All Soul's Day- November 2nd, 1888

[valdemars]

Date: November 2nd, 1888
Time: 10:00am - 10:30 am (service- characters may stay for longer, though)
Location: The chapel
Characters: Everyone [OPEN/CLOSED]

Summary: The household gathers together in the chapel for a short All Soul's Day service.
Warnings: None.


The Valdemar family are not, by and large, particularly religious. "My faith," proclaimed Lady Valdemar once, to the horror of her husband's parents, "lies while science and science alone. If God should have a hand in that, so be it. I couldn't care less either way."

Yet here they were, gathered together in silent prayer before the altar and the glassy purview of King Solomon and a host of angels, huddled in the dark pews at the front as if in collective repentance- not that Her Ladyship seems particularly repentant. From the slant of her shoulders to her poker-straight back to the upward jut of her chin, all of her bearing is far too proud for a humble servant; she watches her husband take to the lectern with an almost feline boredom, thin lips pursed. Even a servant watching from a second floor balcony might note the smear of carmine on them, as if brushed on for the sole purpose of better expressing her disdain.

"The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil." Lord Valdemar seems uncomfortable with so many eyes upon him, and he studiously avoids his wife's stare. He dabs at his brow with a handkerchief before continuing. "Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death."

His voice, though low and quiet, echoes throughout the space with a new importance that could only have been built into place by a canny architect with an ear for dramatics. A Madonna relief rolls her eyes piously to the ceiling; a spider inches its way down her shoulder and drops onto the organ, silent for years now.

The final stretch now. "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite," he finishes- and, the bible closes in a dusty thump. With another mop of the brow, he murmurs something pleading about feeling faint before bolting for the hallway wearing a martyred look.

Lady Valdemar sniffs. "A migraine," she informs no one in particular, rising from the pew. She makes it sound like an accusation. "His health is so tenuous these days."

But for all of her snide comments, that she is the one left rather than her husband does allow for a little breathing room. If anyone should want to light a candle or speak a silent prayer of their own, now is the time.


[This is an open post for all of the household. Threads may either take place during, before or after the service. Lady Valdemar will also be available to speak with, assuming your character is either of the right station or has an excuse to do so- say so in your post's subject line if that would interest you.]

Comments

[motherof_bone]

"In America," she supplies for him simply.

She presses her pointer finger against his chest to signify she's talking about him this time.

"Where is Ivan from?"

[muscovy]

"Finland in Russia." He's actually not sure anymore; he always thought that Finns and Russians just were two of the many ethnicities in the empire and that for some reason the Russians had given it its name. But when Timo talked about it last night, it sounded like Finland was somehow seperate and now he isn't sure what side of that line he would be from if they are - his new father seems to identify with the Finnish side, so how-?

He'll ask him about it later. For now, this will have to do.

[motherof_bone]

"A long way," she observes, considering. It isn't as far as America across the sea, but it was quite a trek for someone so young. She knows that one of the research assistants was from that area, but not his name.

"You have family, here, in the house?" She supposes putting 'family' and 'here' right next to each other will make the question an easy one to manage.

[muscovy]

"My father." He brightens up a bit at that, still nervous both about the situation and about the whole having a father thing, but it's nice to not be an orphan and even nicer to have a parent who might just be active. He loved his mother, but she was also often sick and mostly sad and full of shame about his existence. Sure, she tried to not let him know, but... He's not sure how Timo thinks about him. But he seems friendly, and that is a good start. He's not sure if he'll hug him like his mother did, and let him sleep in his bet when he had bad dreams, but... he will see.

"Timo Väinämöinen." He points at the man.

[motherof_bone]

Mary follows where he indicates. She... may or may not remember the man's name. She isn't good with those sorts of things, people tend to blend together for her, all of them tainted in some way, dripping black inside. However, she sees members of the house frequently enough that she may be able to get hold of each uniquely, given a little time and practice. The children of the house most certainly.

"Very good," she praises him, a light pat on the shoulder. "I hope you will like it here."

There were nice things about living in a strange house. There were none of her memories built into the walls, none of her family staring at her with nervous eyes. But every house had its secrets and its filth.

[muscovy]

Nodding, Ivan attempts a few sentences but realizes that he lacks the vocabulary for all of them. In the end, he decides on: "Not many childs."

It's neither a positive nor a negative thing to him, but it does make him wonder how his father wants to get his education going. Timo said that he wanted him to learn more than the little that he knows, but if there are no other children, his father won't be able to pawn him off on their teachers - that is how it happened back where he is from. If children visited and were accompanied by a governess or another type of teacher because they stayed that long, he was sent to learn with them, but he was never considered important enough to employ someone for his sake if that road could be walked, too.

As with most things, he guesses that he will find out.