Book the Second, Chapter the Eleventh: A Lengthy Trek

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Lepus grins at the girls. Intrigued that one of the sisters seems to be somehow invisible to the parents, he performs a few simple acts of legerdemain to entertain them.

Hopefully such things will allow him to observe both girls to see how they behave and interact.

They both respond with evident appreciation for these acts of trickery and deception, displaying that awkward but charming combination of shyness and lack of pretense one often finds in young ladies of limited experience of the world. Their actions and manner of speech are unaffected and natural. As one might expect, they behave in a similar manner, but certainly not identically.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"Thank you, Mrs. Allen," says Henry. "Her condition is not life-threatening, thank God. It resulted from the birth of our third child, which was a difficult one, but she was still able to have a fourth afterward. I happen to be a physician, and my skills have helped keep her alive. Are you in good health, and your family?"

"Oh, yes, yes, now we are, thank Heaven." She pauses to wipe away the tear with a bit of cloth hanging from her wrist, evidently kept there not only for that purpose but as an artist's tool, judging by the spots of ink upon it. Mr. Allen comes to her, pats her shoulder, and says "There, there, my dear. Let us have no more talk of sad things. It is such a fine day."

[SunlessNick]

Eliza feels a surge of anger at Mr Allen's overly snide response, but does her best to conceal it. She tries to discern which of the two daughers the parents acknowledge and which not.

[Mr. Handy]

"Ah, you're an artist, Mrs. Allen!" says Henry. "My wife is an artist of a different sort, a musician." He recognizes that she appears to have an excess of melancholy, and that talking of brighter subjects may help the obvious imbalance of her humours.

[jp1885]

Still grinning, Lepus keeps the girls entertained with a little juggling of two small wooden balls that he has somehow produced from within his ragged coast.

“Now young misses- catch!”

He tosses a ball at each girl: not hard, but in such a way to gently strike each one if not caught.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Spoiler:

Eliza WIS = 101d20The dreaded 20, so something interesting . . .

No matter how carefully she observes the family, Eliza is unable to determine which one of the two young ladies they are able to perceive, and which not. Strangely, after considering this curious situation for some time, she herself no longer sees two girls, but only one; could the other have been some strange illusion, such as made be caused by certain prisms of a particular shape?

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

In response to Doctor North's mention of music, Mrs. Allen sings, in a voice untrained but not unpleasant, what seems to be a verse from a ballad of great age.

But if, oh! if you could for me obtain
A freedom, and a longer life to reign,
Fain would I stay, if thou my life wouldst spare.
I have a daughter, beautiful and fair,
I wish to see her wed, whom I adore;
Grant me but this, and I will ask no more.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Spoiler:

2d20

The brace of small wooden balls being tossed, the first young lady fails to capture it at all, blushing a bit at her own clumsiness, as the object rolls off in the grass.

The second girl is able to catch it; but at the very moment of its seizure, it vanishes! Does the youth know something of the art of legerdemain herself?

[Mr. Handy]

"That was wonderful," says Henry, applauding. "You have multiple talents. Surely you shall find no end of suitors for your daughter, but I am already spoken for."

[jp1885]

Even someone so used to the arcane is somewhat taken aback by this.

“A clever trick, yesno?” he says to the second girl. “Now mayhap you can throw it back?”

To the first girl he chuckles. “Your sister be the better catch, hmm?”

[SunlessNick]

Eliza looks around, confused. After a moment, she turns to Henry. "Father we still have to find a safe place for the animal we found."

Having known her for her entire existence, it would be of little effort for both Dr North and Lepus to discern that Eliza has grown suddenly frightened.

She remembers how the hermit kept her captive by commanding her mind, and is afraid that something similar is happening here.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"That was wonderful," says Henry, applauding. "You have multiple talents. Surely you shall find no end of suitors for your daughter, but I am already spoken for."

"You are most kind, My Lord, yet ever am I wary of time's swift flight, and the whisper of the approaching scythe. How long? How long?"

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Even someone so used to the arcane is somewhat taken aback by this.

“A clever trick, yesno?” he says to the second girl. “Now mayhap you can throw it back?”

The young lady makes no response to this; in point of fact, it is evident that at no time has she addressed any save her sister.

To the first girl he chuckles. “Your sister be the better catch, hmm?”

"I know not what you mean, sir." An obvious blush passes over her cheeks as she makes this remark, and she casts her gaze downward.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Eliza looks around, confused. After a moment, she turns to Henry. "Father we still have to find a safe place for the animal we found."

It is quite obvious to her companions that Eliza is in a state of fear and confusion. So noticeable, in fact, is this change in sensibility that Mr. Allen makes so bold as to inquire, "What troubles you, My Lady?" (He apparently assumes she is of noble blood as well.) "Does the beast you speak of frighten you?"

[jp1885]

“Ol’ Lepus meant no disrespect; forgive me,” says Lepus, bowing low to the blushing maid.

“Tell me, thy name be Sophia. What be the name of your companion? How be it that thy parents cannot see her?”

[Mr. Handy]

"I know what you mean, ma'am," says Henry. "As a physician, I have made it my life's work to stave off the one who wields the scythe. But time does march ever onward. Eliza speaks of a strange variety of lizard we found earlier. We have collected it and are bringing it home."

[SunlessNick]

"Forgive me," says Eliza. "My humours are sometimes turbulent."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

“Ol’ Lepus meant no disrespect; forgive me,” says Lepus, bowing low to the blushing maid.

“Tell me, thy name be Sophia. What be the name of your companion? How be it that thy parents cannot see her?”

"You are pleased to jest, sir. 'Tis true, oft as a child I spoke to companions who were but fancies of the imagination, and still I recall those innocent days with a smile. But, as Scripture reminds us, we must put away childish things."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Spoiler:

d20

You are able to tell that Sophia is deliberately avoiding a direct answer to your question.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"I know what you mean, ma'am," says Henry. "As a physician, I have made it my life's work to stave off the one who wields the scythe. But time does march ever onward. Eliza speaks of a strange variety of lizard we found earlier. We have collected it and are bringing it home."

"How extraordinary! Is the creature venomous?" Mrs. Allen is visibly nervous.