Worth

Chapter 5 (cont.)

Creamy wild mushroom soup was served to everyone, Violet was pleased to see. She had folded her salmon away in her napkin. There was a symphony of slurping, bread tearing and spoons scraping on bowls, but no conversation for some time. It would not do for Philroy who was too excited about his role as master of ceremonies to let a pack of exhausted, unwilling, non-actors ruin his fun.

"Rolph, how's that film you're directing?" Philroy lead in.

"Studio trouble," Rolph said, coming up for air.

"I wonder what can be keeping Leo. Edie, as his wife you ought to know. Is he in his study?"

"Mmmph," she slurped.

Rosie, one of the servants spoke up. "He is, sir. We have all three seen him there, this afternoon."

"Work, work, work. I guess these obsessive studio bosses answer to no one."

No response.

Philroy tried again. "Edie when do you think he'll be joining us?"

"Why don't you ask Violet? She sees him more than I do."

Violet preferred to think Edie was avoiding Philroy as opposed to taking another swipe at her. "But I don't live with him," she stressed politely.

"You are his secretary?" Edie confirmed this with Philroy who gave a small nod. "Let's hope you're better at dictation than scheduling."

Violet smiled overly sweetly. "Maybe his protégé will know what time the boss will grace us."

James took his time chewing on a piece of bread, looking at Violet all the while. "Shortly," he said with a smirk, daring her to not to be charmed.

"And what's the situation with that big role you were up for, Elsa?" Philroy pressed on. "Did you get the part?"

"Of course I did." Then Elsa corrected herself. "But it wasn't exactly the part I wanted."

The main course came around and Violet was served a fish dish. So she was allowed fish. A revelation! Still, everyone else was having roasted chicken and she never wanted chicken so badly in her whole life. She rearranged her asparagus. Joan glanced at her plate.

"Are you not eating the same thing, Violet?"

"Violet's a vegetarian," Philroy said.

"Didn't we all know that?" Edie whined.

"Are you?" Joan asked with real interest for the pretended lifestyle.

"Apparently," Violet pouted.

Philroy cleared his voice and hummed something like, "Violetincharacterrrr."

Elsa pounced. "It must be a fascinating story, how you came to decide that."

"Not really," Violet shrugged.

"Do tell," Rolph played along.

"More eating. Less talking," Edie grumbled.

"But I'd really like to know," Elsa sang villainously.

Violet gave in. "Well," she sighed, clasping her hands together so animatedly that both Thomas and Paul took a breath between forkfuls, "It all started on the farm where I grew up when a cow we had had to nurse some piglets after we ate their mother."

"Why would you eat a nursing sow?" Elsa asked.

"We got her confused with our Hog, Zeke. Piglets will suckle anything."