December 23rd, 1890 - Harriet Prewett's Christmas Party

Harriet Prewett's Christmas party meant that Fitzroy Prewett would maybe be here, and Camilla was hoping that if she looked pretty and drank mulled wine long enough, he would decide to dance with her, would generally fall in love with her, and then would marry her so that she could get out of her father's house and no longer look at Calliope Riley Zabini during breakfast.

That hadn't happened yet, though, and instead she was focusing on flitting around, drinking the aforementioned mulled wine and taking in the atmosphere. Harriet Prewett threw a good party. All the more reason for her to make Camilla her daughter-in-law, as Camilla also threw a good party.

Unfortunately for her social rounds, she spotted a blonde she did not want to talk to.

"Antigone," Camilla said - her tone was pretty neutral, but overall she was generally of the opinion that Antigone Lestrange was Bellona's cuntiest friend. Unfortunately, that didn't mean she could blatantly ignore her at a party. "Happy Christmas."

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   Ursula Black

Ew, Bellona's sister. Tig fortunately refrained from pulling a face but only just. "Good evening, Camilla." If she could somehow groan in a socially acceptable manner she would. If she was honest the entire party was growing tedious but she supposed it would look bad if she left now. "I'm so glad you stopped to talk to me, I didn't think my evening could possibly get any better." She smiled insipidly at the other female.

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This was already unpleasant. "Oh, of course," Camilla said blandly, "And can I just say - what a lovely gown!" Privately, she thought that the pale colors washed out Mrs. Lestrange - but that was, of course, none of her business. (Until she attempted to suggest it to others, later.)

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"Why thank you!" Tig had to restrain herself from glancing down at her dress to figure out what Camilla Zabini might have found fault with. Yes, she'd technically just received a compliment, but it seemed suspicious to her that Miss Zabini had so readily complimented her dress without any prompting. Perhaps she was just jumping to conclusions...

Either way Tig had no intention of complimenting her back.

Seeing as she was now in this conversation though, she might as well try to get something out of it. "You know, Bellona mentioned you might have a beau..." She shot the other woman a conspiratorial smirk. It was a lie of course, she just wanted to fish for information or else make Camilla feel self-conscious for being tragically single.

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Mm, there it was. Antigone - harpyish and generally terrible - was married, and while it had come from a betrothal, Camilla could not claim the same. But she could - would - be able to sooner or later.

She had to.

"Oh, don't ask me to announce anything too early," Camilla said simply, with a fake but cheerful smile. "Any news from yourself and Mr. Lestrange?" No visits to the finishing school? Camilla missed that period.

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The Zabini girls were far too good at deflecting her attempts to humiliate that it almost made her not want to bother at all. But only almost.

"What a pity, I should have preferred to have the details from you directly rather than secondhand from Bellona." There obviously was no beau but she'd known that to start with, Camilla could have at least done her the courtesy of seeming a little uncomfortable. "As to my husband and I... Well, I wouldn't want to announce anything too early." That would give her something to chew on, not that Tig meant anything by it exactly but to throw the debutante's words back in her face. There could be no harm in letting Miss Zabini get carried away with her own imagination, she'd only look foolish when nothing came of it.

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Well, that was dreadfully vague, wasn't it? Camilla supposed that she ought not be surprised - it wasn't as if she hadn't just done the exact same thing to Antigone. So - she supposed that she ought to hazard a guess, and made a proverbial stab in the dark accordingly.

"Oh, should I anticipate another little Lestrange?" Camilla asked.

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   Ursula Black

Tig pursed her lips. It wasn't the response she'd expected. "As I said, it's a little early." That was more committal than she'd wanted to be but surely Miss Zabini wouldn't dare push her further? "Your sister would be put out if I told you my news before her and I do so hate to upset Bellona." The latter was probably a worse lie than falsely claiming to be pregnant.

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So maybe she had guessed it right? Still, Camilla could not help but wrinkle her nose at Antigone's last comment - Mrs. Lestrange loved nothing more than she loved to upset Bellona, from Camilla's perspective. "Oh, of course," she said instead, still unsure.

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   Antigone Lestrange

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set by bee

"I knew you'd understand." She offered the other woman a false smile. "It is fortunate that you've found a beau, if Bellona beat you to it, well... My sister could tell you all about that. I think she's starting to come around to the idea of spinsterhood now."

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Camilla was working very hard to avoid rolling her eyes, so instead she took a sip of mulled wine. "Mm," she noised, "Did she never ask to have an arrangement procured for her as well?" Antigone had not had to hunt, so - her terrible personality could not get in her way.

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"Oh she had an arrangement once." Tig had always resented the fact that her parents hadn't found her sister a replacement match. It was as if betrothing them hadn't been all that important after all and yet they'd let her own go ahead despite her numerous protests. "He died. Perhaps she's cursed." If it wouldn't be the most pointless effort made ever she'd be tempted to place such a curse on her but Ligeia was a curse upon herself.

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"That is rather unfortunate for her," Camilla said. Although they had never been close, she remembered suddenly that she had been yearmates with Ligeia - and if Ligeia was doomed to spinsterhood, that did not spell success for Camilla, either.

At least Camilla was significantly prettier, and her siblings were a pleasant array of non-psychopaths.

"Always nice to catch up with you, Antigone."

Every moment she spent with Antigone was a moment she was not speaking to Mr. Prewett; in addition to being unpleasant, it was a waste of her time. She needed to wrap this up.

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"The feeling is mutual." No it wasn't, she'd have done better getting gossip out of the wallpaper. "Well, I wouldn't want to keep you from your sweetheart a moment longer than I already have."

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