June 9th, 1893 - Lestrange house, before the Animal Kingdom Fashion Show

Being married was freedom, but it came with its own set of expectations. Cash let Adrienne set their social calendar, because that was what wives did, with minimal input. But it meant he went to more, and different, parties than he had as a bachelor. Fewer cocktail hours, more silent auctions.

He was about half ready, having changed out of his work suit and into more formal evening wear. Cash wandered out of his own dressing room and into his wife's with his sleeves still unbuttoned. "Do you have strong feelings about which cufflinks I wear?" he asked, leaning in the doorway.

---

Adrienne’s inspiration for her outfit for the Animal Kingdom Fashion Show could have been considered a more loose interpretation. She wasn’t exactly someone who would go about with cat ears as a headdress with whiskers fastened to her face. Instead, they'd decided on a siren and Olympe had managed to source a shimmery, rippling blue fabric that seemed to mirror the waters of the canals in Annecy. As she sat at her mirror, her maid was finishing off her hair which was done up in a fancier version of her regular up-do, and ribbons of the same fabric trailed down the back and snaked over her left shoulder. Adrienne thought it quite a pleasant effect; aided with some magic, the fabric ended up floating ever so slightly behind her as she walked, as if the fabric were under water.

She didn’t have to turn around to see her husband approach. She smiled at him in the reflection of the vanity mirror before turning her head to the side to observe Olympe’s handiwork. “Not particularly, no.” She replied, standing up and excusing her maid. But not before receiving a sharp, but silent look from Olympe, whose sense of fashion seemed to be quite stronger than Adrienne’s. “Er —” She laughed sheepishly. “Rather, anything silver would be fine…..?” She trailed off, looking to the maid who gave an approving nod and exited. Adrienne gave a fond scoff as she reached to pick up her white gloves.

“Honestly, it’s as if I’d suggested you go with one gold and one silver cufflink.” Olympe would probably drop in a dead faint if she were to ever seriously follow through. There was a pause as she took in her husband’s appearance, and she smiled. “You look quite smart.”

---

Sometimes Cash thought that Adrienne's lady's maid wanted to dress him herself, rather than have him ask his wife. Maybe one day he'd let Olympe, but for now, her silent suggestions would do.

"I'll wear the silver pair from Seneca, then," Cash offered, as an olive branch to the disappearing maid. He smiled back at Adrienne, mirroring her. "Thank you. I like your hair, it's — I don't know the adjective, but I like it."

Adrienne always looked lovely; Cash didn't have to be attracted to her to know that, both because he could see it plainly enough himself and because people told him, sometimes.

---

Hearing Cash’s compromise, Adrienne beamed at him, feeling a rush of affection swell in her chest. So far, their marriage seemed to be going quite well; at least better than Adrienne could have dreamed. She’d never thought that her father would have sent her off with an oaf, but there was no telling what someone was like when they were at home, out from under society’s scrutiny. And thankfully, she needn't have worried so much. She’d been a little concerned as to how Olympe would feel, being added to the household staff, but the french lady’s maid seemed to take to it comme un poisson dans l’eau. “She’d be happy you’re using them.” Seneca and Olympe both, for entirely different reasons of course.

Her hand fluttered up to her hair and she furrowed her brows. “I haven’t a clue what Olympe did, but I shall trust you.” She felt some twists, and perhaps a plat or two in there. “Unfortunately I don’t think I’d be able to give you the adjective either! I may have been speaking English for quite some time, but some of your words still puzzle me exceedingly.” Either way, she felt a flush of pleasure knowing Cash approved.

---

"And my French has always been a little weak," he said. Cash sometimes forgot that Adrienne had spent so many years in France, but never admitted it around her. Also, he was worried about what Lucius would say when he realized that Adrienne was French, if he hadn't figured it out already.

"Are we going to see any of your friends tonight?" he asked. "Also, you may have to explain a silent auction to me."

This was predominately aimed at women — and married men, and men escorting unmarried women. But Cash had rarely chaperoned Seneca, so this was a new space for him.

---

“Well, it’s a good thing you’re married to a Frenchwoman, isn’t it?” Adrienne teased with a soft laugh. Her accent had gone down considerably, but she knew if someone listened hard enough that the French lilt wouldn’t be invisible. Adrienne listened to Cash while pulling on her gloves. “Mmm,” She thought to who she’d corresponded with recently, and the information she’d gained through the letters. “A few, I believe. Perhaps Miss Chang or Miss Dashwood, though I’ve only heard second hand if they’re coming or not. Oh, maybe we’ll see Mrs. Abbott,” She mused, referring to the woman who’d lost her husband on the Santa Antonia just before the birth of their son. “She’s recently come out of mourning, I believe.”

She laughed again, this time at her assignment for the evening as she laced her fingers together and pressed her gloves further onto her fingers. “An odd event to be sure. I may have to explain it to you once we get there and my memory is retrieved. I believe it’s bidding on items by writing your name down on a piece of parchment.” Or perhaps the magical world did it differently than the muggle world that she’d read about. “Either way, I’m quite eager to at least be a bit more subtle when placing bets. The whole raising your number in the air seems a bit….” She pursed her lips, unable to come up with the word. “Flaunting?” She wasn’t entirely sure that was a word.

---

When she listed her friends, Cash ran through them mentally — he thought it important to maintain some level of understanding of her world, despite everything. Miss Chang was connected to the Flint institute; Miss Dashwood was a debutante, and a halfblood. He wasn't familiar with Mrs. Abbott, but she explained, and Cash made a mental note.

Cash nodded. "It seems that it would be a bit — show-offish," he said. It was a vaguely impolite concept, at least for a man to engage in — probably why this event was aimed at debutantes. "Anything you'd particularly like to bet on?"

---

“Show-offish…” Adrienne mused, letting the word roll over her tongue. It sounded like a fairly awkward word, fit for its application in this conversation. In any case, she was glad that she wouldn’t have to call attention to herself by raising a placard with a number on it. At least they might don a veneer of socialization whilst bidding.

With her gloves on, the last item she needed was her shawl, which Olympe should have put on the back of the chair she’d just stood up from. “Actually, there is.” She replied to her husband, picking up the shawl and donning it. It was made of long sheer silk that fluttered along with the rest of her dress, and more meant for the visual effect of her costume rather than practicality. There was no scenario in which this particular shawl would keep her warm.

“I was able to secure a draft of the roster, there are some signed first editions that might pique your interest,” She cast him an ambiguous, knowing smile. “And a few other items that I think might capture your attention.” Namely some limited edition Quidditch supplies, and an early edition of a new broom that was set to release later in the winter.

---

Her shawl was lovely. Cash made a mental note to compliment it later; they were too busy having a normal conversation now.

Cash smiled back at her. "Well I hear things I'll be interested in," he said. "What about you?" He hadn't quite settled into the upper class man with his own house thing of collecting, but maybe this was a first step — he needed things to do in their house, ways to make it feel like it was theirs and not just a place they lived in.

---

“Oh!” It had slipped her mind to survey the list for things that she might want. She’d seen an antique instrument that Aristide might have been interested in, but her mind blanked on anything that she might have seen to try and obtain for herself. “I…” Adrienne blinked a few times to try and job her memory of the items that might interest her. “I think I remember an ancient chess set that might look quite good in the library.” She cast a fond smile up at him, reaching out a gloved hand to adjust his tie.

---

Cash had little interest in an ancient chess set, so he was pleased that she'd come up with an object that was obviously not for him. "Then we'll try for it," Cash said, standing still while she fixed his tie. "Does everything look good?" he asked, with a lazy wave of one hand that indicated himself. "Other than needing cuff links, of course."

---

A grin tugged at her lips once more as she gave him a once over. “Very dashing,” She complimented, a laugh escaping her as Olympe bustled back in to check on the final details of her outfit. “Olympe, s’il te plait, va chercher les boutons de manchettes pour Monsieur Lestrange,” she said as Olympe plucked at various points in the fabric, testing their buoyancy and muttering some charms under her breath.

“The silver ones that Miss Lestrange got for him, please.” She added again in English, casting a sheepish look at Cash as her lady’s maid disappeared into the dressing room. “It’s automatic at this point, speaking French — I don’t mean to exclude you.” She reached out to pat his arm, making a mental note to maybe teach him some more French as the years went by. Certainly their children would speak it, but she assumed her husband knew that would happen.

---

Cash kept so many secrets from her that he couldn't really hold the French against her, so he shrugged at her. "Don't worry about it," Cash said. "I'll have to learn eventually, right?" (Although — it wasn't often that he had cause to talk to Olympe, so she probably wouldn't hold use of English against him.)

---

Her husband’s question made Adrienne perk up slightly, and she stared at him as a smile slowly spread across her features. “Really?” She asked, “You’ll learn French?” She hadn’t wanted to discuss something like that (and frankly hadn’t thought about discussing something like that since moving in and adjusting had taken up most of her time), but that he might really want to learn her native language…well, she felt a warmth spread throughout her chest.

---

Cash shrugged his shoulders, suddenly feeling self-conscious. "I'll at least try," he promised her. It was, frankly, the least he could do.

---

It was still better than anything she could have imagined. Beaming at him, she leaned over to kiss him on the cheek just as Olympe returned with the cufflinks to hand them to Adrienne. “Luckily you have me to teach you, and to practice with then, isn’t it?” She laughed as she took his wrist to fasten the silver cufflinks.

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