Captivation

By kmf

Chapter Three

After the initial shock of finding out the gossip that was circulating about her, Relena had isolated herself in her room at Sanq Hall. However it was not her nature to hide from adversity and after two hours of wallowing in self-pity, she emerged determined to face her accusers and refute any lies they had to say about her.

Unfortunately, that is not the way small town gossips work. People would smile at her and talk to her assuring Relena that they believed none of the dreadful rumours, but as soon as Relena left they would add their own version of events to those circulating. Relena found herself in an almost impossible situation. It was said that she was being too bold by standing her ground and that she should go away until all the rumours faded as they would in time. But then it was said that if she left it would be a sure sign that she was with child and had shame to hide.

After a most frustrating day in the village trying to refute the rumours, Relena had returned to the hall tired and a little depressed. Why was it that nothing went smoothly in life. She almost wished that she had never come to East Sussex and that she was still in Macau in China. However, if she had she would never have met Heero Yuy and that was not something that she would like to consider. To be with him she would put up with almost anything, including malicious rumours.

Hilde was very supportive. She had visited as soon as she was acquainted with the current rumours and assured Relena that it would be in time forgotten. Catherine, who was now on her feet and back to her normal duties, was a little unsure. She pointed out that a person of normal standing could be certain that rumours would fade in time, but because Relena was the sister of a noble man then the stigma may remain with her for longer. After all, the case was being reported on in London and it was not as if it was just the locals who had to be dealt with. Relena found this a little disconcerting, but appreciated Catherine,s honesty.

Catherine had found a place in the hearts of Millardo and Lucrezia for her bravery and they had moved her to a much larger room, next to Relena,s. Catherine was more a family member than a servant and whilst grateful for the advancement, had her own troubles because of it. Her rise in station had irritated some of the servants below stairs and Catherine was now becoming used to having smoky fires in her room. She made no fuss, however, believing that Relena had enough on her hands. She did not want her mistress to become involved in the squabble under stairs. And at this point, Catherine was not sure that the servants would listen to Relena.

Since Millardo had gone the attitude of the servants had changed. It was well known that the Marchioness was only the daughter of a general and as such was not particularly high on the social scale. Lucrezia was too kind sometimes, she asked for things instead of telling and some of her staff were not above taking advantage. Really, it all stemmed from the Housekeepers attitude. Mrs Sylvia Noventa all but encouraged the maids and footmen to be slack and slovenly whilst Millardo was away.

To distract themselves on the day of the funeral Relena, Catherine and Hilde chose to observe Trowa painting Rashid. Quatre had commissioned a portrait of himself and his head bodyguard on the background of a vista of the gardens at Sanq Hall. Initially Quatre had tried to commission portraits of each of his bodyguards, but Trowa had declined the commission on the basis that he did not want such repetitious work. Trowa had agreed to paint Quatre and Rashid together, and also a landscape of Sanq Hall with the other bodyguards represented in that. Quatre had agreed at once, but was yet to pose for his part of his portrait.

Quatre had gone to the funeral. He had tried to explain why to Relena who in turn assured him that it caused her no offence at all. In fact she wished she could attend, but she felt that would be too much for Dorothy to bear. Quatre had silently agreed to this, but then offered to accompany her on a visit to Dorothy after the funeral. Relena had not told Quatre of her plan to ask Dorothy for permission to allow the workhouse children attend a school and had at once told him of her plan. He had smiled and assured her it was a great plan and that he was sure that Dorothy would agree to it.

"Do you think tomorrow would be too early for us to visit?" Relena had asked "I do not want to offend her, but I am so very keen to help the children as soon as I can."

"I am sure Lady Catalonia will welcome the distraction." Quatre assured her.

Relena had also invited Wufei to spend the day with her, but he was increasingly drawing away from her. He refused giving an excuse of having to prepare a sermon. Relena knew this to be a falsehood as she had already heard from her father that Wufei had expressed the desire not to preach until he had wrestled with his crisis of faith.

Dr Barry had also been invited but he declined, as he had wanted to take advantage of the fine weather to go fishing. It was Dr Barry,s intention to quit Sanq Hall as his patients were all on the mend, and he wanted to take advantage of the sporting opportunities of the quiet countryside before returning to the sea.

Lucrezia was resting that afternoon. Her pregnancy was making her very tired of late, even though her stomach was still completely flat. Dr Barry had told her to rest when she felt tired and follow her body,s own demands. And so she did, and she looked much better for doing so. Relena thought it lucky that Lucrezia was in the enviable position of not having to do cooking and cleaning and was so able to rest as she wished.

Trowa had set up his painting equipment in the great ballroom. The light in that room was the best; the room faced south and had many tall bay windows. Rashid was standing tall and stiff, for once not at Quatre,s side. Quatre had taken two other guards in Rashid,s place so that Trowa could proceed with the portrait. Rashid was wearing his traditional costume, his hand gripped the hilt of his scimitar, the other pointed across his body towards his right. Relena peeped at what Trowa had painted so far and saw that Quatre was sketched out beside Rashid and she assumed that Rashid,s pose indicated that Rashid protected Quatre or that Quatre was his master.

The women had come armed with sketchpads themselves. Rather than sit and watch Relena thought it would be fun to participate. Trowa raised an eyebrow in silent humour at their wads of paper and charcoal sticks, but gave his permission.

"Just be quiet." He warned and turned back to his painting.

Rashid was an admirable model. He stood completely still, expression fixed and resembled more a statue than a living person. He was so still he did not even seem to breathe. No words were uttered from his mouth and Relena grimaced remembering how much she wriggled and talked during her own sitting. Now, as she sketched Rashid,s outline she realised just how irritating she must have been to Trowa.

She concentrated on the way the charcoal flowed on the clean white sheet of paper. She had chosen to draw just Rashid,s head and shoulders. His hair and beard were so distinctive that her outline was recognisable, but she lacked the skill to do more than achieve a passing facial likeness. Try as she might she could not capture the spark of life in her sketch the image remained flat and lifeless.

Relena cast a furtive eye at Hilde sitting next to her. Hilde was concentrating hard on her drawing, but paying no attention to the subject at all. Intrigued Relena leaned over slowly so as not to alert her friend of her observation. Hilde was not drawing Rashid. She was, in fact, drawing a rough sketch of a well muscled (exaggerated in Relena,s opinion) figure of a man. A distinctive braid more or less gave away who the subject was. Relena suppressed a chuckle and sat back before Hilde was aware that she was being observed.

Relena looked towards Catherine to see how she was getting along. Catherine certainly had an artist,s eye, probably an inherited trait Relena mused. With quick precise strokes Catherine had drawn a very recognisable Rashid, his face strong, mouth firm and eyes, surprisingly, warm and friendly. Most of the detail had gone into the eyes, picking up on the lines that surrounded them which Relena now saw were laughter lines. Relena looked back at her own sketch with disgust. She certainly was no artist. She sighed and instantly Trowa turned to look at her.

Relena,s eyes grew wide and she covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, I am sorry" she whispered.

"Perhaps it is time for a break." Trowa said, placing his paintbrushes down and stretching long and cat like. He turned to Rashid who still had not moved. "Relax." Trowa said. Rashid suddenly came to life from the statue he had been.

"It is a very difficult thing to have your picture painted." He commented "Battle is a much easier pastime."

"You have done well." Trowa said, as big a compliment as he would probably ever give.

Relena had moved to ring a bell to summon a maid for tea. As she walked back to Hilde she noted that Hilde went to some trouble hiding her sketch under another piece of paper. Relena could not resist.

"Hilde, have a care or you will smudge your work." She said, "Perhaps before you do so we should have Mr Barton look at our attempts and give us the benefit of his knowledge as to how we can improve our attempts to draw Rashid."

Hilde blushed "Oh no!" she said quickly "I would be too embarrassed for anyone to see what I have done."

Relena chuckled a little but before she could tease Hilde further there was a knock on the door and a maid entered. Relena asked the maid to organise tea and cakes to be bought into the ballroom.

The maid hesitated "Pardon me Miss, but the Housekeeper said it would be more proper if you all had refreshments in the kitchen."

Relena blinked in surprise, but then shared a look with Catherine. Catherine had warned Relena that Mrs Noventa did not approve of the way Relena was entertaining those who Sylvia did not consider to be quality. With Millardo away Sylvia was becoming a law unto herself. And now Sylvia deemed that Relena,s guests should only be entertained below the stairs. Unfortunately Sanq Hall was not Relena,s and nor was Sylvia her servant. Relena did not feel that she was in the position that she could discipline her. Relena eyed the unfortunate maid with sympathy. If Relena demanded tea above stairs then the maid was the one who was going to get into trouble.

Relena sighed and bowed her head. Anything to keep the peace. "Please arrange it." She said and the maid curtsied and left.

Rashid and Trowa followed obviously keen for refreshments, whilst Relena, Catherine and Hilde carefully put down their paper and charcoal. Trying to change the focus from the obvious insult of the housekeeper, Relena again commented on the drawings.

"I wish I had some talent to sketch." she said.

"You must not give up after only one attempt." Catherine commented rubbing charcoal fingers on the black material of her dress knowing that the marks would not show. She went to where Trowa,s painting equipment was stacked and, after making sure that her fingers were absolutely clean of charcoal, picked up a bound sketch book and held it up for Hilde and Relena to observe. She flicked through some pages showing detailed sketches of Rashid; profiles, full face, back of head, feet, arms, fingers, even a sketch of his ears. "Trowa becomes very familiar with his subject before he actually paints."

Relena nodded and spotting a smaller sketchbook, wiped her own hands clean and picked it up. The first couple of pages were sketches of Catherine at work sewing and reading, head bowed and face serious. Then there was a sketch of Catherine throwing knives, wearing a most scandalous costume that resembled little more than an old fashioned corset. Relena supposed that was something that fair ground folk wore when performing.

On the page after was a profile of a woman who looked oddly familiar. Her lips were pulled into a gentle smile and her shoulder length hair unbound. Turning the page she found the same woman drawn again, this time her whole face was shown, the expression was more serious. Relena had no trouble recognising who it was: Dr Barry.

Relena breathed deeply hoping that she was only seeing the pictures as a woman because she knew Barry,s true sex. Turing the page again she gasped and felt herself go red. This picture was one of Barry reclined on a sofa, her head tilted back, eyes closed, arms thrown behind her head in a wonton manner. The picture was a nude, at least a partial nude. A sheet was draped low over the woman,s hips, the fluid draping of the material captured by Trowa,s skilled hand. The torso of the woman was bare, pert breasts thrusting upwards. It looked as if the moment had been captured at the point the woman was stretching luxuriantly.

Any doubts Relena had as to whether Trowa knew Barry was a woman flew out of the window. He definitely knew Barry,s secret. But did Barry know that Trowa knew? Was Barry party to these drawings?

"What have you there?" asked Catherine.

Relena, startled, looked up to see that Catherine was not really paying attention to her, but still looking at the sketches of Rashid. "Oh, nothing. Sketches of Dr Barry, Mr Barton must be intending to do a portrait of him."

"Oh." Catherine said absently, studying what appeared to be a profile of a nose.

Hilde, however, was not as interested in Rashid as Catherine was and immediately said, "I should like to see them."

Relena, if at all possible, went a deeper shade of red. "You may see them after we have seen your sketch of Rashid. These sketches are in quite a different style and it might confuse us unduly to start discussing these before we have discussed the faults of our own work." she said.

Hilde,s eyes narrowed. She could sense an evasion when she heard one and she suspected that somehow Relena was aware of what her own sketch was about. She regarded Relena closely as she held the sketchpad close to her chest. Relena said nothing but gazed fixedly at Hilde with a small pleasant smile on her face. Hilde was the first to back down.

"I have had enough of drawing for one day." She said feigning boredom. "And I am very thirsty. I am going to join Rashid and Mr Barton for tea."

Catherine raised her head from the drawings she had been so closely examining. She had completely missed Hilde and Relena,s stand off, but observing her mistresses flushed face she immediately put the book down.

"An excellent idea." She said, coming over to Relena and holding her hand out for the sketchpad. Catherine was puzzled when Relena grip tightened. "Miss Peacecraft, let me put it back and then we can go and have tea. You look a little peaky, are you feeling well?"

Relena nodded and finding that she had no other choice she reluctantly handed the pad over to Catherine and watched closely as Catherine returned it to where it had originally come from. Catherine turned to see Relena watching her closely and felt concerned again as to the state of her health. The girl had been flushed but now looked quite pale. Catherine prided herself on being an observant woman. Something about that sketchpad had upset Relena.

"Perhaps, Miss Peacecraft, if you find Trowa,s technique of drawing Dr Barry interesting you should mention it to him. I am sure that he would enjoy telling you how he achieved the effect." She said.

Relena flushed bright pink again "Oh No!" she cried out startling both Catherine and Hilde who stared at her in surprise. "I mean.oh.noI have forgotten.something.that I need to talk to Lucrezia about." Relena blurted, trying to cover her initial reaction of fright and mortification. "I would rather you did not mention it to Mr Barton. I should hate to distract him from his current project." She smiled trying to cover the panic she was feeling.

Catherine nodded and they all walked to the door.

"What did you forget?" asked Hilde

"Oh..I forget. Again." Relena tried not to roll her eyes in exasperation of herself. She had to pull herself together. She needed to know whether Trowa had drawn that picture from real life or his imagination. The thought of trying to converse normally with Trowa when thoughts of the image of a semi-nude Barry were so fresh in her mind made Relena stop walking. What if he had drawn it from imagination. What if there was a Relena amongst his sketches in a similar pose. Relena bought her hands to her red cheeks.

"Relena?" Hilde asked in concern.

"I am sorry." Relena said weakly "But suddenly I do not feel so well."

"You should rest." Catherine said firmly "I shall take you up to your room."

Relena looked apologetically at Hilde, who smiled back "Do not be concerned. It would be better for me to go now anyway. See, it looks like it will rain soon."

"Trowa will not continue to paint this afternoon with the light changing so much." Catherine said softly "So there will be no more drawing for us of Rashid."

Hilde grinned and darted back into the ballroom to collect her sketch "I will take this to show my sisters what a wonderful artist I am." She said, then kissed Relena on the cheek "Shall I call tomorrow?"

"I am to visit Dorothy, Lady Catalonia, tomorrow." Relena said shaking her head.

"Well then, the day after." Hilde said looking at the looming clouds "I must fly, else I shall get wet. I hope Dr Barry has the good sense to return sooner rather than later."

Relena waved goodbye to her friend, pondering what to so. Should she mention the drawings to Trowa or Dr Barry? Or both? Should she say nothing. Relena balked at talking to Trowa for the simple reason that she had not really had a proper conversation with him. He was such a quiet man. And the subject of the conversation would embarrass her too much.

Nor did she know how to raise it with Robert Barry. Since the day of Relena,s illness when she had seen so clearly that Barry was a woman, she had never mentioned it again. Was asking whether or not Barry knew that Trowa had nude drawings of her was a suitable way to broach the subject?

"Come, Miss Peacecraft." Catherine said taking her arm. It is time you rested. I shall order tea for you. Surely you will be allowed tea in your own room." She smiled thinly "And if that Sylvia says no, then I shall go down there "

"Catherine." Relena said weakly "Violence solves nothing."

Catherine smiled again "Why Miss Peacecraft, whatever do you mean? I was merely going to say that I would go down and make some myself.

* * * *

Lord Heero Yuy was very unhappy to be in London, however worthy the cause was. The smells and noises seemed to be pronounced; he missed the peacefulness and the sounds of nature that he had so quickly got used to in East Sussex. And his heart remained at Sanq Hall. Miss Peacecraft had captured his soul with her gentleness, her compassion and her beauty. If he could have, he would have quit London immediately and returned to her presence. However, duty called and he took his duty as a peer of the realm seriously.

He felt honour bound to do the best for the people that lived in both in his manor and the also to the people of England; those who were poverty- stricken and had no say in their standards of living. Yuy, unfortunately, was in the minority amongst his fellow peers. Most of them considered that they had God given rights because of their good fortune to be born into the nobility. A lot of them did not even attend the House of Lords, but were content to spend their time and money pleasing themselves. Heero had no time for Lords such as these, and they had none for him. They considered him a rebel and a traitor to the status of his birth. He wasted no words on them. And so he was widely unpopular in the House.

At the moment, that was.

Heero sensed that there was a fundamental change going on within the circles of power. Older Lords were being replaced with younger, more idealistic one. Men who had travelled and who had experienced other cultures. Men who had fought in wars beside commoners and had developed a keen respect for the bravery and honour the majority of the unranked soldiers showed. Men who, whilst still believing that they were all powerful, also considered that the lowest in society should be at least granted the Sabbath to rest on.

But Heero doubted that it would happen this year. Too many of them were still unwilling to go against their fellows. Even Millardo,s late arrival would not turn the vote this time. Yet, Heero would stay until the end of the session and do all within his power to persuade his fellows that the labour laws were just and fair. It was just a shame that Heero did not have the gift of fine speech at his disposal, he was more a man of action than words.

In one of the grand halls of the Palace of Westminster he sat musing on the future. If he asked Miss Peacecraft to be his wife then she would be a great asset to his cause. He could just imagine hosting political parties with her, she had an inner strength and serenity that even the hardest among the Lords would have difficulty breaking. She was also fervent about the rights of the less fortunate. Together, he believed, they could do a lot of good.

Someone coughing lightly interrupted Heero,s musings. He looked up to see that his old guardian Doctor Jaye was standing before him. He rose, a glad smile on his face, and embraced his old mentor.

"Doctor! What are you doing here?" he asked getting to his feet and shaking Dr Jaye,s hand enthusiastically.

Dr Jaye peered at Heero though his thick spectacles. "Heard you were back in Lords. I am here on business, my dear boy, business. I have been working more on the steam locomotive engine and am trying to drum up some investors. Could turn a pretty penny! Do you know anyone who might be interested?"

Heero smiled at the man who he considered his father "Sir, as if you need to ask! Of course I would be happy to invest in your project. I thought when you wrote to me of it that I should like to be involved. The thought of the speeds that the locomotive could achieve fills me full of excitement."

"Well, my boy, I am sure that I will be able to initially achieve 15, and have hopes that I will be even reach 50 miles per hour at some point. The general opinion is that travelling at such a speed would cause instant death by suffocation, as the air would be sucked from people,s lungs* which is a little disconcerting. Indeed I hope that is not the case at 15 miles per hour! It would be unfortunate if my first investing passengers did not survive the inaugural journey. I should only imagine that their heirs would demand the investment back!" Dr Jaye said rubbing his hands together, wincing a little.

Heero looked at him in concern "Are you in pain sir?" he asked, looking at the swollen digits.

"Nothing but a bit of rheumatoid arthritis, Heero. Nothing to concern yourself with." The doctor replied.

Heero knew that the doctor suffered sometimes severe pain in his hands, in his youth he had damaged them whilst working on one of his many experiments. He had been extremely lucky not to loose the use of them and it was only now, as he grew old, that he really suffer the consequences of his youthful carelessness.

Heero spotted Millardo walking towards them and Heero decided to introduce his guardian to the man who he hoped would be his brother in law. Millardo clearly was not in a good mood, but Heero chose to ignore it. He had not expected to see Millardo at the Palace of Westminster and presumed that it was at the bidding of his sister and wife.

"Marquis!" he called and Millardo turned towards Heero. Apparently he had not spotted his sister,s beau and was not happy to have been halted. He approached, unsmiling. "Doctor Jaye, may I introduce you to my neighbour in East Sussex, the Marquis of Zechs, Millardo Peacecraft. Marquis, this is my guardian Doctor Jaye."

Millardo bowed to the old man, who bowed back.

"Peacecraft?" Dr Jaye,s brow wrinkled "Now why is that name so familiar?"

"I would assume that you have seen it in the newspapers." Millardo said grimly, not looking at Heero as if he found the man personally responsible for all the ill occurrences.

"Oh yes!" Dr Jaye nodded, and explained to a puzzled Heero. "I am afraid that the Peacecraft family have prominence in today,s edition of the Times."

Heero still looked blank, and Millardo snorted in annoyance "Do you not read the papers?" he asked, and thrust a copy into Heero,s hands. "Read it. You may decide to cut your visit to East Sussex short!" he strode off leaving a bemused Heero behind.

"Sad occurrence." Dr Jaye commented "Nasty thing, the death of a Duke. Gets a lot of attention, and many innocents get caught up in it."

"Oh, it is about Treize then?" Heero glanced down at the headline "Rest assured, he was a horrible man and thoroughly deserved all that happened to him." He looked back up at his guardian "I am very pleased to see you because I wish to tell you my news. I have found a woman who I want to ask to be my wife. I know I no longer need your permission, but I would like to have your approval."

Dr Jaye smiled broadly "A girl has finally caught your eye, eh? Well, tell me about her?" he asked.

"Her name is Miss Relena Peacecraft-" Heero started, but was interrupted by Dr Jaye holding up an arthritic hand.

"Wait, Peacecraft you say?" he said with concern "As in the sister of the Marquis?"

Heero nodded then frowned, as Dr Jaye looked a little sad. "What is it Doctor?"

"My boy, I think you need to read the paper you have in your hands."

* * * *

Dorothy sighed as she authorised yet another payment. Ever since news had got out that Treize had died there had been a constant stream of creditors at the door. Dorothy had known from looking through her cousin,s accounts the morning after his death just how serious his financial position was; his warped plan all made sense now. He was so desperate for funds to keep his name intact that the abduction of Miss Peacecraft had seemed to be the obvious solution. Or so she supposed, she would never really know exactly why he acted as he did. He had never confided to her in life and he was not going to start now.

Dorothy has assumed that she would have a few days grace until after the funeral to sort out some of the mess. Treize,s land agent had left as soon as he had heard of Treize,s demise taking two of the finest stallions as payment in lieu of salary. Dorothy had agreed to this at the time assuming that they were Treize,s, but it was only when another man arrived demanding payment for the horses that Dorothy realised just what a mess Treize,s books were in. Treize had recorded that payments had been made when only promissory notes had been issued; so a bad situation had got much worse.

Dorothy was a wealthy woman in her own right, but she was beginning to wonder if even she had the resources to keep the creditors at bay. Servants, sensing the change in fortune, purloined silver and other items of value and left without giving notice as rumours spread that the new Duchess was heading towards financial ruin. And now, the day after Treize,s death she was reduced to a staff of three consisting only of scullery maids to new to service to easily secure another position. Dorothy wrinkled her noise in distaste. And not one of them could cook to any satisfactory standard. Her baked egg this morning was hard and rubbery; completely inedible.

She sat in the study again trying to ascertain what assets she could sell. She resisted the urge to throw everything on the floor in her disgust. There was a tap on the door and one of the scullery maids appeared.

"You have visitors" she said. Dorothy glared at the child unable to remember her name. She was about to reprimand her as she had given explicit instructions that no callers were to be admitted. Dorothy was tired of writing bankers drafts and she needed to talk to her own land agent before any more money left her account. But before she could say anything Dorothy observed that the silly child had bought the visitors to the door of the study. Dorothy found herself looking into the eyes of a sympathetic looking Miss Peacecraft and behind her Ambassador Winner, someone she had taken great pains to avoid since the night of Treize,s death.

Dorothy found all resolve start to flounder as she gazed at his blue eyes and gentle smile.

"Thank you" she hesitated grasping for the maid,s name. "Thank you Sarah."

"Molly, miss." The maid corrected her.

Dorothy glared at the silly girl for showing her up "Thank you Molly. Kindly get some tea please."

Molly bobbed a curtsy and departed for the kitchen. Dorothy stood and walked around the desk to greet her visitors. Relena came forward and to Dorothy,s great consternation embraced her kissing her lightly on one cheek.

"Thank you for seeing us Lady Catalonia." She said, "I am very sorry that I have not called earlier."

Dorothy blinked as Relena released her, feeling more than a little surprised. She indicated that Relena should sit.

"Please, Miss Peacecraft I did not expect you to call due to the unfortunate circumstance you were subjected to."

Quatre came forward and claimed Dorothy,s hand, raising it to his lips. "I have been thinking of you." He said quietly.

Dorothy raised an eyebrow trying to suppress the shiver that his touch had invoked in her "Thank you Ambassador. You seem to be missing your shadow." She commented as she sat down.

Quatre smiled "Rashid has been persuaded that the countryside is not as dangerous as he supposed. He has also found someone who is much more satisfying to protect than me. Miss Bloom is far more pleasing on the eye than I am." Dorothy was puzzled, she was unsure whether Quatre was being serious or not. Was he truly encouraging friendship between servants? He was such a strange and intriguing man.

"Lady Catalonia." Relena said quietly "I am very sorry for Lord Kushrinada,s death."

Again, Dorothy was astonished "Why on earth are you sorry?" she exclaimed "After what he did to you, you ought to be pleased!"

Relena flushed "His actions were wrong, but I do not believe that he deserved to die."

Dorothy smiled thinly "Even though your own brother killed him?"

Relena did not look away "Even though Wufei killed him. I believe that conflict solves nothing."

Dorothy was well aware of Quatre watching her closely. She sensed his disquiet as she deliberately taunted Relena. Dorothy was upset with her present situation and she had thought that she would distract herself from it if she made Miss Peacecraft feel uncomfortable. It did not, however, work and now Dorothy was feeling annoyed with herself for the silly attempt. She tried to rectify her mistake.

"Please, Miss Peacecraft, do not be concerned." She said. "My cousin and I never got along and I do not mourn his passing.

Again Dorothy was surprised by her own reaction to her statement and also by Relena,s and Quatre,s. She had expected that they would be shocked, but they looked even more sympathetic as if they knew Dorothy was telling and untruth. And Dorothy felt her eyes water, she had to blink rapidly to prevent them welling over and embarrassing tears falling down her cheeks. Because it was a lie. Now that she said it she realised that it was not true. On some level she was extremely sad that Treize was dead. She pushed the feeling down and buried it again under the resentment that she was far more comfortable feeling.

When Dorothy,s feelings once more were under control, she raised her eyes and found herself looking into Quatre,s clear blue compassionate eyes. Immediately the sadness rose again. Damn him! How was it that he evoked such a reaction in her? She tore her eyes away and looked at Relena and felt immediately more comfortable. She decided to revert back to her familiar comfortable cynical self.

"How can I help you Miss Peacecraft have you come to make claim on a part of Treize,s estate for reparation against any injury he caused you? Or are you in possession of a promissory note that you want filled? Either way, I am afraid that you may have to leave unsatisfied. The reason why Treize did what he did was because his expenditure far out striped his income. There is not much left." Dorothy said. Again, she expected to see anger at her words and was only mildly irritated to see concern. She was getting used to not being able to anticipate Quatre,s reactions correctly.

Miss Peacecraft spoke first. "I am sorry, Lady Catalonia, as to your situation. I did not realise that your circumstances were so dire. "

Dorothy nodded her head "Treize was never lucky when it came to investments but he was exceptionally good at hiding his failures."

"Perhaps I may be able to help a little?" Relena said hesitantly and Dorothy realised that she was nervous. What ever she was going to say was important to her. "One of Treize,s properties is the local mill. I should like to buy it from you." Relena said, her eyes eager the words coming from her mouth fast.

"Purchase it?" Dorothy repeated. "The mill of which you speak is not in the least profitable. There is much competition from abroad"

"I do not wish to run the mill for profit." Relena explained, ignoring Dorothy,s cynical raised eyebrow "Have you ever visited it? The conditions are terrible, children work long hours in appalling conditions. I wish to help them, to educate them. But they are bound by the apprenticeship to the mill and I can only do what I wish with the permission of the owner of the mill."

Dorothy shook her head "I have heard that you were a follower of charitable works. By educating the workforce you will effectively loose it. They will be dissatisfied with their situation and want better or themselves."

"They ought to be given the opportunity" Quatre entered the conversation quietly.

"As people are given the opportunity in your own country, I suppose." Dorothy said with irritation "I have done some reading on the subject of harems and it does not seem to me that the woman have much of an opportunity for choice." Dorothy felt fleeting satisfaction at making Quatre flush. She turned back to Relena "And why do you not just ask my permission? Are you convinced that I would deny you it? Do you consider me to be uncharitable?"

Relena shook her head "No, I do not, but I believe that you have a vested interest in making a profit and so would not be able to allow me to do what I wish. And, after you explained your situation I should imagined that you would welcome the funds the sales would generate."

The door opened and Molly entered bringing a tray of tea. She placed it on the desk and left hurriedly, bobbing a quick curtsey as she went. Dorothy sighed and rose to serve the tea.

"As you can see, Miss Peacecraft, I have inherited an empty title, some entailed property and a mountain of debts for which I have become personally liable." She started to pour the tea. Instead of warm golden brown fluid coming from the teapot, only clear hot water emerged. Dorothy closed her eyes in irritation realising that the maid had forgotten to measure in the tealeaves. She lowered the teapot and sat down with head bowed not wishing to see the look of pity she was sure her visitors were now giving her.

"I would like to sell you the mill." Dorothy said softly "I really would." She looked up at Relena,s face that was shining with anticipation "But I cannot." Disappointment replaced the look of happiness in Relena,s eyes.

"But-" Relena began to speak.

"I cannot." Dorothy continued "Because it is not mine to sell. The deeds are held in the name of Lady Anne Une. She owns the mill."

* In 1829 a primitive railway locomotive called Rocket, managed a fairly constant 15 miles per hour with a top speed of 29 miles per hour at the Rainhill Trials. The theory of suffocation is a true theory of the time.