November 15th, 1894 - Echelon-Arnost Residence
for Truth or Dare

This was absolute madness, but Torie would never be accused of being a coward, so as she stepped daintily from Mr. Echelon-Arnost's fireplace, she already had an explanation on the tip of her tongue. It had been a quick spin through the Floo, but Torie had enough wits about her to figure out what to say; the truth. She was not above simply explaining her true purpose for barging into his space unannounced and unaccompanied. He had been a gentleman in their few encounters, so she hoped he would take this with a grain of salt and not think her entirely mad.

"I do apologize for the intrusion," Torie said as she straightened up, adjusting her shawl and brushing the soot from her hair. "I find myself on the sharp end of a bold truth or dare game and I could not refuse the dare." That sounded as crazy as she felt, but Torie was hoping that it was not too insane that he would go so far as to throw her out of some such. She would not go so far as to explain the sleepover unless he asked, but he was no idiot, surely he would see this for what it was?

Torie passed him a charming smile, hoping it would do the trick. "I just need ten minutes to hide out and then I will be gone, you needn't even entertain me, pretend I am not here if you like." Her tone was light and airy, but the undercurrent was one of nerves, even if she wished it wasn't.

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August Echelon-Arnost

  

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Red again! June 1894

August was reading; he had been writing some of the activists he knew about the new steps towards suffrage. They were good steps, largely, but August was worried that in the long-term they would result in some people being disenfranchised — he was most concerned that employers trying to pressure their employees to vote in a certain way. But he was reading Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Women mostly because it was a classic, rather than for studying as he considered the question of suffrage.

He started at the sound of the floor lighting, and sat up rigidly in his armchair. He reached for the wand on the table, because he had not anticipated guests today, but let his fingers dangle limply above it when he recognized his unexpected guest as Miss Victoire Malfoy.

"Miss Victoire," August said. He reached for his cane with half a mind to stand up to greet her — except that she'd come here unexpectedly, with a charming smile and the story of a dare. He sat back in the armchair, let the cane lie.

This was odd, but he could not imagine removing her.

"You can stay for ten minutes. What was the dare?"

  

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"Your hospitality is most appreciated." Torie passed him a charming smile and moved away from the fireplace into the room, perching herself on the edge of a chair not too far from Mr. Echelon-Arnost's. With her Shawl wrapped around her shoulders, Torie toyed idly with the braid that hung  over her shoulder. Had she anticipated being among company other than that of her peers, she may have put a little more effort into her appearance.

"I was to find the first open floo of a gentleman and stay for ten minutes," leaving something behind needn't be added, though she now had to figure out what that might be. "You happened to come up first and as we are already acquainted, I felt safe in hoping you would not turn me out." If anybody had told her to do this in any other situation, she would have laughed at them. There was something in that societal pressure not to chicken out of a dare that had urged her forward with this and now she wondered if she was just being unnecessarily foolish.

She bit her lip and took a look around the room, feeling slightly guilty now for interrupting his quiet evening in. "I do apologize for interrupting your book, what is it you are reading?" Torie knew she ought to read more, but during the season especially, found she had little time for her hobbies.

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Red again! June 1894

She looked as if she was coming from something girlish; the braid hanging on her shoulder, and her clothing, were less fashionable than he'd seen her bear at previous parties. Despite the oddness of the situation, August was sort of charmed to see her in a more casual setting than he had previously. And Miss Victoire Malfoy was certainly more pleasant than her rather dour sister.

"Well, you hoped correctly," August said, easy. He could not imagine turning her out; who knew where she'd go next? August slotted his bookmark into the well-worn copy of the book and offered it to Miss Malfoy. "A Vindication of the Rights of Women," August said; the smile on his face was distinctly self-aware. "It's, ah — feminist philosophy."

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   Victoire Malfoy

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The answer she received was wholly unexpected. Torie knew that Mr. Echelon-Arnost was a lawyer by profession, and that he leaned a little more liberal that the peers of her father and brother, but she supposed she had not quite known that far. (It was to no one's surprise that she had done a little homework on him after their first conversation.) Torie tried to stay out of political conversations, as he opinion did not much matter to those around her and she was not the type to stir the pot in such a manner, she was, although hesitantly, intrigued.

"Is that something you are passionate about, women's rights?" Having been raised the way that she was, Torie did not think such things would change in her lifetime, but she did hear through the grapevine of her brother's more chatty friends, that the new minister was a little more open-minded. Still, she was interested to hear his response. Torie was nothing if not a skilled conversationalist and truly, she wanted to know more.

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Red again! June 1894

August's smile remained on his face, his eyes crinkled up at the corners. "Oh, yes," August said. "I'm considered something of a radical in certain circles because of that, as well as due to some other opinions I hold publicly." It seemed that folks had started talking about him less when he was in Germany, or that debutantes who were not explicitly interested in women's rights simply did not have as much information about feminist eligible bachelors as those who were did.

  

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"I'm intrigued," Torie admitted. Admittedly, this wasn't something she knew much about and her time was already half up, but she crossed one leg over the other and leaned on her elbows, chin in one hand, the picture of an avid listener. She liked that he was passionate about something that benefitted something other than himself and those like him. Plus she could think of worse way to spend her ten minutes away from the slumber party.

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Red again! June 1894

She was intrigued. August leaned forward. "I started going to political demonstrations when I was a Hogwarts student," he admitted, a little wry, "Mostly because my sisters kept rebelling and I — did not want to let them do it on their own. But it opened doors for me, doors I was interested in, and I kept going —" he tapped his fingers against his ruined knee "— especially after this. So I advocate for progress and I think and write about progress a great deal, and I read a lot."

  

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Though Torie was listening to what he was saying, she was also paying attention to what was between the words. He obviously cared a great deal about his family, including his sisters. Progress for something more than just progress was admirable. She was charmed by the ideas. "I'd take some reading recommendations, when you've the time." Torie might get into trouble for it, if her mother saw her reading something too progressive, and she wasn't about to turn into a radical, but Torie supposed there was no harm in learning about it.

She eyed the clock on the wall casually, only a few more minutes. Gently she toyed with the silk ribbon holding her braid tied together. She was going to have to very subtly leave it behind somehow, but was still working through that.

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   Johanna Applegate

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Red again! June 1894

She would take reading recommendations. August was immediately excited, because he was always happy to recommend books, but knew he had to temper his expectations because not everyone was immediately willing to read something long and intense. He thought for a moment. "I have some short stories you may enjoy," August said, "If you don't mind me taking a moment to grab them from my office?"

  

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Oh that was handy. Torie nodded, beaming. "I'll have to go when you return." She warned. Her ten minutes was nearly up, but this was a good opportunity to stash the ribbon without it being obvious. This had been a good decision after all. Now she was going to have to figure out what to tell the other ladies when she returned to the sleepover. She could hide the reading in her pockets, but did she tell the truth about where she'd gone? What would the rest of the girls think about her choice? Did she care? It would be a split-second decision, if they even asked. She would have proof she'd gone somewhere, the ribbon and the stories if she needed them.

Speaking of the ribbon, Torie loosened it all of the way, tucking most of it between the cushion and arm of the chair she'd been sitting in. Her braid loosened over her shoulder, but did not come obviously undone.

Standing as he returned, her smile softened a little. "I'll be certain to get them back to you." Torie pulled the shawl tighter around her shoulders and took the offered book. "And thank you for the warm reception. I do appreciate it." Her assumption that this would have been a safe space was even further cemented by her newfound knowledge of him. The more she learned about him, the more delightfully intrigued she was.

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Red again! June 1894

August considered multiple short stories in the short minutes he was upstairs. He ended up settling on a Herman Melville — it was not so radical as to be guaranteed to put her off, but it may get her thinking about the globalized economy in a way that August, personally, thought was interesting. He tucked the pages under his arm and came back down the stairs, wishing that his gait was not so audible with his cane.

He handed the pages over. "Of course," he said, "I hope you — enjoy the rest of your party."

  

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