A/N: Chapter 2 already!? What's wrong with that girl?! When I say this story has been flowing and an absolute joy, it is no understatement. This is my first post-university work and I'm so excited to show off my new, MUCH more mature style and content. I hope you all will enjoy the introductions between Isabella and the odd Masons! Please, leave feeback or comments if you have it and don't forget to put this story on ALERT because I WILL be publishing often! Enjoy!
Jasper himself brought the unlikely couple of the hour towards the group of ladies to make introductions to his wife, and vis a vis all the other gawking women. I pushed myself into position just behind and to the side of my best friend, hoping my face expressed a falsified air of indifference.
While I did not long to be like the other socialites in our circle, who waited for gossip like a pack of starving dogs and with as much subtlety, I still desperately wanted to know the deal with the Masons.
I think I heard an audible gasp from behind me as the couple finally came into view of the collective.
The Masons were both breathtakingly gorgeous. The red hair on Mrs. Mason was even more vibrant up close and it was a sharp contrast from her fashionably pale skin and bright blue eyes framed with black lashes and softly curved eyebrows. I did not let my eyes linger on her for too long, lest I start to compare myself to her.
Mr. Mason on the other hand, was just as gorgeous but in a much different way. Having removed his hat, I could see his bronze kissed hair has the slightest curl to it, and was parted neatly off the side. He had a lovely mustache, slightly darker than the hair on his head and curved up on the ends. Very handsome and perfectly in tune with the styles of the men around him.
Of course they were both dressed just as sharply. Mrs. Mason was in deep blue velvet gown that covered and clung to her body modestly, and simultaneously left nothing to the imagination. The fabric had a beautiful lustre to it, deep and dark and yet the electric lights brought a brightness to the parts it touched so that she was both light and dark all at once. Her husband's three piece suit was well tailored and fit his physique to the nines, the wool a charcoal grey that stood out slightly from the sea of black around him. Beautiful they were, and odd.
"Darling," Jasper cleared his throat slightly, managing to cut through the stunned silence rather quickly from there, drawing his attention to his wife who was also gawking somewhat unabashedly at the couple still. Once he had her complete attention again he continued. "Alice I would like to introduce you to Mr. Edward Mason and his wife, Victoria."
Alice, her cheeks flushed slightly at having been caught staring, but quickly recovered by smiling brightly and bowing her head slightly as she offered her hand to Mr. Mason. He took her gloved hand lightly and brushed his lips before letting it go. Her eyes turned to Mrs. Mason and she offered the woman an equally bright smile, "Welcome to Chicago. We're very happy to have you here this evening, and it's so nice to finally meet you."
"We were enchanted when Jasper invited us Mrs. Whitlock," Edward acknowledged Alice's greeting for the both of them, his wife standing silent, appraising. She would be a tough sell for this lot, I could already tell.
Once more back in hostess mode, Alice began introductions for the gaggle of women surrounded her.
"This is Mrs. Isabella Black," she gestured to me and I took the opportunity to bow my head in acknowledgement to the couple before Alice continued down the line of the society ladies of Chicago.
While Alice continued the introductions, I took another moment to silently stare at the fascinating couple. I could tell there was a bit of an age difference between the pair; Mr. Mason had smile lines around his mouth and some crinkles around his eyes and now that I was closer I could see that the dark bronze of his mustache and hair were kissed with a spattering of lighter grey. He was clearly an established man who worked too much. Especially compared to the youthful Victoria.
There was not a crease or imperfection in her porcelain skin. She did not look like she smiled, let alone went through any sort of progression to her current age. Even I had had issues as a girl with blemishes that my mother scolded me for and which traces of lingered to this day so that I had to add extra enamel powder rouge to hide them. But no, Mrs. Mason had smooth, glowing skin that shone in the gaslights of the ballroom unlike the somewhat pallid powdered ladies that surrounded us. There was not a touch of makeup on her face, save for a kiss of red on her lips and perhaps the faintest rouge enhanced flush to her cheeks.
I quickly looked away from her beauty. Already I could sense the apprehension in the other women around me as they continued to stare at her long after the introductions were over. It felt like the hackles of a dog began to stand on every onlooking woman present. Mrs. Mason clearly put us all to shame, especially with her queer hair color that was now the envy of every woman in the room. The blonde women wished to be brunette, and that suited the brunettes fine. But now, now they all wanted to have hair like fire. But what did one put in their hair to make it such a fiery color?
"As I was telling Mr. Mason, you ladies should put on another of your society tea events so that Mrs. Mason will have a chance to start socializing," Jasper broke through all the heavy eyed stares and slightly awkward silence, directing his thoughts to his wife and by extension myself.
I cleared my throat and nodded, not waiting for anyone to speak up to the contrary. While our teas were not something we typically held publicly, after all it was usually just our so-called inner circle that attended them, it might be good for all the ladies to move out of their comfort zone.
"Of course, you know Alice and I were talking about having a little tea just last week, and I'm slated to host the next one," I smiled at the Masons, hoping my facial expression remained unaffected by the growing hostility I could feel blooming around me. "We would love to have you Mrs. Mason, it's so lovely to have a new face and hopefully some new thoughts to add to our conversations."
Alice gave me a slight look of relief that I had jumped in. It was clear that her husband had been keeping the Masons under wraps and hadn't shared their oddness with her in preparation for the evening.
"I would appreciate that Mrs. Black," Victoria turned the corners of her lips up ever so slightly so that you might've missed it if you hadn't been staring carefully. No wonder she was able to afford such smooth skin.
She said nothing more about the proposal and I wondered to myself if she would have such few words should she actually participate in a tea gathering. The other ladies wouldn't take kindly to a newcomer infiltrating our circle and then not evening having the decency to add anything meaningful to it all.
"Well, that's that then. Alice," Jasper turned to his wife and offered her his arm, "I think it's about time I led you for a birthday dance." And just like that the pair floated away, leaving us ladies and the Masons alone.
While I felt slightly peeved at being left to deal with the gaggle of silly women flanking me, I was slightly glad of what I hoped would provide a distraction from the whole business. Luckily for me, the Masons caught the hint and Mr. Mason began to guide his wife away, likely in search of a drink and more introductions.
Immediately the lions circled me with questions in their eyes. Irina and Rosalie are the first to voice their disapproval.
"Did you see that woman? You want to have tea with her?" Irina questioned, a blonde eyebrow shot up.
"They are not like us Isabella," Rosalie tutted in, shaking her head so that a few strands of her golden hair tumbled out of her coif. "Who knows where they came from before this-"
"Cleveland, Ohio, so I've heard," Irina interjected. I didn't have the energy to question how she knew such a thing and Rosalie didn't allow another interruption.
"Exactly. Ohio. Cleveland? What sort of backwater is that? Have you ever heard of anyone from Cleveland? I surely haven't. Have you ladies?" Rosalie questioned me and the ladies surrounding us. They all of course shook their heads.
"It doesn't matter where they're from. They seem like respectable people," I shrugged slightly. Of course the item of their fixation would be on where the Masons came from. Cleveland did not sound like the metropolis that was New York or Chicago, but surely it was enough to have produced the couple's obvious wealth.
"Besides, Jasper is from one of the most respected families in this city, going back generations. Do you really think he would have invited the Masons into his home and to his wife's birthday party if he didn't give them his full backing and respect? Obviously they have money…" I trailed off, feeling that with this lot of women nothing more needed to be said. Money could buy a lot of things and in this case their money would buy them a foot in the door with the finest of Chicago. But with a group of people with pedigrees that could be traced back to New York and further back to the Old World, who your parents were was just as important as how you came into your wealth. And for almost everyone here, their wealth came from their parents superior lineages. Old money, very old.
"Fine," Irina sniffed, "But I think I speak for everyone when I say I cannot promise anything. She can come to tea but then the ball is in her court. She needs to woo us." Her gloved hands brought a crystal glass of champagne to her lips, symbolizing the effective end of the conversation. It was too bad so many of the other women seemed to be afraid to challenge Irina, because I personally thought her an awful taste maker for our little group.
I tried not to roll my eyes as I finally took my leave of the circle. While all the ladies were my friends, I often felt like I didn't really know any of them. Alice was really the tie that bound us all together. She was the peacekeeper and without her it was easy to feel the tension.
For a moment I thought I might search out my husband for a dance but immediately threw out the idea. Surely he was already too preoccupied with his drink and his boys. There was no way I would be able to coax him away for a moment, let alone dancing which he so clearly detested.
I needed to put more space between the society ladies and myself and sought out the refreshments. Alice and Jasper's soirées typically had a full sit down dinner served in many separate courses a la Russe but today they had opted to try something different.
A multiple course meal's worth of food was set out on two long covered tables. Service a la Française seemed to be making a comeback, and the current buffet spread style would likely pick up speed thanks to the Whitlocks. While a standard plated dinner was a nice reprieve from a party, the visual appeal was absolutely staggering.
Leave it to my best friend to curate a table setting that was a feast for the eyes as well as the belly. Alice and Jasper (mostly Alice) had certainly pulled out all the stops for this meal. Her formal floral centerpieces anchored a multitude of gleaming roasts-both beasts and birds-vegetables and aspics, crocks of steaming soups, platters of braised fish and boiled lobsters with claws pre-cracked by the kitchen maid, and a different sauce to go with every dish. The only thing missing was the dessert, with the exception of Alice's birthday cake, standing tall with 4 tiers and iced thickly in delicate white frosting, but I sensed it all might be brought out towards the end of the festivities.
It all looked so sumptuous but instead I went for the golden tin of caviar, sitting in a bowl of chipped ice. I grasped the small mother of pearl spoon and scooped out a dollop of the black, glistening delicacy and dropped it onto a triangle of toasted bread. There were other accouterments like chopped egg and crème fraîche to go along but being a purist, I popped it in my mouth and let the salty savory flavors get to work on my tongue.
It was hard to tear myself away from the table but I had a trunk load of new gowns at home to think about. Keeping up with all the latest fashions was tricky business with some many wonderful things to tempt at a party like this.
"Excuse me," A deep voice drew me away from my preoccupation with my stolen snack. I blotted the corner of my mouth quickly with the napkin I had thankfully picked up earlier before turning. I felt myself turn scarlet when I saw who was standing just behind me.