The Façade of Quad in Nimrod ✓ | Satire, family drama, dark society

XV

It was five in the morning on Wednesday (at long last) when a letter arrived urgently for Mordecai and Georgina. Both had been up since four, unable to sleep with each their own unspoken reasons and now they were both down in the living room waiting for the morning mail to bring the Nimrod Times.

So, when the mail came, they were not expecting a letter.

"Important, for you, sir, madam," the butler Warren—back from his break—said as he handed the letter to his master.

"I fear..." Georgina said as Mordecai opened the simple white envelope with a floral design. He didn't have to read who it was from to know who it was from.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Quad,

I would be delighted if you could both come Wednesday for a simple lunch and, I would be very glad if you could attend an evening party thereafter. It will be a family gathering. Please do bring your sons as well. It has been much too long since I last met them.

I have sent word to Fernando, so he should bring Valerie and my husband, Camiel. It will be a lovely family party and I would absolutely adore your company. We shall have entertainments of music and I have requested Parajan dancers to come and perform for us. I cannot wait to see you both again.

Please come by two o'clock at my Glavisland house. Enclosed with the letter, you will find the address.

Yours truly,

Baroness of Glavisland, Margarita Sorientto

Mordecai read it once through, scowled, and handed it to his wife. Georgina's hands trembled with nerves when she read it. Margarita Sorientto made her skin crawl. She was exactly the kind of woman Georgina hated being around. There were just too many things to be weary of when it came to that woman.

"Wednesday!" Mordecai bellowed. "That's today!"

Georgina threw the letter on the table. "Glavisland is nearly three-hours on train from Nimrod! All the way over there for that woman?"

Lady Margarita, as she was commonly referred to as, was the epitome of high-class being an active Baroness—one of the few remaining near-royals in Lwendolen. 

Many called her kind and giving and she was a well-known philanthropist and one of the few who still sent ample amounts of donations to orphanages and workhouses to try to support the poor. 

Those who worked in her fields or tended to her livestock would constantly praise her work ethic and would remain loyal to her as long as they could. In other words, not many people had a bad thing to say about Lady Margarita.

Except for Mordecai and Georgina.

They had met her once when Valerie became engaged with Fernando and her obvious reign of Glavisland, which was not because of her financial status, made the Quads fearsome for they only had power because of their money. Someone like Lady Margarita intimidated them yet neither Mordecai nor Georgina would particularly admit that.

Now husband looked at wife and both were as white as ghosts. They had no sons to take. Neither said anything to the other but they both knew of a silent agreement that passed between them with the nod of their heads—they would just not speak of it. Any topic about Henry would be avoided like the plague but in subtle manner.

Since it would take them two hours and a bit to get to the Glavisland house, Mordecai called the maids and butler to help them ready for packing at noon and get a cab to the station.

"And tickets. I will give you the money, Silla. Go and buy four tickets. Two to go, two to return." Mordecai handed her the money.

With that, it was settled. Mordecai and Georgina were going to the house party. Really, they had no choice. A Lady's invitation was not something they could turn down much less the future mother-in-law to their daughter.

Neither of them reread the letter, but there was a sentence in there that didn't quite make sense. Lady Margarita mentioned "sons" and to bring "them", yet, the Quads only had Henry. It could have well been that old age was getting to the Baroness. But how absurd.