The diamond earrings sparkled as Mrs Coulter held them up to the light. They were expensive, 2000 pounds Edward had informed her when he bought them. He assumed that a few trinkets were enough to keep her happy. They weren't. Her daemon, the golden monkey paced the room restlessly.
"You know, this was all wewanted a few months ago" She said to him, a hint of sardonic laughter in her voice.
The monkey didn't answer. They had wealth now and power, albeit an unofficial kind, but it wasn't enough anymore. They had become accustomed to life at the top of London society as quickly as they had risen to it. Mrs Coulter heard footsteps approaching the room, her husband coming home from work. Edward Coulter slammed the door shut as he entered and threw his jacket on the ground.
"Fetch me a gin will you?" He muttered , motioning to a servant.
"Bad day?" Mrs Coulter asked
"It's that damned Lord Asriel. He's back from the north."
Mrs Coulter had already heard this. She'd never met the man, he'd left England before she and Edward had even met, but he had been back for a day and the whole of London was ablaze with talk about him.
"I heard he was dead but no such luck" He continued "I was meeting with the King today, he strolls in, as if he hadn't been away for a year, and convinces him to repeal my taxation policy that I spent so long getting the consent for."
"Let me talk to the King" Mrs Coulter murmured.
"I don't know…" Edward answered, his hawk daemon rustled her feathers uncomfortably. He knew she would be able to get her way. She always did. Even so, he didn't like relying on his wife for political advantage. It was emasculating, he felt.
"Lord Asriel sounds interesting, if he managed to win the Kings favour away from you"
Edwards recent successes had mostly been a result of his wife however he was a good politician in his own right, she would never have married him otherwise.
"Interesting? Maybe. I can't stand the man" Edward fumed.
Mrs Coulter thought he resembled a sulking teenager far more than a 40 year old man had any right to.
"He's an utter scoundrel" Edward went on "The king actually forbade him to leave the country, when he did. Lord Asriel just ignored him. And you should hear the way he speaks, anyone else would be arrested for treason. Or heresy. I have no idea how he gets away with it."
Lord Asriel sounded like someone she would get along well with, Mrs Coulter thought to herself.
"I'm quite interested to meet him"
"Well you're in luck then, he'll probably be at the barons cocktail party tonight."
"Oh?"
"Just promise me something" Edward started sounding uncertain
"Anything darling"
"Don't speak to Lord Asriel anymore than courtesy requires."
"Of course not"
"Good. You are mine after all."
The golden monkey flinched, almost involuntarily at the word 'mine'. Mrs Coulter smiled blankly and nodded. The hardest thing about being married, she thought, was keeping your temper. It was nearly impossible for her, Edward managed to be completely infuriating no matter what the occasion.
"You had better get ready for the party tonight" Mrs Coulter said, changing the subject "The baron will be upset if we're late."
--
Lord Asriel stood in the corner of the room. One hand resting on his daemons head, the other holding a champaign flute. He sighed. He had forgotten how dull making small talk was.
"We've only been back for a few days" Stelmaria reminded him
"Awful isn't it?"
Asriel had only come to the party because he wanted to sell the baron some artefacts he had found during his last trip. He would have left by now if it wasn't for the woman. He had been watching her for most of the night. She was incredibly beautiful, her dark hair glistening in the anbaric light. Her daemon, a golden monkey had fur that seemed impossibly fine. She caught his eye and smiled slightly. She was talking to the Archbishop, a man Lord Asriel detested. Asriel would have thought the woman was enjoying his company, she was listening to whatever he was talking about with wide eyed enchantment, except for her daemon who was glancing around the room and fidgeting, betraying her restlessness.
The woman turned back to Lord Asriel and raised an eyebrow and then began to walk out of the room. He followed, feeling almost as if an invisible force was pulling him. He found her finally, looking at a painting of some saint being martyred. Asriel despised those paintings.
"It's an interesting picture, don't you think?" She murmured.
She hadn't turned around but her daemon was looking at Stelmaria, his expression unreadable.
"A little macabre I suppose." She went on, as Asriel hadn't answered.
Stelmaria had moved towards the monkey, her head bent in acknowledgment. However Lord Asriel had no interest in a discussion of art.
"I don't doubt your ability to make small talk but you needn't bother."
She turned around, her expression carefully blank. If she was offended by Lord Asriels rudeness she didn't give any sign.
"No? Perhaps you should try it. You might enjoy social events more if you didn't spend the entire night standing in the corner by yourself."
He smiled and nodded slightly.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Mrs Coulter, Edward Coulters wife." She stressed the word 'wife', perhaps it was a warning.
"So tell me about yourself, Mrs Coulter."
"I'm Edward Coulters wife. Surely that's all you need to know." She answered with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"All that tells me is you have appalling taste in men." He answered.
She laughed softly. Their daemons were circling each other now, Stelmaria uttered a soft, sensual growl and the monkey moved closer to her.
"So tell me Mrs Coulter, what's your first name?"
She raised her eyebrow slightly. He supposed he was being more forward than polite society would deem appropriate, especially with a colleagues wife.
"It's Marisa."
"Well Marisa. Pleased to meet you" He said, taking her hand and kissing it. If he hadn't been concentrating on her face he would have noticed the golden monkey shiver with excitement.
"I'm Asriel Belacqua, by the way"
"I know. You seem to be all anyone can talk about these days."
Asriel shrugged. He didn't care much for gossip.
"Heard anything interesting?"
"Well I'm sure it can't all be true" She said with a smile "Apparently you've been investigated for heresy twice."
Asriel nodded. In fact he would have been arrested if the clergy man he'd spoken to hadn't been so terrified of him.
"Why? What did you do?"
"Researching the Barnard -Stokes hypothesis" He expected her to flinch when he said that, he had never met anyone who hadn't at least looked nervous when it was brought up, though London society would never speak about something so profoundly heretical. She merely nodded with interest.
"Have you seen the calculations?" He asked. It wasn't a good idea to talk about controversial ideas like the Barnard- Stokes hypothesis in public, much less a complete stranger. Asriel felt slightly unnerved as he realised he was trying to impress her.
"No I haven't…" She sounded as if she was grappling with curiosity.
They spent the rest of the night, talking about particle metaphysics. Asriel was impressed, there were few people who could keep up with him but she had wit to match his own easily.
"…so if people weren't so terrified and examined the evidence there would be absolutely no way for the church to deny the existence of other worlds" He finished unable to keep the excitement out of his voice.
"You know, you would be wise not to tell me about this. How do you know I won't go straight to the Magesterium? I can guess what Edward would make of it." She said.
Asriel shrugged again. He'd been foolish not to consider it, he supposed. Asriel was sure Mrs Coulter was entirely ruthless enough to let the authorities know about his philosophical views to be rid of a political rival but somehow, he knew she wouldn't.
"If I was arrested you'd be bored again?" He said, with a shrug. "We're alike, you know, we're both stifled. We have wealth, power, influence but one world isn't enough for people like us."
She looked taken aback. They both knew what Asriel had said was entirely apt.
"Well, perhaps" She said, inclining her head.
Her answer wasn't entirely satisfactory but then again, everything she had said was utterly enigmatic. Lord Asriel had never met someone so difficult to read but he was certain of one thing, he had finally met his match.