Aston Hall was suddenly full and almost crowded, in Mason’s opinion. More servants had been brought in temporarily to care for the extra guests, so there were many more eyes on him than he was used to when he passed through servants’ halls. He was sure people in the county were all aware of Sir Henry’s “Oriental boy,” but likely very few of them had set eyes on him, nor perhaps anyone else like him. Luckily, most of the quickly retreating glances seemed to be more out of curiosity than any negative reaction, so it didn’t really affect Mason. He was used to being a curiosity, but as long as no one obsessed over it or couldn’t look past it to see he was a person, he could usually brush it off. Since it was made clear to the new servants that Mason was above them in rank, they were polite enough and didn’t attempt to treat him ill to his face.
“Luckily” Mason was already used to George and Lucy’s attitude to him. George was mainly indifferent to him, since he didn’t see Mason as either a threat or an equal, he didn’t go out of his way (usually) to pick him apart. Lucy did exacerbate Maria’s snark, while mostly giggling and speaking to her cousins behind her fan, so Mason rarely knew what she was talking about, but from the many glances he had caught coming in his own direction, he couldn’t imagine she had anything interesting to say, and just used his existence as something to talk and titter about. What on earth did she have to talk about when she didn’t seem to be whispering to Maria?
Since the Worthingtons themselves were amiable people, that was usually the friends they kept as well, so none of the Wallaces or Collins were particularly offensive to him. The only problem was that Mason felt particularly offended by their presence, despite this. The daughters of each family felt like they had been magically transformed, aged up specifically now to bat their eyelashes at Thomas and Edmund. He couldn’t blame them, not remotely, but something about their girlish excitement, flocking around Thomas like birds who had gotten much too used to being hand fed, it irked him. He felt annoyance prickling whenever he noticed it, and he didn’t know why he was being so sour. It wasn’t remotely because he was jealous of Thomas, he knew, since he didn’t want his own flock of admirers. He wouldn’t even know what to do with that many people curious about him, but he was sure he would have run away. No, he wasn’t jealous of Thomas. He did feel somewhat lonely though, but something - perhaps pride? - kept him from trying especially hard to socialize with the guests, amiable as they may be.
It was once such evening when the family, cousins, and guests, including Mr. Goddard, were all in the parlor, most of them playing card games with each other to amuse themselves and pass the time. Mason was, however, sitting in an armchair and was reading. The reading wasn’t going particularly well, however, as bits of chatter here and there would reach him and distract him. He eventually had to flick past pages before he was truly done with them, so no one thought he was a slow minded person. He had just been able to focus back in on his book when Maria’s boisterous laugh cut through his calm. She seemed so far away, but the wine had her particularly flushed and loud, and Mason pitied the people sitting right by her, if he could hear her so well.
“Oh, yes! We must, absolutely! That would be such a way to pass the time! Mama!” She had turned to get her mother’s attention, reaching over to her table to pull at her shawl as if she was still a child. Seemed apt. “Mama, George and Lucy have just suggested the most thrilling of ideas! That we should perform a own play for you, and Aunt Norris, and The Mr. and Mrs. Wallace and Collins! How delightful!”
The fact that the wedding would soon be over with and everything would die down was the only thing that allowed Thomas to keep his sanity as he witnessed Aston Hall begin to feel cramped. Now that the majority of the planning for the event was handled and the guests were all settled, at least things were feeling less hectic than they had been in the prior months since the engagement was announced. Both the Collins and the Wallaces were long-time acquaintances of the Worthingtons, so there were so surprises that came along with them. However, this was the first time they would be meeting both families since their eldest daughters, and also Lucy, were brought out. This fact did change the interactions between all the families which was evident the minute they were greeted into the household. To Thomas’ absolute and abject horror, it seemed even Lucy was trying to parade herself in front of Thomas. Although, when Edmund greeted Miss Emily Collins, the glint in his eyes was very noticeable to Thomas, and it seemed that the girl was also quite taken with his brother. It seemed that was at least one daughter that Thomas wouldn’t have to worry about, and Thomas couldn’t be more pleased since Emily was a very pleasant and pretty girl who was quite suited to Edmund.
As the house began to fill up with people, Thomas made sure to remember what Mason said to him about how he might be treated. When the temporary servants came on board, he insured that they were all aware that Mason wasn’t a fellow servant and was to be respected. He even had Tommy, his personal butler who he was on friendly terms with and knew liked Mason, keep his ear out for any rumblings of mistreatment and was to report directly to him if there was. Whenever Thomas found himself in the same room as Mason with other guests, he made sure to always keep an eye on the other male to make sure he didn’t look too uncomfortable or upset. So far, he didn’t see or hear anything that would cause him to be alarmed which helped Thomas relax at least a bit in all the chaos that surrounded them.
The wedding was in two days and everyone seemed to be in good spirits as Thomas found himself having a pleasant conversation with Mr. Collins and Mr. Wallace in the parlor after dinner. Although even with the easy conversation between the three men, Thomas eyes always seemed to drift towards Mason who was reading, or at least attempting to. Thomas knew him well enough to see the frustration in his face that was only apparent to Thomas and knew he was having issues when he turned the page a little too aggressively. He couldn’t help but to smirk as he answered Mr. Wallace’s question about his thoughts on some business deals. Their conversation was interrupted by Maria’s outburst though. Thomas would have chided her about her behavior, but he knew the wine and the stress of the wedding was the main cause, so he held his tongue.
He quirked his eyebrow when he mentioned performing a play for their elder guests and made eye contact with his mother as they both contemplated the notion. If it was a way to keep Maria and the younger guest busy, Thomas so no harm. After his mother nodded to him in the affirmative, he turned to his cousins to ask her what play she had in mind. Thomas was no slouch when it came to culture, so he instantly knew that the play that George suggested was too inappropriate and vetoed the notion. That was when Emily spoke up in her soft voice and suggested The Honey Moon. It was a popular enough play that most everyone had heard of it, and one that they had a copy of in the library. Plus everyone found it quite proper to put on this close to a wedding, so it was quickly agreed on by almost all, minus George, Lucy, and Maria who still wanted to perform the more salacious play.
Even if they did prefer the first play, it didn’t stop his cousins and sister from vying for the leading roles. Maria insisted that since she and Edward were about to be wed that they should naturally have the lead roles. Both George and Lucy thought that they deserved the leads due to it being their idea, although they both had different ideas of who should be playing opposite of them. Lucy was quite intent on having Thomas as her leading man, while George was set on Miss Jane Wallace playing opposite of him. Before any arguments got too heated, Thomas mother jumped in to settle things, and the looked that she shared with Mrs. Collins right before doing so let Thomas knew exactly what she was going to suggest. To appease his mother, Thomas reluctantly agreed to take the leading man role with Jane playing his leading lady. The two of them had taken to a quiet area in the parlor running through their lines together when Jane excused herself to discuss costumes with a few other people. The minute the coast was clear, Thomas made his way over to Mason, who had eventually settled on the couch, and in a very ungentlemen-like manner, practically plopped down beside him. “Save me. Please.”
