"Seymour? What are you doing here?"

"Well, I, um…"

As he stood there feeling rather uncomfortable in the very unfamiliar environment, Seymour found it a rather difficult question to answer. He hadn't exactly been planning to come, at least not until recently, but he'd been talked into it at the last minute. He was now finding himself wondering how he'd allowed himself to be talked into anything by something that really shouldn't be talking in the first place. He was still not entirely sure that he hadn't gone quite mad, but if he wasn't imagining it, the unusual plant he'd found had begun to demonstrate quite a way or promising great things and making them sound achievable.

"I-I wanted to be here for you. You've been sounding so concerned about tonight, and I thought that perhaps you might want a friend. I know I wasn't invited, but they seemed to be letting in anyone who came to the door looking presentable…" He awkwardly tugged at the hem of his clothing, which was by more expensive than anything he had ever owned before. "Should I not have come? Because if my presence tonight is an inconvenience, then I'm truly sorry, and I'd be quite happy to go."

Any questions Audrey might have had about what had brought him to be attending that night were far outweighed by the relief of having him there, and she couldn't help but beam at him. "Of course I would not ask you to leave. I can't tell you what a joy it is to see you tonight."

Out of the corner of her eye, Audrey noticed several members of the household staff watching the two of them intently and whispering among themselves. She was reminded that they believed, or at least hoped, that Seymour had come as a potential suitor for her hand. She herself could only hope that her face didn't turn vividly red at the thought. It would seem a dream come true to her even if he didn't have two coins to rub together, but being a dream come true and a real possibility had seemed two very different things.

She couldn't imagine what had brought about such a sudden change, but he at least gave off the appearance of doing well for himself. And while others would no doubt consider a wealthy and titled man preferable, she knew that it wasn't without precedent for marriages to be arranged between a poor-but-noble house and a wealthy merchant. Could it be that he had anything of the sort of his mind?

But before she could let herself get too carried away with those sorts of thoughts, she was suddenly forced to recall that one thing still very much stood in the way.

"Lady Fulquard!"

His voice sounded even harsher than she remembered, though perhaps that was just the effect of spending a few moments speaking with her dearest friend. She had to force herself not to cringe, and instead did her best to look pleased as she was approached by a tall, dark-haired man who looked as if he'd only recently finished another one of the brawls he'd been trying to start all night.

"Haven't you learned better than to wander off by now? Honestly, if you keep expecting me to hang around this little place, then at least…"

He trailed off as he took sight of Seymour, looking at him much the same way an excited young hunting dog looked when spotting a new target.

"Say, I don't think I've seen you around here…"

Seymour, not unwisely, took an instinctive step back out of the arm-swinging range of the man who had clearly had one or two drinks too many. Wanting to reassure him, Audrey quickly moved to speak up.

"It's alright, Seymour. This is my guest, Orin Scrivello." She received a sharp look, and quickly corrected herself with, "Lord Orin Scrivello."

But a moment later, the man turned back to Seymour, and his anger was once again replaced with an elated eagerness. "I know you! You're the one with the plant everyone's been talking about! What did you call that thing again?"

Seymour stared down at the ground, but briefly let his eyes flicker over to Audrey as a timid smile crossed his expression. "It's an Audrey II."

If Orin found anything of note about the choice of name for the plant, he didn't show it, and he only looked more intrigued. "When are you going to bring it around here for all of us to get a good look at it?"

Seymour fidgeted with his hands and began to stammer nervously. "O-oh, well I don't know if I…"

Audrey could tell that Orin wanted to push the matter more, and seeing how worried Seymour looked, she decided to try and step in. "I'm certain he could decide if he wanted to-"

"Was somebody speaking to you?"

Audrey flinched, and meekly folded her hands as she lowered her gaze. "No, I'm sorry. Please excuse me."

"Excuse me what?"

"Excuse me, Lord Scrivello."

Orin looked over to Seymour with a smug grin and commented, "You have to train them, you see."

Seymour looked horrified, which only added to Audrey's sense of humiliation.

"Now, I insist that the plant be brought here." Orin continued cheerfully. "We can set up a whole event around it. We'll have food, games, maybe even a hunt. Have you any experience with hunting, Seymour?"

"N-no…"

"Just as well, nothing exciting to kill is in season now." Orin paused thoughtfully for a moment, and then his face brightened. "A joust! We'll have a joust instead!"

"Well, I-I haven't gone to a joust either…"

"Then it's high time you had your first! Oh boy are you in for a treat! The excitement, the bloodlust, the pain…"

Seymour didn't have anywhere near enough experience to know whether jousts were meant to be a dangerous affair or if this Lord Scrivello just happened to have some fascination with the possibility of it, but either way he knew that he couldn't have felt much less desire to try such a thing.

But before he could start to come up with any way out of it, Orin continued with, "Of course, if you ask me, getting to have people on the receiving end of your lance is reward enough. But most do seem to consider it important to have a good prize for a tournament. Now, what should be offered…?"

Audrey could still sense Seymour's discomfort, and tried to make one more effort to step in. "Lord Scrivello, if I could just say-"

His head swiveled toward her again, but this time he didn't look angry. Any brief moment of relief she felt was shattered when she realized exactly what idea she had just given him.

"Ah, we have a volunteer! That settles it then! Come the time of the joust, and we shall compete for the hand of Lady Fulquard."

Seymour's eyes snapped over to Audrey, and she stared back with an equally shocked expression. He knew that he certainly didn't want to agree to the idea of Audrey being treated like a trophy, especially without her having any say in the matter. But Orin, who seemed absolutely delighted with himself for coming up with the whole idea, was already wandering off and calling for the servants so he could begin preparations. And from the way everyone jumped to his call, it was clear he had enough sway that if he wanted a joust, he was getting one.

Everything had just become a lot more difficult…