Dinner Party (Closed to Meg Giry, Faramir, Steerpike) [Forward Dated To Tomorrow]
((OOC: Posting this now, since I'll be at work at six tomorrow. ;)))Fantine had been up since very early, cleaning the apartment ten times over, making sure everything was exactly as she wanted it to be. She and Meg had been working on the menu and the food for days, and the apartment smelled of cooking pies, and the rest of the dinner that they
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She smiles warmly as she welcomes Faramir, taking his hands and squeezing them.
"I'm so glad you've come. I hope you enjoy what we've done with the apples."
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Perhaps it is a gift she has.
"I never expected... well, I only wished to help anyone interested and did not expect to get anything in return. Certainly not a fine evening in pleasant company."
My bad--he won't have mentioned Gondor and he doesn't know she's met Denethor.
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"Oh, you mustn't give all the credit to me, Meg worked just as hard as I did. And it was truly a pleasure to prepare a meal for you two. I enjoy the creative aspect of cooking; I think if done right it can bring a great deal of joy to everyone involved. I hope it does for you and M. Steerpike."
She smiled and led him into the house.
"I hope it will be one of many visits you make to our home."
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"I am a ranger. We learn to cook to survive. In the village I have improved, but no one would pay to eat what I've made." Although... "Do you know how to cook game? I hunt deer and rabbits here, and have only just learned that we have geese also. I would not touch the ducks."
There is no way of knowing which ones speak and which do not.
"As to the visits... It is different to come to the rooms of modern ladies. They are accustomed to such things. With those such as Meg and yourself, I am more given to the proprieties. But... there may be no harm in visiting in the public areas." It really is different with modern women. They think nothing of it.
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After preparing today's meal, she had discovered once again how much she truly enjoyed the process.
"Modern women...frighten me in some ways. I want to think that their actions are inappropriate...but as Father Sam said, they are only inappropriate if I look at them my way. They're not bad their way. And different people have different ideas of what's right and wrong. It's all very confusing to me, Monsieur, and I'm afraid I'm not wise enough to grasp all the different ideas. So it just frightens me. I have to stick with what I believe, because it's all I know. Not that I was ever a proper woman."
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"I have done things in my past that would have me forever shunned from good society, were I ever a member of it to start with," she said in a soft, terribly sad voice. "I made a mistake, loved someone who did not return it, and bore his child. To keep her safe and well, I did unspeakable things."
She shivered.
"I will never be a lady, but I hope I can be seen as a kind woman. It is better, maybe, for I, having been so cruelly judged, am less likely to judge others."
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"Lady Fantine," I say quietly. "None of us have never made a mistake. You loved, so the mistake was his."
My own bastard, to call him what he is, has a more complicated story.
"I have a son and I am not married. It is a long story, and confusing, but it happened here in the village and caused my father to give me a name that stung--yet he was right. And I am not sorry, because I love my son." I do meet her eyes. "If that is not enough, then I can guess those 'unspeakable things'.
"Where I come from, such women are not considered as they are in many other places. It is work, appreciated. I am a captain of rangers, most of whom are not married. We're away from the city and do not even see women for months at a time. How could I judge you cruelly, knowing that you are simply a woman who did what you needed to do for your child?" Even if there had been no child at all. "It is difficult to speak of, but those women... the ones in Gondor... they are good people. Why should you not also be a good person?"
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She sighed, hugging herself.
"I would do the same thing again if I had to, for Cosette. But I will not try to claim that it was just work, or that it was no different from the factory job I lost. Because it is different, Monsieur. At least for me, that act is very personal, very special, and while I am not a prude, or an innocent in any way, it is important that it is something that I choose to give. It feels...wrong to do that without the ( ... )
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She listened closely to his words. They were kind and supportive, but did not ease the sadness and pain in her heart.
"You are kind, monsieur, and I hope that it will be so for me. But I do not see honor or respect in my future. Your brother sounds like a kind man, a true gentleman, but it is the rare man who would do such a thing. It must have been a very true love indeed, for him to go against so many things that he had been raised to believe. I do not plan to marry; I do not see it happening for me. Perhaps I can find contentment as some man's mistress; in a position where at least I have long-term companionship, if not respectability."
She took his hand and squeezed it tightly, looking at the ground.
"I fear I love too easily, Monsieur. And it is likely to get me hurt again. But how can I be other than I am?"
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"Thank you, monsieur. I have seen such kindness here, and I did not expect it at all. I expected the men here to be like the one who threw a snowball down my dress; cruel, and finding whores only good for their own amusement. You...you look past that, and see me, and it has been so long since anyone has."
Without thinking, she embraced him, burying her face for a moment against his shoulder. When she pulled back, she wiped her eyes quickly.
"I am so glad you are here. Have you met M. Steerpike? He is a friend of mine I met when he arrived, and he will be here tonight, as well. He is a very charming young man, and I think the two of you will get together very well indeed."
She smiled sincerely, squeezing his hands once more.
OOC: *laughs* Oh, won't this be fun.
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"I can try. It softens it a bit to think of it that way, although it does not change what I did. Nothing can ever change that. But perhaps it can make me realize that I did what I had to do, and while unpleasant, it wasn't evil?"
She looked at him for a moment as if seeking approval for her thoughts. When he mentioned Steerpike, she could not hold back the twinkle and the slight blush.
"He is good," she said adamantly. "He was very kind to me, treated me like a lady. There is more to him than he tells us, and I think some hardship in his past, but I like him, and I can tell his heart is good. And the first time we touched...I shivered. In a good way. I've never felt anything like it."
She blushed at his warning.
"Father Sam said the same thing, although I don't think there's any cause for worry. I very much doubt he sees me that way. Ge is kind, and a gentleman, but I do not assume that he would ever have feelings for me."
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