I'm absolutely thrilled with all the reviews, thank you so much! For those of you interested in Ienska and Havelock's first meeting, I refer you to Assassin's Bane and would be honored if you read it. That said, on with the show.
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The Lady Rose Richens hurried into the large drawing room of the Vetinari Manor. She had heard some strange tales from one of the maid servants, who had apparently heard from a lad who delivered eggs, who had heard from another maid, that the dressmaker had rushed out in the middle of a fitting to prepare for a rather special order at the Vetinari Manor.
"Freydis!" she called, bursting into the room. The Lady Vetinari looked up, startled.
"Rose! What a pleasant surprise!" she said, a smile lighting up her face.
Lady Richens put her hands rather defiantly on her hips. "What is this I hear about the dressmaker? Says she won't be able to let out my Lily's skirts for a week at least. Something about a wedding dress, at the Vetinari Manor!" She watched Lady Vetinari carefully. "Of course, I knew something was wrong! Who'd be getting married around here, I ask you?"
Lady Vetinari waited patiently for her friend to finish. "It's true Rose," she said, placing her hand over her heart. "It's ever so exciting and romantic."
A look of definite disapproval crossed Lady Richens' face. "Freydis, are you sure that, at your age it's a particularly wise choice to burden yourself with another husband?"
Lady Vetinari chuckled. "Oh, no, Rose. I'm not the one getting married, I resigned myself to that years ago."
"Then who?" Lady Richens glanced out the window to where two figures, one significantly taller than the other, were walking through the garden whilst engaged in an animated discussion. "Surely…he's come home, then?" she asked, staring out the window at the back of a tall lad with dark hair.
"Yes, and he's brought the most delightful young lady with him." She followed Lady Richens' gaze out to the lawn. "Oh bless them! They're having a lovers' quarrel. How absolutely sweet they look."
Lady Richens seated herself imperiously across from the Lady Vetinari, aware that it was her civic duty to find out all she could about this new comer and quickly spread the word to all the local manors.
"What's Havelock's young lady called?" she asked, smoothing her skirts.
"Ienska Tineshan," said Lady Vetinari. "Havelock met her while he was at…school."
"She's of good family, then?"
Lady Vetinari's eyes lit up. "Oh my yes! Surely you've come across references to the Tineshans?"
"Of course, of course," Lady Richens said quickly. "I merely wondered if she was one of the Ankh-Morpork Tineshans, or from further abroad."
"I wasn't aware that there were any other Tineshans," said Lady Vetinari good-naturedly.
"Oh no, of course not," said Lady Richens. She stared out at the young couple again.
The young lady seemed to have stopped in the middle of the lawn with her back to the manor, hands clenched at her side. It was impossible to tell what was being said from the calm expression on Vetinari's face, but she imagined it was being said quite loudly, the girl seemed very assertive. She blinked. What was the child wearing?
"Oh my, Freydis," she sad in shock. "I see why you had such urgent need of a dressmaker. She certainly doesn't dress the part of a young lady."
"Vetinari said they had to leave the city in quite a hurry. I imagine she didn't have time to pack properly."
"Ah. Well, we'll have to see to that." She glanced idly at the clock above the piano. "Well, I must be off, dear," she said, rising. "It's been lovely talking to you, and I simply must come tomorrow and meet Lady Tineshan."
"We'd be pleased to see you, Rose," said Lady Vetinari standing and clasping her friend's hands momentarily.
"I'll come with the dressmaker tomorrow, then. Mustn't have the girl face a new wardrobe alone." With that she took her leave of the Vetinari Manor.
***
The Lady Vetinari watched her friend's retreating back with amusement. If she knew Rose, she would rush right home to her own copy of Twerps' Peerage and read everything she could find about the Tineshan line. The news would be all over the country side by the next morning.
"Witrow!" she called.
"Yes, your ladyship?" asked the butler, materializing at her elbow.
"Make sure Cook is prepared for guests tomorrow."
"Does your ladyship know how many will be stopping by?" he asked tactfully.
"I imagine quite a few."
"Yes, your ladyship. I'll see to it immediately."
Once the butler had departed, Lady Vetinari turned back to the window.
The two had started walking again. She sighed happily as she noticed the rather large and obvious space between them as they walked. She could remember quarreling with Lord Vetinari, both before and during their marriage. Somehow, the apologies always made up for it.
***
The day wore on at the Vetinari Manor.
Lady Vetinari kept herself busy daydreaming and planning, confidently deciding the future of her son and his not-quite fiancée. Vetinari himself spent an exhausting afternoon arguing with the young lady in question and a tiring evening being meticulously ignored by the same young lady, who herself was rather wearied of the whole affair…ah, sorry, situation.
The night fell. One by one the firefly lights of candles dimmed in the manor's windows as its occupants settled in for the evening. Finally, only three windows remained lit. A passerby who happened to glance into the kitchen window, which was glowing a dim red, would have seen the cook bustling around, muttering to himself about nobility and their lack of respect for proper notice. The second lighted window, also at ground level, would have revealed Witrow and several other employees of the Vetinari family engaged in a rather heated game of Cripple Mr. Onion. Had our intrepid passerby carefully climbed up to the third window, three stories up on the turnwise and hubward corner of the house, he might have glimpsed a girl listening very carefully at her door for any sounds of motion outside the room. More likely, he would have fallen, screaming when he reached the loose shingles on the kitchen roof.
The light in the servants' quarters went out. Several hours later, the red glow of ovens faded. The third floor candle still shone out through the night.