Summer challenge: Women of Summer: Mrs. Darlian
Title: Caritas Vincit Omnia
Author: ingvild
Characters: Mrs. Darlian
Rating/Word Count: PG, 642 words
Summary: Loneliness hurts, but it does not have to be unconquerable.
The house feels empty and quiet, now, when no-one but the staff is living there.
She has dismissed most of them, keeping only the housekeeper, one maid and the gardener. There is no point anymore. She never uses the big rooms meant for social gatherings anymore, and no guests will come to run what they think is an unobtrusive glance over the furniture looking for dust. There is little to do even for the one maid and the housekeeper, and although the gardener is as busy as he always is during late spring and summer, his efforts are hardly noticed.
Mrs. Darlian walks like a ghost through her own home, from her bedroom to one sitting room to the kitchen to the porch to look out over the property with unseeing eyes.
She tries, she tries her best to find things to occupy her days. She always knew that there was a possibility that politics would claim her husband to an even greater degree than it already had, and that there was the possibility that her little Relena would leave to claim her birthright. She knew that, and she knows that what Relena is doing is necessary, but loneliness still gnaws at her heart like a festering wound. She wants her family back the way it was. She might not have seen her husband very often, since his days were taken with work, and Relena was getting to the age when she had to find out who she was, often without any need for a mother to hold her hand. Still, she could talk to them, and even if they were not there at the time, she knew they would always return.
Not so much now. Relena says that she has a job to do and will come back when she is done...but her mother knows that this is the sort of work that will never be truly done.
More, she is mortally afraid that politics will claim the life of her little girl, the way it claimed the life of her husband.
Her therapist has suggested that she finds a hobby, or takes up again some activity that she was doing before all this happened. While hiding from grief in activity is not a good thing in the long run, her therapist says, it is good to have something to do that does not involve noticing how empty the space that should have held another person is.
However, this is easier said than done. She is all too aware that her life was little more than a supplement to the life of her husband. She created her perfect home, held parties, answered invitations, and cultivated a circle of acquaintances within the families of politicians and other important people, so she could murmur a chosen piece of advice to her husband at the next social gathering: “Lord Murmont’s daughter presented him with his first grandchild one week ago. Remember to congratulate him.”
All of these people have conveniently disappeared along with the Alliance. Perhaps they are laying low. Perhaps they were never truly her friends, and with her husband gone they see no reason to contact her...
“Madam?” The voice of the housekeeper cuts through her bleak thoughts.
“Yes?”
“There is one Mrs. Noventa on the phone for you. She wishes to arrange a meeting.”
Mrs. Darlian frowns. The Noventas were never part of her social circle. “Did she say why?”
The housekeeper nods. “Yes. She says that she met with your daughter a few weeks ago.”
“Relena?”
“She says that Miss Relena suggested that the two of you might find that you have a lot in common, and would benefit from making an acquaintance.”
She feels suddenly light-headed, like a cloud just lifted from her mind. Perhaps making a new friend is exactly what she needs.
“Hand me the phone, please.”
Author: ingvild
Characters: Mrs. Darlian
Rating/Word Count: PG, 642 words
Summary: Loneliness hurts, but it does not have to be unconquerable.
The house feels empty and quiet, now, when no-one but the staff is living there.
She has dismissed most of them, keeping only the housekeeper, one maid and the gardener. There is no point anymore. She never uses the big rooms meant for social gatherings anymore, and no guests will come to run what they think is an unobtrusive glance over the furniture looking for dust. There is little to do even for the one maid and the housekeeper, and although the gardener is as busy as he always is during late spring and summer, his efforts are hardly noticed.
Mrs. Darlian walks like a ghost through her own home, from her bedroom to one sitting room to the kitchen to the porch to look out over the property with unseeing eyes.
She tries, she tries her best to find things to occupy her days. She always knew that there was a possibility that politics would claim her husband to an even greater degree than it already had, and that there was the possibility that her little Relena would leave to claim her birthright. She knew that, and she knows that what Relena is doing is necessary, but loneliness still gnaws at her heart like a festering wound. She wants her family back the way it was. She might not have seen her husband very often, since his days were taken with work, and Relena was getting to the age when she had to find out who she was, often without any need for a mother to hold her hand. Still, she could talk to them, and even if they were not there at the time, she knew they would always return.
Not so much now. Relena says that she has a job to do and will come back when she is done...but her mother knows that this is the sort of work that will never be truly done.
More, she is mortally afraid that politics will claim the life of her little girl, the way it claimed the life of her husband.
Her therapist has suggested that she finds a hobby, or takes up again some activity that she was doing before all this happened. While hiding from grief in activity is not a good thing in the long run, her therapist says, it is good to have something to do that does not involve noticing how empty the space that should have held another person is.
However, this is easier said than done. She is all too aware that her life was little more than a supplement to the life of her husband. She created her perfect home, held parties, answered invitations, and cultivated a circle of acquaintances within the families of politicians and other important people, so she could murmur a chosen piece of advice to her husband at the next social gathering: “Lord Murmont’s daughter presented him with his first grandchild one week ago. Remember to congratulate him.”
All of these people have conveniently disappeared along with the Alliance. Perhaps they are laying low. Perhaps they were never truly her friends, and with her husband gone they see no reason to contact her...
“Madam?” The voice of the housekeeper cuts through her bleak thoughts.
“Yes?”
“There is one Mrs. Noventa on the phone for you. She wishes to arrange a meeting.”
Mrs. Darlian frowns. The Noventas were never part of her social circle. “Did she say why?”
The housekeeper nods. “Yes. She says that she met with your daughter a few weeks ago.”
“Relena?”
“She says that Miss Relena suggested that the two of you might find that you have a lot in common, and would benefit from making an acquaintance.”
She feels suddenly light-headed, like a cloud just lifted from her mind. Perhaps making a new friend is exactly what she needs.
“Hand me the phone, please.”