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Tweak says, "Where's the Beef?"

Louisa Beeton (lost_romance) wrote in toujoursliberer,
@ 2008-08-26 22:10:00

Entry tags:

louisa_beeton, plot, victoria_brohm

Louisa Beeton: Room Rent
Subject: Room for Rent
Who: Louisa Beeton
Where: Miss Louisa’s boarding house.
Warnings: None.
Open to: Victoria Brohm, anyone else who rents a room at the boarding house.

Louisa had been writing all morning. The household was running quite smoothly for the time being. The two navy men Mr. Ferrars and Mr. Avery had settled in nicely although they were often away, and young Master Pleasance worked most of the day and mostly stayed out till the curfew she had set down. There were only two rooms left now in the house to be rented out and that meant Louisa had enough money to concentrate on her writing, rather than the cleaning and upkeep of the household.

If everything continued to go so well she could look into hiring more staff.

Dipping the nib of her pen into the inkwell she began to write. This would be a rather different story from her last. She had decided her hero this time would be the captain of a navy vessel, transporting a young English Lady to her arranged marriage with an Italian Count. A sudden storm would leave them stranded and shipwrecked together on an island were, naturally, they would fall in love as he built their shelter and protected her from the wild savages of the island. Then they would be married when rescued, a happy ending all round.

It was such an enchanting story, although rather more risqué then she usually wrote. After all, a young man and woman left alone together on an island with no-one to watch them and make sure they conducted themselves in a manor befitting their station. She would have to make sure some of the crew survived the shipwreck as well. Perhaps a young boy whom her heroine could mother and nurse him back to health.

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victorine
2008-08-27 10:50 am UTC (link)

While Louisa had been gone, Victoria had taken to looking around the parlour, her eyes still wide with enthusiasm. There was something incredibly thrilling in every new moment. Every second that ticked by held promise for even more adventures. She took a deep breath to calm herself, praying silently that her cheeks had not become flushed.

Ever since she had arrived from America, each hour was filled with strange happenstances and exhilarating turns. After living the life of a permanently bored mother and wife, the life of a bachelorette, though a false one, was all that she had imagined.

Still, she smoothed her hands nervously over the fabric of her dress. When the landlady returned, Victoria found herself beaming once more. “My name is Victoria Brohm,” she began, curling her fingers around her reticule in an attempt to keep from using her hands to speak. “I have heard nothing but good things about your establishment, miss, as I mentioned earlier. I would like to rent a room here because I have just arrived from America and am in need of lodging. Amy and myself are quiet individuals; we won’t make much of a ruckus. Indeed, we do not know anyone in London, so there is a good chance that we will obey any curfew that you have enforced!”

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lost_romance
2008-08-27 03:02 pm UTC (link)

“An American?” Louisa said, one had going instinctively to the locket around her throat, the gift Harold had given before he had been sent off to that awful war. She tried to keep her voice calm and even, and she could hardly refuse the young lady a room due to what had happened in the past between their two countries. After all, young Miss Brohm could hardly have been more than a small girl.

“You’ll require a room for your maid as well? The curfew is at ten and I lock the doors then and don’t open them till the morning. I’d prefer it if you didn’t take young men upstairs, I don’t run that sort of establishment and any courting should really take place here in the parlour. I am afraid I rent mostly to servicemen and respectable professionals. Currently there are two captains and a banker rooming here.” She smiled. “If you took the rooms you’d be the only women here apart from me and my maid.”

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victorine
2008-08-28 10:38 am UTC (link)

"Oh, yes," Victoria said with a hint of an unsure smile. A barely noticeable spark of intensity had filled the air around her, but she refused to think much of it. Instead, she shook it off, "North Carolina, born and raised." She had adopted the faint lazy accent in recent years, after she had married Frederick. It had been expected of her in the social circles of New York.

She turned and arched an eyebrow at Amy, who nodded thankfully. "Yes, I do believe I shall. If that is alright with you, of course." Fiddling anxiously with her own fingers, she nodded with every additional rule that Louisa set down. There was that tried and true aspect of her personality that tended toward docility, but there was something new in her blood, something that wanted to stay out late, something that wanted to invite men wherever she pleased. Stifling this, she continued to nod. "I do not mind one bit! In fact, I find that I keep company with men easier than with women. They're more easily amused!"

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lost_romance
2008-08-28 11:37 am UTC (link)

Louisa bit her lip. There was no reason for her to be angry with the young lady, nor to take her anger out upon her but even so she couldn’t help herself and she was glad that Polly opened the door then, carrying the tea tray with her. “Oh here. Lets all have some tea. North Carolina, well that sounds very grand. What brings you to England?”

“Oh, certainly I don’t mind. It’s perfectly fine for her to stay here too. Polly has a room in the downstairs and I’m sure she would not mind a roommate.” She said, watching carefully as her maid place the tray down and began to pour two cups of tea. She did not comment on Miss Brohm’s final comment. She knew it was simply the fact that she was an American that made her think it sounded brash and flirtatious.

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