To Please A Lady (Closed)

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

Corrine followed a trail of shrugging and pointing men to her husband, and tapped him playfully on the shoulder from behind.

"A lady has a request for you, my lord," she informed him, cryptically, with an excited bounce on the balls of her feet.

[Benedict Marsten]

Spinning about face, he smiles blithely despite the recent thumping he has taken in the tilts. The sight of his alluring wife and her infectious cheerfulness all ways raise his spirits. Stiffened hands reach out to rest on her sinuous hips, mindful to keep appropriate distance for public decorum. My, how they had grown up. "What would this Lady have of me?" He playfully responds.

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

She grins at his courtly response.

"Gwyn & I met a young jouster who has a promising chance at winning, but was worrying terribly about causing a diplomatic incident if he won and chose the wrong lady to crown Queen of Love and Beauty. I suggested that, to avoid offending anyone, and to perhaps even win him praise, would be to give it to a younger girl, as that always warms hearts. I said I would ask you about the possibility of letting Ellie be the recipient, should he win. She's been awfully downtrodden of late, and I think it would cheer her up, as well as helping this earnest young fellow."

[Benedict Marsten]

Tiny Daveth sat upon his shoulder as he tried hard not to analyse the first part of this statement. His trust in her actions far out weighed his fear of some young jouster's actions or attention. Wait a moment, this goes from me worrying about some knight's impropriety with my wife, to let's let him give your sister flowers? Ben gives a telltale eyebrow raise, of confusion.

"You suggested some stranger give Ellie flowers?" The left crease of his mouth curls up, so that a few of his teeth are shown in his crooked smile. "Well ..." It was not often he was at a loss for words. Right at this moment, he was.

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

Noticing his confusion, she gives his beard a reassuring stroke.

"If it's the stranger bit that bothers you, I can introduce you. I just thought it would be a nice way to help two people for the price of one. If you hate the idea, I'll tell him you said no and I'll scout for another suitable recipient. You know me. I like bringing good people together. But I can see you are dubious about it."

[Benedict Marsten]

"Wait, wait wait. I did not say it bothers me, but is he ... prepared, are you prepared for her reaction? This is Ellie we are talking about." He gives her a knowing look. "I think she may be the one who permission you need get. Spring this on her with no way out in a crowd..." He simply shakes his head and laughs. "On second thought it is a great idea." His laughter spreads to his torso shaking his sore body.

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"Meanie. I had actually planned on talking with her too, though perhaps trying to preserve some element of surprise. Between you and I, it might encourage her real admirer to try a bit harder," she added, with a knowing chuckle.

[Benedict Marsten]

"She gives and good as she gets. She has taught Bethany to hide my boots. It took me a week to find the new goatskin ones you gave me for my nameday." His eyes widened questioningly. "Real. Admirer?"

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"So it was her! Good heavens, our daughter will be a tearaway."

Corrine's eyebrow raised at Ben's surprise.

"You really haven't noticed?"

[Benedict Marsten]

He gives a playfully annoyed grin before diving into a look of concentration. A visual list of young men who may be leering at his young sister, boiling his blood. None seem to fit the bill. Most are even a bit scared of her. Her wit sending most pages and squires away in frustration. "Who and how is it you seem to know and I do not?" Frustration is replaced by a look of concern at his lack of knowledge about his sister, the person who he had been the closet to him most of his life.

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

Corrine gave her husband a kind and loving smile.

"To you, she's still a little girl, but I can see that she's a young lady, four and ten, on the brink of womanhood. And you tend not to look past her fiestiness and mischief. It's not a terrible thing. It's lovely that you let her have her own pace in life and value her individuality. I do too, but I also see that she is starting to be seen differently. And I see the way Paul looks at her, and she at him, when they each think nobody else is looking."

[Benedict Marsten]

Paul... Paul... the stable boy with green teeth. No he's Pate. His eyes widen to saucers. "You mean Pudgy?! Are you daft? She teases and torments him more than me and ... well thats quite obvious isn't it. I apologize love. I should have known in matters of love and the heart there is none that can compare to my Lady wife."  He kisses her cheek in contrition.

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

She laughs at his sudden realisation.

"She wouldn't put that much effort into teasing and bickering with someone she didn't like a lot. So, if this Stormlander slings her the wreath and Paul sees it, it will give him the kick up the arse he needs to tell her how he feels. And getting the wreath will either make her hilariously embarrassed or cheered up, possibly both. And it helps the squire fellow resolve his anxiety about causing a diplomatic incident."

[Benedict Marsten]

He again looks puzzled. "And we want to spur him on ... because ...?" He playfully jests. His brow furrows with fatherly concern. "And this squire that is to win a tourney. He must be the best and worst squire to be that great and not yet knighted. He is a good boy?"

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"Out of the goodness of our hearts, and the coin. He seemed earnest and a bit lost in his situation. He doesn't want to cause trouble by picking the wrong Queen of Love & Beauty if he wins, and I sympathise. Also, he's a squire and a Storm, so the odds are long, but he's knocking anointed knights on their arses. I can buy you something extra special for your nameday with the winnings."

[Benedict Marsten]

He laughs loudly. "I meant why spur on Pudgy, but it was only in jest, dear. A bastard? You draw them like bears to honey. If you feel he has no ill intentions then only harm I see is her tossing it back in his face. Though I think her better trained then that. There will be fallout when she finds you and you alone are behind this." He laughs again. "I will not suffer her wrath."

"You may need your winnings to buy yourself whatever of yours she teaches Bethany to hide. Heavens help us when the twins begin to walk."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

Corrine laughs breezily.

"I do rather attract the strays, don't I. Mother would say I'm too soft-hearted. As for Paul, well, he'll be a knight someday, and we ought to be thinking about Ellie's future. Do we want to try and marry her to a stranger, or do we want her to have someone she knows and trusts? He just needs to learn that faint heart never won fair lady."

She kisses him and smiles playfully.

[Benedict Marsten]

"Marriage would smash her dream of being a spinster and tormenting me to the grave. So, perhaps it is a good idea. Paul is a decent lad if a bit timid. If she feels ... safe with him then it would have my blessing." His words are light and playful till he reaches the pause in his final sentence. Here he becomes sorrowful.

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

"Are you alright, love?"

Corrine's brow creases with concern.

"You don't like to think of her growing up, do you," she said, softly, only half a question.

[Benedict Marsten]

Trying poorly to not sound down, he laughs flatly. "I guess that may be so. I have tried my whole life to keep her safe. I was forced to pass that duty to house Tullison in the past and now I have to willingly do it again."

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

Corrine squeezed his hands gently, attempting to reassure him.

"I don't mean to make you sad, or feel like you're going to lose her. There is no rush. It's just a thing to start being mindful of. I wanted to ease you into it gently."

[Benedict Marsten]

He squeezes back, with a nod to show he understands. "No, you have shown me away to keep her safe and close. Provided this, Storm, does not sweep her from her feet." He knew it to be unlikely, but Ellie could be ... unpredictable at times.

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

With a little chuckle, Corrine shakes her head.

"I doubt that will happen. Fret not. This will be a jolly bit of fun, and all will be well. Storm might not even win. But if he does, we can get some benefit. It's a plan so cunning,you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel," she added, laughing.

[Benedict Marsten]

"Or drape it in a Tullison tabard and call it Ser Theomore?" With her feelings toward Theo he thought she might enjoy the comparison.

[Lady Corrine Marsten]

Her bright bell of a laugh rung out, then was quickly hushed to a conspiratorial giggle when she remembered the setting.

"Indeed, my love. Though unlike him, this one is unlikely to hurt anyone."

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