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Post by Sophine Shahrizai de Amodour on Jun 13, 2009 15:17:38 GMT -5
I found my brother's residence in short order, though all of the houses in this part of town were so large it was hard to tell where one ended and the others began. I had thought that my sister's house was large and beautiful, but house of Denis de Rouille made it look like nothing more than a rude shack.
I tried not to stare as I was escorted into the sitting room by a dour-faced butler, and then served tea by a maid in a skirt so short that it left nothing to the imagination. Indeed, I considered myself very open-minded and modern, and yet I was quite scandalized by seeing a servant in such attire. I kept my eyes on my tea to avoid staring, and thus was surprised when my brother was suddenly standing before me.
"What brings you here, Sophine?" He asked, though smiling as if he were happy to see me. I set my tea on the side table and rose, giving him a hug.
"You mentioned that your ward was lonely, so I thought I would pay her a visit." I hoped that he wouldn't suspect my ulterior motive, but then, why should he? In fact, he was smiling widely and seemed happy that I had taken his advice.
"That's wonderful!" He exclaimed, taking my arm. "Let me show you to her room. She has been working on some needlepoint this morning, perhaps you can help her." I groaned inwardly, and forced myself not to roll my eyes. I loathed needlepoint, but then, how would Guy know? I sighed and forced a bright smile as we wound our way through this great beast of a house.
Remembering what I was there for, I kept my eyes open as I looked around, though I saw nothing out of the ordinary. What I really needed to see was Denis de Rouille, but there was no sign of him thus far, and soon we had climbed the stairs and were entering the suite of rooms that must belong to Rochelle.
Indeed they did, and as my brother introduced us, I studied the girl. She was lovely, of course, with long auburn hair that trailed down to her waist and was plaited neatly. Her eyes were a blue so pale they almost seemed colorless, and I found the effect a bit disconcerting. She seemed to enjoy looking at the floor, however, so I did not see them overmuch. Her cheeks reddened even at the introductions and I realized that the girl must be painfully shy and I felt a sudden rush of pity for her. Imagine being fourteen, the age when womanhood was fast impending, and having only a grown warrior monk for company! Whatever the drama with her father, my brother, and my best friend, I knew that I wanted to help her and that my time here would not be wasted.
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Post by Sophine Shahrizai de Amodour on Jun 17, 2009 20:46:14 GMT -5
After an hour or so of needlepoint, and chatting about nothing and everything, I felt quite comfortable with Rochelle. She was quite intelligent, and funny. Her soft voice and rosy blush belied quite a quick wit and she knew some bawdy stories that even had me blushing. I kept looking around for Guy, but he seemed to have disappeared. Apparently Rochelle noticed my wandering eyes, because she smiled and said, "Your brother is quite the gentleman, and I'm sure he would never dream of eavesdropping on ladies' conversation."
I chuckled and shook my head. "I was just wondering where he has gotten off to. Isn't he supposed to be watching you at all times or somewhat?" I didn't really understand what Cassilines actually did besides look frightening.
"Well, for the most part, though his job is to protect me from danger. He must trust you not to mean me harm to leave us alone, and I trust his judgment." She looked up at me with her wide, serious eyes. "Although, really, I'm not sure what sort of danger my father is worried about, here in the City."
She had hit on exactly what I wanted to know, and I wasn't sure how to proceed. I decided to ask a few generic questions and see if anything came to light.
"What does your father do, exactly? He isn't a Lord or anything of that sort, correct?"
"No, no, he's not a Lord." Her brows knitted together and she shook her head slightly. "To be honest with you, I'm not quite sure what he does. We don't speak much." Her face clouded over and I felt instantly guilty at bringing up the subject.
"I'm sorry-" I began, but was interrupted by the appearance of a woman in the doorway. She was tall, and the spitting image of Rochelle. This must be her mother, whom Rochelle hadn't mentioned once.
"I need a few words with my daughter, if you don't mind." She said, looking down her nose at me as if I were one of her staff. If this wasn't my brother's place of work, I might have said something about her attitude, but instead I rose smoothly and set my barely touched needlework on the chair that I just vacated.
"Of course." I turned to Rochelle and smiled. "I shall go find Guy and have a word, and I will see you again shortly."
Leaving them, I stood for a moment in the hallway, collecting my thoughts before I looked for Guy.
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Post by Sophine Shahrizai de Amodour on Jun 21, 2009 16:55:59 GMT -5
Before I had taken two steps, a door opened at the end of the hall, and a man emerged who I surmised must be Denis de Rouille himself. I started to hurry down the stairs, but I didn't get far before I heard him hail me. Turning, one hand on the bannister, I faced him and pasted a smile on my face, studying him all the while.
"Hello there, and who might you be, my lady?" He said, stopping at the top of the stairs and looking down at me. "I'm usually aware of any pretty ladies who spend time in my home." I noticed immediately that he was much younger than I'd expected. He could hardly be more than a few years older than me, and yet he had amassed this much wealth? I saw immediately why Sandrine had been suspicious, and I felt a chill of foreboding as I looked at his smiling face. His grin was crooked, almost roguish, but there was nothing behind his eyes.
"Sophine de Layne, my lord. I came to visit Rochelle." I smiled and decided that appearing empty-headed might serve me here. "Are you her brother?"
He laughed at that, moving down the stairs until he was at my side. "Ah, you flatter me, my dear. De Layne, you say? A relative of Guy's? Come, have a drink with me before you go." Without waiting for a response, he slid an arm around my waist, pulling me along down the stairs. I looked around for Guy, but there was still no sign of him, and I tried to calm my nerves.
"Yes, his sister, actually. He said he thought Rochelle and I might get along..." Before I could finish speaking, Denis had ushered me into a room that appeared to be a study, and shut the door behind us. He walked over to a sideboard and poured two glasses of something dark - brandy? - and then handed one to me.
"Ah, Guy did not mention he had such a beautiful sister in the City. How remiss of him." He smiled and tapped his glass against mine. "To new friends." I went along with him, taking a sip of the liquid, which burned like fire down my throat. Definitely brandy. I really didn't know what to say to him, standing there next to me and smiling like the cat who'd eaten the canary. Instead of saying anything, I walked over the fireplace, where several pictures adorned the mantle. I made a show of looking at them, feeling his eyes on me all the while. Dropping my gaze, I noticed a piece of paper in the grate, half burned, but a good portion of it still intact. I wondered what he had been burning, and it came to me that this was just the sort of thing I was on the lookout for. Turning to face Denis, I smiled and held up my glass.
"I'm not a big brandy drinker, do you have some white wine?"
"Of course," he said, "let me see what I can do." He went to the door and opened it, calling for a servant. In one quick motion, I bent forward and snagged the paper, folding it up crudely and shoving into a pocket of my dress. I rose just as smoothly, going to set my glass on the sideboard to cover my movement. Watching Denis speaking quietly to his servant, I felt a strong urge to run, dying to read the paper and to be out of his company.
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Post by Sophine Shahrizai de Amodour on Jun 21, 2009 20:56:00 GMT -5
I was dying to read the piece of paper in my pocket, but Denis had already returned to stand nearby. He ran a hand lightly up my bare arm and smiled that smile that gave me the chills - and not in a good way. "Francessa will be right back with your wine." He said, then walked around his desk, picking up several sheets of paper and slipping them into a drawer. In other circumstances I probably wouldn't have given his actions much thought, but now I had a burning desire to rifle through his desk.
Alas, that was not to be, as Denis walked back around the desk and sat on the edge of it. "So, Sophine, tell me something about yourself."
Like what? I thought, refraining from rolling my eyes at such a ridiculous statement. Still this was my chance to portray myself in a light he might take a fancy to. I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could say anything, the butler poked his head in the door. Denis held up a hand to me, then walked over to the door, where something was whispered into his ear. Whatever it was appeared to agitate him, and he turned to me with a frown. "I have to take care of something, but I shall return in a moment." And with that, he was gone, and I was alone.
Quickly I dug into my pocket for the crumpled parchment, which I unfolded and tried to make sense of. The sentences were mangled, but one word stood out. Opium. I felt a chill run down my spine. I wasn't a drug-user, of course, but who hadn't heard tales of the seamy world of opium and it's users? Was Denis on drugs? That didn't make sense, opium was quite expensive and while he could probably afford it, I didn't think that he would have managed to hold onto it if he were spending it all on opium. As I folded the paper and slipped it back into my pocket, the realization hit me. Of course, he wasn't using opium, he was selling it! And possibly smuggling in it, which would explain these mysterious trips his wife was always taking. Now that the idea had come to me, I was sure I was right and I wanted nothing more than to rush out of the house and straight to Sandrine, but I decided that perhaps I could get Denis to incriminate himself, at least a little.
Just then, he reappeared, with a glass of wine in his hand. "Here you are, my dear. I'm sorry about that." He handed me the wine, which I sipped slowly, before responding.
"Oh, that's alright. When you asked me about myself, I was going to say that I'm a girl who likes to have fun." I smiled in what I hoped was a 'naughty' manner and stepped closer to him, running a finger across the line of his jaw. "One who likes to try new things, and live a little ... dangerously."
A grin spread across Denis's face. "Really? And here you looked so sweet and innocent. A bit of cover for that overbearing brother of yours, eh?"
Why not? I nodded. "Yes, Guy is quite the old stick, isn't he? He wouldn't know fun if it bit him on the nose."
Denis laughed, reaching forward to run his fingers over my shoulder. "Well, he is a Cassiline, I don't think they believe in 'fun' the way we see it." He took a step closer, dropping his hand to my waist and pulling me closer. "At least it doesn't run in families, hmm?" He leaned in and his lips found mine. My heart was beating wildly, though not in the good way it did when it was Luc I was kissing. That thought was so sobering, I pulled back, spilling some wine as I moved away. Gods, fishing for information was one thing, but this was something else entirely. "What's wrong?"
"Um, nothing, I ..." Oh Elua, what was I going to say now? "I usually like to loosen up a little before .... you know." I smiled and took a long drink of wine. "Do you have anything besides alcohol that might help a girl have fun?" I hoped I wasn't being too obvious, but Denis seemed oblivious to the idea that I might not be what I seemed. He walked over to his desk and fiddled with a drawer, but before he could pull anything forth, the door opened and my brother poked his head in.
"There you are, Sophine. Dyan has sent a carriage for you, I think you should be going now." He seemed none to happy to see me alone in a room with Denis, who I cast an apologetic look at before being ushered out by Guy. I could tell my brother wanted to question me, but I was in no mood for it, not after being so close to getting some solid evidence against Denis.
Irritated, I allowed Guy to settle me into my carriage, then headed home, determined to head to Mont Nuit as soon as I could get away.
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