I did attract a bit more attention than normal for the next couple of days, but not as much as I'd feared. Ellen reported that Donald had commented that no one wanted to find out what would happen if they hit on 'the teacher's wife'.
Good enough, I guess. I didn't want to talk about it.
So, since everyone else was ignoring it, I did as well.
Saturday morning there was more mail than normal; people starting to work out what they were doing for the summer, and getting stuff for the end-of-year dance, I guessed. It was a good excuse to dawdle.
The actual reason I was dawdling was that there was letter for Hieronymus, from an address I recognized. One he usually burnt — but his father wasn't there anymore, so I wanted to see what it was.
So I was re-sorting the envelopes when he arrived. He was mostly awake — he at least replied when I said hi.
The letter got singed before he stopped the reflex.
My giggles didn't help. "Amusing yourself, Susan?"
I tried to be politic. "Just finding how inset some habits can get funny. Who's it from, if I may ask?"
He looked at the letter in his hand. "Nina; at least she was the one to post it. A duty she takes as part of the interface our House maintains between our world and Avalon. As for who wrote it…" He opened it, and read a moment. "Ah. I hoped Lady Radella would agree."
"And who is 'Lady Radella'?"
"An old — well, friend of the House. One of the Fair Folk, who has retreated to Avalon, but has kept good contacts with House Grabner. She was something of a godmother — of sorts — to me in my youth, and has been one of Avalon's Queen's lady-in-waiting in the past. I have fallen out of touch, so I am unsure of what she has been doing recently, but… Well, I cannot think of anyone better to help guide you through Avalon's court during your stay there this summer."
"And she's agreed?"
"She has, and claims to be looking forward to meeting you. She, of course, has heard much but doesn't know what to credit."
"Of course. Well, thanks for finding someone, and convey my thanks to her as well. Right now, I need to deliver the mail. We'll talk more this afternoon?"
"I shall be available." He smiled in reply.
I was trying to sort my questions on the 'Fair Folk', Avalon, Court, and the rest in my head when I approached Hieronymus's quarters just after lunch with the usual tray of tea. It was early for 'tea', but reheating the water wouldn't be hard, and it gave our meetings a bit of formality I enjoyed more than I really ought.
So the sight of our table covered in books, again, and Hieronymus's hurried effort to clear it peeved me a bit more than it might have normally. I pushed the feelings aside, ready to concentrate on enjoying my husband's company and on the questions I had, but apparently Hieronymus caught enough of it off our mind-link that he felt the need to question it. "Have I done something wrong?"
"It's nothing, really." I answered, putting the tray down and getting to my chair. They were good chairs, better than most of the chairs at the school, and I felt I could relax in them.
Hieronymus on the other hand stood looking at me. I had a moment's thought to ask him to sit — but it would just have been odd, and he spoke before I got the chance to make up my mind to do it. "Violet said that on occasion. I eventually learned not to believe her."
It took me a moment to reply. "I'm not used to you mentioning Violet so casually."
He paused and looked away at that. "With anyone else… I would not have. Her memory is still a pain — but it is a pain I have learned to bear, and one that is much lesser than it was. She taught me much, not just the pain of loss." He took a deep breath, and looked back. "One of those things is when a woman is changing the subject, and when 'nothing' is something important. There was something that made you flash resentment when you entered this room, and I wish to know what I have done to offend you."
Ok, he'd caught me. I bit my lip, thinking about it, and how to phrase it. "Hieronymus, why did we buy this table?"
"I believe it was so we could have conversations like this one, instead of trying to talk at each other from awkward angles on the bed and at my desk."
"And you knew I was coming, right? It wasn't a surprise when I knocked on the door?"
"We had not agreed on an exact time, but yes you mentioned a desire to visit this morning, a desire I agreed with."
"Then why was the table covered in books that you were just going to have to put away, while I stood holding this tray? I mean, we have a place we bought together especially to put it, and it's never available. It's always covered in your books, when you have a desk, or shelves, or the nightstand, or wherever else." I sounded petty to my own ears, but he had asked.
"I honestly had not thought of it. As a reader, books accumulate, as I am sure you are aware. This annoys you?"
I put my hands up. "I know, I know, it's petty. It's just… You made a point, when we bought this, of me making a place for myself. Ellen made a joke about picking out curtains together. If this is ours, if it's my place in your room, why does it always feel like it being ready for me is an afterthought?"
"So it is not the table itself — it is my cavalier treatment of it, and therefore of your visits."
"Something like that. Maybe not my visits so much as… I don't want to be an afterthought."
He looked over at the books he'd set aside: Magical theory, the spread of the Ibero-Caucasian language groups, ancient pottery, and Celtic mythology, from what I could understand of the titles. "I am sorry, I occasionally get caught up pursuing an idea, if I find that… But it doesn't matter. You are correct; I should be more aware of your presence in my life." He let a small smile peek out. "I am not a bachelor anymore, much to my occasional surprise."
"Thanks. That's all I'm really asking: That you acknowledge that I do have a place here." I smiled back at him. "And I know when you are changing the topic as well. What was that about an idea you are pursuing?"
He accepted the peace offering. "I am looking into the origins of magic use, I believe I have found evidence of a possible large-scale thaumic event in the vicinity of some of the largest prehistoric orichalcum deposits…"
I'll admit I didn't understand half of what he was saying, but it obviously interested him, and what I could understand was fascinating.
Author's Notes: I've wanted this small fight for a while. No matter how suited two people are, there will always be points of friction, points where something needs to be changed. Susan is generally forming her life around Hieronymus, but occasionally he needs to bend as well.
And yes, all of those topics he's reading are connected. They even connect with what he was reading in the game. ;)
Ok news: I have finished with the actual *writing* of this story. So the update speed for the rest will depend on how much time I have to edit, while I start my new job, as well as how good my internet access will be. There's probably two-three chapters left, depending on how I break it up. The next chapter will be fairly long - it's something I've had written for a while (a year and a half...), and it still makes me nervous. But not too nervous anymore.
Thanks to memmek10k, Cherry20052, and Honor for their reviews. (And I'm glad you liked the prank - It took *ages* to think up.) Mmmm. Reviews. ;)
