The Travels of Anadrasata Nearabhigan: Day 44
More Anadrasata. More early courtship manoeuvres.
This piece runs to 1,746 and I hope that you enjoy them.
Index page.
Brogaiday, 25 Naisen, 1893 C.E.
Rebi, 12 Sajibu, 2157 T.M.L.
5 Tlanoluaoy, 28 Kiautl, 6.11.2.1.8.3.0
Dear Journal,
This morning is fine and sunny after yesterday afternoon's downpour. I am wearing one of the morning dresses I brought with me from home this morning - the first time I've worn any of them since I left home. (My walking dresses have been more appropriate and the morning dresses did migrate to the bottom of my chest.) Nais asked about the inclusion of an apron in my packing and I explained that I really hadn't known what sort of help my Great-aunt needed when I packed. Nais will look over my other morning gowns to form an opinion of them.
I said good morning to Cousin Miztli in the foyer as he was leaving for his practice, and then joined Cousin Ghrus and Axolin in the breakfast room. Matlal served my breakfast for me, poured my tea, almost smiled when I thanked him, and then withdrew from the table back to the buffet. I exchanged greetings with my cousins and when I judged they might be ready for conversation, I asked if they had heard of Great-aunt Khaidhah befroe last night. Axolin said that he and Miztli were fairly sure that they hadn't. Cousin Ghrus remarked thoughtfully that he rather thought that he'd seen her grave once when the family had gone to visit his Grandmother Zhaithaign and been taken to see Grandpapa's grave. Cousin Ghrus made a philosophical remark about inherited behaviours and I commented that I'd always thought my mother wanted an unpaid housekeeper because she couldn't countenance modern wages or that household costs had risen since she was a newlywed. Axolin said that maybe it was all of the above and we agreed with him.
I used my time in the office parlor this morning to write to my family instead of doing language practice. Tallaig, Anna, and Sura were told about the family deitical patron (in case they travel here, but being Nearabhaigns they will have their own patron if they make the journey), my walk with Lord Elnaith, and Great-aunt Khaidhala. Mother got a letter describing the house, the shops I have been to, and a query as to whether she'd heard of Great-aunt Khaidhala. The transcription work seems to be going faster - the clerks are reaching the stage where they can identify some common Imperial words by sight and are having to use my list less. One of the journals has started having Fraisis numerals written in the margins - I have no idea why, and suggested that they ask Great-aunt as she knew Great-uncle longest (also, she had planned to do this herself and so might like to be involved in some way.) [Fraisis numbers are prettier than Imperial or Ghaistonyc ones.] Disappointingly the Ghaistonyc passage we were working on the other day finished in another two sentences without using any names - we were all disappointed.
More teasing at lunch about my having a suitor - Mr Chicmacyeimetetlitecototl asked why this should be out of the ordinary (he is quite a nice man, really) and had my previous lack of suitors explained to him by Yeixi and Nauitlau. [My cousins made it sound hilarious.] Mr Chicmacyeimetetlitecototl observed that Lord Elnaith must be more observant that the average Imperial gentleman.
After lunch I changed into my visiting dress to await Lord Elnaith's arrival. Nais will be coming with us as my chaperone. We have agreed that the only shopping I might do this afternoon is for hair combs and pins. When he arrived, ushered into the parlor we were in by Matlal, he had two bouquets of flowers. One was for me (my first flowers!) and one for Great-aunt Giltreeada, "for saving yesterday's outing." Axolin and Miztli happened to be in the room with us and their mother told them to take notes for their future guidance.
Lord Elnaith borrowed the consul's carriage, and the honey coloured pair of animals that drew it plus the driver. We went first to the temple of the Lady of Filth, the bh'Seloit deitical patron in the Confederation (he suspects it was not a random chance allocation.) The priestess who greeted us wore a cloak like Youalitlahtolwelilstil's over an ornately embroidered visiting dress, and had the same shaven head and three braids hairstyle too. Again, I curtsied to her as to a bishop. Again, it went down well. Lord Elnaith made a donation to a temple fund for rehabilitation/restitution/redemption/something and then we made our farewells. Our next stop was Lord Itztlacotiuh's temple. Lord Elnaith has also chosen him for his personal patron and the junior priest who greeted us took some convincing that we were neither married to each other nor wanting to be and quickly. After some discussion, my limited Coac-htl was very useful, we were passed to a more senior priest who could help us. After separate short discussions with the priest and small donations (mine was to a fund to help farmers and Lord Elnaith's was to a legal fund to assist the poor) we received certificates which we apparently needed to get our paperwork updated.
We then went back to the administrative building to get our documents updated. I was served by the same clerk who helped me last time, but Lord Elnaith's papers drew someone more senior from a back desk, and an interpreter. It seemed to me that seniority did not equal efficiency, or there was a lot of formal chit-chat going on over there because Lord Elnaith's paperwork took twice as long as mine. [It did occur to me that perhaps the slowness of the process was deliberate on the more senior official's part - perhaps to show that he was in charge? Of course, no government official could possibly be petty enough to hold grudges from a war he was old enough to be part of, could he? Being unimportant in myself maybe as useful an advantage in my dealings with the local authorities as being related to Cousin Ghrus.]
After we finished with our paperwork, Lord Elnaith had the consul's coachman take us to a seawall promenade where we could admire the fishing harbor from a safe and mainly odour-free distance, 'enjoy' cups of that bitter dark brown drink they have here, enjoy little cakes, and Lord Elnaith could express his feelings about Confederation officialdom. We both laughed a little about the priest who thought that we wanted to get married right away. When we returned to the carriage, Lord Elnaith decided that we had kept the animals out for long enough, and that if we were out much longer then the consul's wife would start planning our wedding, so we drove back to Cousin Ghrus' house. He came in and made polite conversation for a few minutes, and then made his farewells without making definite arrangements to see me again, but saying that he looked forward to calling again.
When he and the carriage had departed Great-aunt Giltreeada observed that he had probably reached the limits of his knowledge of what suitable courting activities he could undertake in Tlemutsiko. Also, relying on borrowing the consul's coach was also a limitation.
Then, of course, my female relations wanted to know all about my afternoon. They also let me know that the dressmaker had sent around to say the rest of my dresses and outer garments were ready, and we made plans for another shopping expedition tomorrow afternoon. I made sure to have my remodelling and refurbishment needs included in our plans, along with my needs for hair combs and pins - I think they were pleased to have another reason/excuse to visit the fabric warehouse.
Cousin Poktlilui observed that they should probably invite Lord Elnaith to dinner, Great-aunt Giltreeada agreed and added that they should arrange for my cousins to take me on a city tour and check with the men of the family whether Lord Elnaith should be included, in case doing so would invoke some male honour thing about social sponsorship. They did ask me about it, but as I haven't lived in a house that included men who weren't servants since I was sixteen, I didn't know enough to add to the conversation.
At dinner I sat amongst my cousins, who also wanted to hear about my afternoon's excursion. The male ones seemed much struck by the priest's initial assumption that we had gone to the temple seeking to be married. Tehaneume simply laughed again, and observed that Lord Elnaith was really quite good looking, if you liked the Imperial type. That turned into my male cousins, in general, probing into whether she liked the Imperial type and whether she thought Yeixi was of the Imperial type. [If those two thought their mutual interest was a secret, they now know that it isn't.]
Over our kasoolht after dinner, Cousin Poktlilui and Great-aunt Giltreeada did the arcane social calculations needed to work out when we should invite Lord Elnaith to dinner. That led to a discussion of whether the relatives who don't live in Tlemutsiko should be invited to visit so that they can attend the same dinner. The gentlemen joined us during that, and pointed out that his siblings, that is Cousin Ghrus' siblings, would need at least four or five days' notice, for travel reasons. He also suggested that having all of his siblings at Lord Elnaith's first family dinner might be a little overwhelming, and added something in Coac-htl about his first time meeting Cousin Poktlilau's family war party - which made Cousin Poktlilui laugh and point out, "But they liked you!" There was some more good-natured family ribbing, and then we played the city board game again.
I went up to bed once we finished the game. My cousins told me that it was a difficult game because our randomly generated resources were low and we kept getting drought seasons so that all kept our building resources low too, but my quarter managed to build some cheap buildings that conserved our resources and those were enough, with everyone else's buildings to get us a town victory. I told Nais about our plans for tomorrow and she said that she would get my walking dress and the other dresses requiring refurbishment ready to take with us for the dressmaker's opinion and for fabric and trim choices.
These things do seem more enjoyable when I have money to spend.
Anadrasata Nearabhigan