Part 6
I almost lost count of what part we have here. There's a thing. It pops up on an automatic window. Posting and then sleep.
I had known I would have a audience to my arrival and never being one for putting these things off went through into the front room directly. Mother was sitting to one side of the shallow bank of windows overlooking the street with a piece of fabric in a hoop in front of her. The embroidery was progressing quickly had been only a suggestion when I left, it now spiraled across the gold linen soon to be a bodice hem. Her quick movements flashed silver while she looked up at me with a question quirking one eyebrow up almost to her hair line. That was a familiar look. Every time I had stood in this room facing mother over a piece of fancy work that look had meant two things, tell me what happened, and I know every muscle on your face so tell me everything and don't think you can obfuscate. I smiled slightly thinking how nice it was to be surrounded by such predictable people, mother would listen to the whole thing without interrupting and then start scratching at the information like a hen after grain until every bit of information fell out. Where to begin?
"You saw I presume?"
Nod.
"From the beginning then?"
Nod.
"I arrived punctually and took a seat in the far corner of the room as I always do and commenced my observation of the others, hair styles were the topic of the evening. I was enthralled." Sarcasm earned me a look.
"The young intellectuals meeting was in the other half of the room this evening and their conversation was easily overheard. There was this man…." The conversation poured out flowing into the walk home and how embarrassed and excited she had been. The prodding got a snort of amusement, and the kiss made her mother's eyes sparkle with mischief. The whole story only took a few minutes to tell but it felt like hours of reliving the evening. By the end I was slumped in the matching chair across from the embroidery frame with my feet propped up on the stool feeling as though I had been emptied out and wrung dry of thoughts.
"Well then." Flash, pull. "You seem to have enjoyed yourself more than I had thought possible with hair styles." Quick smile, flash, pull.
"Mother! If you would be so kind I am not in need of mocking."
"Not even a little?" Grin, flash, pull.
"Not especially, no." The grin was irresistible, "Maybe a little."
"You did get a little dramatic by the end, a little mock puts you back on firm ground. Only a small one though, don't want cushion flinging. Most unbecoming."
I sent a mildly withering glare her way and slumped even further down feeling the side bones of the blasted corset digging into the soft hollows under my arms. I promised myself a particularly luxurious camisole to sleep in tonight.
"Are you upset?" I wriggled my bum so the chair back was supporting my shoulders and the corset backed off consuming my arm.
"No, are you?" Flash, pull.
"Of course not!"
"Are you going to receive him tomorrow?" Flash, pull, knot, snip.
"I would like to, the conversation is stimulating and…."
"And he might kiss you again." She smiled at me again as she reached for the next piece of floss lined up on her basket.
"What would you do, then?" I shifted agin seeking a non vertical compromise with my underwear.
""See what happens, wear something that made me feel confident just in case, and go warn you Father."
"Do you think he will mind?Do you mind?"
"That you have a young man or that he might have tentacles?"
"Both, and might have is no longer the question. More like how many."
"Neither of us is so selfish that we can't be happy for you if the fellow is kind and decent. Tentacles are a bit of a shock but no so much as arrogance or stupidity would have been in your preferences." She paused to line up the new thread with the old one and continued, "We want you to have what you need in life dear, a husband would be lovely for you since you do so need a tempering influence and careers are hard to come by still for the woman of reason.".
I had to laugh,"Are you saying that marriage is a job like banking or being a maid?".
"After all these years of observation I can hardly believe you haven't come to that conclusion on your own. Having a husband is at least as much work as running a brothel and possibly not so dissimilar."
"Mother!" I was startled and laughing again. Mother had always had the tendency to come out with the most outrageous statements and carry on as thought nothing odd had happened. Dear woman, she did take my mind off things.
"I'm going up to bed before you say anything else ridiculous." I bent to kiss her hair and she put an arm around my waist and squeezed gently.
"Sleep on it and talk with me tomorrow, I have a fitting to attend too and then we can sort through the scraps for your next piece."
"Love you Momma."
"Love you baby."
I walked down the hall and up the stairs to my room thinking how much happier I was tonight than last, or even this afternoon. My little room was a comfort and after the laborious process of removing the outer garments suitable for evening wear in public I attacked the corset lacings divesting myself of the evil garment. I always felt a deep satisfaction at being freed from the wretched thing and only wore it when I had little other choice. I had a much softer and more flexible binder I preferred to wear but evening cloths simply demanded firmer support when you had an ample bosom. I allowed myself a period of most unladylike scratching before filling my basin and applying myself to a good scrub. Pink and tidy I chose a camisole of light lawn I had dyed a shameful burgundy and a matching pair of bloomers that made me feel positively sinful when I wore them. Unlike the masses I wore next to nothing for sleep attire, my contemporaries would be trying to sleep in their corsets and long under gowns, some with stockings and a robe over all that. At twenty six I had long since put to bed the idea that I might be seen after I retired and so had chosen comfort and decadence over propriety. I crawled into my sheets and lay staring at the ceiling wondering what would happen next, I was thinking about long cloaks and bushy mustaches when I abruptly fell asleep and ceased to think of anything.
I had known I would have a audience to my arrival and never being one for putting these things off went through into the front room directly. Mother was sitting to one side of the shallow bank of windows overlooking the street with a piece of fabric in a hoop in front of her. The embroidery was progressing quickly had been only a suggestion when I left, it now spiraled across the gold linen soon to be a bodice hem. Her quick movements flashed silver while she looked up at me with a question quirking one eyebrow up almost to her hair line. That was a familiar look. Every time I had stood in this room facing mother over a piece of fancy work that look had meant two things, tell me what happened, and I know every muscle on your face so tell me everything and don't think you can obfuscate. I smiled slightly thinking how nice it was to be surrounded by such predictable people, mother would listen to the whole thing without interrupting and then start scratching at the information like a hen after grain until every bit of information fell out. Where to begin?
"You saw I presume?"
Nod.
"From the beginning then?"
Nod.
"I arrived punctually and took a seat in the far corner of the room as I always do and commenced my observation of the others, hair styles were the topic of the evening. I was enthralled." Sarcasm earned me a look.
"The young intellectuals meeting was in the other half of the room this evening and their conversation was easily overheard. There was this man…." The conversation poured out flowing into the walk home and how embarrassed and excited she had been. The prodding got a snort of amusement, and the kiss made her mother's eyes sparkle with mischief. The whole story only took a few minutes to tell but it felt like hours of reliving the evening. By the end I was slumped in the matching chair across from the embroidery frame with my feet propped up on the stool feeling as though I had been emptied out and wrung dry of thoughts.
"Well then." Flash, pull. "You seem to have enjoyed yourself more than I had thought possible with hair styles." Quick smile, flash, pull.
"Mother! If you would be so kind I am not in need of mocking."
"Not even a little?" Grin, flash, pull.
"Not especially, no." The grin was irresistible, "Maybe a little."
"You did get a little dramatic by the end, a little mock puts you back on firm ground. Only a small one though, don't want cushion flinging. Most unbecoming."
I sent a mildly withering glare her way and slumped even further down feeling the side bones of the blasted corset digging into the soft hollows under my arms. I promised myself a particularly luxurious camisole to sleep in tonight.
"Are you upset?" I wriggled my bum so the chair back was supporting my shoulders and the corset backed off consuming my arm.
"No, are you?" Flash, pull.
"Of course not!"
"Are you going to receive him tomorrow?" Flash, pull, knot, snip.
"I would like to, the conversation is stimulating and…."
"And he might kiss you again." She smiled at me again as she reached for the next piece of floss lined up on her basket.
"What would you do, then?" I shifted agin seeking a non vertical compromise with my underwear.
""See what happens, wear something that made me feel confident just in case, and go warn you Father."
"Do you think he will mind?Do you mind?"
"That you have a young man or that he might have tentacles?"
"Both, and might have is no longer the question. More like how many."
"Neither of us is so selfish that we can't be happy for you if the fellow is kind and decent. Tentacles are a bit of a shock but no so much as arrogance or stupidity would have been in your preferences." She paused to line up the new thread with the old one and continued, "We want you to have what you need in life dear, a husband would be lovely for you since you do so need a tempering influence and careers are hard to come by still for the woman of reason.".
I had to laugh,"Are you saying that marriage is a job like banking or being a maid?".
"After all these years of observation I can hardly believe you haven't come to that conclusion on your own. Having a husband is at least as much work as running a brothel and possibly not so dissimilar."
"Mother!" I was startled and laughing again. Mother had always had the tendency to come out with the most outrageous statements and carry on as thought nothing odd had happened. Dear woman, she did take my mind off things.
"I'm going up to bed before you say anything else ridiculous." I bent to kiss her hair and she put an arm around my waist and squeezed gently.
"Sleep on it and talk with me tomorrow, I have a fitting to attend too and then we can sort through the scraps for your next piece."
"Love you Momma."
"Love you baby."
I walked down the hall and up the stairs to my room thinking how much happier I was tonight than last, or even this afternoon. My little room was a comfort and after the laborious process of removing the outer garments suitable for evening wear in public I attacked the corset lacings divesting myself of the evil garment. I always felt a deep satisfaction at being freed from the wretched thing and only wore it when I had little other choice. I had a much softer and more flexible binder I preferred to wear but evening cloths simply demanded firmer support when you had an ample bosom. I allowed myself a period of most unladylike scratching before filling my basin and applying myself to a good scrub. Pink and tidy I chose a camisole of light lawn I had dyed a shameful burgundy and a matching pair of bloomers that made me feel positively sinful when I wore them. Unlike the masses I wore next to nothing for sleep attire, my contemporaries would be trying to sleep in their corsets and long under gowns, some with stockings and a robe over all that. At twenty six I had long since put to bed the idea that I might be seen after I retired and so had chosen comfort and decadence over propriety. I crawled into my sheets and lay staring at the ceiling wondering what would happen next, I was thinking about long cloaks and bushy mustaches when I abruptly fell asleep and ceased to think of anything.