Chapter Two ~ Dinner
Greetings were brief. Uncle Benjamin came down soon after and ushered everyone into the dinning room. It felt weird today. Everything felt rushed. It didn't help with everyone's lack of explanation about what was so special about this evening. I decided to leave it and carry on as normal.
At the table, Uncle sat at the head with Loveday to his left and Mr De Noir to his right. It was an odd sight to see. Going on the fact not so long back they hated each other and now they were chatting as if they were the best of friends.
I sat beside Loveday with Mrs Heliotrope on the other side of me. Though both of them were too preoccupied with their other halves. Loveday joined in on her father's and Uncle Benjamin's conversations, her eyes never really leaving the latter's face. Whilst Mrs Heliotrope would be constantly trying to get Digweed's attention whilst he was in and out of the room, serving food, and then flirting with him in a somewhat childish manner. I wasn't too bothered. As long as she was happy.
Robin sat next to his father, opposite me, and Mr Gomez sat on the other side of him. I didn't know what to make of Mr Gomez. He seemed quite cheerful but I was still unsure why he was here. And I didn't want to come out and ask him as that would just be rude of me. I observed him as I ate and I soon found that he and Robin had an odd relationship. It was almost a brotherly bond. Watching them reminded me of Robin's band of bandits and I wondered what ever had happened to them. I never seemed to see them much whenever I was in the forest and with Robin.
Since I saved Moonacre, I spent a lot of time with Robin. He was very keen on showing me more of the forest and some of his little hide aways. I had to admit though, despite the fact I didn't enjoy the country as much as some, I had fun trailing the woods with the De Noir boy. It also seemed that everyone else did aswell, Loveday and Mrs Heliotrope especially. Those two never stopped the encouragement for me to spend time with Robin, insisting that I was young and I should have fun whilst I could. I was very suspicious of them both.
"Are you enjoying your food, Maria?" Mrs Heliotrope's voice broke me trail of thought. I looked up and immediately found Robin's eyes. For the short moment our eyes were held there I felt my heart speed up slightly and I turned to Mrs Heliotrope with a blush creeping onto my normally pale cheeks. "It seems as though Marmaduke cannot fail." She said before shoving a fork full of food into her mouth. She then turned to me and smiled, her face bulging with it's contents.
"Mr Gomez, are you enjoying the food?" Loveday's gracious voice asked. The man next to Robin looked up and smiled in Loveday's direction.
"This is some of the best food I've ever had, I must say." He admitted. "I must thank you for your hospitality, Sir Benjamin."
"There's no need, Mr Gomez." Uncle said pleasantly. "You are a welcomed guest in this home."
"Thank you again, Mr Merryweather."
"How long have you been in Moonacre for anyway?" Uncle asked suddenly. "I don't mean to seem rude, it's just I guessed that you are not originally from here?" Mr Gomez smiled and to my relief he didn't seem offended.
"I have been living with the De Noir clan for about" He paused and turned to Robin, who was drinking out his goblet. "18 years now." Uncle began to cough as he choked slightly on his drink he was in mid-gulp with. Mr Gomez's words had stunned him.
"18 years?" He asked again, once he had recovered.
"Yes, I believe so." Mr Gomez confirmed. "I have been Master De Noir's tutor since he came into this world."
"His tutor?" Mrs Heliotrope asked. Mr Gomez nodded.
"How come we've not heard of you before?" I asked suddenly, but immediately regretted opening my mouth. It seemed that every eye around that table turned to me.
"That would be my doings." Coeur de Noir spoke. "Mr Gomez is from a country far from here and I wanted to keep his identity a secret as he is not supposed to be here." He took a mouth full of his drink and then put it down, wiping the escaped liquid from around his mouth. "I was too busy with other things to bring up two children. Loveday had already matured enough and was out doing her own thing when Robin was born so I arranged for Mr Gomez to become his tutor." He turned to my uncle. "I hope this is not a problem, Sir Benjamin."
"Of course not." Uncle dismissed. "What brought you to Moonacre, Mr Gomez?"
"My homeland was destroyed, I retreated with my family to find a new home."
"Where are your family now?" I asked, warily. He must of sensed me reluctance and smiled sadly at me, creating wrinkles next to his mouth.
"They did not make it to Moonacre with me." A feeling of overwhelming sympathy warmed over me. His home was taken away from him and his family were gone. He was forced to move to a strange country and adapt the best he could. I felt empathy towards him. This was much like I had felt when I first moved to Moonacre. Though of course I had the advantage of Mrs Heliotrope, Mr Gomez did not. I felt sorry for him.
"I'm sorry." I apologised quickly, afraid that I had downed the mood with my question. He shook his head.
"Do not worry, my child." He smiled. "What's done is done. That was all a long time ago." The room was silent for a few moments before normal conversation resumed. Mrs Heliotrope seemed very eager now to ask Mr Gomez questions. She asked a lot about his tutoring methods for Robin and soon the pair were sharing ideas. I smiled slightly and sighed.
"Something up, princess?" A voice asked. I looked up into the deep brown eyes of Robin. I shrugged.
"I'm just thinking about home." I admitted. His face dropped slightly.
"But you are home." He said quietly.
"I mean my old home. Back in London." He nodded.
"You're not thinking of moving back, are you?" I paused for a few seconds watching him. Then I grinned.
"Of course not." I replied. Robin returned my grin with one of his mocking ones. Strangely enough, his smile made me perk up, which I doubt was what Robin intended to do. This was the same boy who had tried to kidnap me several times some time not so long back.
"Ahh, Robin. I forgot to tell you." Coeur de Noir's voice spoke suddenly. Robin turned his gaze to his father next to him. "Your uncle and cousin Henry are coming to Moonacre, I got the letter this morning."
"Why?" Robin asked bluntly.
"For a visit." Coeur de Noir shrugged. He then turned to the rest of us. "Robin and Loveday's uncle is my late wife's brother. We haven't really spoken since my wife's death. If I'm honest, I'm not too fond of that side of the family." He shoved a forkful of food into his mouth and grumbled something inaudible.
"I haven't seen cousin Henry in ages." Loveday muttered. "He still the arrogant air head brat we all know?" From the tone of the De Noir's they were not fond of their visiting relatives.
"I couldn't say." Coeur de Noir replied. "Like I said, all I got was a letter out of no where informing me of their upcoming visit to see us."
"They're probably after something." Robin nodded. The other two De Noir's agreed with him.
"People change, maybe your relatives have altered their ways." Uncle tried. Loveday shot him a look that dismissed his comment instantly.
"Darling, when you meet them, you'll understand." Loveday warned.
After dinner, Marmaduke came out the kitchen to greet everyone with a tray of biscuits and cakes. I grabbed a couple of cakes from it and excused myself for a moment. I then headed upstairs and up to my room. Ducking in through the tiny door I entered my room and plonked myself on my bed next to where Syrena lay sleeping. I petted her gently until her ears perked up and she yawned. Syrena couldn't get enough of Marmaduke's cakes. I knew it probably wasn't right to feed her them, but Marmaduke had promised that she would be fine. She nibbled on the tiny cake I held out to her, getting her whiskers covered in icing.
"Some of Loveday's relatives will be coming soon, Syrena." I said gently. "So we must be on our best behaviour for when they arrive." I stroked her lightly and sighed. "I bet they're nice people, you know. No matter what they all say." Syrena nibbled away silently. "I mean, at first I thought Robin and Mr De Noir were bad people. I don't think that anymore. And they're from the same family." There was a light knock on my bedroom door which startled me. I quickly got to my feet and went to open it. Loveday stood at the door. "Maria, my dear." She smiled.
"Is there something the matter?" I asked, worried.
"I was about to ask you the same thing." Loveday replied. "You left suddenly."
"I was just giving Syrena some cake." I nodded to where Syrena still was, eating away at the remaining crumbs. Loveday smiled in relief.
"I thought something was wrong. That's why I came up to check."
"I'm fine."
"Are you coming back down to say goodnight?" I nodded and followed her down the spiral staircase. As we headed back down to the others, I had the urge to ask Loveday about her relatives and the exchange at dinner.
"Loveday," I began. Loveday smiled down at me, waiting for me to continue. "How come you're not fond of your uncle and cousin? What have they done? If you don't mind me asking."
"Not at all, my child." Loveday reassured. "They haven't done anything in particular, I just do not like their attitude. They are rude, arrogant and sleazy. I would not trust them with anything as they would probably just take it and throw it back in my face."
"I can't wait to meet them." I muttered. Loveday put an arm around me and smiled.
"You may like them. You have a gift for taking the goodness out of people. You have done with my brother." We got to the foot of the steps and I turned to look at her. She had a knowing smile on her face.
"Don't start with your whole love matching nonsense." I sighed.
"You know I will not stop until you admit your feelings for my baby brother."
"I'm afraid you'll be waiting a long time, Loveday." She prodded me in the side with her finger. We entered the dinning room, where Coeur de Noir, Mr Gomez and Robin were preparing to leave.
"Thank you, Sir Benjamin for your hospitality. It is much appreciated." Coeur de Noir beamed, shaking hands with Uncle. "Perhaps we could do this again?"
"Certainly." Uncle nodded. The goodbyes were just as brief as the greetings.
Everyone headed out into the hallway to send the De Noir party on their way. "What are you doing tomorrow, princess?" Robin asked before he headed out to their carriage.
"I've not quite planned that far ahead. Why do you ask?" I replied, smiling up at him, trying my hardest to keep any abnormality out of my voice. I was aware of the small crowd behind us, talking amongst each other, apparently not listening to our exchange.
"Well, I'm not doing anything either." He began, a smile playing on his lips. "So how about we nothing together?" I bit my lip hard, so a childish grin wouldn't appear on my face making me look a complete fool.
"Sure." I nodded. "Sounds like fun."
"Good. I'll meet you at the usual spot at 11." He gave me one last smile before heading out to his carriage after his father.
(A/N) Thank you everyone who has read and reviewed my story so far. They are very very very much appreciated! :)
I would also like to add, if you think how I'm portaying the characters is a little OOC then please tell me! I really want to try get this story right and without just making the characters completely unlike they are in book or the film. I really hate that! :/
Please feel free to comment on my story. Like I said in the previous chapter, bad or good reviews are welcome. I'm good at taking criticism. :)
-jemlou-