![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hrjJeanne, Vicomtesse de Cherdillac was a notorious eccentric, but Rotenek society gave a great deal of license to eccentrics who were as charming and witty as she was. And especially to eccentrics who were so well connected to all the best hostesses and whose hand in planning an affair would ensure its success. But even that license could have its limits.
* * *
“Mesnera, please. I do not think your plans would do my daughter credit. I bid you good evening,” the woman said and turned away.
Jeanne stared at her departing back with her lips parted just short of a gape. She had still found no suitable reply when Count Chanturi came up behind her to whisper, “I do believe that was a cut.”
“It must have been. But whatever could have brought that on, Rikerd? I can't think of anything I've done to slight her.”
“Can’t you guess?” Chanturi asked. “There are some rather vulgar rumors floating about the city. About you and…”
An icy finger touched her heart but she brushed it away with a wave of her fan. “Oh pooh! There are always rumors. And if you are any friend of mine you know better than to repeat them. No one cares about rumors.”
His expression remained serious. “No one cares when you amuse yourself with actresses, you mean. But it’s said that you’ve taken up with a young woman of good family—I do not name names. Someone they have known all their lives and received in their own drawing rooms.”
“The hypocrites!” Caution was lost in a sudden flood of anger. “None of them have received her at all since her return except for my sake!”
“Ah ah ah,” he tutted. “A little less heat if you mean to maintain denial. That is exactly what has given the gossip wings.” He took her by the hand and led her toward the edge of the dancing floor to appear as if they were waiting for the music to change.
* * *
“Mesnera, please. I do not think your plans would do my daughter credit. I bid you good evening,” the woman said and turned away.
Jeanne stared at her departing back with her lips parted just short of a gape. She had still found no suitable reply when Count Chanturi came up behind her to whisper, “I do believe that was a cut.”
“It must have been. But whatever could have brought that on, Rikerd? I can't think of anything I've done to slight her.”
“Can’t you guess?” Chanturi asked. “There are some rather vulgar rumors floating about the city. About you and…”
An icy finger touched her heart but she brushed it away with a wave of her fan. “Oh pooh! There are always rumors. And if you are any friend of mine you know better than to repeat them. No one cares about rumors.”
His expression remained serious. “No one cares when you amuse yourself with actresses, you mean. But it’s said that you’ve taken up with a young woman of good family—I do not name names. Someone they have known all their lives and received in their own drawing rooms.”
“The hypocrites!” Caution was lost in a sudden flood of anger. “None of them have received her at all since her return except for my sake!”
“Ah ah ah,” he tutted. “A little less heat if you mean to maintain denial. That is exactly what has given the gossip wings.” He took her by the hand and led her toward the edge of the dancing floor to appear as if they were waiting for the music to change.
