simply. "He needed someone to look after him." She didn't mention the drinking. She would never do that to Marcus. How he chose to deal with his mother's death was none of anyone else's business and Bryony would not be the cause of gossip about it.

"He's a grown man," Iris pointed out, as if that made Bryony's response ridiculous. "It's obvious you fancy yourself in love with him, but I can't believe you would allow that to make you so careless. You are not - and have never been - engaged to that man. You will not marry him, and yet you spend the night in his home, alone. After everything I've done to try and find you suitable suitors! You've never made that an easy task, Bryony, but this is going too far!"

"I'm not 'in love' with him," Bryony insisted, though she doubted her mother was even really listening. "I love him - like I love Rowan. If he needs me, I'll be there. I'm sure anyone could understand that. Nothing happened that -" A sharp look from Iris cut her off.

"We are not going to talk about what happened," she said. "The thought disgusts me. What happened is that a young girl and a young man who have no right to do so spent the night together unchaperoned. Didn't you even consider what that would do to your reputation?" Bryony shook her head, because she really hadn't - and even now, it was hard to care. She'd accepted years ago that she would never get married, never be loved that way, so what possible difference could it make? "You can talk all you like about how he 'needed' you, but what people are going to hear is that you comforted him in a way you have no licence to!" Iris sat down at the desk and pulled a roll of parchment towards her, unrolling it across the dark wood.

Bryony blushed at the implication that she and Marcus had done anything more than talk and sleep. "We didn't-" she started. "He was grieving. People will understand." Anyone decent, anyone with an ounce of compassion, anyone who lived in the modern world as it was. Bryony couldn't voice any of that, her throat felt tight. "And if I don't get married..." She floundered. She wanted to say she wouldn't mind, that it would be okay, but she knew that neither was completely true. She would mind, and her not getting married would never be 'okay' with her mother. "I can support myself," she said, quietly. She hoped to be able to some day, when she finished her apprenticeship. She knew Dean had to work at the pub as well as selling pieces, but Braith and Cadmus and Ophelia managed to make a living from their art, and she would work every hour of the day if she had to to be able to do the same.

"Can you?" Iris asked, looking up from the parchment. "I'm glad to hear that, because your father and I won't be supporting you any longer." There was no malice in her words, no triumph, just plain fact. "I won't allow this scandal to impact Allegra's chances of marriage. I will not have people thinking we accept this indiscretion." Bryony couldn't make herself understand the words. Her father would never support this - he wouldn't punish her for something innocent. "We've already spoken to our solicitors and removed you from our wills. You will no longer be welcome in this home, or considered a member of this family." Bryony felt a sob rise in her chest, though it came out more as a gasp than anything.

"What?" Iris looked completely calm as she continued. "Your aunt Hecuba has kindly agreed to continue storing your things until you can find alternate accommodation." She surveyed the parchment for a moment, looking exactly as if she was simply reading over a business agreement. "We won't go so far as to ask you to use a different name..." she mused.

"You can't," Bryony choked, tears gathering now. Her relationship with her family had never been an easy one, but it was all she'd known, and she'd always hated how much of a disappointment she knew she was to them. She wanted to be pretty and perfect like Shauna and Allegra, she just couldn't force herself into that mould. "I'm-" But she wouldn't apologise for what she'd done. It was simply the right thing to do. Marcus had needed her, and he had never once let her down.

Iris looked up. "We have been warning you about your behaviour for years, Bryony," she said. "If you'd only cut communication with the Flints as soon as Marcus was imprisoned, as I asked you to do, instead of carrying on this thoroughly inappropriate affair. The best thing you could do would be to convince him to marry you now, if you can. As your father no longer takes responsibility for you, there's nothing to stop you, and your poor choice won't reflect on the rest of this family." Iris stood and walked carefully around the room to the door, talking the route that kept the most distance between her and her daughter. "I think it would be best if you took a moment to compose yourself and then left. A big scene will benefit no one, and your father is quite decided on this."