Theodore Schwartzenblum stirred himself from his blank daydreaming as he felt the motor car slow beneath him. His father didn't have the car when he went abroad. Theo almost preferred the carriage.
The vehicle halted completely and Theo jumped out, straightening his jacket. On second thought, he took it off. The day was warm, the sun blazing down on the lawn and the trees and lighting up the Schwartzenblum manor house. The windows shone and the stone soaked up the heat. He let out a happy sigh. Travelling had been brilliant, and he had loved every single second of it, but it was pleasant to be home again.
His mother rushed out to meet him.
"Oh, Theo, my darling boy, how much you've grown since you left! You're certainly taller than your father now," she said happily.
Theo chuckled. "I highly doubt that."
Theo's father was as tall as an oak, towering above most others whenever they were in company. Thankfully, Theo's excessively short mother had dampened the tall gene from his father and Theo had stopped growing at a nice, average height.
His father, Duke Schwartzenblum, came out onto the terrace to greet him as well.
"Well, my boy, it's nice to have you back. Let's get you settled in again, shall we?"
Theo nodded and followed his parents inside. The hall was just as he remembered, filled with glittering light with midnight blue velvet curtains and carpet on the staircase, shining black and white marble checkering the floor and dark wood panels on the walls.
"How are the twins?" asked Theo, inquiring after his thirteen year old brother and sister.
"Ah, you know, quiet as always. Adrian has taken quite a liking to sculpture and art, and Julia likes painting and drawing," supplied the Duke.
"And Colette?" Theo proceeded, referencing his nineteen year old sister.
"Still keen on her violin, and has taken to flower arrangement recently. But the poor girl is quite ill at the moment, which is such a pity at this time of year. Though it has been rather temperamental. Hot one day, freezing the next," said the Duchess.
"I'm sorry to hear it. May I go see her, or must she rest?" asked Theo.
"I'm sure she would be glad to see you. It was all we could do to stop her getting out of bed to greet you. It would have been terrible for her health," said Duke Schwartzenblum.
Theo nodded and excused himself, then took off up the stairs and wove his way through the corridors to Colette's room. He knocked softly and entered, smiling at his sister, who was sitting bolt upright in her bed.
"Theo! Oh, they wouldn't let me come to greet you! I'm so glad to see you home!"
He took the chair by her bedside.
"I've missed you a lot, Colette. There were so many places I went that you would have just loved. I have a good mind to take you to a ballet in St Petersburg one day. It was spectacular. You would have adored seeing it," he told her.
"We shall both take a trip all over the continent one day. Perhaps in a couple of years. We should go in summer, of course," she planned.
"Yes. But you shall be in full health before we go anywhere, even a walk in the garden. What is ailing you?"
"Nothing too drastic. Quite a sore throat, a bit of a cough here and there. I'm not too sniffly but I've been a bit feverish. It's been going on a few days now, but I'm feeling a bit better. Hopefully I'll be able to walk around everywhere again in a week or two," she said.
Theo nodded.
"Anyway, Theo, you'd better get settled in again. Imagine seeing me, sick and in bed, when you've come back from a three year trip abroad. You've probably got mail waiting for you, and luggage to unpack, and catching up to do with family and friends. Do not let me detain you any longer," she begged.
"Oh Colette, I'll come in again later. Now get some rest, calm your excitement. I know, I'm a very exciting person, but you really must get better."
Colette smiled and nodded as Theo left and quietly shut the door.
He found the twins in the studio. Adrian looked up with a clay-smeared face when Theo entered and Julia put down her paintbrush.
They both came over to greet him. Julia embraced Theo gladly and he was thankfully able to stop Adrian from doing the same, saving his shirt from brown clay.
"How have you two been? Staying out of trouble, I hope?" he said.
"Oh, no, we've been in so much trouble. We've been locked in solitary confinement for two years as punishment," said Julia solemnly.
"Ah, Julia, you must work on your sarcasm," grinned Theo. She rolled her eyes.
A brief catching up and observation of their artworks left Theo satisfied that they were happy and thriving and he went upstairs to his room.
It was as he'd left it, besides the bed, which had been recently made up for his return. He pulled open his curtains and sat down at his desk. It was nice to be sitting here again.
A knock on the door roused him from his lazy state. A maid stood there when he opened it, clutching some letters in her hands.
"Master Theodore, these are the letters which have been addressed to you lately," she explained. Theo thanked her and she curtseyed and departed.
He strode back to his desk and started sorting through the letters. Many of them were to welcome him back, and wishing that he'd had a pleasant trip. He was really quite popular, he realised with amusement. Here was one replying to his inquiries after a new horse.
He was a bit surprised to see one from the Valliant Estate, and from Angelina, nonetheless. He hadn't had much contact with her since he, Colette, the twins and his parents had stayed at the Valliant Estate three years previously, but he hadn't forgotten that kiss in the library after the dinner party that had been held. It meant nothing, of course, eighteen year olds were terribly shallow, but it brought some heat to his cheeks nonetheless. Angelina also happened to be a brilliant arguer; and he had never tired of that.
He pulled open the envelope and scanned the contents. Angelina had written an invitation on the behalf of her family for him to visit them at some point in the summer.
He thought this over. Home was nice, but he did like moving around, and a visit would help him catch up with old acquaintances and get a broader perspective on what was going on with the other nobility at the moment. He liked knowing what was happening. He remembered when he was a child, when his mother had friends over, he would always listen at the parlour door to all the gossip they exchanged. Lady Winterborne was "most probably" having an affair. Clifford Argal was "certainly going to fail his university degree". And Lord Absberg had "squandered his and his ancestors' fortune" for the rush of gambling. Little, all-knowing, Theo had been so smug and self-important whenever they visited one of the protagonists in the gossip. And his love of it hadn't really subsided.
He went and found his parents and after a brief consultation with them he resolved to go in three weeks' time. He wrote out a letter and gave it to the doorman to post.
"It will be so nice for you to be into society once again, among your old acquaintances. I'm sure they will be very interested about your travels abroad," commented Duchess Schwartzenblum. "And the Allards live so close as well, and there's young Emilie and Edward for you to engage with as well as Angelina."
"Yes, I suppose so," said Theo. He wasn't particularly fond of the Allard children, especially Edward, whom he considered quite unpleasantly boisterous. Emilie was bearable, but a little dull. He wondered if Angelina would be very changed. She was probably twenty-one now, as he was. Perhaps she had grown more sweet. But he shook that idea out of his mind. He couldn't imagine Angelina as sweet, no matter how hard he tried.
He passed the rest of the afternoon in the library, reading with his mother. He was true to his promise and paid another visit to Colette after dinner and satisfied himself that she was indeed recovering. He fell to bed exhausted, his mind spinning through his family, St Petersburg ballets, summer and returning home.
YOU ARE READING
The Dead Princess Society
General Fiction"Perhaps someone had seen her. Watched her wander through the hallowed place. Then purposefully, audibly walked away, to let her know that she was not, in fact, alone the whole time as she had thought." Angelina Valliant is burdened with a controlli...
