Keeping Up Appearances || Stephen & Leonard
Angela had a habit of being right more often than being wrong. She had been right to throw a small party in their manor, spending money on expensive foods and wines to entertain people that more often than not were only interested in the possibility of a marriage proposal. She had sent out invitations to many family friends and other prestigious families. When she had informed him of the event, she had called it keeping up appearances. With that, she had given him a pointed look.
Another thing she was right about. He had been struggling to keep appearances up. Struggling to control his emotions. Especially when there was a cult of witches out there that served his enemy and they would love nothing more than to harm Stephen just to please their mistress. But, they had to keep up appearances. He had to keep up appearances. He could not let himself show weakness.
And thus, they were throwing a summer party. The first thing he had noticed about the party was the sheer amount of women there seemed to be. It made him uncomfortable, the fact that there were so many women here and each seemed to want to speak with him or worse, dance. This just had to be another side effect of the spell. Whatever magic that witch had worked, it worked on all passionate emotions like lust and wrath.
Taking his wine glass, Stephen escaped into the study. There was no one here. Most were congregated together in the Hall. If he was lucky, no one would even think to come in here. He set down his glass on the desk and placed both his hands on it, letting his head drop down. He just needed a moment to breathe, to think. He just had to calm himself. He was a Bishop, a man of God. He could not entertain impure thoughts about anyone here, least of all his sister’s friends. He took a deep breath and then another. He had to stay calm. It would only be for another few hours then they would leave. After they left, he could drop the appearance that everything was fine.
With that in mind, he pushed himself away from the desk, grabbing his cup of wine as he turned and open the door. He stopped himself short when he came face to face with another.
“Lord De Vymont. I was unaware that my sister invited you. It is a pleasure to see you.” Truth be told, he had only seen the lord a few times and almost never face to face. Perfect. Someone who didn’t know him and wouldn’t notice how off-kilter he was, like Angela had. He just had to keep his center. He was Lord Stephen Freeman, Bishop of Monir, and he had nothing to fear in his home. He just had to believe that.
