Like Gold - Printable Version
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+---- Thread: Like Gold (/showthread.php?tid=877)
Like Gold - Thom Pettigrew - April 14, 2018
April 30th, 1888 — Parlor, Pettigrew Estate, Lancashire
Gold, when you see me
Hi, if you need me
Babe, that's the way it was
That's the history
Blue, how we used to roar
Like an open fire
That's the way it was
But that's history
He had come with good intentions. Things had been rough between the two of them for the past several months, that much was true, but he was doing his best not to carry that weight into this conversation. Thom was even trying to forget the more recent slight of having embarrassed himself by arriving alone to a party his wife had already declined the invitation for. Viewing it charitably, he supposed perhaps she had seen his forwarding the invitation to her in the first place as a gesture meaning he intended to leave the matter in her hands — which was, in fact, what he had been trying to do. In his opinion, however, the 'matter' left in her hands should have been responding to invitations and making pleasantries and doing the bare minimum of what was expected of any society wife, not making excuses and hiding in the country house.
But he wasn't here to berate her for not having attended the party. As embarrassing as it had been, it was over now, and dwelling on it would hardly help Hannah move on from this paralyzing isolation she had surrounded herself with. Given how recent that particular awkwardness had been, though, it was imperative that they start the season out on the right foot. While the debutantes might not start their cascade of debuts for another month or even two, the Quidditch season began next week, and Thom intended to fill his social calendar almost immediately, which meant that Hannah really had to be ready to do the same.
He'd come to the country house unannounced, and after dealing with a very surprised servant, had been ushered into the parlor while someone went to find out where Mrs. Pettigrew was and whether she could be pulled away from whatever she was doing. It was ridiculous, he thought, to need to be announced in his own home, and even more so to wait in the parlor with a tray of tea biscuits like he was an unexpected guest or a traveling salesman, but he wasn't particularly inclined to waste an hour prowling around the house and grounds looking for her. It wasn't as though he knew what she did with her time, these days, so he wouldn't even have known where to begin.
After what seemed like a monstrously long time to be kept waiting for anyone, much less his own wife, she finally appeared. Thom attempted a genuine smile, though it was a bit tight with impatience after having been left alone in the parlor so long. "Darling," he greeted briskly. "How are you feeling, today?"
RE: Like Gold - Hannah Pettigrew - April 15, 2018
She had erred, she knew, in not telling her husband she would be given Ursula Black’s party a miss. At the time it had seemed easier, less likely to elicit an argument, but his letter had been terse at best. Hannah supposed her own would have been no different, were their roles reversed.
What the witch hadn’t anticipated was his subsequent arrival. It seemed foolish to consider Thom being at their home to be an anomaly, but Hannah had been entirely left to her own devices at the Lancahire house for some time. Thus, when it was announced that Mr. Pettigrew was here, she had momentarily thought it might be one of her brothers-in-law, confused as to their mother’s whereabouts. Of course she had quickly realized the truth of the matter, and set aside her palette—she had been painting on the terrace—to retreat to her room, clean up, and pinch some colour into her cheeks before realizing that her excuse for missing the party had been her health. Ah well.
“Well this is a surprise,” she greeted him brightly, though her smile was an uncertain one as she moved to kiss him lightly on the cheek. “A pleasant one, of course,” she amended, taking a step back. “What brings you so far afield?”
Hannah elected to take his own question as a rhetorical one. He could see for himself that she was quite well, after all.
What the witch hadn’t anticipated was his subsequent arrival. It seemed foolish to consider Thom being at their home to be an anomaly, but Hannah had been entirely left to her own devices at the Lancahire house for some time. Thus, when it was announced that Mr. Pettigrew was here, she had momentarily thought it might be one of her brothers-in-law, confused as to their mother’s whereabouts. Of course she had quickly realized the truth of the matter, and set aside her palette—she had been painting on the terrace—to retreat to her room, clean up, and pinch some colour into her cheeks before realizing that her excuse for missing the party had been her health. Ah well.
“Well this is a surprise,” she greeted him brightly, though her smile was an uncertain one as she moved to kiss him lightly on the cheek. “A pleasant one, of course,” she amended, taking a step back. “What brings you so far afield?”
Hannah elected to take his own question as a rhetorical one. He could see for himself that she was quite well, after all.
RE: Like Gold - Thom Pettigrew - April 17, 2018
Thom's question had not been merely an inquiry into her physical health (which, as he suspected, seemed to be fine), but rather into... her emotional well-being, for lack of a better word. It seemed the two of them had been increasingly out of sync since their marriage, and while Thom had been eager to blame the growing gap between them first on her nerves, as a new bride, then on her pregnancy, and finally on her grief, he had finally run out of excuses to use for her, in his own mind. The baby had been gone for months, and while it was regrettable, it was one of those things that just happened to people on occasion. He had moved on, and there was no reason for Hannah not to have done the same, and yet here she was, still ensconced in the country home and turning down invitations to parties. It had crossed his mind lately that perhaps there was something wrong with his wife, but he had too little experience with such things to know how to delicately broach the subject. If she was going to ignore his question about her health, that would be the end of the discussion on the matter, at least for today.
Well, it would at least be the end of that particular branch of inquiry. There was still a good deal to discuss regarding her social habits of the past and present, and what his expectations of them for the future would be. He had thought carefully about how to broach that particular topic, and was hopeful that he'd have more success there than the previous one.
"The Quidditch season opens in a few days," he reminded her in a pleasant tone. "I wanted to see whether you'd put any thought into what you intend to wear to the Puddlemere gala. I can send out for a vest and tie to match."
Very diplomatic, and very carefully crafted. He'd decided it was best to speak as though there was no question of her attendance, because there really wasn't, and he didn't want to make it seem as though she had the freedom to just sit out the entirely of the social season — at least, not without some legitimate reason besides her desire to keep lurking around the country estate. If she protested, he would push back — after the debacle at Ursula Black's house party he had no intention of hosting his first event of the season with an absentee wife — but he hoped it wouldn't come to that, and hoped his second sentence conveyed his goodwill reasonably well. He was ready and willing to support her through whatever this... thing was that she was going through, and would stay by her side through the entire event if that was what it took, but he did need her to at least make an effort.
RE: Like Gold - Hannah Pettigrew - April 22, 2018
“I confess, I’d forgotten about it altogether,” Hannah replied apologetically, a lie. She had, in fact, placed a great deal of thought into it, but none of the clothes she had had seemed right, and the thought of venturing into town to have something made had at first seemed simple, but in practice she had only made it as far as grabbing a handful of floo powder before backing down. Thrice. How could she explain to her husband that while attending a gala from his team was mostly something she thought she could handle, the idea of setting into a seamstress’ shop set her pulse racing—and not in a good way?
“Plan upon blue,” the witch added hastily, “for I’ll likely adopt something in the periwinkle family—patriotic, in a sense, to the team without being too on the nose.”
Now, of course, she had to actually find something that fit that particular brief, or find a way to contract dragon pox between now and the event in question.
“Plan upon blue,” the witch added hastily, “for I’ll likely adopt something in the periwinkle family—patriotic, in a sense, to the team without being too on the nose.”
Now, of course, she had to actually find something that fit that particular brief, or find a way to contract dragon pox between now and the event in question.
RE: Like Gold - Thom Pettigrew - April 23, 2018
She'd forgotten about it? The 'it' in question, he assumed, would be the gala itself, as it was hardly likely that she had remembered the event and it had somehow slipped her mind that she would have to attend it clothed. He had been planning this more or less since the conclusion of the season the previous January, and while he might have overlooked her ignorance of what was going on in the Quidditch world, or his social world (they usually held a good deal of overlap) then, she could not be forgiven for opting to do so indefinitely. It was not, either, as though he had been secretive about it. He'd written and told her little things about it here and there throughout the planning process, in an attempt to illicit some interest in the particulars and to draw her out into her role as hostess — all of which, of course, had been in vain. His letters never received more than polite and vaguely affectionate responses, and he'd eventually given up on sending them.
She was over here in the countryside doing Merlin only knew what for the past several months, and she had forgotten that eventually, she was going to have to go back to the real world and be his wife again. Thom had no response to that. He was momentarily too frustrated to even contemplate what words he might use to respond.
"I'll... do that, then," he eventually managed, mouth feeling a little dry. He had come into this conversation with every intention of making it a positive one for both of them, which made it very difficult to know where to proceed from here. He had to choose his words diplomatically, he felt, in order to convey that this was important without necessarily sounding like he was accusing her of anything.
"It's — we ought to make an effort to put our best foot forward," he said. "Given — recent events."
RE: Like Gold - Hannah Pettigrew - May 19, 2018
Recent events being their pseudo-estrangement? The loss of their child? The entire hubbub surrounding her natal family, which was still very prominent in the public mind (at least, she assumed)? Hannah did not wish to ask for specifics, for none of these options were likely to lead to any measure of pleasant discussion.
"It's hardly as though they won't find reasons to gossip either way," Hannah remarked pragmatically before realising it was, perhaps, a bit more cynical than she wished her husband to think of her. "But quite right that the gossip should be favourable."
"It's hardly as though they won't find reasons to gossip either way," Hannah remarked pragmatically before realising it was, perhaps, a bit more cynical than she wished her husband to think of her. "But quite right that the gossip should be favourable."
RE: Like Gold - Thom Pettigrew - May 21, 2018
Thom couldn't fathom what positive rumors could possibly circulate surrounding the pair of them at the present moment. The best they could hope for, he felt, was for all of society to have forgotten them entirely since January, so that they could start clean and fresh when the season reopened, but her having declined the invitation to Mrs. Black's house party the previous weekend had hardly ensured that. Her absence would have been noted and discussed in any case, but the fact that she had failed to tell him about it and left him stranded at the party like a fool had only made the matter more conspicuous. The only positive was that it had been a relatively small party, but even that was something of a mixed blessing; at a larger affair perhaps it would have been possible to assume she'd been elsewhere, lost in the crowd rather than sitting the event out. At any rate, the attendees at Ursula's party had been only the best of wealthy, pureblood society, and their opinion counted for half a dozen of their social inferiors when it came to getting the Pettigrews back where they ought to have been.
All the more reason why the gala really had to be perfect; they could not afford another misstep. But how could he impress that upon Hannah without the conversation devolving into him berating her? Thom had the sense that she didn't quite get it, still, but he didn't know what to say to drive the point home. He had never imagined when he'd initially started wooing her, all those years ago, that this would be something he'd have to explain, but then — the Miss Hannah Echelon had been an altogether different creature when he'd fallen for her than the person she became after the death of her father, and had (at least in his opinion), very little in common with the woman who now bore the name of Mrs. Pettigrew. The Hannah he had loved had been vibrant and charming and vivacious, and while he had noted the effects her withdrawal from society had had on her during her mourning period, he had never imagined they would go on to last so long.
But he had loved her, once, and he still felt as though the ordeal with her father had been his fault, though he would never share as much with her. He had nothing to do with the man's crimes, of course, but a great deal to do with their finally coming to light, and he had felt — then and, to a slightly lesser degree, now — that he had been responsible for derailing Hannah's life, and ought to be the one to fix it. He'd shared that sentiment with her when he'd proposed, and told her that her reputation as Mrs. Pettigrew would quickly grow to outshine the stain she'd acquired due to the sins of her father... but he hadn't anticipated, then, that it would be this hard.
"It will be something of an uphill climb," he said tentatively. The understatement of the year for Thom Pettigrew; rebuilding Hannah's social capital after her self-imposed isolation seemed as difficult as scaling a sheer cliff without benefit of magic or tools. "But things will be much better once you're back on your feet. And I'll be there to support you."
He meant it kindly, but his support in this matter could not be reasonably declined; if need be he would hang on to her arm and drag her around various parties when the season actually began in earnest, to ensure she was being seen.
RE: Like Gold - Hannah Pettigrew - May 22, 2018
The look she gave him was a peculiar one. Hannah knew, of course, that he loved her—that much she would not doubt, for all that she doubted a great many things about her life nowadays. That Thom would support her, or knew how to support her, though, seemed less likely in light of recent events.
Yes, removing his mother, and his children, from the country home in the light of their…their tragedy had been necessary for the preservation of Hannah’s own sanity (had he known that? Intuited it? Or was it mere coincidence?), but leaving with them, without her had left the already fragile woman feeling even more isolated. He had supported her once, with the ordeal surrounding her father—but did he regret that now? And did he realize that this and that were both the same and not at all alike?
Her sigh was soft, short, but audible.
He would be there to support her, not here.
“And I you,” she replied with a thin smile, “as is only fitting. A few more days is all I ask, to get my head back in order.”
Yes, removing his mother, and his children, from the country home in the light of their…their tragedy had been necessary for the preservation of Hannah’s own sanity (had he known that? Intuited it? Or was it mere coincidence?), but leaving with them, without her had left the already fragile woman feeling even more isolated. He had supported her once, with the ordeal surrounding her father—but did he regret that now? And did he realize that this and that were both the same and not at all alike?
Her sigh was soft, short, but audible.
He would be there to support her, not here.
“And I you,” she replied with a thin smile, “as is only fitting. A few more days is all I ask, to get my head back in order.”
RE: Like Gold - Thom Pettigrew - May 25, 2018
He wasn't at all convinced that this conversation had worked out the way he'd wanted it to, but he didn't know what else to say. She wasn't her old self, and she hadn't been cheered or encouraged by his words. The vaguely disappointed sigh and the weakness of her smile were a testimony to that fact. He had nothing else to offer her at the moment, though, and so he would just have to trust that she would be able to rally in the next few days and be ready to emerge on the other side of this in time for the gala — though why he should trust that she was capable of pulling herself out of this mire in a few days when she had failed to do so in a few months, he wasn't sure.
"A few days," he agreed, with a brief but not wholly sincere smile. After a slight pause, he asked, "Should I send anyone from the Hogsmeade house to help you pack? Or does your maid have it well in hand?"
The subject of where she would reside for the season had not been broached yet, but Thom didn't consider it a matter that needed to be discussed. Living in the same house as a married couple ought not to be the sort of thing that required discussion.
RE: Like Gold - Hannah Pettigrew - June 4, 2018
She did not think Thom was convinced. In truth, how could he be when she herself was not? Still, Hannah was hardly about to turn 'round and ruin their 'truce' of sorts, and so returned his smile with a tentative smile of her own.
"If my maid were not up to the task, I think I should be forced to let her go," the blonde pointed out, making a joke of it. If she was honest, the thought of any 'help' her husband might send seemed even more pressuring than his own appearance here. She would keep her word and return to Hogsmeade, at least for as long as she would able. She was not have an escort get her there.
"If my maid were not up to the task, I think I should be forced to let her go," the blonde pointed out, making a joke of it. If she was honest, the thought of any 'help' her husband might send seemed even more pressuring than his own appearance here. She would keep her word and return to Hogsmeade, at least for as long as she would able. She was not have an escort get her there.
RE: Like Gold - Thom Pettigrew - June 9, 2018
That settled it, he supposed. Thom had nothing to add to the conversation at this point that would not imply his faith in his wife was lacking, which wouldn't be helpful given what he was trying to do this season. There was nothing to do but take Hannah at her word and hope that this year proved more successful than the last. Time would tell.
"Very well," he said, rising from his seat and crossing to kiss her (rather perfunctorily, it was true) as a parting gesture. "I'll see you soon, then."
RE: Like Gold - Hannah Pettigrew - June 10, 2018
“Soon,” she echoed with a nod and a smile. Only Hannah’s eyes betrayed that she was already dreading it.