Quest 163
[Letter Home | Viewable to All]
Dearest Mother and Daddy,
As I write this letter to you, I am sitting on a cushion on a sunlit window seat in Cousin Lotte's residence, taking in the view and admiring the sights as I set my pen to paper. To describe all the marvelous things I have seen since my arrival would spend much more ink than I have in my well, and too much paper besides, so I fear the whole tale of my adventures will have to wait until I am home again to tell it in person. But I have been having a marvelous time here! Cousin Lotte's residence is simply beautiful, and she has been taking excellent care of me since my arrival.
Edgar is well, also. Cousin Lotte has assigned him the responsibility of showing me around the City, and I think he must be taking this duty very seriously, since he has developed a habit of blushing and fumbling for words whenever we are together. Cousin Lotte has instructed him to speak French with me whenever we are together, so as to help me practice, but I am still miserable at it and his stammering only complicates things further. But I am doing my best, and slow going is better than no going at all, of course!
Mother, I fear you will be dismayed to hear that all the latest styles back home are no longer in fashion here. You ought to have seen the faces Cousin Lotte made when she saw the dresses I'd brought with me! But as she made certain to remind me, pretty is as pretty does, and she has vowed to see about getting me some new things at once.
She has also arranged for a violin tutor, so that I may keep up with my lessons in the arts while I stay here. She was well pleased with my prowess at the flute and the keyboards, but she says that my violin is an embarrassment to my education and seeks to remedy it as soon as possible.
(I do wonder, Mother, if Cousin Lotte is not perhaps more concerned with my talents and behaviors being an embarrassment to herself, moreso than she is with them being an embarrassment to me. I think I am beginning to understand your reluctance to send me into the care of her hospitality, after all.)
But I am having great fun, nonetheless, and I am learning so very much, so I am glad to have the opportunity to be here. This afternoon, Edgar has been instructed to take me on a walking tour, and I am sure that Cousin Lotte has already planned an entertainment for the evening. Perhaps it will be an operetta, or a show of some variety. I will wear a new dress in the latest fashion and Cousin Lotte will ensure that my figure is properly slender for the occasion, even if it means I am unable to breathe properly for the duration.
Oh, but I think I hear the beat of footsteps in the hallway! That will be Edgar, I'm sure, so I must bring this letter to a close for now. But I promise to write again soon!
All my love,
Rosella
[/Letter]
Ugh, fashions and lessons and entertainments are all well and good, but what's the fun of coming to a City like this if I never manage to get out and see any of it? Cousin Lotte would have me stay where she can keep an eye on me, I think, or at least where Edgar can do it for her, when she can't manage it herself. And they've shown me all manner of pretty things, it's true--all the right things for a pretty girl, albeit one just a bit out of fashion, visiting from so far away. But only ever in their own time and their own way, and according to their own designs.
I think she must not like me very much, Cousin Lotte. Or at least, she only likes my presence for the novelty of having a foreign relation staying in her household, which makes for one more thing to chat about with her ladies.
But I'm not here for Cousin Lotte's guidance, either. I came because wanted to get away from home and see all the wonders of the city for a change, and here I am. I should be happy enough with that, shouldn't I? The bits and snippets I've managed to glimpse through the carriage windows are better than nothing at all, and yet...no, it's not enough. It's not, because I want to hear the music, to see the lights, to meet the people and hear their stories and talk with them for hours about anything at all--or even nothing at all, just the same. I want to be here because here is an adventure, and it's anything other than home.
Now if only I could convince Cousin Lotte to let me out to see it.
I'd sneak away, if I thought I could manage it, but the chance is too great that I might get lost or get caught. My French is still awful and other than parading me around in front of a whirlwind of matrons, Cousin Lotte seems content to keep me chained to Edgar, so I haven't much practice with knowing where I'm going, or how to find my way home again if I go. And he won't take me to the places I want to go. He'll only do as Cousin Lotte tells him to. And besides, if I'm to get myself in trouble, I'd rather not be responsible for getting him into it as well.
What I need is a plan. Or a confidant. And at the moment, I have a rather unfortunate lack of both. So until I come up with one or the other, I suppose my adventure will just have to wait.
[OOC: So Rosella is cursed to be a young lady of the nobility, visiting a distant relative here in the City in the hopes of Getting Culture and Having Adventures. Unfortunately, her relative's idea of culture and adventures aren't quite what she had in mind. So what's an enterprising young lady do to? Why, take matters into her own hands, of course.
Dibs on busting her out goes to Ferris (la_vie_rapide), so her replies will either come before she's made her escape or after she's out in the City. Feel free to action her up if you want to run into her somewhere; she'll be hitting the town in general tonight. =D]
Dearest Mother and Daddy,
As I write this letter to you, I am sitting on a cushion on a sunlit window seat in Cousin Lotte's residence, taking in the view and admiring the sights as I set my pen to paper. To describe all the marvelous things I have seen since my arrival would spend much more ink than I have in my well, and too much paper besides, so I fear the whole tale of my adventures will have to wait until I am home again to tell it in person. But I have been having a marvelous time here! Cousin Lotte's residence is simply beautiful, and she has been taking excellent care of me since my arrival.
Edgar is well, also. Cousin Lotte has assigned him the responsibility of showing me around the City, and I think he must be taking this duty very seriously, since he has developed a habit of blushing and fumbling for words whenever we are together. Cousin Lotte has instructed him to speak French with me whenever we are together, so as to help me practice, but I am still miserable at it and his stammering only complicates things further. But I am doing my best, and slow going is better than no going at all, of course!
Mother, I fear you will be dismayed to hear that all the latest styles back home are no longer in fashion here. You ought to have seen the faces Cousin Lotte made when she saw the dresses I'd brought with me! But as she made certain to remind me, pretty is as pretty does, and she has vowed to see about getting me some new things at once.
She has also arranged for a violin tutor, so that I may keep up with my lessons in the arts while I stay here. She was well pleased with my prowess at the flute and the keyboards, but she says that my violin is an embarrassment to my education and seeks to remedy it as soon as possible.
(I do wonder, Mother, if Cousin Lotte is not perhaps more concerned with my talents and behaviors being an embarrassment to herself, moreso than she is with them being an embarrassment to me. I think I am beginning to understand your reluctance to send me into the care of her hospitality, after all.)
But I am having great fun, nonetheless, and I am learning so very much, so I am glad to have the opportunity to be here. This afternoon, Edgar has been instructed to take me on a walking tour, and I am sure that Cousin Lotte has already planned an entertainment for the evening. Perhaps it will be an operetta, or a show of some variety. I will wear a new dress in the latest fashion and Cousin Lotte will ensure that my figure is properly slender for the occasion, even if it means I am unable to breathe properly for the duration.
Oh, but I think I hear the beat of footsteps in the hallway! That will be Edgar, I'm sure, so I must bring this letter to a close for now. But I promise to write again soon!
All my love,
Rosella
[/Letter]
Ugh, fashions and lessons and entertainments are all well and good, but what's the fun of coming to a City like this if I never manage to get out and see any of it? Cousin Lotte would have me stay where she can keep an eye on me, I think, or at least where Edgar can do it for her, when she can't manage it herself. And they've shown me all manner of pretty things, it's true--all the right things for a pretty girl, albeit one just a bit out of fashion, visiting from so far away. But only ever in their own time and their own way, and according to their own designs.
I think she must not like me very much, Cousin Lotte. Or at least, she only likes my presence for the novelty of having a foreign relation staying in her household, which makes for one more thing to chat about with her ladies.
But I'm not here for Cousin Lotte's guidance, either. I came because wanted to get away from home and see all the wonders of the city for a change, and here I am. I should be happy enough with that, shouldn't I? The bits and snippets I've managed to glimpse through the carriage windows are better than nothing at all, and yet...no, it's not enough. It's not, because I want to hear the music, to see the lights, to meet the people and hear their stories and talk with them for hours about anything at all--or even nothing at all, just the same. I want to be here because here is an adventure, and it's anything other than home.
Now if only I could convince Cousin Lotte to let me out to see it.
I'd sneak away, if I thought I could manage it, but the chance is too great that I might get lost or get caught. My French is still awful and other than parading me around in front of a whirlwind of matrons, Cousin Lotte seems content to keep me chained to Edgar, so I haven't much practice with knowing where I'm going, or how to find my way home again if I go. And he won't take me to the places I want to go. He'll only do as Cousin Lotte tells him to. And besides, if I'm to get myself in trouble, I'd rather not be responsible for getting him into it as well.
What I need is a plan. Or a confidant. And at the moment, I have a rather unfortunate lack of both. So until I come up with one or the other, I suppose my adventure will just have to wait.
[OOC: So Rosella is cursed to be a young lady of the nobility, visiting a distant relative here in the City in the hopes of Getting Culture and Having Adventures. Unfortunately, her relative's idea of culture and adventures aren't quite what she had in mind. So what's an enterprising young lady do to? Why, take matters into her own hands, of course.
Dibs on busting her out goes to Ferris (la_vie_rapide), so her replies will either come before she's made her escape or after she's out in the City. Feel free to action her up if you want to run into her somewhere; she'll be hitting the town in general tonight. =D]