GiulianTakesTreasaToDinnerTalaren had risen to his feet too. "Well," he said to the others he was with, "that was somewhat unexpected, wasn't it?" He glanced at his cousin. "I gather our aunt will be some time, cos. And I believe I'm expected to join her for this part of the proceedings. Do you want to go back to Bahlmis House, or would you like a tour of the state apartments? I think some of our number would have the rights of entry..." Treasa's answer was immediate. "A tour would be lovely. If it would be all right, that is. I do not wish to inconvenience anyone." Talaren looked at Decuma and Harry, both Mauns, and both qualified to act as guides should they choose. Hearing Talaren's words, Harold glanced at Decuma, returned to looking at the pair, coughed politely and then spoke. "I would be delighted to do so, if the Lady would choose such a guide as myself," he said, with a smile. "Why wouldn't I?" she answered smiling brightly, quite glad that she did not actually have to make a choice. It would have been a difficult one. "Then I'll leave her in your capable hands," said Talaren, and, with a smile, and a nod to the others in the Gallery, he left them. "After your tour, Lady Treasa," Giulian spoke up, "if my father hasn't yet released your aunt and cousin from his toils—or theirs—would you allow me to make up for it by taking you to dinner?" Treasa met his gaze directly. "That would be absolutely wonderful. I would love a chance to get to know you better." Her words rang with sincerity. This, as far as she was concerned, was shaping up to be quite an eventful day. She was quite glad she had decided to accompany Talaren this afternoon. "Shall I meet you at the stable entrance, then?" Giulian suggested. "How long do you expect the tour to take, Harry?" He smiled sweetly at his friend. "I'd invite you along, but the curricle only seats two." Harry chuckled. "Well, you know the Nest, Giulian. I could spend a day and change, but I think that both the lady and yourself would think ill of me if I returned her to your care with blisters or worse. I'll be," Harold smiled, "parsimonious in choosing what we see." Treasa's eyes widened. She had expected the place to be grand but not quite that grand. Who knew there would be that much to see? Giulian nodded. "Shall we say seven o'clock?" he suggested. The time being agreed upon, he bade them farewell for the present and began to make his way out of the gallery. Harry turned to Treasa. "Shall we?" he said with a smile. In response she offered her arm, her own smile never faltering. "This is very exciting for me," she said happily. "You will have to forgive me if I begin to ramble on. My brother says I do that when I'm excited…"
"And so we come back to start," Harry finished, as he and Treasa reached the entrance of the Nest once more. Harold looked up at the approaching curricle. He also raised his head and looked back and forth, as if expecting something or someone else as well as Giulian's vehicle. Treasa, in contrast, focused directly on Giulian and kept her eyes there, delight evident in her grin. Today had been amazing. She could not remember so many things happening around her before like they had today. If that was not enough, she was now going to dinner with an actual gentleman. She dared not tell him she had never done such a thing before. He might think less of her. In her exuberance, as they closed the gap between them, she waved merrily at Giulian. No, it was not a very ladylike thing to do but she didn't care. She was who she was and there was no point hiding it or pretending to be something different. Giulian didn't seem to care either; he smiled and returned her wave with a lift of his hand, keeping a firm hold on the chestnuts' reins with the other. The groom, without needing to be told, jumped down as Treasa approached and stood ready to hand her into the carriage—though as she neared it, she could see that Giulian's curricle was equipped with handgrips to allow easier mounting to the high seat. Treasa turned her attention to Harry once more. "Thank you so very much. The tour was just perfect. I really do appreciate you taking some time for me." "You're quite welcome, Lady Treasa," Harry confirmed with a nod and a smile. "And now I can remand you back to Giulian's care." "And I thank you for that as well," she responded before turning her attention to Giulian. "Good evening, Lady Treasa. I hope you enjoyed your tour," Giulian said once they were within earshot. "Oh, very much so!" she answered with a warm smile for Harry. "The gardens are particularly lovely. I'm afraid I may have gotten a bit sidetracked when we were there. I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long?" There was a hint of true concern in her voice. She would hate to think he had been sitting out here for some time. "Oh no, I've just arrived," Giulian assured her. With a quizzing glance at Harry, he added, "I knew I could trust Harry to be punctual." He extended his free hand to her. "May I help you up? I don't suppose you're quite used to riding in carriages yet." The groom was also at Treasa's elbow, to assist her from the ground if she needed it. "No, not quite yet," Treasa replied as she took his hand. Her grip was firm and trusting. Despite the lack of practice, she made her way into the carriage with relative ease. Giulian's own grip was surprisingly strong for someone with so slight a frame. He didn't attempt to pull Treasa up, however, only providing a counterbalance for her as she pulled herself up into the seat beside him. Once she was seated, he took up the reins in both hands, to keep the horses steady while Danton swung up behind. His crutches were propped up against the seat beside him, on the side away from his passenger. At about this time, another carriage, bearing the wave and colors of Tremontaine, pulled up just behind the sporty carriage that Giulian had arrived in. "Excellent," Harold said quietly, with a smile on his face. "Right on time." He disengaged from Treasa and gave a jaunty wave to both Treasa and Giulian. Treasa returned the wave. She had enjoyed his company very much and was looking forward to spending time with him again. Perhaps they might even become great friends, she thought to herself. Giulian also freed one hand long enough to wave farewell to his friend before flicking the reins to set the horses moving. Once well clear of the Tremontaine carriage, he urged the chestnuts from a walk to a trot, and swept around the carriageway in fine form. He slowed for the gate to the street outside, threading the curricle through it and into the passing traffic with considerable skill. Once the curricle had settled into its place in the stream of vehicles, Giulian turned to Treasa and said, "I've made reservations at La Favorita. I hope you don't mind seeing and being seen, at least for a few moments." "Oh, not at all," she assured him. She had no clue what sort of restaurant La Favorita was, but it sounded perfect all the same. In fact she strongly doubted anything could make this evening less perfect. Being out on the town with a handsome man and dining at a fancy restaurant was more than she ever expected to be doing just a few days after her arrival. Tonight's journal entry would certainly be longer than normal. Giulian, for his part, knew perfectly well that he was showing off and had already decided to make the most of it. He had dined out before, of course, sometimes by himself, sometimes with his family, most often in the sort of companionable student group that frequented Bloody Bill's and many of the other eateries near the University. But he could count the times he'd actually taken a single young lady out to dinner on the fingers of one hand ... and one of them was his sister Renalda on her last birthday. He gave the go-by to a plodding goods wagon, then turned to Treasa again. "I believe I heard you say you do sketching, Lady Treasa? I do too." "Really?" She sounded quite pleasantly surprised. "I love to sketch. I'm afraid I'm not very good, not at all like some of the wonderful artists I saw back in the virtual museum back home. Father always said that didn't matter, though. He was very fond of reminding me that my passion more than compensated for lack of inborn skill." A light chuckle accompanied the words. "I guess I do tend to completely over-indulge in things I enjoy, sketching included." "I'd like to see your work sometime, if you wouldn't mind," said Giulian in a tone that indicated the genuine interest of a fellow artist. "What sorts of subjects do you favor?" "I would be happy to show you," Treasa replied sincerely. "Most of my work comes from my thoughts and dreams, so they are not exactly the most realistic renditions. I do enjoy doing nature studies, though, and sometimes I will sketch people. I find that those two things help me to keep my skills honed. What sort of things do you like to draw?" “People, mostly, but also landscapes and architectural studies. And horses," Giulian answered. "I like to observe and record what's around me—rather than, I suppose, what's inside me. Though of course one can't help but be affected by that." "Oh, I completely understand," Treasa replied enthusiastically. "I do the same, only with words rather then pictures. You see, those sorts of things I can put into words, so I do. And I really love writing. The other sorts of things, feelings, emotions, the things that are near impossible to find words for, well, those are the things I prefer to draw. I try to record everything, I guess, in one way or another. And sometimes one form is not really better than the other, so I will write and then do a drawing to go along with it. I suppose that makes me a bit odd, but it really helps me sort out things." "Do you intend to publish any of your writings eventually, or is it just for your own use?" Giulian asked. Treasa took a moment to consider this. "If someone were to offer to publish some of my work, I would allow it. It would seem silly to write things so that history may be preserved and then not allow anyone to read it. All the same, I am not looking to get rich from it or to even make any money really. And of course there are things, like my private diaries, that I never intend to share." She paused for a moment. "Well, share with the general public anyway. Maybe I would with the right man, or my future children, but definitely not with a publisher of any sort." Giulian nodded. "I can understand that." Just then they arrived at La Favorita. Giulian reined in the horses, bringing the curricle to a halt. Danton, the groom, sprang down from the rear of the equipage and was presently giving orders to a groom employed by the restaurant, who hurried up to see to the customers' horses. With the restaurant groom at the chestnuts' heads, Danton was freed to assist Treasa from the curricle, then to have Giulian's crutches passed to him so that Giulian himself could climb down, using the handgrips. The grooms then led the team away, while Giulian and Treasa entered the restaurant. "Anderon, table for two," Giulian quietly informed the headwaiter who came to greet them. The man responded with a bow and a "Very good, my lord," before summoning a subordinate waiter with an imperious flick of his hand. This smartly uniformed minion led them slowly up a sweeping staircase to the upper floor, where broad terraces lay open to the night sky. Their table was overhung by a trellis wound with orange blossom. Other couples and groups could be seen, many of them richly if somberly dressed. Treasa's eyes were wide and there was no hiding the look of sheer delight that had taken hold of her features. "This is just heavenly," she said quietly. "Do you dine here often?" Giulian grinned at her sidelong. "Hardly," he answered. "That would spoil it. It's a place for special occasions, don't you think?" This answer seemed to truly please her. "Yes," she said gently. "Yes I do." Her eyes glanced down at the menu then before she added, "I suppose that means I am on my own when it comes to the menu. Unless of course this restaurant is known for something?" "I've heard the deep-fried courgette flowers recommended highly," said Giulian, though he generally avoided them himself. Fried foods didn't agree with him, more often than not. "And they do seafood well." "Seafood," she repeated. "I can honestly say I have never had that done well. Back home it was considered to be a very rare delicacy, in fact. As a child, I used to refuse it because I thought it was quite odd, so Father never really bothered arranging it for us. On my journey I decided to try it and it was just terrible. Of course I learned later that there was no good food at all at that restaurant. So I tried again at another place, but the kitchens had run out of the 'catch of the day' as they called it. The waitress was very kind, though, and she told me that I wasn't really missing anything. There were just some foods that should not be eaten in space, she said. And seafood was one of them." A grin had begun to brighten her features by this point. "So if this restaurant does it well, I almost feel obligated to at least try." Giulian nodded. "We should wait to decide until we hear what the day's specials are, then," he advised. "At least a couple of them are usually seafood dishes." It was not long before their waiter appeared to take their drink orders and to recite the day's specials. Giulian asked Treasa if she'd like to share a half bottle of white wine. "I won't take more than a glass myself," he said by way of explanation. "Oh, that would be wonderful. To be honest, I usually do not drink heavily either. I find it has a tendency to make me weepy. No one needs that, least of all me." It was very difficult to imagine her depressed. "No, not even on a day like this," Giulian agreed. He considered for a moment, then added, "Perhaps especially not on a day like this. If anyone is weeping today, it should be for the right reasons, not because they've had a drop too much." Treasa seemed happy to partake in anything the waiter or Giulian recommended and gladly allowed them to order. Excitement tended to make her even more indecisive than usual. Luckily she was not the indecisive type who was actually harboring strong opinions. For her the phrase, "I don't care" meant just that. She was happy to simply enjoy the company and indulge in something new. Perceiving this, Giulian ordered the fried courgette flowers for their appetizer, deciding he could probably eat a token one without disaster; they were a specialty and he didn't feel that Treasa should miss out. For their entree, he suggested that they each order one of the seafood specials and then split the orders, so that Treasa would be able to sample both. Once the wine had been poured and the waiter had departed, Giulian took a sip from his glass and then said, "I take it from what you said earlier today that you mean to make an extended stay on Aquila." He cocked his head curiously. "Have you had any ideas yet on what you intend to do with yourself? Will you be staying on at Bahlmis House?" |
