Colorful Seduction- Part 3
Mar. 1st, 2011 06:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sgteam14283Title: Colorful Seduction
Author: sgteam14283
Rating: PG
A/N: Sorry for the delay between posts but school and writer's block made it impossible to find time to write. Only one more section left and enjoy!
Part 1, Part 2
Laura made her way through the streets and headed towards the tavern where the majority of her friends frequented. It was late but she needed to get out; her mother had dragged her along to this last minute trip to London. Apparently since Master Lorne had decided to change the painting the dress that her mother had originally selected was “no longer suitable” so she had to suffer through an endless fitting to ‘freshen up’ an old dress...one that was still fashionable but would fit the outside atmosphere.
And as a result, Laura needed more than one stiff drink. It wouldn’t be her first time there but she hadn’t been there enough that they knew her by sight...and besides it was the type of place where they turned a blind eye to the more notable people who appeared there.
Pushing back the hood of her cloak as she entered, Laura saw that the place was more crowed than normal, but to her that was a good thing; she would be more likely to run into someone she knew. Spotting Caroline and some of her friends in the center of the room and Laura could guess that they had been there for some time and knowing that she’d have plenty of fun with them, she made her way towards the group after grabbing a tankard of ale.
--
“So what’s it really like to work with the Lady Laura?” Prien asked Evan as they took yet another round from the serving girl’s tray.
By this time Evan had lost count of how many rounds they had gotten, but he was sure it was more than he could afford at the moment. However, he didn’t care because this was the first time since starting his work for the Duchess that he was able to truly relax. “Well,” he said after taking a drink. “every opportunity she gets she skips a session, I would have been nearly done by now if she’d just show up and be able to deal with the fact that her mother wants her portrait done to shop around for suitors. In short, she is a completely and utterly stubborn wench.” Normally reserved, Evan felt the words that he had kept bottled up since starting the job come pouring out because for some odd reason he felt more pressure than normal to have everything perfect. Maybe it was because the Duchess had implied how much was riding on the painting or for some reason it was because he found it extremely hard to capture Laura’s personality onto the canvas; it was frustrating and wonderful at the same time.
Normally when he was commissioned to paint a noble’s portrait, he felt a general apathy; get the painting done, get paid, and move on to the next one. But this was different, he kept coming up with different ideas on how to paint Laura-eager for each session to start so he could look at her for hours on end while capturing her image on canvas forever.
It was confusing him as to why he was feeling this way but he wanted to shout to the world how much he enjoyed painting the Lady Laura no matter how much she frustrated him.
He was about to tell Prien exactly that when someone bumped into him and managed to spill their drink on him, as well as causing him to pitch forwards towards Prien and spill his own drink onto his friend. The cold liquid trickled down his shirt and caused him to squirm in an effort to get rid of the feeling.
“Hey!” Prien shouted, jumping back automatically when Evan and his drink tipped towards him. But the movement was useless as the liquid splashed over the front of his tunic and face. Those around him looked over at the commotion and laughed at the sight of the two men dripping ale onto the floor. Sputtering, Prien dumped his own tankard onto Evan; those paying attention to the men roaring with laughter and amusement.
“What was that for?” Evan sputtered, now wet all over.
“What do you think? For getting me wet!” Prien replied, grinning at the sight of his friend glowering at him.
“I didn’t do it on purpose, someone pushed me!” Evan exclaimed, turning around to try and find whomever had first spilled their drink onto him but was unable to.
“A likely story.” Prien said, with a raised eyebrow. Clapping his hand on Evan’s shoulder and ignored the wet sound it made as well as droplets of ale that flew off his friend’s shirt. “Buy me another drink and all will be forgotten.”
---
Laura watched the rain hit the window and slowly trail down the windows as she sighed. It had been raining since their trip to London and as a result no progress had been made on the new version of her painting. True Evan had been able to set up the drawing room into a rough layout of how he wanted everything to be on the canvas and start sketching her as well as the dress that she was wearing, but when that was finished there was little to do. And as a result, Evan had left the manor to work on another commission-with the promise to return once the weather was better.
She was glad to see him leave because she was still mad at him for the comments she had overheard him say about her at the tavern. Laura hadn’t known it was him until he spoke and even then she was taken aback at the harshness of the words. Feeling a rush of anger Laura had acted without thinking; pushing him while pouring her drink down his shirt then left the tavern, hoping that Evan would get blamed for knocking into people and spilling their drinks-maybe even starting a brawl.
But when he returned to the manor he looked the same, if only slightly hung over, which disappointed Laura; then the rain started and she wasn’t able to escape the manor so that did not improve her mood. However at the same time, she looked forwards to the time spent posing for Master Lorne and that confused her. Laura could hardly stand the man, she thought of him as nothing more than someone who exploited the upper class for his own gains and those of his ilk.
And it seemed like she was the only one bored out of her mind; her father was constantly in meetings with a number of the other nobles; it seemed that the King was ailing and they were making preparations for the Prince Regent to be crowned, her mother was busy receiving the wives of those who came with their husbands and in-between visits planning a masquerade, and Peter was busy with his own duties the majority of the time.
Laura wished that the weather would clear up so the painting could get done and the whole thing wouldn’t be looming over her head like an executioner’s axe.
“Laura!”
Startled at hearing her name, Laura turned away from the window to see that her mother was standing beside her with a look of exasperation on her face. “What has gotten into you? You’ve been so distant lately.”
“It’s nothing, just tired that’s all.” Laura replied, as she stood and looked around. She was slightly surprised to see the household servants bustling about the room, moving furniture and such. “What’s going on?”
The Duchess gave her daughter an exasperated look, “They’re getting ready for the masquerade, Laura. Honestly, ever since we came back from London you’ve been acting like your head is in the clouds.” Shaking her head, she continued without waiting for Laura to respond, “Come now, it’s time to get you into your costume.”
Sighing softly, Laura followed her mother towards her room; if it wasn’t one thing it was always another.
--
Laura watched the party-goers through her mask and wondered how many of her friends were here. The party had just started so everyone was still on their best behavior, although since there was plenty to drink Laura knew that it wouldn’t last. So far she was just watching, no one had asked her to dance and as far as she was concerned that wasn’t a problem.
“It’s wonderful to see you again Milady.”
Even though he had been gone for nearly a week, Laura hadn’t forgotten the owner. Turning towards him, she was surprised to see him dressed as a stag. She hadn’t expected him to come- although since he was still technically still under her mother’s patronage Laura should have expected him.
Feeling her cheeks heat up at the sight of him dressed in dark brown with a mask the shape of a nose and then gently slope up into modified antlers, even if the cloth was well worn and the mask had more than a few chips in the paint. “It is a surprise to see you here.” Laura said while glancing towards the dancers and trying to make it seem like his presence wasn’t unnerving her in the least.
Evan looked at the Laura through his mask and slightly smiled. She looked graceful as ever in her swan costume, the white folds of the dress and the few feathers making up her wings made her seem more like an angel rather than the graceful bird she was supposed to be. Briefly he wanted to change his idea for the painting again and capture her as this, but Lorne had a feeling that if he mentioned that he wanted to go in another direction he might lose the commission, so he kept the thought to himself.
“The Duchess was kind enough to invite me.” He replied evenly, although he knew that had he not been under her patronage then he would not have been invited. Evan was keenly aware of the privileges his position allowed and that they could go away at a moment’s notice; all it took was one ill work from an influential person and he would be struggling to make rent or even survive.
Wanting to steer away from the uncomfortable turn the conversation was taking, Evan turned towards Laura and extended his hand while slightly bowing. “May I have this dance?”
Laura opened her mouth to say ‘no’ but then paused, he was being so nice towards her and not just because her mother was paying him and all she had been was rather mean. Normally she wasn’t like that but there was just something about him that made her want to rebel.
Smiling, Laura decided to be nice and let Master Lorne lead her towards the floor. It was a simple waltz and as they glided around the room, she was surprised to find that he had some skill dancing; he wasn’t truly inept but at the same time it wasn’t the best. All too soon the dance was over and she found herself not wanting to leave the floor so as the music started again she asked, “Do you mind if we continue?”
Evan was somewhat surprised when Laura asked for the next dance, but he could hardly refuse. Smiling, he nodded his head, “As you wish.”
They were about to start again when the son of Northumberland appeared and bowed while asking, “Lady Laura may I have this dance?”
Laura paused, not wanting to but knowing that her mother would never forgive her if she refused. And since this was her mother’s fete, she decided that it would only be one dance and she could suffer through it. Smiling faintly, she replied, “You may.”
As she let Northumberland’s son take her hand she caught Evan’s eye and tried to convey that she really didn’t want to but had to. He wasn’t a horrible dancer, but Laura found herself comparing him to Lorne and in her opinion Evan was the better; in every way Evan was the better. The music had ended when the realization struck her; she cared for Master Lorne.
Author: sgteam14283
Rating: PG
A/N: Sorry for the delay between posts but school and writer's block made it impossible to find time to write. Only one more section left and enjoy!
Part 1, Part 2
Laura made her way through the streets and headed towards the tavern where the majority of her friends frequented. It was late but she needed to get out; her mother had dragged her along to this last minute trip to London. Apparently since Master Lorne had decided to change the painting the dress that her mother had originally selected was “no longer suitable” so she had to suffer through an endless fitting to ‘freshen up’ an old dress...one that was still fashionable but would fit the outside atmosphere.
And as a result, Laura needed more than one stiff drink. It wouldn’t be her first time there but she hadn’t been there enough that they knew her by sight...and besides it was the type of place where they turned a blind eye to the more notable people who appeared there.
Pushing back the hood of her cloak as she entered, Laura saw that the place was more crowed than normal, but to her that was a good thing; she would be more likely to run into someone she knew. Spotting Caroline and some of her friends in the center of the room and Laura could guess that they had been there for some time and knowing that she’d have plenty of fun with them, she made her way towards the group after grabbing a tankard of ale.
--
“So what’s it really like to work with the Lady Laura?” Prien asked Evan as they took yet another round from the serving girl’s tray.
By this time Evan had lost count of how many rounds they had gotten, but he was sure it was more than he could afford at the moment. However, he didn’t care because this was the first time since starting his work for the Duchess that he was able to truly relax. “Well,” he said after taking a drink. “every opportunity she gets she skips a session, I would have been nearly done by now if she’d just show up and be able to deal with the fact that her mother wants her portrait done to shop around for suitors. In short, she is a completely and utterly stubborn wench.” Normally reserved, Evan felt the words that he had kept bottled up since starting the job come pouring out because for some odd reason he felt more pressure than normal to have everything perfect. Maybe it was because the Duchess had implied how much was riding on the painting or for some reason it was because he found it extremely hard to capture Laura’s personality onto the canvas; it was frustrating and wonderful at the same time.
Normally when he was commissioned to paint a noble’s portrait, he felt a general apathy; get the painting done, get paid, and move on to the next one. But this was different, he kept coming up with different ideas on how to paint Laura-eager for each session to start so he could look at her for hours on end while capturing her image on canvas forever.
It was confusing him as to why he was feeling this way but he wanted to shout to the world how much he enjoyed painting the Lady Laura no matter how much she frustrated him.
He was about to tell Prien exactly that when someone bumped into him and managed to spill their drink on him, as well as causing him to pitch forwards towards Prien and spill his own drink onto his friend. The cold liquid trickled down his shirt and caused him to squirm in an effort to get rid of the feeling.
“Hey!” Prien shouted, jumping back automatically when Evan and his drink tipped towards him. But the movement was useless as the liquid splashed over the front of his tunic and face. Those around him looked over at the commotion and laughed at the sight of the two men dripping ale onto the floor. Sputtering, Prien dumped his own tankard onto Evan; those paying attention to the men roaring with laughter and amusement.
“What was that for?” Evan sputtered, now wet all over.
“What do you think? For getting me wet!” Prien replied, grinning at the sight of his friend glowering at him.
“I didn’t do it on purpose, someone pushed me!” Evan exclaimed, turning around to try and find whomever had first spilled their drink onto him but was unable to.
“A likely story.” Prien said, with a raised eyebrow. Clapping his hand on Evan’s shoulder and ignored the wet sound it made as well as droplets of ale that flew off his friend’s shirt. “Buy me another drink and all will be forgotten.”
---
Laura watched the rain hit the window and slowly trail down the windows as she sighed. It had been raining since their trip to London and as a result no progress had been made on the new version of her painting. True Evan had been able to set up the drawing room into a rough layout of how he wanted everything to be on the canvas and start sketching her as well as the dress that she was wearing, but when that was finished there was little to do. And as a result, Evan had left the manor to work on another commission-with the promise to return once the weather was better.
She was glad to see him leave because she was still mad at him for the comments she had overheard him say about her at the tavern. Laura hadn’t known it was him until he spoke and even then she was taken aback at the harshness of the words. Feeling a rush of anger Laura had acted without thinking; pushing him while pouring her drink down his shirt then left the tavern, hoping that Evan would get blamed for knocking into people and spilling their drinks-maybe even starting a brawl.
But when he returned to the manor he looked the same, if only slightly hung over, which disappointed Laura; then the rain started and she wasn’t able to escape the manor so that did not improve her mood. However at the same time, she looked forwards to the time spent posing for Master Lorne and that confused her. Laura could hardly stand the man, she thought of him as nothing more than someone who exploited the upper class for his own gains and those of his ilk.
And it seemed like she was the only one bored out of her mind; her father was constantly in meetings with a number of the other nobles; it seemed that the King was ailing and they were making preparations for the Prince Regent to be crowned, her mother was busy receiving the wives of those who came with their husbands and in-between visits planning a masquerade, and Peter was busy with his own duties the majority of the time.
Laura wished that the weather would clear up so the painting could get done and the whole thing wouldn’t be looming over her head like an executioner’s axe.
“Laura!”
Startled at hearing her name, Laura turned away from the window to see that her mother was standing beside her with a look of exasperation on her face. “What has gotten into you? You’ve been so distant lately.”
“It’s nothing, just tired that’s all.” Laura replied, as she stood and looked around. She was slightly surprised to see the household servants bustling about the room, moving furniture and such. “What’s going on?”
The Duchess gave her daughter an exasperated look, “They’re getting ready for the masquerade, Laura. Honestly, ever since we came back from London you’ve been acting like your head is in the clouds.” Shaking her head, she continued without waiting for Laura to respond, “Come now, it’s time to get you into your costume.”
Sighing softly, Laura followed her mother towards her room; if it wasn’t one thing it was always another.
--
Laura watched the party-goers through her mask and wondered how many of her friends were here. The party had just started so everyone was still on their best behavior, although since there was plenty to drink Laura knew that it wouldn’t last. So far she was just watching, no one had asked her to dance and as far as she was concerned that wasn’t a problem.
“It’s wonderful to see you again Milady.”
Even though he had been gone for nearly a week, Laura hadn’t forgotten the owner. Turning towards him, she was surprised to see him dressed as a stag. She hadn’t expected him to come- although since he was still technically still under her mother’s patronage Laura should have expected him.
Feeling her cheeks heat up at the sight of him dressed in dark brown with a mask the shape of a nose and then gently slope up into modified antlers, even if the cloth was well worn and the mask had more than a few chips in the paint. “It is a surprise to see you here.” Laura said while glancing towards the dancers and trying to make it seem like his presence wasn’t unnerving her in the least.
Evan looked at the Laura through his mask and slightly smiled. She looked graceful as ever in her swan costume, the white folds of the dress and the few feathers making up her wings made her seem more like an angel rather than the graceful bird she was supposed to be. Briefly he wanted to change his idea for the painting again and capture her as this, but Lorne had a feeling that if he mentioned that he wanted to go in another direction he might lose the commission, so he kept the thought to himself.
“The Duchess was kind enough to invite me.” He replied evenly, although he knew that had he not been under her patronage then he would not have been invited. Evan was keenly aware of the privileges his position allowed and that they could go away at a moment’s notice; all it took was one ill work from an influential person and he would be struggling to make rent or even survive.
Wanting to steer away from the uncomfortable turn the conversation was taking, Evan turned towards Laura and extended his hand while slightly bowing. “May I have this dance?”
Laura opened her mouth to say ‘no’ but then paused, he was being so nice towards her and not just because her mother was paying him and all she had been was rather mean. Normally she wasn’t like that but there was just something about him that made her want to rebel.
Smiling, Laura decided to be nice and let Master Lorne lead her towards the floor. It was a simple waltz and as they glided around the room, she was surprised to find that he had some skill dancing; he wasn’t truly inept but at the same time it wasn’t the best. All too soon the dance was over and she found herself not wanting to leave the floor so as the music started again she asked, “Do you mind if we continue?”
Evan was somewhat surprised when Laura asked for the next dance, but he could hardly refuse. Smiling, he nodded his head, “As you wish.”
They were about to start again when the son of Northumberland appeared and bowed while asking, “Lady Laura may I have this dance?”
Laura paused, not wanting to but knowing that her mother would never forgive her if she refused. And since this was her mother’s fete, she decided that it would only be one dance and she could suffer through it. Smiling faintly, she replied, “You may.”
As she let Northumberland’s son take her hand she caught Evan’s eye and tried to convey that she really didn’t want to but had to. He wasn’t a horrible dancer, but Laura found herself comparing him to Lorne and in her opinion Evan was the better; in every way Evan was the better. The music had ended when the realization struck her; she cared for Master Lorne.
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