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Harry Fisher ([info]social_climber) wrote in [info]toujoursliberer,
@ 2008-07-17 23:42:00

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Entry tags:anna_manzoni, harry_fisher, mary_roper, nell_abbot, pg-13, plot

Meeting Mother Dearest
Subject: Meeting Mother
Where: Harry's townhouse
Who: Harry Fisher
Warnings: Probably some language so PG-13
Open To: Anna, Nell, Mary perhaps


It was a bloody awful night. Rain lashed at the windows, and the wind howled down the chimney, as if attempted to blow out the fires set in their grates. It was the sort of night the world and his wife deserved to be tucked up warm inside, away from the battering elements, with good company and good booze to keep their mind off of the wet and cold beyond.

That, at least, was how Harry Fisher thought of it, with a hot cup of coffee in his hand as he surveyed the weather from the window, taking a swallow of the hot liquid, turning away from it after the moment and moving back towards the chairs and settling down again in front of the fire, next to Nell, smiling at him. "Bloody horrible night." He said, to the boy, only draped in a wrap after their earlier activities. Harry was more glad than he could say than Nell was here with him now, and not out there trying to find punters or a warm bed of the night. Nell deserved somewhere warm, somewhere near to Harry. "Bed-time soon." He added, draining his cup and setting it down on the table besides them, "You look like you could do with a rest."

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[info]ex_little_st99
2008-07-17 06:05 pm UTC (link)
Nell sipped at the warm cup, smiling at Harry over the brim. He'd tucked his knees up under himself, the wrap covering him as best it could. Despite the warm fire he couldn't help but feel cold. It was the way the wind howled around the townhouse like a wounded dog and he could hear the sound of the rain pattering down in the streets outside. Made him feel like he was out there even if he wasn't.
"I could. It's been a long day. Plays running well, it seems very popular, lots of patrons and then...well...you and I." He said, trailing off slightly embarrassed - all-though why he should be when it was his job was beyond him, but with Harry it was different.

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[info]social_climber
2008-07-18 03:51 am UTC (link)
Harry laughed, pulling the boy closer to him on the seat, arm worming it's way around the boy's thin waist. "And you've worked very hard. The show's been more popular than I had hoped. Mostly because you and the others have worked so hard at it." He smiled, "Just got to decide on the next play to do." He said. glancing over to the thick book on the desk, not knowing which of the plays it contained would be right to do next. But there was no need to decide now, after all. "You'll have to stay here tonight, of course. Maybe tomorrow night too." He smiled, pulling Nell closer.

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[info]darlinganna
2008-07-17 06:39 pm UTC (link)
Anna could not have planned the scene better if she had designed it herself. She had driven past the house her friends had informed her of, and had been suitably impressed. So the darling little fool hadn't been so silly after all. He looked as if he was doing rather well, all things considered. And what young rising businessman would hope to make a real match without some kind of family to his name? Anna leaned back against the seats of the carriage, calculating just how damp she should look. Her emeralds were safely tucked away, and her dress was plain although very well-cut, without showing too much decolletage. If one was going to convincingly ask one's longlost beloved son's pardon for the past, it was best to look the part.

Handing the cabby her money, she hopped out and hurried across the street, waving away his concerns about the damp. As much as she detested looking anything less than dry and stunning she rather thought looking a bit damp and disheveled would help the story.

She raised her hand and knocked at the door as she made sure to arrange her features in a softer, more worried countenance. Exactly how a mother who had only just heard word that her son was alive might look...

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[info]prettypoppet
2008-07-17 08:51 pm UTC (link)
It was late and the wind was howling, but Yves had asked her for a favor and Mary wasn't one to skip out. Although she was still weak from that fever, she couldn't stand being idle no more. She had her cloak on and was just in the hall when someone knocked at the door. Mary cursed and dropped the garment on the sidetable. Bloody hell.

With a sigh and a polite expression, Mary opened the door. It took her a moment to recognize the face and damp curls in front of her. Mum was like that- you always forgot just how pretty she was until she walked into the room again. Eight years and she just looked... the same, like the same beautiful, wicked queen she always was. The moment of shock passed and was almost immediately replaced with a desire to slam the door, run to her room and stay there. Runrunrunrunrun the sensible side of her whispered. Run and for god's sake don't look back.

"Mum," she heard herself say far more calmly than she felt. Why wasn't she running? Too late, the witch-green eyes held her. "What are you doin'?"

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[info]social_climber
2008-07-18 02:52 am UTC (link)
Harry heard the knocking, and got to his feet. It was the house-keepers evening off, and the maid had gone home, so it was only the master of the house and his family left within. "I'm just going to see who's at the door." He said to the boy, stroking over the boy's cheek with his fingertips, leaning down and kissing the corner of Nell's lips.

He didn't have much idea of who it could be, Mary perhaps, although from the top landing he could hear her voice and knew then it was not her. Ann, perhaps, if she'd been caught this end of town in the rain and couldn't make it back to her own place in such foul weather. Or Will, with tonight's takings, although it was hardly 10'o'clock according to the large clock in the hallway, and so if it was Will, Harry would need a word or two with him about shutting the theatre early.

But it was not a man standing at the door, the silhouette was all wrong. "Mary, who is it?" He said as he made it down the last few steps, hand sliding to his pocket and the dusters contained within.

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[info]prettypoppet
2008-07-18 03:27 am UTC (link)
Harry's voice gave her a start and she turned around gratefully. Life was so much easier when you didn't look at mum. "It's mum, Harry." Mary stepped away from the door to let Anna inside, and took an extra couple steps to make sure she didn't get too close. She looked from Harry to mum and started to think just how best to get out of harm's way if they went at it.

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[info]darlinganna
2008-07-18 03:33 am UTC (link)
Anna's eyes widened in surprise as Mary opened the door. Well that was unexpected. That one should have been at Slater's. Ah well. She was so pretty too! Good. She might be useful after all. Anna smiled warmly. "Oh, Mary darling!" She clasped her hands. "Mary, I--"

A man's voice stopped Anna mid-word and Mary stepped aside to reveal... Oh. Well, he'd certainly grown up well. Not much like his father, really. Strange. Ah well. At least none of them were ugly. "Mary, is that any way to greet your mother?" she asked gently, as if she were the most loving parent in the world before brushing by the girl.

She stepped into the house and out of the rain, and kept her eyes on the man on the stairs. "Harry? Dearest, is it really you?" she asked in awed, almost fearful tones.

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[info]social_climber
2008-07-18 03:45 am UTC (link)
Harry didn't speak. He didn't believe Mary, didn't believe her at all, but the woman who stepped into his house was her. That was Anna, not having aged the slightest in all the years since he'd last seen her, although her skin was slightly darker than he remembered, and her dress completely unpatched. The woman almost looked... human. And as she approached, he merely stared, not knowing what to say or how to act or whether or not to banish her from his house and his life. He managed, as the apparition moved towards him, to move his gaze to Mary, but she looked like a frightened Rabbit and was hardly about to be much use.

"Mother." He eventually settled on, swallowing to wet his dry throat, but didn't manage to say any more than that, having been completely prepared never to see his mother again in this mortal realm.

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[info]darlinganna
2008-07-18 05:02 am UTC (link)
"Harry, sweetheart, I--" Anna covered her mouth with her hands as tears filled her eyes. "You're alive. Oh thank god, you're alive. I didn't believe it but it is you, isn't it?"

Anna's hands reached out as if to touch him but she drew them back at the last moment. "I thought you were gone. They said--Oh but it doesn't matter, does it? You're alive!" She smiled through the tears. "And so handsome. I always thought you'd grow up tall." She paused, and glanced back at her daughter. "And you found your sister! You're both so lovely. I hadn't dared hope to see you together..." she shivered, her hem dripping a little on the floor as she waited for her children's responses.

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[info]social_climber
2008-07-18 05:15 am UTC (link)
Harry looked at her. She was crying? Crying? His mother? It couldn't have been the same woman, couldn't have been. "'Course I'm alive. I wasn't about to curl up in a ditch and die." He told her, now used to the shock suddenly angry. "And Mary wasn't about to curl up and die either, after you left her on her own and went gallivanting off with whatever drunk you'd taken up with that week!" He said, stepping closer towards her, teeth gritted and jaw set. "So why are you here, mother dear? Did he kick you out?" He snapped.

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[info]darlinganna
2008-07-18 09:25 pm UTC (link)
Anna fell back a step as if he'd slapped her, her lips parting in a perfect shocked o. How could he be so cruel? Her own son, just yelling at her like this!

"You disappeared! Not a word, not a letter. No sign of anything, just gone. Then your poor father not a moment after. What was I to think, Harry Roper? After that lot you'd taken up with..." Anna's voice broke on a sob. "Jail, god knows what else... probably rotting in Newgate somewhere." She turned away from him to look at Mary. The little brat had told him she left her?

"I didn't leave you, Mary. Oh, darling is that what you thought?" Anna looked into Mary's eyes, her own expression pleading. "I couldn't get back with Slater's boys crawling over the place out for all our blood. They told me what happened to Jon at the dock and no one could find you..." She glanced back at Harry, tears still streaming and her voice ragged with the pain of having such dreadful children. "My god, was I so horrible you think I'd have left her?"

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[info]prettypoppet
2008-07-18 10:51 pm UTC (link)
Why did he have to bring her into this? Mary shot a startled glance at Harry. Don't remind her I'm here! she wanted to yelp. She'll just... Anna turned and Mary wished again that she could figure out why she hadn't already run upstairs. Or out the door. Anywhere really but where those bright green eyes of her mother's could find her.

And then Anna was backing away from Harry and back toward her. Mary skittered to the side, keeping herself a healthy distance outside her mother's reach and edging back toward her brother. The fact that Anna was already giving her that look, and saying things that you couldn't quite call not true... Mary frowned. This was what happened with mum, you got so confused and she was so pretty and big green eyes told you to just agree and then you did and nothing ever went right.

"Stop it, mama. Harry, just--" she looked at Harry and her own eyes were wide with desperation. She wasn't sure what to ask or even say. What was there to do? What could he do? Fix it. Make her go away. Something. Anything. Help.

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[info]social_climber
2008-07-20 05:01 am UTC (link)
Harry saw his sister's pleading look, but he was too angry now to step down. "Harry Fisher. Not Roper." He growled, then looked to Mary again. "You can go, Mary." He told her, "Mother and I have some catching up to do." He added, gaze moving back to the older woman, "Don't we, mother? Why don't we go and sit down?" He said, each word sharp and short, much like his temper. Bloody woman, bloody Anna. What was she doing back here? How had she found him? Her latest husband must have kicked her out, found her with someone else and that was it- she was homeless and now was back here to make her children's lives even harder as a break from destroying marriages. That was the only explaination.

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[info]ex_little_st99
2008-07-20 05:09 am UTC (link)
It had been such a long time and Nell was growing restless. He couldn’t imagine who it could have been at the door on such a dreadful night, nor who’d be keeping Harry’s attention for so long. Mary was at home he knew that. It couldn’t be someone from the theatre or the gang because Harry would have dealt with them by now.

He stood, pulling the wrap tighter around himself and went out onto the landing.
“Harry!” He called. “Harry, what’s keeping you?”
He peered down into the light of the hallway, surprised to see a woman standing there and not anyone he knew already like Ann or Miss Emelie, and then he remembered himself and that he was wearing only the barest of coverings. “I...I’ll just go get dressed”

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[info]social_climber
2008-07-20 06:14 am UTC (link)
"Nell!" Harry turned on his heel. He hadn't completely forgotten about Nell, but the boy's presence at the house had been put on the back-burner in his mind on the arrival of his mother. He did not want Nell to meet his mother. Not until he had spoken to the boy and told him everything about the wicked witch and how wicked she really was. "Go back to bed, Nell." He said.

Oh goodness. His mother was going to find out about his relationship with Nell and all the rest of it... He swallowed. "I'm just talking to my mother." He said pointedly, loudly enough for Nell to hear, and hoping that would warn Nell enough not to come down. Having his mother catch him with a boy in his bed would... and that was the answer. Nell was famous for him femininity. And that could be used to their advantage. "Mary, will you go and help Nell change into one of her dresses, please?" He said, turning back to his sister and catching her by the elbow, dropping his voice to a harsh whisper only Mary could hear. "Nell is a girl. A girl, and don't you dare tell mum different!" He warned.

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[info]prettypoppet
2008-07-20 08:33 pm UTC (link)
Mary cringed when she heard Nell's voice and watched Harry go from dread furious to half as startled as she was. Oh this was a disaster and no mistaking. The Dark Queen showing up and if she knew Harry had a boy for a lover she'd never let him go.

She jumped when Harry touched her arm and met his look with shock. She took a breath and shoved herself into the story. Nell was a girl and Harry's mistress and... "I sodding well will not be asked to get your strumpet her in her damned dress, Harry Fisher. She's got two hands," Mary stomped her foot as her eyes narrowed mutinously. It was a look she knew well enough from Anna. "I suppose you'll be askin I do the washing and the floors next?" Mary shoved away from her brother and fled up the stairs, and towarrd Harry's room. Nell needed to be dressed and warned quick. Her own children didn't know how to handle Anna, a stranger didn't hardly stand a chance.

She grabbed Nell's elbow on her way by. "Come on. Fast," she whispered, hoping the boy was going to be bright enough to know when to run when danger was around.

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[info]darlinganna
2008-07-20 09:44 pm UTC (link)
"Y-yes," Anna said tearfully with a docile little nod. "There is so much we need to speak of..." she trailed off as a third voice called down from the stairs. She looked up and saw a pale, skinny person scantily glad standing on the landing. A quick look at her children told they'd been caught at something... so what was it? Harry had a mistress in the house, and his little sister too? A mistress who looked like a twelve-year-old.

So her son liked them young. She glanced at Mary, who could pass for about that age too if she wanted, though her curves were there... maybe the girl had gotten thrown over for younger sport. Anna's mind spun with calculations, but she could wait to see where this led. She watched Mary's outburst and fought back a smile, covering her face with her kerchief instead. Her darling children, they really did make life so easy sometimes.

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[info]ex_little_st99
2008-07-21 03:51 am UTC (link)
Nell's eye's widened as he listened to the conversation below him, wondering why he was being referred to as a girl but smart enough to know this wasn't the time to ask. Harry had often used that deception to his advantage before.
He followed Mary into Harry's room, keeping the wrap tight around him. The last thing he really wanted was to show anything to Harry's little sister, although she must know what had happened before that strange new woman had arrived.

"I've got a few things kept here." He said to her, going to a wardrobe and pulling out the things he'd need to complete the deception - underskirts and corset and the pretty, if rather plain, blue dress he'd wear on top. "Um, could you look away?" Nell dropped the wrap and began dressing, pulling on the under skirts, smoothing them down. "Who was that woman?" He asked.

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[info]prettypoppet
2008-07-21 07:32 pm UTC (link)
"Let me know if you need help." Mary turned away and wandered over to the windows. She looked down at the ground below and gave half-serious consideration to how best to reach it. Jumping, maybe?

"That's our-" Mary's voice caught and she leaned against the glass. "That's our mother." Her throat felt tight and her eyes were burning with tears. She would not cry in front of Nell. She wouldn't. "Eight bloody years and now she's back. Fuck." Mary tried not to curse, but if anything deserved it, her mother did.

"When you go down, there are rules, Nell." She wiped her cheeks furiously as tears started to fall. "You forget them, you let them slip even for a moment and you'll be lost. Understand?"

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[info]ex_little_st99
2008-07-22 05:50 am UTC (link)
"Oh, I can put on my own dresses - been doing it for long enough, but if you could help with the ties on this" He said, the corset on next, giving the illusion of feminine curves where there were none.

"Your mother? Bloody hell. Five years I have no clue Harry has any family and then suddenly three on you turn up in the space of a couple of months."

He nodded, not having ever seen Mary this distraught before and quite worried over it. Nell wished he could go and find Harry to comfort her but that wasn’t an option right now and all he could do was try to reassure her. "Yes, Mary. I'll take my cue from you and Harry, don't worry. I won't speak out of turn."

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[info]prettypoppet
2008-07-22 04:38 pm UTC (link)
"Corsets don't ever get easier," Mary sighed and went to help him. She took the ties and pulled them only a little tighter, knowing her mother's attention to detail. "Sorry, there we go." She tied them off. "Be glad it's only me and Ann you met so far. I think with Mum here, that's all of us."

She was still crying, but there wasn't anything to be done for it. Mum had that effect. "It isn't speaking I'm worried about, Nell. You don't need to talk for her to..." Mary trailed off. What was it her mother did? She just did it and one moment she was the wicked queen and the next you thought maybe she wasn't and you forgot everything...

"I-I don't know if you can rely on Harry and me, Nell." Mary gave Nell a pain-filled glance. "She's our mother. It ain't so easy. We... we don't have a real good history of stopping her." In fact the only workin' method any of them ever found was to just run and not look back, and even that one just hurt you more than it did her.

"So the rule is you go down there, you don't let her see one single real thing, Nell. Like walking into a mirror- everything goes opposite. No matter what, you don't let anything be real. Not feelings, not smiles, nothing."

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[info]ex_little_st99
2008-07-22 05:01 pm UTC (link)
Nell stepped away, thanking her quickly before he reached for the blue over-dress, slipping it over his head and tugging it down, smoothing it so the illusion was complete. He checked himself in Harry's dressing mirror and combed his hair down, pinching his cheeks to bring some colour to them.

He looked like a girl, yes, although a skinny one in need of a wash and better make-up but those things could be sorted later.

"Act then. I can do that." Nell said. He took Mary's hands, worried by how this had affected her. "Don't cry, Mary. You can stay up here if you don't want to see her."

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[info]prettypoppet
2008-07-22 05:31 pm UTC (link)
Nell looked... well he looked like he might be a girl. Mary made herself smile. "You look perfect." She squeezed his hands gently, hoping it would reassure him that she wasn't going to lose it entirely.

"Don't you worry about me, Nell. You and Harry are the ones facing the wicked witch. The house is too close and if I see her tonight I won't manage it." She didn't have it in her to resist Anna tonight, she knew that. She'd fall into her mother's arms and fall into the dream that she had a mother who wouldn't disappear and loved her children and said lovely things. "Tell Harry I'm sorry and give him my love. I'll be back soon." She kissed Nell's cheek. "Be careful." And with that she fled.

She had to get where it was safe tonight, where Anna would never go. There was another cloak in her room and the servants door was open. Harry was likely to kill her if he guessed where she'd gone, but Harry murdering her was still better than Anna.

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[info]social_climber
2008-07-21 04:24 am UTC (link)
"I'm glad you agree, mother." He said, moving to her and gesturing her away from the enterance hall, and towards the sitting room. "Will you sit down, mother?" He asked her, tone still terribly polite, even as he pulled the folded handkerchief from his breast pocket and handing it to her. "And can I get you a drink?" He said, tone still clipped, coldly polite. Harry was trying his utmost to remain detatched and unemotional. Otherwise he would no doubt murder the woman before the night was out. Fetching a decanter and two glasses from the sideboard, he returned to sit opposite his mother, across a low table from her. "And you haven't told me yet what brought you here."

Cool, calm, collected. He needed to think before he spoke and get her out of the house as soon as possible. Before she discovered the truth about Nell. Mary had a smart head on her shoulders, that was for sure, and she could fill Nell in. Anna Roper should have come with a manual attached, but unfortunately did not. Nell would have to be brought quickly up to speed, and told his role. Harry didn't doubt Nell could pull off the role of his female mistress, Harry just hoped his own poor acting wouldn't give the game away.

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[info]darlinganna
2008-07-21 08:08 pm UTC (link)
Anna followed her son into the sitting room, but she couldn't help a last glance up the stairway where Mary and the other girl had disappeared.

"Oh, thank you, Harry." She accepted the kerchief and dotted her cheeks as she sank into the chair. The very expensive looking chair, she noted. "Y-yes, I think... I think a drink might be in order. The rain is so cold tonight but I couldn't help it, I just had to come see you, darling. I had to see if it was really you and--" she sniffled. Anna's green eyes fixed on the floor for a moment before she looked up at her son, her features the picture of heartbreak. It was genuine, for once. She had never once pictured her own son could be so hard, so much like that wretched Ann.

"I had to come and ask you to forgive me. I know I should have... I should have done things differently, but I was so lost back then, Harry. I understand how you must feel but to think I would just leave my baby?" Anna's face crumpled again as she broke down in sobs. "I was that horrible? You hate me that much?" She really hadn't been that bad, they just never bothered to understand a thing about what it was like for her. Davy losing everything like that, reduced to nothing, no one to turn to or depend on. It was too much that now they hated her like this.

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[info]social_climber
2008-07-22 03:47 am UTC (link)
He poured two glasses, his own glass far fuller than her own, but he was the one who needed it tonight. He handed the second over before taking a swallow himself, leaning back in the chair and considering her. "You should have done things differently.” He agreed, “But I think Mary is the one you should be apologising to. Ann and I managed to look after ourselves.” He sighed. It was almost impossible to believe Anna was here to make things right, to set things straight. Last thing he’d known was that she was somewhere in Europe, and that was only according to Anna. Why she’d picked now he didn’t know, but there must have been something. Whether she really had had a change of heart, or simply a change of circumstances that had brought her there he didn’t know, and for some reason he didn’t want to. It was nicer to believe his mother’s ice heart had finally melted, but he couldn’t force himself to completely believe such a thing.

“I can’t forgive you. Not unless you show me I can forgive you.” He said, watching her for a short moment. “I’m not just going to forgive you because you came back and apologised. You’ve done too much damage for that.” He got to his feet, putting away the decanter back onto the sideboard. “And I don’t think Mary will ever forgive you for letting Darby near her. You know what he did, don’t you?”

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[info]darlinganna
2008-07-22 05:02 pm UTC (link)
Anna sat quietly, watching her son's movements and studying his face. He wanted to believe her, she just knew it. She accepted the glass but didn't drink, only set it aside. "I will have to apologize to Mary. I hadn't realized she wouldn't understand what happened." Anna frowned sadly as she contemplated her youngest. "Poor darling, she always gets so confused..."

She turned her eyes back to Harry as he demanded that she show him. Her annoyance was masked though, and she touched the kerchief to her cheek again. "I know, dear. I know. It's been-- so much. I didn't know what I could do, Harry. Just tell me darling, what can I do?" she pleaded. "I would do anything in the world for you three." It was probably better she include Ann, she reasoned. Even if she secretly hoped the little worm was safely dead in the arms of the creature she'd married.

She winced when he mentioned the name Darby. Oh yes, she knew perfectly well what Jon had done to Mary. A few bruises and then the little brat making up some story of him coming into her room. So that was how she'd gotten into her older brother's good graces. "Jon wasn't the gentlest man, Harry," she explained with a quaver in her voice. "Just didn't always know his own strength when he was punishing her, that's all. I know Mary took it all to heart, she wasn't as strong as you or Ann. But what else could we do? Her running wild with that little Slater girl and crying after you..."

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[info]ex_little_st99
2008-07-22 05:40 pm UTC (link)
With Mary gone Nell knew he couldn’t dawdle upstairs. He was fearful about what Mary had told him about the woman downstairs. She hadn’t seemed so terrible but Nell had only seen her from the top of the stairs and there was something else to worry about now as well – pulling off this deception as Harry’s girl.

He took a deep breath to compose himself and went downstairs, knocking on the door to the sitting room.
“Harry?”

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[info]social_climber
2008-07-22 06:00 pm UTC (link)
"Well she hasn't been lately. She's been working as a nurse-maid and governess for some Lord and Lady." He tells her, taking another drink. "She can write better than I could at her age. You should be more proud of her than any of the rest of us." Mary was not confused, she had been a smart child, frightened, but not confused or in anyway stupid or slow.

What could she do? Harry was tempted to make her promise to leave, but as she sniffled and sobbed into her handkerchief he only sighed and swallowed the rest of the drink in a quick gulp. "You could start by proving to me and Mary and Ann that you've changed. It's not coinsidence that we all remember you as... as a less than perfect mother." He stopped then, having heard the knocks and Nell's voice, and got up to open the door and let the pale young creature in.

"Very nice Nell." He murmured softly, smiling slightly, tired and wishing that he'd gone to bed hours ago, to spend the night alone with Nell and not having to deal with his mother. "As Mary's probably told you, this is my mother, Anna Roper. Although I'm not sure if you still go by Roper, mother." He said with some distain.

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[info]darlinganna
2008-07-23 03:31 am UTC (link)
Anna sighed. "Sir Elliot, you mean, dear? Or Lord Stanley?" She smiled. "I did keep an eye on where she was, you know." Well, she'd meant to and that was the same as. "It wasn't easy from Italy but I did manage." the unspoken message being 'and why don't you know their names?'

She lifted her chin and fixed her son with a hurt look. "I know I wasn't perfect, Harry, but it's not polite to talk to your mother in such tones," she said in a tone which was more aggrieved disapppointment than a rebuke.

As he went to the door, Anna smoothed her skirts and wiped the tears from her face. Emotions were utterly exhausting. Still, she smiled sweetly at the girl in the doorway and ignored Harry's disdain. "A pleasure, dear."

"I'm afraid I remarried, Harry. After Mr Slater's... incident, with your stepfather Mr Darby, I met a wonderful man in Italy. Cesare Manzoni," Anna smiled at the fond memories of the villa. "I'm Mrs Teresa Anna Manzoni now, dearest."

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[info]social_climber
2008-07-23 04:01 am UTC (link)
"I suppose it would have been easier from England." He pointed out dryly. "But I suppose I should have kept an eye on her after you'd gone, no one having told me you'd gone, but I should have known that. It was just a little diffecult from a prison barge."

Harry sighed again, "Don't tell me how to talk to people. I do it for a living and I've not done badly yet. I think you deserve some dissaproval from me, I used to get enough of it from you."

Now Nell was in the room he stopped the conversation, holding his hand out to the pretty effeminate creature and leading Nell back towards the sofas, sitting down on one side and gesturing for Nell to join him. "This is Nell Abbot, mother. She lives here with me, don't you love?" Harry said, smiling back at Nell, hand resting on the skirt-covered leg. "Would you like a drink, Nell?"

"Mrs Teresa Anna Manzoni? Lucky you." Harry said to her, eyebrow raised. "More than one change of name there, mother. Did it throw off the people that were after you? Or were they only after Darby?"

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[info]ex_little_st99
2008-07-23 04:44 am UTC (link)
Nell settled on the sofa next to Harry, not looking directly at the woman. She was very beautiful, but Harry didn't seem too happy to have her here.
He glanced up at Harry and smiled.
"Yes, I do. I live here." He placed his hand on top of Harry's and squeezed it gently. "A drink? Brandy would be nice."

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[info]darlinganna
2008-07-23 08:26 pm UTC (link)
Anna shook her head. He and Ann, always so difficult, never once understanding why she hadn't wanted them out running wild and leaping about the house like monkeys. "I had a choice, Harry. Slater was out for Jon's blood and he wasn't going to stop until he'd wiped the whole of it all from the world. I couldn't get to her without leaving her an orphan, and that day..." Anna shuddered. "They told me no one could find her. I thought he'd... Well. Nevermind. I did the best I could. Sir Elliott wrote me later. And as for your being on a prison barge, Harry, how was I to know? I hadn't heard a word from you since you were sixteen, had I? Gone in the night and never come back. Not even for your father's funeral." She sighed and waved a hand, her face pale. "No, I surrender. I know I was hard on you. I never once thought you'd think I didn't love you. And then it was too late to do anything."

She looked away, withdrawn and too hurt for words by his cruel accusations. Instead she looked at Nell, who was a... very pale girl with hardly any curves. Good lord but she had to be young. "It is lovely to meet you, Miss Abbot." She watched the exchange between them and smiled. So her son had found love. Excellent. The dear boy deserved it.

"Your dear late stepfather Cesare wanted me to take his faith, and I did it gladly. Have you ever been to Italy, Miss Abbot?"

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[info]ex_little_st99
2008-07-24 04:21 am UTC (link)
Nell shook his head, smoothing down the skirts of his dress.
“Italy? No, Ma’am. I’ve not really been outside of London to tell you the truth, although we did go to Devon once. The countryside was lovely. I can see why everyone moves out there in the summer instead of stay round here, although London’s got its own charm come the winter.” He said, and then thought better of having talked so much. Mary had told him to keep quite but there he was babbling on, although he was hearing more about Harry’s past than he’d previously known.

For him Harry had simply appeared one day and turned his whole life around. It was strange to imagine him as someone with a family who’d been a child once himself.

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[info]social_climber
2008-07-24 04:59 am UTC (link)
His mother's story wasn't quite the one he'd heard from Mary, and in all truth, he was not going to take his mother's word rather than his sister's, especially as he knew Mary not to be a lying, sneaky little creature. "Well mother, whatever happened, you certainly spent a very long time away from home." He said, getting up to make Nell's drink- only a small measure, because it wasn't right for a lady to have a full one, and besides, Harry didn't trust Nell's tongue once their was some brandy in him.

"I haven't grown not to love you, Mother. I can't say you were here often enough to be loved in recent years." He said, a little tiredly. This was just another thing to weigh on his mind, along with Viv and Slater and the rest of it. But with Nell curled against him it seemed not so important."But now you're back and we'll all determined to make things right I'm sure that will change."

He shifted back down into the sofa, trying to get comfortable again, hand going back to the boy's knee. "Nell and I went to see Lord Hurst at his estate, didn't we, Nell?"

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[info]ex_little_st99
2008-07-24 05:17 am UTC (link)
Nell took a sip of the brandy, slightly disappointed to see it was a small glass rather than the usual half tumbler he was used to, but he understood the deception mattered more than his want for liquor. It was hardly the first time he’d dressed up like this to help Harry.

“Yes, we did. Lord Hurst is a very nice and his house is so large. I’ve never seen a house like that in London. We had a lovely evening there.”

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[info]darlinganna
2008-07-26 12:29 am UTC (link)
Anna blinked in surprise when Nell admitted she'd hardly been outside London and cast a reproving glance at her son. Honestly, no wonder the girl looked so plain- some country air would do wonders for her. Surely her son wasn't that taken with the sickly look. "Only twice outside the city? Shame, dearest. You really ought to take the waters at Bath sometime. It does one no end of good to be out of the city from time to time."

She smiled though, as her thoughts spun a number of ideas all of them more than amusing. "Of course, Harry. Don't you worry, we'll find a way to be a family again. Properly this time." For a moment or two, anyway. She wasn't enamored of the fact he wasn't already railing against his sister- that was one thing that really had to be fixed somehow. Mary wouldn't leave him, she was such an idiot over her older brother. But Harry had a better head on his shoulders and a more circumspect nature. That could be managed...

"Lord Hurst?" She paused as she tried to recall that name. "I don't believe I've met him... Is it more impressive than Lord Mountford-Miles'?"

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[info]social_climber
2008-07-26 07:23 pm UTC (link)
"Nell and I might venture to Bath at some time later in the year, mother. But we rarely have the time, I'm afraid, with business as it is here. If one wants to keep ahead of the game, one has to be in London." He said.

He shrugged, "I am sure everyone will be themselves, mother. How effectively that can be moulded into a loving family until is something I shall be very interested in seeing." He told her, glancing at Nell to make sure the boy hadn't down the small measure of alcohol too quickly. That was the last thing Harry wanted now, for Nell to get tipsy, but it wouldn't have looked right for him not to have offered his mistress a drink, not when everyone else had had one. It had been too much to hope, of course, that Nell would decline such a kind offer.

"Lord Hurst is the Duke of Devon, mother." He explained, although perhaps their was a faint hint of a tired sigh, "The cousin of the Prince Regent. A much more impressive title than that of the Mountford-Miles'. They are country bumpkins in comparision." He said, leaning back in his chair. "But any title's a title." And he hoped that he'd have his own soon enough.

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[info]darlinganna
2008-07-27 02:17 am UTC (link)
Business? Yes, she really did need to discover exactly what business her dear son was in... She gave him a troubled look. "I do hope you are only referring to me, Harry, and not to any trouble between yourself and your sisters."

She paused at his explanation of Lord Hurst but shrugged, as enough time in the courts of Russia and Italy had somewhat worn away the novelty granted by titles. "Perhaps, but titles and connections hardly guarantee anyone an impressive home or fortune. Nor does it guarantee manners, charm or any other diverting characteristic. Truly, you should meet some of the Russian princes and then speak of country bumpkins with grand titles. Some of the greatest noble families in Italy hold no titles. The Manzonis among them." The Orlavs had had titles aplenty, but Cesare's fortune had far outweight the allure of continuing to hold any of those unweildy Russian words next to her name.

She tilted her head and regarded Harry curiously, momentarily forgetting about Nell. "It is a pity you never met Cesare. I expect you would have liked him very much." Anna sighed. He might have adopted him even. Although trying to picture Harry as a patrician in Italy was perhaps a bit too close to comedy. No, Mary would do far better. Anna watched her son very closely as she spoke of titles. Could it be? The sweet little thing had taken after her after all. She smiled.

"Regardless, darling, you ought to perhaps refrain from speaking quite so harshly of Lord Montford-Miles. He was a dear friend and hardly a bumpkin."

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[info]social_climber
2008-07-27 04:47 am UTC (link)
"I don't know, mother. There's not been any trouble yet that I've noticed. Mary certainly hasn't brought any home, and Ann can manage for herself." He said. "I'm sure Mary thinks she can manage for herself, although I've yet to see any proof that she can."

"I think you've spent too long in foreign parts, mother. A title grants access to the court, and thus to the Prince Regent, and anyone with an amusing wit or good with words can earn his fortune in favours." He told her, hand still stroking over Nell's knee. "And while in Russia and Italy a title may not be the be-all and end-all, over here in England it is still a very appropriate thing to have. And near impossible to achieve for someone born in a Hackney ditch."

"Maybe I would have liked him, mother. But I never really understood what you saw in most of my step-fathers. Even those that were never officially step-fathers. But speaking of the Mountford-Miles, you aren't the only one with friendships in that particular circle."

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