Harp's Manor

INSTALLMENT X

May 12, 1928

Recounting the events of Saturday reminds me of my incident with Mr. Leigh back in March, when we nearly tumbled down the stairs together. I had dismissed it as him tripping and nothing more, but what occurred on Saturday suddenly makes me doubt my stance on the situation. I shall explain myself in a moment, but first you must be wondering what happened when I went down to dinner on Thursday. I shall explain here.

Audrey was the first to greet me. "When?" she demanded.

"When what?" I asked meekly, pretending to not know what she was talking about in the hopes of avoiding the subject.

"You know what I mean. Griffiths comes a-blowin' in here, all pompous, and tells us. I didn't know you two were together!"

"Oh, yes. That. It's not like we're married. Audrey, calm down, really." She was basically bouncing on her heels. I couldn't stand seeing her in this state of excitement. Pulling her back into the hall, I whispered, "We're not. Really, we're not! But don't tell anyone."

A mixture of confusion, then disappointment, then curiosity crossed her face. "Why? What's Griffiths yammerin' on about, then?"

I wrung my wrists, a nervous habit. "We're pretending we are so Griffiths will stop annoying me, Audrey. So don't tell anyone, because we can't trust that they won't let it slip to him."

"Ohh." Audrey nodded. "That's a mighty funny prank you're playing on him!"

"Sure, if you'd like to think about it that way." I peeked back in the dining room. "Now just don't give anything away, all right? I couldn't stand it if he got back to pursuing me."

"Of course not, hon!"

Thankfully, I was flanked by Mr. Forrest and Audrey at the table, so I had no need to make excessive talk with anyone else. Miss Jacobs ended up across from me, and kept looking at us skeptically. I had a feeling she knew something didn't feel right, a feeling which was confirmed later in the week when she brought it up to me and Audrey.

The lie didn't have a profound effect on anyone, apart from Miss Burgess, and Mr. Weaver, who was a bit more perturbed than I could have answered for. All throughout dinner, he continued sneaking glances at Mr. Forrest. It was a little out of character for him to be so distraught by another person.

Audrey was seated next to Wilson, and the two of them had a very energetic conversation, which I focused most of my attention on. First they talked about their music; then they discussed their aspirations; then they discussed their fellow housemates, and what the Doppelgangers thought of us. Wilson admitted here that Miss Burgess was a 'midge annoying,' and that Miss Hansen was very cold. "Is she usually like that?" he asked.

"It's not out of character," Audrey admitted. "To tell the truth, she tried leavin' before y'all arrived. She's a diva, all right."

Miss Hansen at the moment was occupied with Mr. Hobbes, who appeared to be in the process of lecturing her about something. Only that man would have the blind fortitude to do such a thing. She glanced up when I looked over, and I quickly averted my eyes.

I was leaving the hall when Miss Burgess stopped me. "Hey girl! We need to chat pronto. And I mean it."

Before I had time to say anything, she grabbed my wrist and towed me away down the hall, turning into the sun room and closing the door behind us. I was so disoriented, it didn't occur to me to ask what she was doing until she began talking again, and by that point it was too late to interrupt.

"Now," she said confidentially, ignoring my attempts at questions, "trust me when I say that I know my onions, Rosie. Trust me. These onions have been known by me for a long time, and you know it. Now, I would have waited a bit- you know, he's no big shot, really, and not that much of a looker- well, in my opinion, at least- yours may be different- but I would have waited, you know. Even if you do like him. You're not supposed to just cave in like that, you know. It makes them think you're weak and that's no good, I can tell you. Really. The worst thing for a man to think of a woman is to think of her as weak, and I mean it. You should know that, Rosie, right? I know you do; you're a strong girl. Besides, you're a pretty girl, too, and I bet you could score much better. But seeing as we're already here, oh well! We'll just have to make do of the situation as it is. Now, like I said, I've had some serious experience, and you must trust me when I say that. I don't know why you wouldn't, you know I'm a live wire, Rosie. I've really seen it all, really. Now, you're going to need to be the dominant one in this relationship, otherwise he's going to step all over you, like all men do. You know it; I know it; it's happened before. You're going to have to lead him, and set the rules and boundaries, otherwise before you know it he'll have knocked you up and left you. You're not planning on getting insured any time soon, are you?"