Chapter Text
A young woman walks through a field of tall, meadow grass, reading to pass the time. Alex Danvers, is twenty years of age, good humored, attractive, and nobody's fool. She approaches Midvale, a fairly rundown 17th Century house with livestock and well-maintained gardens, where her family lives. The recent rain adds to the nearby waters, creating a small creek along one side of the property. Alex jumps up onto a wall and crosses the creek on a wooden plank, a reckless trick learnt in early childhood.
She walks past the back of the house, where her mothers, Lillian and Eliza Danvers, can be seen sitting in the library, through an open window.
Eliza is in want of conversation and launches into the newest gossip from National Village. “My dear Mrs. Danvers, have you heard that Luthor Estate is let at last?”
Alex can hear their conversation and she smiles knowing her mother will placate her mum to the detriment of her own hearing.
“Do you not want to know who has taken it?”
“As you wish to tell me, my love, I doubt I have any choice in the matter.”
As Alex walks through the hallway, the plodding sound of piano scales can be heard throughout. She walks down the entrance hall past the room where her three younger siblings idle away the afternoon. Jamie, who is eighteen, tall, quite handsome, and though reserved, very intelligent, is practicing, to the annoyance of Alex’s two youngest sisters.
Although the younger of the two, Imra is quite unruly, proud, and dramatic, while Winny follows along in step with her, in every way. Both of them would rather be eavesdropping on their mothers’ conversation than listening to Jamie’s piano, so they crouch at the library door in an attempt to do so.
Alex pokes Imra, as she walks by. “Imra! Winny. What have I told you about listening-”
“Oh, never mind that!” Imra, who’s already heard the exciting news, expels the gossip further, “There's a Ms. Luthor arrived from the East-”
With Winny excitedly chiming in, “-with more than one chaise-”
“-and five thousand a year!”
This is quite interesting news indeed, as their village is small and newcomers always bring some form of excitement. “Really?”
“And she's single!” Imra adds.
Kara, Alex’s very beautiful, if rather naive sister, materializes at Alex's elbow. “Who's single?”
Alex tells her, “A Ms. Luthor, apparently.”
Winny still trying to hear more responds with a, “Shhh!” and clamps her ear back to the door.
“Oh, really Winny.”
Imra leans in, whilst Kara and Alex strain to hear without appearing to do so. Alex can easily picture her mother barely listening to her mum’s chatter.
“What a fine thing for our children!”
“How can it affect them?”
“My dear Mrs. Danvers, how can you be so tiresome! You know that she must marry one of them.”
Lillian’s brow raises, “Oh, so that is her design in settling here?” Lillian takes a plant she's been looking at from her table and walks out of the library into the corridor, bumping into where the four girls are gathered. “Good heavens, people.” She walks through their children to the drawing room pursued by Eliza.
“So, you must go and visit her at once.” Eliza Danvers, being under the constant stress of raising and wedding five children, is entirely consumed with the prospect.
Lillian walks to a table and places the plant in the light and smiles at Jamie, who’s continued to practice their piano, as the others flock behind their mother.
“Are you listening?” Imra eyes Alex, “You never listen.”
Winny whines out, “You must, Mother!”
And Eliza agrees, “At once!”
Lillian vaguely replies, “There is no need, for I already have.”
The piano stops, a sudden silence descending on them, as they stare at their mother, who’s completely nonplus about the topic.
Eliza is quite surprised, thinking the majority of her rambles to her wife go unheard, “You have?”
Kara smiles, “When?”
“How can you tease me, Mrs. Danvers? Have you no compassion for my poor nerves?”
Lillian turns to her wife, “You mistake me, my love. I have a high respect for them; They have been my constant companion these twenty years.”
They all chime in, pestering Lillian with their curiosity… Eliza first, “Is she amiable?”
Imra adds, dreamily, “Is she handsome? She's sure to be handsome.”
Alex smirks at Kara, “With five thousand a year, would not matter if she had warts and a leer.”
“I will give my hearty consent to her marrying whichever of the children she chooses. Warts and all.” She smiles at Alex.
“So, will she come to the ball tomorrow?” Imra bounces with excitement.
“I believe so.”
Imra and Winny shriek with excitement, jumping up and down. Winny turns to Kara, begging, “I have to have your spotted muslin, Kara!”
“No, I need it! It makes Winny look like a pudding.”
She gives Imra an indignant look, but excuses the comment to continue begging Kara. “Oh, please Kara, I'll lend you my green slippers.” They both hound Kara, her soul too kind to rebuff them, while Alex shakes her head at them all.
~
National Village is holding their local subscription dance in the village’s assembly rooms. The music for the first dance has started as the Danvers are arriving. It's a bit cramped and quite raucous; enthusiasm abounds throughout the residents. Yeoman farmers, small-time squires, and local shop owners, all laughing and dancing with the teens and children running amok.
Imra and Winny run off to dance together excitedly through the first song and into the second. Imra laughs, “I can't breathe. How am I going to dance all night if I can't breathe?” and Winny complains, “My toes hurt already.”
Alex is looking quite beautiful and Kara, simply breathtaking, and they’ve endeavored to create some distance from their family. Alex smiles at her sister, “Well, if every person in this room does not end the evening in love with you, then I am no judge of beauty.”
Knowing Alex so well, Kara responds, “Or people.”
“Oh, they are far too easy to judge.” Alex responds arrogantly.
Kara chastises her, “They are not all bad.”
Alex smirks, “Humorless poppycocks, in my limited experience.”
“One of these days, Alex, someone will catch your eye,” Kara smiles, “and then you'll have to watch your tongue.”
She stops speaking and stares as a dazzling group enters the room: Lena Luthor, a good-hearted soul, prone to bumbling embarrassment when her anxieties get the better of her; her brother Lex, a victim of every latest fashion and who counts himself superior to most company he encounters; and finally, Mrs. Samantha Arias, a dashing, brooding woman with an introversion which could be misconstrued as hauteur.
They are dressed in the finest clothing money can buy and the music and dancing all stops abruptly as all the locals turn and stare. The newcomers, as strange and enticing as aliens from another world, make quite a stir.
Sam surveys the hall, catching Alex's eye, both lingering on one another until Sam is distracted by Lex’s comments.
“Oh dear, we are a long way from Metropolis, are we not, Ms. Arias?” He looks around haughtily to the assembled company.
Mrs. Nal, an older member of the self-made gentry, hurries to greet the new arrivals. She leads them down the center of the dance floor, towards the best seats in the room, stopping occasionally to introduce them to various parties. Mrs. Nal’s daughter, Alex's great friend Nia, is an intelligent, sensible woman in her late twenties, and she comes to stand at Alex's side.
“So, which of the painted peacocks is our Ms. Luthor?” Alex asks.
“She is on the right, and on the left is her brother.”
“And the person with the quizzical brow?”
“That is her good friend, Ms. Arias.”
“She looks quite miserable, the poor soul.”
“Miserable she may be, but poor she most certainly is not.”
Alex turns to her, “Tell me.”
“Ten thousand a year, and she owns half of Metropolis.”
Alex smirks, “The miserable half?”
They’re sharing a laugh when Mrs. Nal arrives to introduce them. “My eldest daughter you know,” she indicates Nia, then proceeds to introduce the Danvers, “Mrs. Lillian and Eliza Danvers, and Miss Kara, Miss Alexandra, and Enby Jamie Danvers.”
Eliza speaks up immediately, “It is a pleasure. I have two others, but they are already dancing.”
Lena doesn’t quite hear the woman as she is transfixed by Kara. She gazes openly at her, the two sharing their own quiet pleasantries. Lena realizes she’s due to respond and quickly adds, “Delighted to make your acquaintance.”
Mrs. Nal continues with the introductions. “And may I introduce Mrs. Samantha Arias of Arias Manor, in Metropolis.”
Sam gives a stiff bow and Alex smiles. Sam does not, though Alex doubts the woman knows how. Moments later, Alex is standing in a small group with Kara, Lena, Lex and Sam.
Kara inquires of Lena, “How do you like it here in National, Ms. Luthor?”
She smiles shyly, “Very much.”
Alex butts in, “The library at Luthor Manor, I've heard, is one of the finest in the country.”
“Yes, it’s quite fine indeed.” She looks at Kara and a little blush starts around her collar. “Not an avid reader, myself, though. I prefer being out of doors.” She blanches, “I mean, I can read,” she shakes her head, “of course,” growing more uncertain in the growing quiet, “and- and I'm not suggesting you can't read outdoors - of course-”
Kara saves her, “I wish I read more, but there always seems so many other things to do.”
She beams at Kara, gratefully. “Yes, that's exactly what I meant.”
Imra and Winny rush past in a state of high excitement to spread their learned gossip to their mothers.
Imra excitedly huffs, “Mum! You will never ever, ever, ever believe what I'm about to tell you!”
Lillian responds, “You've decided to take the veil?”
Imra ignores her mother while an impatient Eliza encourages her to continue, “Tell me quickly, my child.”
Imra shrieks, “The regiment are coming!” Eliza shrieks too, causing Lillian to wince.
Winny adds, “They're to be stationed the whole winter! Stationed in the village, just right there!”
Now all three of them shriek and Imra actually jumps up and down. “Officers! Officers as far as the eye can see!” picturing it already.
Lillian resists an eye roll, though she cannot contain the heavy sigh.
“How will we meet them?”
“It's easy, Winn. You just walk up and down in front of them and drop something.” Imra pantomimes the actions for her sister. “They pick it up. You say 'Oh thank you' and blush prettily, and then you're introduced!”
Not far from them, couples begin to form for the next dance and Lena turns to Kara in an uncharacteristic bout of bravery, “May I have the honor?” A delighted Kara agrees.
Alex addresses Sam as much to distract her from her family as for any other reason. “Do you dance Ms. Arias?”
“Not if I can help it.”
The conversation stymied, Alex, Sam and Lex stand in uncompanionable silence while looking on at the dance floor. Kara, displays a calm and modest exterior while a quite smitten Lena blushes clear to her ears.
Eliza, with a group of other mothers, watches the young couple with rather too obvious a satisfaction. “That dress becomes her does it not. Though of course my Kara needs little help from couturiers.”
Alex meanders through the dance hall, stopping in a quieter corner to chat with Nia. An unwitting Sam stops near them as she’s joined by an exhilarated Lena at the edge of the dance floor.
She’s flushed from dancing (and touching hands!) with Kara, “Upon my word I've never seen so many pretty girls in my life.”
“You are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room.”
“Oh, she is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld,” she turns to Sam, “but her sister Alex is very agreeable.”
Alex starts to smile, but Sam’s words halt her.
“Perfectly tolerable, I dare say, but not handsome enough to tempt me.” She urges her shy friend to engage more. “You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me.” With a smile and a shake of her head, Lena returns to Kara’s side, as Sam walks away.
Nia takes in Alex’s hurt. “Count your blessings, Alex. If she liked you, you'd have to talk to her.”
Alex hardens, “Precisely,” and shakes it off, “As it is, I would not dance with her for all of Metropolis, let alone the miserable half.”
Nia smiles at her friend, but sees that she is stung nonetheless.
Later in the evening, Lena is politely dancing with Nia, though even as she does, her eyes track Kara, who is dancing with someone else as well. A look of pure longing is clear in her features, but her station demands otherwise. Afterall, she cannot dance every dance with Kara.
Imra and Winny are exuberantly dancing too, laughing and chatting, while Sam stands watching, a look of infinitely superior boredom on her fine features.
Following the dance, Lena makes her way back to Kara who is standing with Alex, Eliza and Sam.
Lena comments to Alex, “Your friend Miss Nal is a most amusing young woman.”
“Yes! I adore her.”
Eliza, having her share of drink in her by this point, comments, “It is a pity she is not more handsome.”
“Mum!”
“But Alex will never admit she is plain.” Eliza leans closer to Lena, “Of course, it is my Kara who is considered the beauty of the county.”
“Oh Mum, please!” Kara adds embarrassed.
Eliza carries on uninterrupted, “When she was only fifteen there was a gentleman so much in love with her that I was sure he would make her an offer. However, he did write her some very pretty verses.”
“And that put paid to it.” An impatient Alex attempts to redirect the conversation, “I wonder who first discovered the power of poetry in driving away love?”
Sam now intrigued, asks her, “I thought that poetry was the food of love.”
Alex shakes her head, “Of a fine, stout love it may be, but if it is only a vague inclination, I am convinced that one poor sonnet will kill it stone dead.”
Sam looks at Alex with a glimmering of interest. “So, what do you recommend, to encourage affection?”
Alex turns and looks at Sam square on. “Dancing. Even if one’s partner is barely tolerable.” She gives her a dazzling smile before swiftly walking away. Sam’s brow rises in surprise and embarrassment, having had no idea Alex had heard her earlier comment.
~
Later that night, Alex and Kara are laughing about the evening, still too excited to sleep. Kara puts on an extra pair of socks to keep herself warm in the chilly room as she tucks into bed next to Alex.
“Ms. Luthor is just what a young woman ought to be: Sensible, good-humored-”
“Handsome, conveniently rich.”
“Oh Alex, you know perfectly well I do not believe marriage should be driven by thoughts of money.”
She does know this, but likes to tease her sister nonetheless. “I agree entirely, only the deepest love will persuade me into matrimony, which is why I will end up an old maid.”
“Do you really believe she liked me?”
“Kara,” looking at her oblivious sister, “she danced with you most of the night and stared at you for the rest of it… But I give you leave to like her. You've liked many a stupider person.”
“Alex!”
Alex smiles, then adds more seriously, “You're a great deal too apt to like people in general, you know. All the world is good and agreeable in your eyes.”
“Not her friend.” Kara gives Alex a disbelieving look, “I still cannot believe what she said about you.”
“Ms. Arias? I could more easily forgive her vanity had she not wounded mine. But no matter, I doubt we shall ever speak again.”