Re: Barbara and Dick
It was only in that moment that she realized how he'd taken what she'd said. "Richard..." her eyes softened a bit, as did her face, "I'm sorry. I swear I did not mean it as such. You know I've nothing but love and respect for your Father. He has been more kind than deserved to mine." She really hadn't. But she also knew how loyal the man sitting with her was. The fact that he wouldn't even refer to him as Father here with her... They were a very interesting family. "It is the place of the nobles to do their best to vie for position and patronages and the favor of their royals. It's their nature. Just as it's their nature to gossip and use anything they view as a weakness to better their possiblities..." She squeezed his hand again.
She trailed off there as if she were deciding something. She smiled a little bit, realizing what he was asking without actually asking it. How many times had he hinted at it, put it outright and she'd never taken it seriously. But now, given that she needed to decide now... "Maybe the stubborn woman is afraid you haven't thought this through, Richard." She looked at him this time, a slight hesitance in her eyes. "You would ignore the looks, the gossip, and everything that goes with it?" to court her. If she were just some random individual, someone might call her a gold digger, but here? She didn't really care, it couldn't be any worse than what she heard already.
There had been questions for years, how long her body would be able to sustain under the conditions. But thus far she was managing. "I'm fine," she assured again, blinking a few times. "One of these days we need to get the West patriarch to visit again. It's been far too long." Things were always more interesting when there were guests. "I'm not certain that fun is the right word for this trip," she said a bit more seriously. "I know that we are used to things not being all they seem, but here... it's almost overwhelming." And that had been from what she'd seen. But it had been unclear.