January 28th, 1891 — Art Exhibit

Emrys had written to the divination madame on a whim and hadn't been taking it very seriously — as evidenced by the use of his ridiculous pseudonym when he'd engaged her services. He was writing in the same spirit he sometimes answered the Lonely Heart advertisements in Witch Weekly; he was mainly out to poke fun at her and make her look ridiculous, even if only for his own amusement. If anything she said was particularly funny, he might share it with Esther or Christoff or one of his other friends on the lower edge of society — which is precisely what he might have done had she not mentioned the stomach ache. As of the date he'd received her letter, he had been suffering from a mysterious stomach condition for the past three days. He'd supposed it to be some type of food poisoning, but given her predictions, he had to wonder. It might have been a coincidence, of course, but what if it wasn't? What if her tarot reading had been accurate despite the misinformation he'd given her in his letter?

He had never been very knowledgeable about divination — he'd taken the subject for two weeks before dropping it in favor of something that had seemed more interesting at the time — so he wasn't sure how to apply the cards he'd received. He was absolutely not planning to write Madam Synastra back and confess that he'd been lying to her, however, so that she could give a more accurate interpretation. Instead, he had been carrying her letter around periodically since receiving it and pondering the matter himself, trying to muddle through what it might mean — if, in fact, it meant anything. He was lost in thought that morning, but given that this was an art exhibit he could pass off any staring into the distance as being captivated by the beauty of a painting, or something.

Emrys was doing just that when someone said something to him, but he didn't catch what it was. "Hm? I'm sorry, my thoughts must have been wandering. It's a striking piece, no?" he said conversationally, before taking the time to actually look at the piece of art he had ostensibly been lost in — which, as it turned out, was of a shirtless man throwing a javelin in some sort of Greek-looking athletic competition. Well, then.

(OOC: Tagged for Ellory Lestrange but open to interruptions/additions from anyone who might be there)

  

---

Lou made this! <3

Ellory was doing a renovation at Claude's house, slowly but surely. His interior design reflected his character, in that it was subtle and serious. In all honestly, it seemed as though he hadn't paid much mind to the interior design. Ellory was going to change that. She was planning on bringing in bright colours and patterns and plants inside their home. A perfect gaudy paradise.

She had come to the art exhibition that day in the hopes of finding some paintings for the house. Nothing had caught her interest so far, though. She had ended up in the company of some other society wives she was vaguelly friendly with. They talked about her pregnancy, about Claude's health, then about the other ladies' husbands' health and their children. When that was out of the way, they moved on to saucier topics. The name of a Mr. Selwyn was mentioned. Apparently he had yet to share their joys of married life! One of the women was making some quite unsubtle remarks about him, pondering on why that might be.

Ellory parted ways with them and continued looking around until she ended up standing next to Mr. Selwyn! What luck! Normally, she wouldn't have spoken to him, but after hearing the gossip about him, she was intrigued.

"Mr. Selwyn! I was pondering if this would look good against yellow wallpaper!"

---

  

---

SET BY MJ

Nothing looked good against yellow wallpaper, in Emrys' opinion, but he probably ought not to start the interaction on so hostile a note. Not that he much cared to be friends with Mrs. Lestrange; he had no interest in children or in unattractive women. Everything he'd heard about her implied she was still very much the former, at least in her habits and mannerisms if not in age. His eyes were all it took to confirm she was the latter, at least in his opinion (he had never cared for red hair, and her fashion choices were hardly doing her any favors).

"I wasn't aware it was for sale," he said mildly. Of course, everything was for sale for the right price, which he knew very well — it was really just an attempt not to have to say anything at all about her choice of yellow wallpaper.

  

---

Lou made this! <3

"Well, I didn't really ask myself," Ellory said, furrowing her eyebrows a bit. "But I believe we should be able to buy them if we so wish to!" Not this painting they were looking at, though. She wanted something more bright and colourful than an athletic man.

"I am renovating our home, you see. Mr. Lestrange's house needs to reflect that it has a wife and a child on its way!" She brushed her hand on her belly. She was starting to show and she was wearing maternity dresses to show for it. For the occasion, she was wearing a maternity dress in a highly saturated pink colour.

---

  

---

SET BY MJ

If the decor in a home was meant to reflect a man's material status, that was one more reason never to marry, as far as Emrys was concerned. He liked his house just the way it was. Not that he needed more reasons to never marry; he was protective enough of his privacy that sharing a house with anyone was out of the question. He'd barely survived having his artistic friend staying with him a few weeks, and the two of them were closer than Emrys could ever imagine himself being with a silly young debutante.

"Oh, yes, of course," he said, then, because he was bored of this exchange and had not yet deduced a way to exit the conversation, added dryly, "What a travesty it would be if a visitor to the home failed to realize he was married within moments of entering the parlor."

The following 1 user Likes Emrys Selwyn's post:1 user Likes Emrys Selwyn's post
   Ellory Lestrange

---

Lou made this! <3

Well, Mr. Selwyn was a bit rude, wasn't he? Ellory managed to hide her displeasure with his words. She was being friendly to him and he was being sarcastic!

"I suppose you wouldn't understand, Mr. Selwyn," Ellory said. "You have never been married and you have a certain reputation to uphold!" She side-eyed him and then returned her eyes back to the painting.

---

  

---

SET BY MJ

Emrys agreed that he did have a certain reputation to uphold — a reputation as a man of good taste and refined manners, which stood in direct opposition to the idea of letting some young upstart redecorate his house in yellow wallpaper. Given her tone, though, he doubted that was the reputation she meant. She seemed to have caught that he was making fun of her (it had been a gamble on his part; some women were too daft or too polite to comment on his little slights but about half of them did get through). So she had meant something snide, but he wasn't sure exactly what.

"My reputation as an art investor?" he replied with false modesty. "Ah, yes, I do take care to keep my house in the best of taste... but I am sure the same could be said of your parlor, Mrs. Lestrange." (He was sure of no such thing, but he thought it best to avoid affronting her twice in such a short span of conversation).

  

---

Lou made this! <3

He was trying to extend an olive branch, but Ellory was too annoyed to take it.

"Oh, nobody has any doubts about your taste in art!" Ellory said innocently. "But people do wonder if you are filling your home with such splendid art because you are lonely."

---

The following 1 user Likes Ellory Lestrange's post:1 user Likes Ellory Lestrange's post
   Emrys Selwyn

---

SET BY MJ

Lonely? The idea was laughable, and if that was all people had to say about him, Emrys felt quite content that they should keep talking. It was about as far away from the reality as one could get, which suited him just fine.

"Why, how could anyone be lonely with such a splendid social calendar as I have?" he asked with a half-smile. "The other Mrs. Lestrange's New Year's Eve ball was quite lively, don't you agree?"

  

---

Lou made this! <3

Was he a friend of Antigone's? This could explain his rude demeanor! Ellory tried not to make a face at the mention of that ball. She hadn't had the best time there, thanks to Antigone. Thankfully, there were no other major holidays until her baby's birth, so she could avoid any other event she might host.

"I suppose so, yes! One cannot help but wonder, though, how such a charming and social man as you is still a bachelor. You do not lack anything that makes a desirable man, so one cannot help but wonder what it is that keeps you so lonely."

---

  

---

SET BY MJ

"One cannot help but wonder?" he replied with a snide smirk. "Well, I believe you've answered that yourself, haven't you? If, as you say, I am so perfectly desirable my lack of marriage must be the fault of the women I have met."

  

---

Lou made this! <3

Mph, as if. He took himself so seriously that Ellory wanted to roll her eyes.

"Surely, a man nearing forty has met at least one appropriate woman!" The mention of his age wasn't the most appropriate thing to do to a near stranger, but Ellory didn't care. Mr. Emrys Selwyn seemed to look at himself as though he was some mythical prince.

"Unless, of course, you detest the company of women so much that you find faults in anyone you meet."

---

  

---

SET BY MJ

Emrys did not care at all for her bringing his age into this; he rather liked to think of himself as perpetually 30, but he supposed now that he had nieces and nephews nearing adulthood he had to give up the ruse sooner or later.

"Not a one," he replied with a shrug. "Luckily, a man's attention is not so wholly focused on the question of romance; it is quite possible to have a long and fulfilling life without anyone putting up yellow wallpaper in your parlor, I've found."

  

---

Lou made this! <3

"Perhaps you do have that someone, but you are unable to present them, or their taste in interior design, to the world," Ellory commented and narrowed her eyes as her lips formed a purposefully fake smile. In truth, what Ellory had in mind was more in line of an inappropriate mistress, or a romance with a vampire.

---

  

---

SET BY MJ

Them and their were strange choices of pronoun — wouldn't it have been more natural to say she and her? It was most likely just a foible and not any serious accusation, he thought, so Emrys decided to ignore it. "Who's to say?" he answered glibly, returning his attention to the painting. The image of the shirtless and athletic young man gave him pause, however. Maybe it hadn't merely been a foible after all. Maybe she meant something by it. She wouldn't have been wrong, but Emrys prided himself on discretion, so he was suddenly intensely curious to know where she might have gotten that idea.

  

---

Lou made this! <3

"It takes for one person to say something for the many to embrace it," Ellory replied with a light shrug of her shoulders. "You wouldn't be the first man who went fishing to a different lake." A smile played on Ellory's lips, she felt proud of herself for the 'smart' comment she'd made there.

---

  

---

SET BY MJ