#lcdyofcobham

[alexandremortier]

@lcdyofcobham

July 1800, three days after The Conversation.

A bouquet of flowers arrives at the Weston household, large, colorful blooms tied together with a lavender ribbon. Attached is a note that reads 'I don't like it when you're angry with me.'

[alexandremortier]

Normally, Alexandre would consider Sophia to be a woman worth staring at under any circumstance, but today his eyes kept sliding away from her the way one should do with the sun in order to preserve their eyesight.

She was wearing color.

“I must say, I’ve never seen you appear so festive.” There was the faintest hesitation in his voice, betraying that festive wasn’t quite the word he wanted to use. Alexandre was accustomed to seeing her in dark, somber colors, things that marked her as a widow and in mourning, and why was she wearing color?

For all the jovial remarks he made during the auction itself, Alexandre found it hard to summon up the wit to say anything interesting at the moment, far too gobsmacked by her appearance. This, somehow, was the biggest surprise of their acquaintanceship, which admittedly only stretched back to January.

“You’ll be delighted to know that I’ve packed wine.” Dear lord, Alexandre was going to need it. // @lcdyofcobham​

[alexandremortier]

While Alexandre’s familiarity with the Master of Ceremonies only went so far as the man guiding him towards various young ladies to dance with, Alexandre had to admit he was fond of the man’s energy and style. He was loud and undeniably present, exuding a sort of elegant mania that anyone would be fond of. 

With this in mind, Alexandre’s smile was real as the man came rushing over to him yet again, making sure the dancers were all paired up and talking as if they were mid conversation in his eagerness. 

“Mr. Mortier, I think you’ll find your dance partner to be charming, even if you have danced with the Queen’s favorite for the evening. Such a lovely - ah, here’s she is! Do you know Lady Cobham?”

“Do you truly know anyone until you’ve waltzed with them?” Alexandre counted, but it was pointless as no sooner had he been pointed in Sophia’s direction by the man than Alexandre been abandoned by him. 

But no matter. He was hardly worried about being alone with Sophia, after all.

Alexandre had caught glimpses of her through the night, first starting when Princess Lucy acknowledged her, and how funny that was, that out of all the women on the dance floor, Sophia was the one she should mention, and now Alexandre was dancing with her. 

It provided Alexandre with his first glimpse of her up close for the night and he wondered if the pink in her cheeks was his imagination, if it was exertion or perhaps even drink. No matter what the cause, he still grinned at her unrepentantly as he announced, “I was wondering when I would get to talk to you tonight. It’s been far too long since we last danced, dear lady.” // @lcdyofcobham​

[ladywinsomes]

🌼 two times my muse almost called on yours, and the one time they did.

1

It was a bright, warm day in London. The birds were singing and the blossoms along the street were fragrant. Lydia made her way out of the modiste’s with her Mama, she had just finished her first visit of the season. As they waited to cross the street to another shop, a carriage came bustling around the corner. It was adorned with the Cobham crest.

“Sophia’s returned!” Lydia whispered giddily to her mother. The two ladies had been fairly close the previous season. Both young brides, they had much in common.

“Oh I can’t wait to make a call!”

Mama smiled and squeezed her arm. “Best let her get settled before you do.” Lydia smiled and nodded. A visit would have to wait.

2

Lydia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Lord Weston, Earl of Cobham, was passed on.

“Oh, poor Sophia!” She whispered, fingers clasped over her mouth. “I wonder if she’s taking calls.”

As Lydia stood to gather her things, Heathcliff stopped her. “It only just happened, darling. I think Lady Weston will need some time.”

Deflated, Lydia nodded. “I suppose you’re right.”

Heathcliff cupped her face in his warm palms. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you, my darling girl.”

Lydia relaxed into his hold and reached to trace a line along his jaw. “I wholeheartedly concur.”

3

The carriage came to a startled halt in front of the stone house. The curtains in every window that faced the street were closed. It looked nearly desolate. Nevertheless, a footman came through the front doors to meet her. She let him help her down and smiled kindly in thanks.

Once inside, she followed the butler to the quiet drawing. Sophia, dressed in midnight blue, sat by the window. She looked absolutely ghostly. With a cold turn of her head, she faced Lydia. Offering a meek smile, Lydia slowly sat down next to her friend. Heaving a sigh, she blinked back tears. “I’m so sorry I didn’t come sooner.”

[ernestpembroke]

One might wonder about the people he chose to spend time with but Lady Sophia was at least the less offensive of his companions. She amused him. He knew that he amused her too, knew as well that buried in that amusement was some small amount of wariness for scandal which only made things exciting to Ernest. She was smart not to trust him entirely but regardless, he was glad to be allowed to call on her. 

And call on her he did, brought to wait for her arrival in the drawing room where he cozied into an armchair, making himself comfortable. He wanted to go out, perhaps invite her to the pleasure gardens for a promenade, something interesting always happened there and Ernest had found it a delightful place to witness scandals. When the door opened, Ernest threw his head back to look over his shoulder, offering one of his devilish grins. “Afternoon,” he greeted.

@lcdyofcobham​

[ladywinsomes]

First Call + @lcdyofcobham

Lydia glanced at the clock on the drawing room wall. Wellesley had just announced that “an old acquaintance” was calling. Being that it was only her second morning in town, it was quite a surprise to hear that she was to have visitors. In fact, she wasn’t expecting to get callers for at least three or four days. This must be important. An old acquaintance, she thought. “I’ll meet them in the lavender drawing room.” She replied easily. Lady Elisa, the Dowager Baroness was accepting her calls in the main drawing room, so this would have to do.

Suddenly the hairs on her arm threatened to stand on end. The air in her lungs felt limited. Lydia tapped her chest to regulate her breaths. She knew the day would come when she had to accept callers alone, as a widow, but nothing could have prepared her for the actual event. She bent down and straightened the tea set on the table before her. Clearing her throat, she sat up straight as the sound of footsteps became closer. When Lydia looked up to greet her guest, a large feeling of relief flooded her body. “Sophia?”

[alexandremortier]

June 8th, whenever Frances and Jeremiah were swimming.

There were certain things that, upon happening, tended to immediately draw attention towards it. Having not one, but two people in waters that quite possibly had creatures lurking in its depths that would bite them tended to be one of those situations that pulled your gaze no matter if you wanted to watch or not.

It was the sort of thing that Margot would love hearing about, Alexandre didn't doubt that for a moment, but his sister's insistence that he tell her all the interesting things that happened wasn't enough to keep his entire attention fixed on the bobbing forms in the water. A good fraction of his attention was, but part of it, as always, stayed on the Sophia as she stood at the edge of the boat to watch.

It was only because of that unshakeable pull to watch her, that draw that pulled him in like a tide to a cliff, that he noticed when the ship rocked and bounce, throwing her off balance and leaving Alex himself feeling off kilter. He shouldn't have been so close to her, wasn't sure why he angled more towards Sophia than anyone else (That's a lie) when moving towards the edge, but it was a lucky thing as he darted forward to catch her waist.

"I think enough people are swimming in the Thames," He murmured, pressing against her for the briefest moment before letting go. Perhaps he'd overreacted, but they were both steady now, weren't they? "No need for you to join them." // @lcdyofcobham​

[alexandremortier]

@lcdyofcobham​ asked: 💝 to reach for the same ribbon as my muse at the modiste

If he were to be running errands for any of his siblings, it seems like it should be Jacques in order to make sure he was prepared for the ball, and yet somehow instead he was out looking for ribbons for his sisters (No, for Margot, because clearly she was the demanding little thing behind this all, and why? She wasn't old enough to take part in the season, yet somehow Isabeau convinced him that Margot still deserved something nice and new to remove the sting of not being able to attend).

Something nice and pretty for Margot, so maybe she would stop complaining that it was unfair that only the boys were having fun, something pretty and nice for Isabeau who was a saint and wasn't causing any grief. Why, pray tell, was he the one in charge of doing this? Why couldn't their maman handle it, he wasn't sure, and there was this lurking suspicion that the girls were conspiring against him for some reason.

Reaching for a ribbon that sparkled like spilled wine, Alexandre instead touched a gloved hand that managed to make it there first and jerked his head up in surprise, not having realized he was so preoccupied as to miss an entire person. When he caught sight of Sophia's face, he didn't understand how he could have ever missed her.

Instead of saying 'hello' or something sensible like that, what came out of his mouth instead was, "Oh. Perhaps I should thank my sisters for sending me off on errands after all."