Meet the Collins

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"Ooh," Maggie says, feigning a moment of dizziness. "Maybe I overdid the booze a bit. Is it ok if we get some air, Burke?"

Spoiler:

Burke has the Affliction of Aggressive, so let's see if he avoids a confrontation. WIS = 9 - 3 = 6[dice]0[/dice] Doesn't look like it.

"Sure, let's go outside. You can catch your breath while I teach this chump some manners."

Spoiler:

let's see if the more level-headed Joe rises to the bait. WIS = 9[dice]1[/dice]

Joe takes a deep breath and tries to settle down. "Let's all just take it easy. I'm heading out. Carolyn, are you coming or staying?"

Spoiler:

let's see if she decides to go with him. She has the Affliction (which I just made up) of Flirtatious, so WIS = 9 - 3 = 6[dice]2[/dice]

"Suit yourself," Carolyn replies, with a toss of her hair. She watches the other three step outside, Joe quickly walking away with his hands in his pockets. In a moment, she exits as well, stepping up to Burke.

"Gosh, it's dark tonight. Walk me home?" Perhaps remembering some basic manners, she adds, "Why don't you come along, too, Maggie. You've never been to Collinswood, have you?"

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"I'm not chicken, just careful," says Victoria with a smile. "I'm Victoria Winters, your new governess. I just arrived last night. I'm helping your family look for you. Who's Josette?"

"Geez, don't you know anything? That's Josette, right there." He points to a painting above the fireplace of a woman in old fashioned clothes. The portrait bears a resemblance to Maggie Evans; an ancestor, perhaps?



"Darn it, now that she's gone, we might as well head back. I guess you'll want me to start on some stupid old schoolwork."

[SunlessNick]

"Gosh, it's dark tonight. Walk me home?" Perhaps remembering some basic manners, she adds, "Why don't you come along, too, Maggie. You've never been to Collinswood, have you?"

OOC:   Collinswood is the house, Collinsport is the town, right?

Maggie sighs, the wrecked date clashing in her mind with a desire not to leave Carolyn alone with Burke, and curiosity about the big house. "Sure," she says after a moment, mustering a smile and linking her arm with Buke's.

[Mr. Handy]

"I'll try to make it interesting for you," says Victoria, heading with David back to the house. "Josette looks kind of like Maggie. Are they related?"

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Spoiler:

"Gosh, it's dark tonight. Walk me home?" Perhaps remembering some basic manners, she adds, "Why don't you come along, too, Maggie. You've never been to Collinswood, have you?"

OOC:   Collinswood is the house, Collinsport is the town, right?

Technically, Collinswood is the entire estate -- the Mansion, the Old House, Widow's Hill, and the wooded land between these areas. Collinsport is the town, yes.

Maggie sighs, the wrecked date clashing in her mind with a desire not to leave Carolyn alone with Burke, and curiosity about the big house. "Sure," she says after a moment, mustering a smile and linking her arm with Buke's.

[/quote]

The trio make their way up the steep, winding pathway to Collinswood. It's a fair hike, and a little scary at night, but the lights from the town and a bright moon make it possible to make one's way in safety. At the door of the mansion, with everyone a little out of breath, Carolyn suggests that they take a moment to enjoy a nightcap.

Seated at a table in the drawing room is Mrs Stoddard, working on accounts for the family business.

"Mother, this is Maggie Evans and Burke Devlin," Carolyn says. Mrs Stoddard rises and greets them politely. (It's common knowledge that she hasn't left Collinswood for nearly twenty years, so it's no surprise that she has never met Maggie, and has only a vague memory of Burke coming to the estate as a very young man, to visit Roger before he was married to what is now his estranged wife.)

As the drinks are poured, Burke takes time to admire the elegantly furnished drawing room, stopping for more than a moment to study the papers on the desk.

In a little while, Victoria and Roger come down the stairs leading to the bedrooms.

"Thanks to your very special talents, Miss Winters, we finally got that little imp off to sleep," Rogers says. "I shouldn't talk about my own son that way, I know. I do care for him, but putting up with his mischief tries my patience. I hope he hasn't been bothering you with all his nonsense about ghosts and goblins."

Entering the drawing room, no doubt intent on his nightly brandy, Roger stops when he sees Burke.

"Hello again, Roger," Burke says. "I thought we might have a little chat, about the old days. I've been to see Sam Evans, and he told me some very interesting things."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"I'll try to make it interesting for you," says Victoria, heading with David back to the house. "Josette looks kind of like Maggie. Are they related?"

"I don't know anybody named Maggie. Anyway, I don't think Josette had any children before she jumped off Widow's Hill. They say three women are supposed to kill themselves that way, and there have only been two so far." His boyish grin reveals that he takes pleasure in this kind of macabre talk. "Maybe you'll be the third."

David proves to be a bright, if somewhat reluctant, student, frequently interrupting his lessons to fool around with a cheap plastic "crystal" ball, or to tell stories about the few memories he has about his mother, whom he hasn't seen since he was very young. Although he tries not to show it, it's obvious that he is becoming fond of his pretty young governess.

[SunlessNick]

Maggie takes advantage of the various conversations to take a little bit more of a look round the house than she probably should. The paintings and furniture make her wonder if there are any eligible batchelors here.

[Mr. Handy]

"Maggie's my new friend," says Victoria to David. "She works at the inn's diner in Collinsport. Who was the other woman who killed herself by jumping off of Widow's Hill?"

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Maggie takes advantage of the various conversations to take a little bit more of a look round the house than she probably should. The paintings and furniture make her wonder if there are any eligible batchelors here.

Spoiler:

Unexplained die roll[dice]0[/dice]

While wandering around the drawing room, Maggie discovers that one part of the wall is just slightly out of alignment with the rest. You'd have to be very lucky to detect it, but it seems as if this might be a secret passageway of some sort.

Meanwhile, Burke and Roger engage in an uneasy conversation, both of them dancing around a subject they'd rather not address directly. Finally, his tongue loosened by a few too many brandies, Roger lets loose a bit more than he might have intended.

"Really, Devlin, I'm perfectly willing to accept that you've paid your debt to society and have become something of a success. Why can't we forget about the past?"

"Because Sam told me he doesn't remember what he saw back then."

"For heaven's sake, that was fifteen years ago. You can't expect him to recall every detail after all this time."

"He seemed awfully sure of himself at the trial. I just want to find out the truth."

Things go on like this for a while. While talking with Carolyn, and pretending not to eavesdrop on the two men, she learns that there is a total absence of eligible men at Collinswood.

"Unless you like hanging around a weird ten-year-old," Carolyn says with a laugh. "There's Uncle Roger, I suppose, but he's still married, technically, although he's been separated from his wife for a long time."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"Maggie's my new friend," says Victoria to David. "She works at the inn's diner in Collinsport. Who was the other woman who killed herself by jumping off of Widow's Hill?"

"Let's see," David says, as if trying to recall a history lesson. "That was Samantha Collins. She was married to some ancestor or other, about a hundred years ago."

[Mr. Handy]

"I'm learning from you, just as you're learning from me," Victoria said with a smile. "You already know quite a bit of your family's history."

[SunlessNick]

Maggie has a peek at the portrait, but doesn't make much of an effort to open it for fear of sending it crashing off the wall (she does take note of what and where it is though).

"Ha! I get enough weird ten year olds at the restaurant," Maggie says to Carolyn. "Sounds like a story with Roger." [OOC, she's warming to Carolyn as someone to talk to without guys around - just don't double date with her]

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Maggie has a peek at the portrait, but doesn't make much of an effort to open it for fear of sending it crashing off the wall (she does take note of what and where it is though).

"Ha! I get enough weird ten year olds at the restaurant," Maggie says to Carolyn. "Sounds like a story with Roger."

Carolyn draws Maggie aside and speaks more seriously. "It's pretty sad. David's a real pain sometimes, but I feel sorry for him, too. He misses his mother pretty badly. I never even met her; Uncle Roger only moved back to Collinswood after they broke up."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Spoiler:

Tune in again, same time, same channel, for the next exciting episode!