IC-Ep 3-Breakfast Time(Elizabeth/Jacques/Gui/Jean Luc/Bey Abdu'l)

[Snapper]

"Most kind," Jacques whispered back to Elizabeth, "But truthfully, I am no great and poetic speaker, like the ancient Greeks and Romans. More good luck than great skill on my part, I think."

"We shall see how the player copes with this news now though."

[aine]

“Unfortunately M. Galiano is likely to be a master smith with words. I hope le Duc can withstand him.” The hall is filling up; Elizabeth looks round for her companions, Leonardo and Diego seem to be late sleepers too.

[BoyBlunder78]

"Le Duc is a string willed forthright man and with the support of the Inquisition behind him plus the learned Bey Abdu'l Monsieur Galiano will jave his work cut out. Jean Luc says, scanning the crowd.

[Philulhu]

”I do not see what argument he might employ to persuade the Duc,” said Gui quietly. ”’I must be allowed to perform my heretical play’ doesn’t seem like a winning position to me!”

[Mr. Handy]

More people began to arrive in the Duc's chambers for the audience. The rest of the Galiano players were not far behind Enrico, and soon Diego arrived, as did the other guests. Leonardo came last, as he moved more slowly than the others, with the exception of Bey Abdu'l, who had already arrived well before them.

It was at this point that Enrico noticed the sheaf of papers in the Inquisitors hands. "My script!" he cried. "How did you get it?!"

"I cannot say," said Ignacio. "I am bound by the confessional seal."

"It was stolen from me, Your Grace! There was an intruder in my guest quarters last night!"

"Did you recognize him?" asked the Duc. "What did he look like?"

"I...didn't actually see him. But I heard him rummaging about in the writing desk in the night, waking me up. He must have gotten frightened when I approached and fled. I took the script with me into my bedroom after that and returned to sleep, but it was gone when I woke up this morning!"

"Are you sure it was not one of your own family who took it and gave it to the Inquisitor?" asked the Duchesse. "They did have access to the rooms."

"Ridiculous! Charles was in the room with me when the intruder came the first time, anyway. He was awakened too. And my wife and daughter were still asleep."

[Joajackson]

Hearing the posible implications of thievery, the Bey commented in bad french.

"It seems Ala willed it to be so then."

[Snapper]

All humour drained from Jacques' face, he straightened - even more - and took one deliberate step towards Galiano. "M. Galiano," his voice cut sharply through the crowd, "You forget yourself, sir. You will address the Duchesse with the respect Her Grace is owed by rank, not to mention her kindness, generosity, and the fact she is a lady, or you will answer to me."

"In fact, there shall be a queue of gentlemen you will answer to, but St John grant that I should be the first."

Jacques' left hand came naturally to rest on the hilt of his scabbard.

[Philulhu]

”Disgraceful behaviour!” tutted Gui. ”You really should mind your manners when speaking to your betters!”

[BoyBlunder78]

Upon hearing the accusations of thievery, Jean Luc is reminded of the network of secret passages. Leaning over to Gui he whispers, "This places is riddled like a rats nest with hidden passages.....who do you think would've stolen the manuscript?"

[aine]

Elizabeth looks over at Gui carefully, two burglaries in two nights; what a coincidence. She remembers the mysterious woman who might have ordered the first one.
She gives Gui a hard stare.

[Philulhu]

”Merci,” said Gui, taking the hard stare from Elizabeth. He examined it carefully then set it aside, on a nearby table…

”An art critic, perhaps? Or someone afflicted by piles who wished not to have to sit through its performance? Honestly, if it’s a bad as they say, the list is endless!” Gui whispered to Jean Luc in reply.

As he straightened up again, he caught Elizabeth’s stare. Looking shocked, he stared back, his hand on his chest as if mortally affronted at the suggestion that he had in any way been involved in the manuscript ending up in Father Ignacio’s hands… …

[Mr. Handy]

"M-my apologies, Your Grace," said Enrico. "This does not change the fact that there is a thief at large, however."

"The thief is being sought, and will be dealt with," said the Duc.

Enrico turned to Ignacio. "You know who he is, Father."

"As I have explained, I cannot say."

"I will have my script back, then."

"You will not. It should be burned. Be thankful that it is not you being burned."

The color drained from Enrico's face, and he looked away.

"Can you not perform some other play in its place?" asked the Duc.

"It is not that simple, Your Grace. It takes time to prepare a performance, to rehearse. Each play has its own costumes, its own sets."

"You are welcome to use what I have in my chateau to help you. We have a wide variety of costumes for the masquerade ball tomorrow night."

"There simply isn't time to have everything ready by this evening...but perhaps we could perform Antigone by tomorrow night. Could the masquerade be held tonight instead, Your Grace?"

[Joajackson]

The Bey seemed to be seriously considering something, maybe he could do some islamic poetry in the following nights. It wouldnt cover for an entire opera, but it would be considerably interesting, oh well, the christians didnt understand such delicate delights.

[aine]

Elizabeth smiled secretively at Gui, she certainly didn't want to give the game away and whoever did steal the manuscript had done them all a big favour.
Her ears pricked up at the sound of a masquerade ball. It was something she'd always dreamed about doing and she wondered if her Ceilidh dancing skills would be sufficient.

[Snapper]

Relieved to see the tense situation trending away from bloodshed, Jacques looked back to the Duc with a hopeful half-smile. "Your Grace, would it be possible to hold a masquerade tonight, a day early?"

"I'm sure it may be a hard task for your staff, but we guests should be most grateful. Who does not enjoy a masquerade?"

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes," said the Duc, "that sounds most reasonable. We were going to hold it anyway, so we'll just move it up a bit. That does give less time to get our costumes together, but there is still enough. We shall announce the change in schedule at luncheon. In the meantime, anyone who wants to avail himself of our wardrobe and masks is welcome to do so. Just take care not to reveal to everyone which costume you selected for the masquerade."

"It is all part of the fun," said the Duchesse. "We shall all be in disguise, and we can try to guess who everyone is. Then, at the stroke of midnight, we all remove our masks and reveal who we are!"

[Snapper]

"Most excellent news, Your Grace." With a short, polite bow to both the Duc and Duchesse, Jacques discreetly withdrew closer to Elizabeth and nodded in Leonardo's direction, while speaking quietly. "Shall we see how the Master has fared with our other mystery?"

Jacques headed over to Leonardo. "Master, we have hopefully solved one problem today. How goes all with you?"

[Philulhu]

Spotting Jacques in quiet conversation with Elizabeth and da Vinci, Gui wondered what they were talking about. Carefully, he tried to zone out all the other chatter and just focus on the three of them.

Listen (35%) 1d100

I think I’ll spend two points of luck to make that a success.

[BoyBlunder78]

Jean Luc smiles at the mention of a masquerade ball. This night has just got more interesting he thinks, looking over to the players he wonders what they might get upto. Asking a passing servant where the playroom is with the costumes.

[Mr. Handy]

"Good morning, Chevalier," said Leonardo. "I slept better than I did the night before, as my rest was undisturbed this time. I spent the morning in conversation with our friend."

"I'll be happy to bring all those who wish to where the costumes and masks are stored," said Henri. "If you wish to select something to use for the ball, just whisper it to me, and do not tell the other guests. They will be delivered to your rooms this evening."

This is 6th edition, so there's no spending Luck. You can't quite make out what they're saying unless you make it obvious that you're eavesdropping by getting closer, but you hear just enough to know that it's interesting!