Home Sweet New Home ( Meggera / Jam )

[shava444]

Today was going to be huge, gigantic really in so many ways. Meggera had no idea what surprises lay inside and what he had to explain, but she was going to be his wife and he had already promised information. Soon she would understand a lot more then she had expected to learn. But, for now he had to manage to get her there first and let her understand. He was therefore in the courtyard early enough and had told her to dress casual. His version of casual was of course not for everyone, but it was paid for. And really, that was in a vague way what this trip was about today too, finances and 'paying the bills.' She just didn't realize that yet.

When she reached the courtyard he nodded in her direction saying "Good Morning, Meggera! We seem to have beaten my mother here so let's meet her partway down." Holding out a hand for hers, he led the way out of the courtyard and down the path to meet her on the way up. As he did so (since one could not appirate on the grounds of Hogwarts) he spoke to her, trying to explain some things in advance. "I'm going to go on the assumption, I think a fairly safe one, that you have never been to Cokeworth. It's not exactly a place to take the daughter of an ambassador or internationals either." He shrugged, a bit amused.

"The muggles built it around a new mill for lots of construction work and it housed only the workers, so it's uniform, dull, boring, and pretty dirty. Now that the mill is shut down it's also poor. Some smart minded folks in the magical community bought up a lot of homes in it early on so there are some fairly older magic homes here, but scattered." They walked on and about the time they could see the gate at the bottom of the path they could see his mother down there, waiting for them. "Ah there she is. Anyway, it's where my grandfather moved us long before I was born from an older home under threat by muggle construction. It was easier to blend in of course."


As they got almost within her hearing he added "So in other words, the outside looks pretty bad, the inside looks very nice. Just warning you." When they reached his mother she put her hands out for his and brought him in for a brief kiss, a mother's prerogative and then turned to Meggera. While they had only met once before, she might or might not have noticed how pleased his mother looks to see her. With a "Good morning Ms Tepes! All ready to go see that everything is in order?" Her eyes took them in together and her face was definitely warm as she took a hand of each and appirated them to the edge of the city in the dim dawn still here. She led the way, Jamison recapturing Meggera's hand for the walk.

"Not pretty place is it?" he followed his mother who walked steadily down the sidewalk and saw no one on the street at this hour. "This particular street is called Spinner's Lane. It is the exclusive street here for wizarding homes. The side streets are muggle, the mainway here for those of us who can afford a much more exclusive area." She looked back "Front I assume, Jamison?" "Yes mother." Compared to the side streets they passed, this one was clear of trash and not as grimy, but still not a place with pretty grass and flowers.

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[Meggera Tepes]

Meggera had woken up early that morning. She couldn't help it, her curiosity wouldn't let her sleep. Today was the day Jamison was taking her to see his house, he had also promised to answer some of the questions she had asked. Once she had finished getting ready she still had time to spare so she ended up playing violin for a few minutes after putting a silencing charm around her bed so she wouldn't disturb the girls in her dorm. It helped to ease her nerves a bit.

Once it was almost time she put away her violin, put on a light jacket, and made her way down to the courtyard. She was still a little early but Jamison was there already waiting for her. His mother hadn't arrived yet though it seemed. “Good morning.” she said in response with a small smile in greeting. He suggested that they meet his mother halfway and held out a hand for hers. Thats right, she needed to get used to walking hand in hand with him. She placed her hand in his and he led the way down towards the main gates of the school. She shook her head, “No, I haven't. Honestly I hadn't heard of Cokeworth until you mentioned it.” she said.

Not a big shock, she was technically a foreigner after all. She was familiar with the major cities, but not all of them. He went of to describe it for her as dull, boring, and dirty. Definitely not a place most people would like to be, but apparently a haven for older Wizarding houses due to how easy it was to blend in there. But the warning was helpful so she wouldn't be shocked when they arrived. His mother was down at the main gate and kissed Jamison when they approached. “Good morning Mrs. Smith. Yes, I think I am.” she said with a pleasant smile to her before she took them both by the hand and aparated them to what she assumed must be the city Jamison had told her about.

It certainly was a dreary looking place, especially in the current light. Everything seemed to be grey in color. She looked at him as he pointed out the street name as they walked behind his mother down the empty street after he had recaptured her hand. This street was certainly the cleanest as far as she could see. She nodded, “You didn't exaggerate.” she said softly, glancing around as they walked. She was glad she had put on a light jacket as the street was somewhat chilly, or maybe that was just the impression all the grey had on her.

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Outfit: www.polyvore.com/flower_blue/set?id=31655163
Tag: Jamison

[shava444]

Her voice was soft and she pulled her coat a touch closer. Seeing that, Jamison slipped off his leather jacket and slipped it around her shoulders saying "There, that should help. I'm used to it here. Not pleasant is it? But no one ever comes around looking for magic and people keep to their own business. Good cover." The house looked like all the rest but as they stepped inside it was clearly different. First there was a short painted hall, a fireplace behind the door itself (running keeping the hall toasty) and a door ten feet in front of them. Once they were all in and the door shut, his mother said "I shall get us some tea started, When you are ready come on down, Jamison," and she led the way through the single door. "This way we have floo and appiration inside the house, but no farther in. It's kept plain just in case of muggles."

Letting her keep the jacket for the moment, Jamison motioned for her to follow into the main house. As he shut the second door behind them, his mother had already vanished from sight through one of the concealed panels. The room itself was filled with several large packing crates, clearly being either filled or emptied of old wood paneling. "They are taking out a lot of old wood work, kind of valuable, but it was too dark and dingy in here for me. Wallpapers and light paints, I think. I'll show you some of the main rooms here before we go up, just to give you an idea..." The rooms were slightly cool, but not cold, mostly as clearly they were in the process of being worked on. Stepping in through one doorway the furniture had been removed, but all the rest was brown painted and much in need of fresh paint.

It was clearly an older home in need of the touch up. "Some of them like this one had some good classic elements in the designs, but the colors are about sixty years out of date, whereas," he led the way into the next room and pointed out the black oak paneling centered around this huge pair of beautiful windows made like old leaded glass ones, "This one has these great windows, but because of the paneling it looks drab even with all the light." The windows looked out upon a huge grassy lawn which seemed to go for miles. he stopped and looked out of them a second then turned to give her a smile. "All the windows in the house are magic and make it look much better, naturally."

Taking her through a few other typical rooms, it was soon clear all the rooms downstairs were getting work and the furniture was either removed or all piled into one room, covered in cloths he showed her too. "Just so you see how much is going on," he said cheerfully and then led her down a hall into the back of the house. as he opened the door he added "I'm not messing with this one at all." Letting her walk in first, the massive room didn't fail to impress. Grinning at her face he said softer "I thought this room might help you like the idea of all this a bit more. Grandfather saved it from an old tear down long ago and then moved ever book from the family home into it."

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[Meggera Tepes]

She was pleasantly surprised when he slipped his leather jacket around her shoulders. She pulled it close to her to block the chill and shook her head. “Thank you. I’m surprised how different the cold feels here.” she said. It was nothing compared to a Romanian winter, but she had gotten used to the weather in Brighton far more the she realized. The house they came to looked like all the others surrounding it, shed have to remember the number or find some marker if she ever came this way..else she might passing it accidentally.

The first thing she noticed was the painted hallway once they stepped inside. Then the warmth that was a nice contrast from outside. She nodded at his explanation at the precautions in case they had muggles inside. “Makes sense. So none of the other fireplaces in the house hooked to the floo network? At least you wouldn’t have to worry about the soot.” she said, just to clarify for herself really. She wasn’t a fan of travel by floo powder. It was far too messy for her. And it kept people coming in the wrong entrance too, which was good. That happened to her father once with their house as the previous owner had a few fireplaces hooked up throughout the house.

She followed him into the main part of the house, wondering briefly how many of those hidden panels there were in the house that his mother had vanished behind. She looked at all the large packing crates with wood in them as he explained about the old dingy woodwork being removed in favor of something brighter. She nodded as she followed him through the rooms that were being worked on, some that just needed some fresh paint, others that need a bit more fixing up. She listened as he spoke about the rooms having good classic elements, but being a bit out of date, nodding as they went.

She was fairly impressed by the windows though, she liked the look of them quite a bit actually. “Mmmhmm, the windows could really be something fabulous without the paneling.” she said, moving to look out the magic window at the grassy lawn that seemed to stretch on forever. “I see. I like them.” she said with a small smile back at him. Magic windows made it seem like the house was in a much more pleasant location.

He took her through a few other rooms that were being worked on to show her how much the house was being worked on and repaired before summer. It certainly was quite a bit of work to touch up an old house. One never realized how much until seeing the process. When he led her down a hallway she expected at first another room like the others until he said he wasn’t changing it. One step inside could tell her why in an instant.

The room was massive, with columns, artwork, and marble floors. She let out a small gasp when she noticed the book shelves and walked farther into the room. “This is…an amazing library.” she said in a slightly breathless voice. The library at her home wasn’t nearly as large or elaborate. It was more of a study in all honesty. It was the kind of room that made her want to stay in there forever, just to find out how many different books they had. If she was younger she might have even tried to put a small bed in here so she would never have to leave, but that was silly of course.

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Outfit: www.polyvore.com/flower_blue/set?id=31655163
Tag: Jamison[/quote]

[shava444]

Nodding, he added "It's both early and there's not much that looks warm around here either. That certainly doesn't help. Unfortunately that's how we hide in the open in our world..." She seemed to like the fireplace a lot more then outside and he didn't blame her really. "Just the one. Mostly I think to make it possible for Ministry workers or people from the shop who need approvals on paperwork." Jamison himself had only traveled that was twice and he didn't care for it much either. Appiration didn't sound like a lot of fun, but you couldn't do everything on a broom everywhere.

"Someone in the past hooked each set of windows in a room up to a different set of gardens around England. It's rather like living in a park in some ways long as you don't go outside expecting to breath in fresh flowers." When she gasped he chuckled and felt like pounding the air, she probably would not have noticed. "It's from somewhere back in the 1800s I think I heard and when they bought it from the old mansion the went ahead and moved it here. Took a lot of people and a lot of magic I think." He walked past her and turned around in the space, waved at one of the ceiling painting figures who waved back. Ravenclaws. If he couldn't her into a bed after this temptation he should turn in his green house badge.

"One of my great great aunts loved plants so probably a fourth of these are all on plants, but there is a good selection. When the five main rooms are open and then one connected to them a party of three hundred can circulate rather easily, that was their idea in the layout. A few dances have taken place in here as well." Slipping an arm around her waist he whispered "Come, let me show you to your room. You can stop back in here before we leave, I promise." Chuckling, he led her upstairs to the suite. While most of the rooms here were the same as downstairs in works, the suite itself was close to being finished. The main room itself was stripped of furniture, but the walls were done.

"This will be our main room, my door is over there, but it's not completed yet. I had them hurry up yours and the bathroom first off." Leading her to the door on the other side of the bed he opened it and let her go through. The room itself was simple, though he frowned at the teddy bear wondering what that was about. His mother had some odd ideas about things sometimes. "My mother wanted you to have some decently feminine furniture so I let her do this room. Hopefully it's all right. You may want to redo the order of things in the wardrobe, but that can be done anytime of course." He let her look for a minute, being sure to stay near the door so as not to intrude and then pointed to the bathroom.

"Through here," he said opening the door "is the bathroom itself. We each have a door and there is a lock on it for when you are by yourself of course." Fortunately it looked like they had done a nice job in here. He could really hardly wait to see his room finished! He checked her face, wondering if she was worried already about the fact they would share a bathroom. It surely made more sense to begin to get used to someone in your space in advance of the real deal!

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[Meggera Tepes]

She was in awe of the library. She really was. She hadn't expected his house to have something like this, or anything that would actually appeal to her at all really. As one of the paintings on the ceiling waved back at Jamison she smirked slightly for a moment before her eyes continued to explore the space. There was something interesting in nearly every corner of the room it seemed. From the paintings, to the columns, to the books and the marble floor. She smirked slightly when he said a fourth of the books might be on plants. That was fine with her, especially if there were some on healing herbs specifically.

She wasn't to keen on leaving the library just yet, she wanted to explore it for a bit, but he came over and slipped his arm around her waist to lead her off elsewhere. He did promise they would come back before the visit was over though, so that was ok. She had missed where he said they were going next though because of her distracted state due to the library. They were heading upstairs though so she could venture a few guesses as to their next stops. He showed her the main room first, it was pretty much empty for now, but it was going to be their room when it was finished. It was a tad hard to connect the link to this room being their bedroom without all the furniture, but it still felt a little odd none the less. He pointed out his door on one side of the room, but it wasn't done yet apparently so he showed her what would be her room on the other side.

It was a simple room, a bit brighter in color then her room at her fathers house, but nice none the less. She liked the small vanity, it reminded her of one she had at home. She was somewhat amused at the teddy bear though, and somewhat glad they had left her kitten with James at home. She was fairly certain the bear wouldn't have lasted long with her kitten in the room. “Its a nice room. You're mother certainly knows how to make one feel comfortable.” she said as she looked around the room a bit. It was a light comfortable room, something she could get used to easily.

He showed her the bathroom next, it was a nice light blue room, very open and light feeling as well. Though she was a little worried about sharing a bathroom, she was a little relieved when he said there were locks on the doors. She had shared a bathroom before, of course. You had to at Hogwarts, but like everything else, this was extremely different. She walked around a little, looking at the dual sinks and the window by the tub. It really was a nice bathroom.

“Everything looks very nice so far. A lot brighter then I expected, not that its a bad thing of course...” she said, using the looking around to hide the fact that she was biting her lip nervously a bit. She had been desperately trying to break that nervous habit, but hadn't yet succeeded. Things were changing a lot for both of them. It was nerve wracking, for her at least. So many things would be different this coming summer. She would be in a new house getting ready to get married, be sharing a bathroom with her future husband, and who knows what else would be changing over this small span of time.

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Outfit: www.polyvore.com/flower_blue/set?id=31655163
Tag: Jamison

[shava444]

Her comments about the room made him breath a sigh of some small relief. "Oh good, I was hoping so. And I looked up the windows in here and the suite. They all over look a garden at Sissinghurt Castle, yours over the rose arbor, in case you were curious." After all, a lady was supposed to have certain things, right? She seemed nervous in the bathroom and he leaned against the tub a moment as she walked around. "I'm not doing something wrong am I? Brighter is, in my opinion, much better for a person to begin with. Dark woods and such can be impressive, but lighter colors and fabrics are more fashion in a way..."

He listened to her, wondering what else he could do at the time and place they were in. "Well, maybe some tea will help. Find the green dress you were speaking about and we'll take it down with us so I can try matching it while you sit down for a bit. It's almost time for me to show you my big change anyway." They went back into her room and he waited politely out of the way near the exit door till she found what she was looking for. he offered to carry it over one arm, of course, as he was a gentleman. Then they stepped out into the hall outside the suite, but instead of turning to the stairs, he went the opposite way. "Come, we'll use the back stairs."

Leading her to the wall he pressed on the panel which was well hidden and the door swung open. Instead of a servant's hall though they were standing on a nicely white stairway which was complete. After he had led her down, he pointed at another wall spot and they walked over and he pushed a second panel open. "This stair is just for family, a way of changing floors without guests following or seeing. Now we'll go through the servants hall." The hallway on the other side was very plain and brick and wood lightly painted. Windows here looked out on the real city of greys.

Into the kitchen he led her and pulled out a chair at the small table which had tea set up on it already. Jamison's mother at the stove smiled and retrieved an old iron kettle and came over, pouring three cups of tea with sugar and cream already on the table. It was a very plain and undecorated set of each, with mismatched cups. After he had carefully hung her dress in the next room, Jamison came and sat down. With a sigh, and a glance at his mother he reached over and took one of her hands in both of his. "Well this is it. Neither of us has ever shared this secret before, but you are about to find out why it was so important that I accept your grandfather's invitation so rapidly."

Mrs Smith sat in the other chair across from Meggera and put down a small plate of biscuits as she nodded, a slightly sad look upon her face as she fixed her own tea. "I'm afraid I must have your word that you will never whisper of it to anyone else without my express permission."

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[Meggera Tepes]

Her window magically looking out over the rose arbor was nice. She enjoyed flowers and would probably end up drawing the view from the window at some point in the future. She shook her head lightly, “No, nothing wrong at all. I'm used to the darker colors being present in older houses. Its actually a bit refreshing to have a bit of brightness. It's nice and relaxing.” she said with a small shrug, leaning lightly against one of the sinks for a moment until he suggested some tea and locating the dress she had told him about.

She nodded and went back into her new room to look for it. It was hanging with the rest of her dresses in the amour and was quite easy to locate because of the dresses white and green stripes. She glanced at the line of clothes, making a mental note to rearrange the order of them a bit later, before grabbing a light pink quarter sleeved cardigan and draping it over it for a moment. She knew she had shoes and a purse to match it and it might look good all put together. She usually liked to try the whole outfit on to make sure, but she didn't want to make a fuss or take to much time so she merely fixed the cardigan over the shoulders of the dresses hanger.

She made her way back over to the door where he was waiting for her where he let him carry the dress for her. She was somewhat surprised at the secret staircase hidden behind a wall that he said was just for family use to go between floors without guests following or seeing them. He then took her through the servants hall which was much more plain and the windows looked out onto the real city. They entered into the kitchen and he pulled a chair out for her at the table which she took with a soft thank you, looking around. The kitchen here was very different then the one at her house, but then again she rarely saw her kitchen so she would hardly be able to compare. She thanked his mother for the tea and couldn't help but notice the mismatched cups as she added a bit of the sugar to her tea as she waited for Jamison to sit down.

She was now about to find out what he had promised to tell her though, as he stated after taking one of her hands in his. She glanced at his mothers sad look as she sat down before looking back to Jamison curiously. This must certainly be something big to cause all this need for secrecy and sadness on his mothers part. She nodded slowly, “You have it.” she said slowly, unsure if she should smile or not at the moment. The atmosphere had turned so serious it seemed, and it didn't seem like the time for smiles.

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Outfit: www.polyvore.com/flower_blue/set?id=31655163
Tag: Jamison

[shava444]

There had to be something else then the idea of colors and shades, but he wasn't going to push it at the moment because he thought it might have something to do with what was coming in the future. As if seeing the space brought it another step closer, that much surer. He would have to push her comfort levels quite a bit over the summer when she returned, make she got the idea beforehand. Once they were in the kitchen however, and she had given him her word while wearing the ring as well, some of his tension ebbed a bit though it did not go away. Better still his phrasing did not sound like a command but it was one, another incidental lie in a way.

Jamison was an accomplished liar and revealing even parts of a ploy made him edgy. This secret was one of many wrapped around the contract, but it was one of the biggest as even her family did not know of it's darker nature. To understand though, and possibly open her up more potentially, he needed her to hear it in this setting. "My grandfather was a very hard man. Like your grandfather he was brought up and lived through much more conservative times and survived the war as well, making moves to keep the family business solid and the family solvent, though he was one of the last."

Taking a sip of his tea as a delay, he swallowed and then put his hand back on hers, slowly running his fingers across her hand. "My father did not grow up the same way, I really don't know how he managed, but he didn't do anything his father liked. I don't know when the idea occurred to him, but once my father was married and I was born, he managed to separate us and told my father he was being skipped for inheritance." A rueful face. "Basically he disowned him, but not his child in a way. My father left furious and we've not heard from him since, though he is in South America somewhere at last check."

Mrs Smith spoke up then, picking up part of the story as she sat back in the chair, sipping her tea. "Mr Smith told me I had to move into the house and raise Jamison on my own. In exchange for his being able to control his education, he would let me work in the store in the time he was teaching him. I was given no money, only the roof above my head and a job to earn money with." She met Meggera's eyes with a face full of sadness for those days. "What choice did I have? No husband, no income, all my family dowry already signed over to Jamison's future inheritance. I had to."

Another sip. "It's a terrible job with no raises because he was from an older time. A woman without a husband was to him very bad, despite the fact it was family. He restricted us to the servant's quarters and began using day servants who never were here except when we were gone during the day. For fourteen years we were restricted from the rest of the house until he died." Jamison nodded, watching Meggera to see if she had any questions as they told this rather scandalous story really. "Of course if anyone had heard it would have had us out on the street and the shop would suffer, hurting us even more. No choice at all really. When he died the lawyer explained that by his will, I was now the owner, but I wasn't allowed to make any decisions or access the family money till I turned seventeen."

A slight squeeze of her hand, his face much more hopeful. "Then your grandfather's letter arrived."

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[Meggera Tepes]

Meggera sipped her tea before Jamison started telling the tale. So this was why he had wanted to wait to tell her, until after she saw the house and in private with his mother present as well to fill in her side of the story. So the image Jamison gave at school had been an illusion all these years, living in the servants quarters, his mother barely making enough money to support them. Basically locked out of the family money even after his grandfather had died. Honestly it almost made her situation seem not as bad. Her grandfather was certainly a bastard at times (though she would never say so out loud) but his seemed even worse.

She didn't know what to say. She hadn't expected anything like this when he had told her the story would have to wait. Her grandfathers letter must have seemed like a god send in the financial department for them, knowing him he had offered quite a nice allowance if Jamison accepted the offer. “So you both have been essentially stuck in a hole all this time, while managing to hide it from the world.” she said, looking back and forth between them. It was quite impressive actually, being able to keep something like that hidden for so long and keep up appearances as well.

It certainly was not a happy situation, especially for his mother as one could tell by the look on her face during the telling of the story. Could she really blame him for accepting so quickly once given the chance to better the circumstances at his home? No, of course she couldn't. In a similar situation she might have done the same to help her family...

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Outfit: www.polyvore.com/flower_blue/set?id=31655163
Tag: Jamison

(sorry its so short xD my brain isnt working right)

[shava444]

Her first response was one he could deal with, certainly, though a part of him had hoped for more intense a reaction, but on afterthought he should have known. She wasn't a big emotional type, really, holding back all but what really threw her off. His mother nodded as he spoke "Yes. It's been very tight sometimes, but we've been lucky too. The scandal would still be embarrassing, but it would again hurt the store and thus us in the long run." He sipped again as his mother took a chance to say more.

"For appearances sake he let me bring home any outfits that would fit him that had damage, or needed work as they could not sell them, but they only needed a bit of work to make them usable. That's probably helped us the most." Jamison agreed. "Certainly had. And there is a loophole that if I was married before my seventeenth, something my grandfather had been thinking about contracting I believe, then I would have been allowed to use the house, but with no money to use for fixing it up."

"When your grandfather's letter arrived, he mentioned an allowance. At the time there was a girl who asked me to the ball, Ruby Holland. She's from one of the big hotel chains and her family has bought their way into quite a lot of status. So, I sort of fibbed and told your grandfather I had been contacted by them just before he had, made it sound like he might have some competition." he smiled slightly, but looked a tad embarrassed by the admission. This was the man's granddaughter however, no matter how much she might sympathize. "He immediately doubled the money and offered funds for the work on the house."

His mother smiled at that, patted her son on the arm while he flashed her a smile. Jamison appreciated getting praise as much as anyone did, but from those who knew the story like his mother it meant far more. "With that we're been able to set up the house to be fixed up the way I would like. Mother's family has a big company which does auctions around the world for both wizards and muggles and I sold the furniture off quietly with them. That income is going to help us with a few other things before the wedding which are also needed, but yes, I could not turn you down."

Now for the flattery part now the need was out there. "You're very beautiful, big family name, lots of history, but you're also a diplomat's daughter and used to watching out when at a party, keeping your eyes open. That fits my position extremely well, but when you told me about wanting to work with healers I was even happier! Anything that looks like charity, and who would expect a wealthy fashion icons wife to do anything for money, it's huge. It seems to me many of the things you wanted fit in so well with what I needed I didn't hesitate to move before something else happened."

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[Meggera Tepes]

She nodded and sipped her tea, processing all this new information that was so drastically different from what she had expected. Then again everything seemed to be that way in the past few weeks. She had expected him to be much different from the start off, clearly, and now her perceptions were turned on their head once again. He has essentially worked over her grandfather successfully to get him to offer more money while keeping up the image of a pampered rich boy to any onlooker for years. It was fairly impressive even if she did feel somewhat iffy about this in many ways.

Her grandfather had told her about the Holland offer of course and had told her to try and essentially seduce him. She was fairly useless at that sort of thing in her opinion so hadn't attempted anything but being pleasant, when apparently there had been no competition at all. She smirked slightly “I remember my grandfather mentioning that in one of his letters. Well done, there haven't been many who have pulled something like that off successfully.” she said with a small nod. Even though it had caused her quite a bit of stress at the time, at least she knew she wouldn't be assaulted in the corridors by some unhappy Holland girl for 'stealing' him away. That was a bit of a relief.

And then came the flattery. Like it would with any girl, it made her feel a bit better about the situation. One could almost start thinking, if they were of the melancholy sort, that the money had been all he was interested in after all this talk. Luckily Meggera wasn't one with that mind set, but any girl in her situation might wonder once or twice about it. So it was reassuring to say that least. “And here I thought all that would scare you away like the others. I severely misjudged you.” she said softly with a small chuckle before sipping her tea. She had, in a way, been worked over too. Yet, strangely enough, it didn't feel all that bad. She still got to do the things she wanted and wasn't going to have a husband who was 40 years old or worse. All in all, it was the best lot she'd been offered in quite a long time, despite the deception.

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Outfit: www.polyvore.com/flower_blue/set?id=31655163
Tag: Jamison

[shava444]

Jamison smiled slightly at her praise, but was quick to offer a very valid point. "Mind you, I wasn't trying to work against him, but I couldn't very well tell anyone the situation either. I hope as he learns later on what was happening he will understand the corner I was in." It had been not about greed either, but because of need; that should tamper things down rather well he hoped. He wasn't going to tell her grandfather till things were on much more firmer footing however. Admitting she had been trying to scare him off had him pat her hand slightly.

"I doubt your grandfather realized how well that ties in with the fashion world, but he did mention you had been a hard sell in one of the letters. Your father congratulated me for hanging in there as well. You must have been resisting rather well, he looked a bit relieved last time I saw him." And if she was accepting that they had all been played but for good reasons, not out of greed, then she would also be more accepting of him, if maybe cautious in the future.

He did have her under contract between them for four kids and freedom to be herself in exchange. He wondered how long that would take to sink into her mind.

When the tea was finished he stood and added "Well, let me show you those books and see what I may have that fits with your outfit. Mother, if you will excuse us, I'll take her to see my room." His mother nodded and poured herself a second cup of tea, watching as Jamison gave Meggera his arm and led her out into the servant's hall. Down to their right to one of the doors they had passed and he opened the door for her to proceed him in.

Theroom was plain with no decoration and about as poor feeling as anything she had seen before. There was one small bed and where another might have been placed was a rack of clothes, all fancier then anything he would have needed at school. At the foot of the bed though he picked up a box and set it on the bed, motioning for her to sit down on the bed. "Here we go," he said pulling out three small books from the stack, clearly for children even though they were all leather bound.

"That was you can read them first and see if they fit what you can send your brother. I doubt I will need them anytime soon," he said with a chuckle, careful not to look at her as he said it. She probably would interpret such a thing as his commenting on her future children of his. Stepping to the rack he glanced through several outfits before he pulled one slightly out and displayed it for her. "That might work, if I get mother to charm the shirt darker to more match your dress."

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[Meggera Tepes]

Meggera nodded, sipping at her tea again as he said he hadn’t been trying to work against her grandfather, but he hadn’t been at liberty to speak about his situation with him. She smirked slightly behind the tea cup when he mentioned her father had looked relieved last time Jamison had seen him. “Yes, I’ve managed to scare away quite a few men three times my age over the past few years. My father must have thought I was going to be a spinster at some point.” she said with tiny laugh before finishing her cup of tea. She nodded as he stood and excused them to go look at the books he said he might have for Jamie and to try to match an outfit to her dress.

She thanked his mother for the tea before standing and taking Jamison’s offered arm, trying not to hesitant about it, though she still felt odd doing so. She had expected him to lead her back to the main part of the house for some reason still, but was surprised when he led her to the servants hall even after his story, mainly because she hadn’t expected it to feel so small. She moved to sit on his bed to look at the books, but she couldn’t help but feel extremely awkward in here. It was his room after all, and it was much smaller then she would have expected. She tried not to focus on the tight quarters by flipping through the leather bound books as he looked through the rack with his clothes for something to match.

She wished she had some of these books when she was younger, they phrased things so nicely for the younger minds. “Yes, I think these will do well for Jamie.” she said with a small nod after flipping through all three of them. She looked up when he pulled a grey suite with a green shirt and tie out a bit and nodded. The grey would go well with the pink of her cardigan. “Mmmhmm I think so. The grey will look nice with my cardigan and shoes.” she said, placing the books between her and the box so she could cross her legs while sitting on his bed. She couldn’t keep herself from glancing around the room, trying to take in the smallness of it. She couldn’t imagine herself in such a small space permanently…. She wanted to say something about it, but didn’t quite know what because she didn’t want it to come across as rude. It bothered her though, it didn’t seem right for someone’s family to shove them in the servants quarters and let them barely get by.

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Outfit: www.polyvore.com/flower_blue/set?id=31655163
Tag: Jamison

[shava444]

The fact she could laugh even in a small way in front of him was also a good sign and he took it as such. "That certainly would explain it," he smiled and as they left the room, he saw his mother's gaze that she was thinking. About what he didn't know, but he wondered. In his room, he could not miss her reaction mainly because he had been covertly watching her for it.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it. You can help him prepare for it at least. They were passed down to me, who knows how many have had them." 'Keep seeing me as the good guy, I may have played you but now you think you know why and it's understandable. See yourself as in a good space and go with what happens...'

She agreed with his choice and he nodded, keeping it separate. Picking up the box he glanced through it, seeing her look around the room. "Pitiful, isn't it? To have so much space all around and be unable to use any of it. I never said I liked my grandfather, but the only way to survive was to follow what he said." He placed the box on the floor at the foot of the bed and looked at her before sitting on the other side of the books.

"I've already done this once or twice, but let me say it once again, Meggera. I apologize for the hurriedness of this entire affair and what all has been taken from you, but I could look at this a hundred times and not find an answer better in the same amount of time I'm afraid. I need you, in more ways then I can express." He looked up at her eyes, looking for her reaction, wondering on her thoughts. "I hope some day you may forgive me for this."

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