| Logs |
2000-04-21
| Starfall |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
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Ducal Visits
Duke Redtail quickly responds to Carroll's politely worded letter with an invitation to visit after dinner the night after the Levee. A plain carriage driven by a fur in nondescript clothing arrives at the pier to carry Dame Alex and Baron Carroll to their appointment (apparently the Duke is trying to keep the meeting low-key).Alex is worrying a bit... "So how's this, Carroll? Better not to say anything about Dimitri's behavior, in case the duke doesn't want to deal with that... so just say Dimitri told us that he'd recommended me to the duke for some thing or favor or errand or whatever that he wanted done? Does that sound like a polite reason for being there? -to see what it was the duke wanted of me?" Her ears tilt anxiously at her eldest brother, and her eyes glow a lambent green in the occasional lamplight flashing erratically in through the carriage's windows. She adds for the third time, "Are you sure I look okay?!"
An attractive young girl with proud carriage, her joie du
vivre is apparent in her usual cheerful enthusiasm. Despite the pretty
lace-trimmed silk shirt she's dressed in a decidedly non-feminine style,
with snug bottle-green breeches, well-worn black riding boots, and
long leather fencing gloves (finely embroidered with the house crest,
of course) tucked casually into her leather belt. Most startling of
all is the plain and practical military epee at her hip, which has a
decidedly well-used look to it. If she's stared at, she tends to get a
challenging glint in her large green eyes, and a defiant flick to her
luxurious white-tipped, scarlet brush.
Carroll smiles, and murrs, "Alex, you look fine. Most important to how you look is how you act. Relax." He adds, "I agree; unless he mentions Dimitri's behavior we shouldn't. If he does, we can apologize for him, quite truthfully telling him that Dimitri was upset by something I had said to him before the Levee. As to why we're there, to introduce ourselves, and Dimitri mentioned that he might want to speak to you should work well." He idly smoothes his own clothing, adding, "I hope he will do most of the talking, myself, and it won't be needed, but it's good to be prepared."
Alex nods, "All right." She sighs, then leans back, tucks her tail into her lap and starts slowly brushing it while she concentrates on relaxing... not catching the logical error in that particular train of thought... Horatio glances between his siblings, fretting to himself. Carroll smiles and seems perfectly at ease, although it takes a lot for him not to.
Carroll Waynewright St. Genevieve stands before you, dressed in
a fine burgundy doublet of some soft material. Beneath it, a surprisingly
white long sleeved shirt, which lets white ruffles, tipped with lace,
spill out at his throat and sleeves. Thin gold chains trail around one
wrist, loosely, while his short sword rides easily at his hip; difficult
to say if it's mostly ornamental or not. His full, white-tipped tail seems
to match the frilled sleeves. He wears tan leggings, with yellow-gold
trim down the outside edges, and soft leather calf-high boots. He smiles
pleasantly at you, and nods, graciously.
The town home of Duke Redtail is an elegant structure of brick and timber, artistically decorated with carvings and scrollwork. The house itself is set back from the street in a small park, taking up a small block which is fenced off. The gate guards check your invitation and wave you on to the house.
At the house another guard nods to the driver and ushers you inside without a word. He leads you through an elegantly appointed sitting room and knocks on a door. "Your Grace? They are here." A muffled voice is heard from inside, and the guide opens the door and bows the foxes into a small but luxurious study.
Carroll nods to the guard and leads Alex and Horatio into the study, looking immediately for the Duke. He turns to face him and bows, murring, "Good evening, your grace." Straightening, he continues, "Thank you for seeing us tonight." Alex is carefully following Carroll's lead... she does not wish to accidentally insult this man! She keeps to Carroll's left, moving gracefully with him as he bows. She can't resist looking at the duke with bright-eyed interest once Carroll quits moving though!
The elk is sitting behind a mahogany desk, as tall as Alex even seated. "Please, come in. I was hoping to discuss something with your brother, but he seemed... unwilling to get involved."
Erenos, Duke Redtail is an imposing presence even seated behind a desk, his burly, brown-furred frame topped by a huge rack of antlers. Dark brown eyes gleam with intelligence above a broad black nose, and though he is not naturally blessed with fangs or claws, the muscles backing his broad-nailed fists look like they don't really need such enhancements. At this evening meeting, he is comfortably dressed in a blue tunic with white trim -- his house colors.
Alex blinks once at the sheer size of the man... but her expression stays polite. She follows Carroll as he seats himself, and smiles a little ruefully at the duke's words. "I... well... that's Dimitri. But he mentioned he'd ah..." she sounds a touch puzzled, "-recommended me to you for something?" She's trying hard not to stare... she's never seen anyone this big so close up!
Carroll finishes his approach to the desk, and murrs, "He suggested that you might have something you wanted to say. We are pleased to listen." Alex flicks her ears back slightly in embarrassment... gotta stay quiet here! She wonders suddenly if that huge rack is heavy... and if the duke sheds it come winter... then mentally grins and scolds herself internally to pay attention!
The Duke nods. "The problem is that the Queen is convinced that I am responsible for her father's death, and judging from the looks I got from her yesterday she suspects me in this latest incident as well. And though suspicion in itself would not be surprising, I fear that she has stopped looking for the true culprit. I was hoping that your brother could persuade her to broaden her search." He sighs. "It would not be good for the Kingdom -- or the League -- for her to get killed because she's looking in the wrong direction." Alex gets a faintly startled look that she quickly covers... with a very thoughtful one. She glances at Carroll... he'll know what to say next.
Carroll hmms thoughtfully and murrs, "While I am confident that both the Queen and her staff are all willing to consider any hard evidence that is to be found, regardless of who it may suggest, I can see how you could be concerned with undeserved scrutiny from them, especially if it could cause them to be lax in watching other directions." Horatio remains quietly and as unobtrusively as possible in the background, very subtly adjusting the strap to his satchel, at least as amazed as Alex is at the Duke's sheer size. Though he remains quiet, his ears flick between his brother and the Duke.
Carroll takes a breath, adding, "However, I don't know what influence my brother, or any of us, truly has with the Queen." He flicks an ear and continues, "I would be happy to mention either your concern specifically, or the merest possibility that they should not decide prematurely, to either the Queen or her staff, if it would please your grace." With a shrug, he murrs, "What good it will do I cannot say." Alex glances uncertainly at Carroll... no, maybe this time she should keep her mouth shut, she thinks...? Carroll finishes, looking directly at the Duke, quiet now and open to any reaction.
The elk smiles just a little. "Thank you. The Queen is a dynamic personality, and I think that most of her people have been caught up in her beliefs. As long as some of her friends are looking in other directions, that will have to suffice. Your brother seemed to me to have been caught up in that already. He certainly didn't act like he was going to be open-minded about things."
Alex smiles to herself. A 'dynamic personality'... yup, that sounds right. She glances up at the duke's words, her ears tilted slightly back in chagrin, "Dimitri is a good person, your grace! -he's... just... well, he was a soldier caught at court, if that um makes sense?" She hesitates, then says firmly, "He means well."
Redtail snorts. "Kerensky means well, my dear. But that doesn't mean it would be healthy to stand between her and someone she suspected of being an assassin."
Alex opens her mouth to reply... then pauses... then smiles ruefully. There really isn't any answer to that. Carroll murrs, "I don't know if I would go so far as to suggest that the Queen considers us her friends, your grace, but I can assure you that we haven't stopped looking around us." He sighs a small sigh and murrs, "I fear, your grace, that my brother was upset by something I had said to him immediately before the levee. I sincerely hope you are able to look past his upset at the levee." Smiling again, he adds, "He has been knighted by the Queen and takes that responsibility quite seriously, and would never forgive himself if he had overlooked a threat to her." Horatio fidgets but a little. He knows that there's some worry as to the Duke's reaction towards their dark-phase brother. In this situation more than any other, he's a bit unsure as to what to do.
Alex erks... change the subject from Dimitri. Let's see... she frowns thoughtfully, "Um... if I may be so bold, your grace? I was wondering if ah... if you'd by any chance any information on either of the assassinations that might be useful in establishing your innocence? -or help to track down the real perpetrators? -or..." she thinks a bit, then says carefully, "I assume your grace has already made the courteous gesture of offering any assistance required to the current investigation?"
The elk nods again, a rather ponderous gesture with his heavy antlers and thick neck. "He is young, and you do have your own... difficulties. You might coach him a bit on court etiquette, but it is understandable." Alex almost nods ruefully at that comment. The Duke frowns. "Her Majesty is most emphatically not interested in my direct assistance. I have been looking on my own for some time now, but the trail of her father's assassin has grown quite cold. With this new incident something may turn up."
Alex nods quietly, still thinking... she says absently to her brothers, "Guys... did the duchess and the other duke both tell you the same thing too? ...that it would be bad if there were succession wars, or something like that? 'Cause... Duke Vortalon did to me too... I wonder if that's significant...? I mean... well, who's most likely to benefit if Maidstone goes into troubled times, you know? Certainly not Killimara... but... well... wouldn't the Empire be pleased if that happened?"
Carroll murrs, "While finding concrete evidence to prove your innocence would be extremely helpful, my worry for your grace would be that one of your enemies or detractors would also understand the Queen's apparent prejudices and plant false evidence to support it." Alex blinks suddenly, her ears perking startledly... then hastily tries to look relaxed...
The elk nods again. "Something I have had my people working to prevent for some time. It's one reason I haven't made much progress in finding the real culprit.
Carroll looks over at his sister and frowns. He looks back at the Duke and asks, "That is an excellent question to consider, your grace. Who would benefit from doing such a thing?" After a moment's pause he adds modestly, "I fear I don't understand enough of the local politics to consider all of the ramifications of such a thing."
Alex frowns to herself as several pieces of a puzzle fall together into a possible pattern... one she doesn't particularly like, "Horatio... Westmark didn't say anything like that, did he, according to what you said? ...in fact... he looks like he'd welcome the return of the Empire... but... but not necessarily as if he's together enough to- uh-" She cuts off hastily as Carroll's glance at her registers.
The elk's eyes narrow in thought. "He does, doesn't he. Hmmm."
Horatio frowns slightly and shakes his head to himself. "No, he didn't, he ah, well, commented on how er, well... ahem, ah, he found it... interesting... that we were made Companions." Alex wonders if she's blathered too much... she straightens a bit next to Carroll and shuts up firmly this time! Horatio says, "In... all fairness to the Duke, he was nothing if not polite..." Alex raises an eyebrow at Horatio and grins.
The elk grins at Horatio. "Of course, that means he may have been nothing -- if he wasn't polite."
Alex tries to stifle a mischievous giggle at that comment! Horatio says, "Er... ah, my apologies, your grace, honest! That is... he was polite..."
Alex grins at Horatio and murmurs, "I think he's teasing, Horatio?" Horatio glances to Alex, and looks both abashed and sheepish, giving her a wan grin. He listens attentively to the Duke's comment.
The duke stretches. "Yes, he is. He's always very polite, even if he's hinting that you're a disgrace to furrkind because you do things differently from your great great grandparents. I've never figured out how he stays in front of the fashion industry."
Alex smiles at that comment... then wonders idly why anyone would want to stay at the forefront of the fashion industry... then wonders even more idly... if the Empire moved in to ah... 'forestall revolution' or something because the queen had died... would the old cougar object at all? And the duchess White Haven... what would she gain if Maidstone joined the Empire?
Carroll murrs quietly, "Perhaps his longing for the stability of the past is caused by having to stay on the forefront of the vagaries of current fashion? Who can say?"
The elk snorts. "The Empire is moribund. No good at all would come of inviting them in, no matter what the disaster. I think you can be sure that Her Grace knows that."
Alex frowns a touch worriedly to herself... White Haven makes steel... any sort of bad times in Maidstone wouldn't hurt her business. Fashion may suffer during war, but steel manufacture never does. How... disturbingly interesting, she thinks. She wonders if anyone else thinks this... well, she decides internally, probably. It's not like the folks that actually live here don't have plenty more time to observe and think, after all! She tilts her head and asks quietly, "What if the assassin had succeeded, your grace? What then of Maidstone and the Empire?"
Horatio's own thought processes are a little more chaotic than his sister's. He's trying to remember what Pravinchandra's investments in Maidstone are, what Mr. P ships here... but he's also trying to pull himself away from that tack. Pravinchandra isn't going to be behind every situation in this part of the world. He interjects, "And who would be monarch?"
Alex thinks aloud, "Katrina? Who's her um... stand-in?"
"Katrina would be the monarch, but obviously she'd need a Regent. Kerensky and DuPrei would run things until a Regent was appointed." The elk snorts. "Last time we made the mistake of maneuvering a Regent who'd be unable to oppose our interests, and look where it got us."
Alex says, "DuPrei... the chatelaine?"
Redtail nods. "You've met her son. The one leading you around at that last Levee."
Alex frowns puzzledly at the duke. This is very strange... she's guessing by the duke's reactions that he's not seeing the things she sees here... and yet... it seems so evident to her... so evident that... that it must be wrong. She watches the duke quietly... and once again her mind wanders. How would one dance with a partner so... large?! She grins quietly to herself again at the thought.Carroll asks the Duke, "If it is not rude of me to ask, your grace, how would describe the state of affairs that the former Regent has left?"
The elk settles back in his chair. "Unsettled. Contessa Jacqueline was... not very scrupulous about the Crown's interests. Since the Queen's majority she's been very prickly about the Crown's rights, and all three of us have been doing damage control."
Horatio listens quietly to the Duke's answer. There's got to be something, anything, in what he says that might provide some sort of clue as to what's going on in Maidstone. Alex counts softly on her fingers, "White Haven, Vortalon, and Redtail? ...but... not Westmark?" She looks up curiously, "Damage control? er... to or for the queen?"
The elk watches Alex's fingers. "Westmark is not a duchy, so he was not involved in the Regency."
Alex nods, "Oh, right... my mistake, excuse me." She self-consciously curls her small paws up into her lap.
Carroll thinks about it. He asks, "How would you describe the Queen's feeling towards Viscount Westmark, if not 'prickly,' your grace?" Alex wonders thoughtfully if the duke deliberately didn't answer her second question.
The Duke shrugs. "She considers him a harmless eccentric, I suspect."
Horatio frowns slightly. He doesn't say it, but he thinks that might not be the best attitude to take, especially for a monarch on an uneasy throne. Alex hesitates, then says carefully, "Surely the queen would not... necessitate safe-guarding one's personal estates, such that damage control would be necessary?" There, she thinks... that's as cautious as she knows how to be, as far as asking the same question again. Carroll listens to his sister's question, then looks curiously at the Duke himself. He won't interrupt her this time.
The Duke smiles frostily at Alex. "Political damage control, not economic. Influence, laws, taxes, that sort of thing."
Alex nods quietly... well, that answered her question in spades! -it was deliberately missed. She wonders if this duke is as innocent as he says he is. She says politely, "Pardon me, I should have realized."
Carroll nods and murrs, "Could you speculate as to how the relationship between each of the duchies and the Viscount was, not with the Queen but with her father when he was king, your grace?" Alex glances at Carroll... she wonders if they should leave soon, or what... before the duke gets peeved again.
The elk thinks about Carroll's question for a moment. "I could... but I think I won't. You really couldn't trust what I said about it, and I'd rather let you find out what you can without preconceived notions."
Alex nods quietly again to herself. Carroll nods and smiles. He murrs, "I understand, your grace." After a moment's pause he adds, "You have been very forthright with us, and I appreciate that. I will be happy to speak to the queen and her staff regarding your concerns for her safety. Would you prefer if I did or did not mention your name specifically?"
The elk shakes his head. "I doubt that mentioning my name would be helpful."
Carroll nods and murrs, "Again, I understand. I will make a point to mention it to her, your grace." He shrugs, adding, "Whether or not it will help anything, I cannot say."
The elk nods. "I won't keep you longer, then. As I said, Her Majesty has plenty of people looking at me already. It might help if you looked somewhere else."
Carroll smiles and rises, bowing to the elk and murring, "We will keep our eyes and ears open, of course. Thank you for your time, your grace." He lets his family bow politely, and leads them out. Horatio blinks, then ohs! and bows politely, following Carroll's lead. Alex smoothly rises and bows with Carroll. As her family is turning away she can't resist one irrepressible grin -- what would it be like to dance with someone that large?! -- and then she patters quickly and quietly after Carroll.
The same carriage and coachman as before takes you away from the duke's home. "Back to the waterfront, milord? Or would you like to be dropped off somewhere else?"
Alex waits 'til they're in the carriage before she whew!s in relief, "Well, that wasn't too bad! I don't think he was mad at all!" She beams at Carroll, "So, to the Silver Talon now? You were going to show me how to lose money?"
Carroll looks at Alex and asks, "Why would you want to know how to do that?"
Alex says, "So we can lose back the money I won? You and Dimitri convinced me not to just give it back?"
Carroll finally looks back to the driver and murrs, "The ship will be fine, thank you." Looking at his sister he murrs, "I was rather hoping we'd convinced you to keep it."
Horatio lets out a breath, adjusting his collar, and blinks. "Why would you want to loose it, Alex?"
Alex folds her arms and gives Carroll a stern look, then says to Horatio, "Because I won it by cheating, Horatio!"
Carroll settles against the seat of the carriage, and murrs, "No, you won it. Had you done it deliberately you would have been cheating. Not only that, I expect you cause the House to make money that night, as a big winner always does. They simply paid an honest winner, rather than one of the House plants. That's their business."
Horatio blinks. "You didn't cheat, Alex. You had better luck than most people. A lot of folks feel that's all that magic is."
Alex says, "It still isn't right, Carroll. I didn't play fair, like everyone else."
Horatio grins softly. "Who's to say that some of the gamblers there weren't latent mages themselves?
Alex says firmly, "Then they'd be cheating too!"
Carroll shakes his head and murrs, "Who am I to try and teach you not to be honorable?" He looks at her and adds, "You can lose it back learning to play cards. Perhaps blackjack, if they have it." With a foxy grin, he adds, "Unless you let me try and win at it."
Alex says, "Oh! I don't mind you trying to win, Carroll... it's just I don't think I should um... play roulette any more, you know?" she smiles a little uncertainly, "Um... would you teach me that? Since there's no place to go dancing tonight?"
Carroll nods, and murrs, "Not playing roulette any more I shan't argue with." He gets the driver's attention and tries to divert them to the Silver Talon.
The carriage arrives at the Silver Talon, the quiet exterior of the building showing little of the activity inside. The palatial interior is crowded with well-dressed furs, the games all active with high-stakes players. Alex looks around curiously, "So this is what folks do at night in Maidstone? Hm... I still think dancing's more fun. Well... so, show me this blackjack thing, please, Carroll?"
Carroll enters, and watches the games for a few moments, looking also for a table, murring, "Blackjack is a good game... you can actually win it."
Alex grins cheerfully up at her brother, "You can win roulette too, but that's not the point now, is it?" Horatio chuckles softly, following along behind his siblings. This should, at the very least, be interesting!
Carroll ahs, and asks his sister, "How good were you at statistics when you were taught maths? At the business maths?"
Alex tilts her head consideringly, "Pretty good, according to Nanna... why?"
Carroll smiles, and murrs, "Cards are statistics. You can learn how to play them."
Alex nods, looking interested, "Go on..."
Carroll asks her, "Which game would you like to learn?"
Alex says, "Whichever you're going to play too, I suppose?" She looks around curiously, "Is there any table that looks particularly interesting?"
Carroll gets a terribly mischievous look and asks, "Which one did Dimitri play? Let's teach you that... you can shark the poor boy."
Alex blinks startledly at Carroll! -then giggles, "You're so bad! Okay!"
Carroll murrs, "Anyway, learning the hands in poker might be easier than counting cards for blackjack." He murrs, "Let's get a table and I'll go over the rules... I won't be able to play with you too closely here."
Alex nods, "That's all right, as long as I know the rules. Dimitri thought I might have trouble hiding my reactions though." Horatio tilts his head to the side, fretting a bit and wondering if this is a good idea. Still... it couldn't hurt...
Carroll murrs, "Well, you did come to lose. And if you need to hide your reactions concentrate on calculating the odds of your winning or losing."
Alex nods slowly, "Good point... okay."
Carroll pulls both of his siblings aside and first explains the rules of the game a time or two, then murrs, "Would you like to see how it works in play before I try and explain how to do well?"
Alex nods, "Yes, please." Horatio nods -- purely out of scientific curiosity, of course!
Carroll nods, and murrs, "Let me have some of this money we're to lose, and we'll go sit through a hand or three." Alex hands some cash to Carroll. Carroll leads the way to one of the lower-stakes tables, and waits until an appropriate moment to join in the game, quietly explaining to Alex and Horatio why he'd wait for what. Alex nods, listening carefully. Carroll joins the game and plays a hand, smiling noncommittally to the other players and watching the dealer and cards alertly. He looks at his cards briefly. Alex leans on Carroll's shoulder, watching curiously. Horatio watches Carroll at wor- no, at pla- erm, at work-play, it seems.
Alex looks around curiously at one point... and notices the rabbit who paid off the raccoon in the Dunbarton guard. What were their names... right, Jeremy Featherstone and Tomasi. She watches the rabbit play for a short while, wondering how he assisted in the assassination attempt. Horatio is, of course, blissfully unaware of the person that Alex has spotted, though he is looking around the casino at the same time as he's watching Carroll. Carroll plays the game for several hands, smiling only politely as he wins one, and then more. He bets sensibly but not timidly, and seems to do well. Alex blinks a little, watching her eldest brother rake it in... wow, either this game is easy too, or Carroll's a latent mage also! She brightens at a sudden thought, then leans to whisper to both brothers, "Oh! guys, I just noticed the rabbit that Dimitri mentioned... remember? I'm going to go lose to him for a bit, okay?"
Horatio blinks to Alex. "Er... are you sure that's a good idea, Alex? Carroll will point out that losing to HIM is not the same as losing the money back to the Talon.
Alex tilts her head curiously at Horatio, "Why not?" then glances at Carroll, "Oh... foo. Um... okay, so how do I lose back to them?"
Carroll apologizes to his sister, "I wasn't thinking... perhaps blackjack would be better than dice, yes?"
Alex brightens again, "All right! I'll try blackjack or dice then!" She checks her small bag carefully, "Here, I'm going to give you all what I shouldn't be losing, okay? That way when I run out I'll know it's time to stop." She thinks a moment... then nods at Carroll, "Maybe I better avoid dice, yes."
Carroll finds a blackjack game and murrs, "All right." He explains the simple rules and a little of the strategy, adding, "Try not to lose quickly, mm? You'll never have a better chance to practice." He adds, "I'll play a bit if you'd like to see how it runs, again."
Alex grins cheerfully at Carroll, "Don't worry, I'll be fine! and yes, it'd be nice if I could watch a bit?" Alex glances curiously at the rabbit again, wondering if he's paying off folks here too... then back at Carroll. Horatio frets slightly, getting a bit confused. Why does Alex want to play against the rabbit...? Carroll nods, and quietly waits for a place at a table, watching the cards go by, figuring out how many face cards have played, and is then dealt in to the game.
Carroll plays several hands, winning some and losing some. After a few, having lost a little, he steps away from the table and asks Alex, "Think you've got it?"
Alex nods cheerfully... she's not worried considering that what she wants to do is lose money. She settles down in Carroll's vacated chair and is dealt in. Carroll will watch Alex a bit, impassively, lest anyone think he's somehow cheating, and resist the urge to go try and win money from that rabbit Alex mentioned... Alex loses some, wins some, but despite her efforts is overall winning. She eventually gives up on blackjack... maybe she should try dice instead... or something... she's beginning to suspect she's not a good gambler. It doesn't excite her the way it seems to catch the interest of her two older brothers. She wanders by where Horatio and Carroll are, and murmurs a touch glumly, "I won..." After that she wanders around people-watching, trying to keep herself interested so Carroll has enough time to lose some money for her. She even asks the musicians if they take requests.
Carroll later murrs to Alex, "Perhaps you'd rather give their money back by spending it on food?"
Alex brightens! "Food sounds good! Let's eat! Although... not several thousand league dollars worth, please? I think I'd explode!"
Horatio grins softly. "I don't think I could eat that much, anyway, Alex..." Alex giggles!
Carroll chuckles and murrs, "All right, let's see what I can do. Let's see what I need to lose." He starts looking for one of the higher stakes games. Alex wanders around behind Carroll restlessly. Carroll collects the money to be lost and goes over to the roulette wheel, telling Alex, "Don't think about winning." Alex grins at Carroll and tags along, carefully not thinking about winning. She looks instead at the people playing the wheel, wondering why they do this. Horatio grins wryly at Carroll's admonition to Alex.
A bustling at the back of the casino follows a private party in one of the back rooms breaking up. As the people start on their way out, a familiarly lush figure greets the siblings. "Baron! How delightful to see you here!" Duchess White Haven grins at Carroll, ignoring for the moment the young buck gazelle she is walking with. "You should have told me you were coming here."
Alex smiles quietly, bows politely, as expected isn't noticed, and looks back at the roulette wheel to hide her grin. Carroll turns and smiles, bowing carefully to the Duchess in the crowded room, murring, "Good evening, your grace. It is pleasant to see you here as well. I had no idea you frequented this establishment." Alex blinks suddenly to herself... maybe she shouldn't be by the roulette wheel at all... the duchess saw her knife throw in court, after all... she whispers to Horatio that she's going to get a drink, then quietly drifts towards the bar. Horatio erps?! and blinks at the sudden appearance of Duchess White Haven. As his brother bows he does as well, politely and also worriedly. Nothing says a Duchess can't go out on the town, of course. Still... He nods quietly to Alex, who will get drinks for both brothers as well as herself... but she doesn't hurry at all.
White Haven smiles. "It's one of my favorite places when I'm in town. They have the best food, and it's so much more entertaining to play cards while you eat. Are you keeping yourself busy?"
Carroll chuckles and murrs, "Then we have by chance found a pleasant spot." He sees Alex go off for drinks and looks back to the Duchess, murring, "Yes, we have been busy. I was going to send a note to you asking when we could meet to discuss business, if not other things as well, tomorrow morning, but it's simpler to merely ask you."
The mink nods, her party-girl pose fading into a very shrewd nod. "I'm sure we can arrange something. Perhaps... would lunch tomorrow be good?"
Carroll nods and murrs, "Most assuredly, your grace. I shall look forward to it." Smiling broadly and gesturing idly towards the others she's with, he adds, "I'd hate to have ruined the levity of the evening with business. Don't let me interrupt your plans, please."
The mink grins. "Wouldn't dream of letting a little bit of business spoil my evening, milord. Will you be coming alone or bringing your siblings?"
Carroll shrugs and murrs, "Whichever you would prefer, your grace. I expect they would be pleased to join us if you would like, but the ship does need attention sometime."
The Duchess grins. "It might be less complicated if you brought a chaperone, at that. I'll tell the chef to expect four for lunch, then."
Carroll smiles and murrs, "We wouldn't want any nasty rumors about, no. Tomorrow we will be pleased to join you for lunch, your grace."
The mink grins, snapping back into her party mode. "All settled then." She resumes her path to the door. "C'mon, Aloysius. I'm sure you're anxious to see..." Her voice trails off as she whispers to the gazelle... Carroll bows as the Duchess, leaves, smiling cheerfully and watching her exit.