Misleading The Marquis

26 - Gina

"Nearly there, my lady," the driver of the Brisbane locomotive carriage called down from his seat at the controls. Gina looked out the window, as she had been doing for the entire two hours ride, only half absorbing the landscape in front of her. It was beautiful country, not only Bane's mountain, but the surrounding area as well. Mountains rose, like moss covered river stones up and up and up into the sky that hung heavy with a clean white fog. The sun was somewhere, she just couldn't see it, but every once and again, a beam of light would strike through the fog to land against the green mountainsides. The air was clear, cold and damp just as it was at Brisbane Castle -- nothing like the air she'd grown up in. Bane had promised her very mild summers and harsh winters... and she'd looked forward to them - in theory.

After all, she reminded herself, she wasn't going to stay - even if she was beginning to like it here. Blair, Merigold and Grandmother were warm and welcoming - reminding her of Louisa and her mother, the comradery of women that she'd longed for so much. The children were of course adorable - though they had an unfortunate penchant for asking when she would be producing them tiny Brisbane cousins... at the dinner table. The multitude of household staff were good honest people, Joshua, Harry and Malcolm all quite liveable. She had yet to elarn how to ride a horse, or make candles in the winter. Bane had shared stories of luxurious Saints Day celebrations, where all the neighbors and villagers poured into Brisbane Castle for warm drinks and cedar cakes.

Perhaps, Gina begrudgingly admitted, in her heart of hearts she'd dreamed of place like Brisbane Castle... with a family... It wasn't St. John Manor, and it would never be, just as her mother and father could never be brought back to life... but what if this place could be... home? Gina felt a shock of guilt at the thought... was it ungrateful and unloving to want to leave behind the memory of her old life, of her parents, in exchange for something new? A new start with Bane?

"We have arrived," the driver announced in a monotone, as the machine hissed to a halt in front of a little town house, set amongst the other on the street that looked just like it in Hamil. Caroline and her brother were kind people - always had been kind to Gina. But she'd also go along so well with them because they too came from such modest backgrounds - they'd had a comaraderie in this. Gina was eager to solidify such a friendship again, for even at two hours away - they were the closest neighbors she shared an acquaintance with from her past. And in keeping them perhaps she could keep a bit of her past about her... what was she thinking?! She was only here until she located Ben... then she would be gone forever from Brisbane Castle... and its formidable master.

"Oh I'm so glad you've come!" Caroline threw her arms around Gina in a warm hug, her greeting so genuine that Gina found herself relaxing immediately. She'd been trying so hard to make the right first impressions this week that she'd forgotten the luxury of an old friend's greeting until she'd had it just now.

"Thank you for your invitation," Gina answered, returning the embrace, "I was so happy to learn you lived so close by!"

"We had no idea you were engaged - well - married - to Lord Brisbane until we met you on the airship, or I would've written to tell you sooner!" Caroline explained, pulling her arm through Gina's and leading her friend further into their parlor. It was modest, much like the size and location of the rest of their townhouse. Soft blue hues mixed with creams and grays colored the room, though most of its furnishings showed at least a decade of aging, which if memory served was just around the time that Mr. and Mrs. Stanley had passed in the Rose Plague. This was another thing Gina shared with Caroline... and the reason she'd come to see her friend today.

"You must tell me everything, Gina," Caroline insisted in a friendly manner, producing a place of sweets and a hot mug of cider for her friend once they'd settled together in chairs beside a rather small fire. Gina found herself grateful once again for Bane's gift of heavy boots and the pink wool gown she wore now.