Alfred was nervous about this in the same way he'd been nervous about proposing (even though they were already married when he did). He was mostly excited, because he knew everything would go smoothly and this was one more concrete step towards their future together, but — what if she didn't like it, for some reason? What if something went wrong and then her memory of this Very Important Moment where she saw the house for the first time was forever marred by his mistakes? Probably nothing would happen and everything would be fine, but — he was still nervous.
"I've already told Charity she's welcome whenever she likes," he said, with a smile towards Caroline. That was a mercy, that Caroline could chaperone. He would have preferred to have walked Zelda through on her own, but since that was out of the question at least he didn't have to contend with any snide comments from any of her siblings. Most of them seemed to be coming around to him, begrudgingly, but there were a few stalwart holdouts and he was quite pleased he didn't have to show the house to any of them before Zelda had a chance to take it in herself.
He opened the front door and held it for both ladies, unsure how much he was supposed to be narrating the house and how much he should just let them experience it. Did Zelda need him to say and here's the parlor, and here's the kitchen? She was an intelligent woman and surely capable of reaching such conclusions herself. On the other hand, if it got too quiet he was only going to get more nervous, so he had to say something.
"If you don't like the charts we can take them down," he said, with a vague gesture at the maps of stars and harbors that lined the walls in neat frames. "Initially I put them up in London just so the walls didn't look so empty, but now they've sort of grown on me. But if you don't like them we don't need to keep them," he added hastily.
"I've already told Charity she's welcome whenever she likes," he said, with a smile towards Caroline. That was a mercy, that Caroline could chaperone. He would have preferred to have walked Zelda through on her own, but since that was out of the question at least he didn't have to contend with any snide comments from any of her siblings. Most of them seemed to be coming around to him, begrudgingly, but there were a few stalwart holdouts and he was quite pleased he didn't have to show the house to any of them before Zelda had a chance to take it in herself.
He opened the front door and held it for both ladies, unsure how much he was supposed to be narrating the house and how much he should just let them experience it. Did Zelda need him to say and here's the parlor, and here's the kitchen? She was an intelligent woman and surely capable of reaching such conclusions herself. On the other hand, if it got too quiet he was only going to get more nervous, so he had to say something.
"If you don't like the charts we can take them down," he said, with a vague gesture at the maps of stars and harbors that lined the walls in neat frames. "Initially I put them up in London just so the walls didn't look so empty, but now they've sort of grown on me. But if you don't like them we don't need to keep them," he added hastily.
MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER