Tales of the Big Bad Wolf: The Red Riding Hood Arc (A Fairy Tale)

Chapter 25, Part B: Within These Walls (cont.)

He had to take care to not show his frustration with the lack of information he had.  Ilva had told him to seek out opportunities and to make his own luck.

So Edmund turned his thoughts towards lady Wolfram, who currently sat at the window to watch the activity outside.  She was part of an apparent hierarchy of power that surrounded the Count.  He did not fully know her rank or degree of influence within this household.  But he knew that the Count must trust her as he did her husband, Marrok.

More than likely she intended to report to her lord whatever transpired in this room.  Having a spy in their midst should have aggravated Edmund, but for now he saw her as the Count’s proxy.

For the moment, Elanore paid the woman little attention. She was intent on pouring another cup of tea for her grandmother and tending to her elder’s needs.

When she came over to refresh Edmund’s cup, he put up his hand to stop her.  “Thank you, I’ve had enough.”  

She would have gone over to the window to see to the Lady Tala’s tea had he not stood up and stepped in her way.  Elanore’s eyes questioned the young man as he gently took the pot in hand and guided her back to a place on the sofa.  He chose to seat her next to him, drawing a pointed look from Elanore’s chaperone and a curious one from the Count’s family member.

Edmund carefully set the teapot on the table in front of him with one hand while his other kept Elanore’s hand.  He knew his behavior towards Elanore pushed the boundaries of propriety, yet he did not let her go.

The gentleman was more than aware of his audience as his thumb brushed the young lady’s palm.   She shivered, forgetting all about the tea.  “I have some good news for you, Elanore.”   

She wanted something to be pleased about, so much so that she held his hand as tightly as he held hers.  She leaned to better hear him --  to such a precarious degree that a small tug would have caused her to fall sideways against him.   

Mrs. Winchester saw the danger. She cleared her throat several times at her young charges, causing the third woman in the room to once again look their way.

Adele Winchester caught Lady Tala’s eye and mistook the look in them for horror. She did not know what Edmund did about her true nature.  “Elanore,” she called out a warning. “Sit up straight.”

Elanore snatched her hand back and pretended to fix something on her dress.  Edmund readjusted his seat, turning slightly so he could see Elanore’s face as he spoke to her.   He knew the news interested all of them -- but it was for the first woman --  the closest to his heart --  that he wished most to hear it.  “I received the guildmaster this morning at home. He wished you to hear that he will be helping the townspeople.”

“Oh!”  The sound from Elanore was less an exclamation than a long-drawn out sigh of relief. Her shoulders relaxed slightly, as if to say that some burden had been lifted from her.  And then her cheeks dimpled as she smiled. “I’m so glad! I had been afraid that nothing good would come of yesterday.”  

Her happiness washed over Edmund like a strong wave.  For a moment he forgot himself and they were both lost, dwelling in each other’s smiles.  

A cough reminded them, however, of their audience.  Mrs. Winchester put down her cup to pick up needles and yarn in her lap.   The needles began to click, forming yarn into shapes, while she began to ask the questions that her granddaughter had not. “This is not  like other winters where an extra set of provisions is all that’s needed when the days grow shorter. What does the man think to do?”

Elanore gasped slightly at her grandmother’s faint condemnation.  She looked at Edmund, wondering what to say.

He had not expected the mayor to respond as Elanore had. After all, he himself had disliked the man’s confidant, almost arrogant exterior.  But he had come to glimpse the man’s anger and insecurity about Miss Redley’s mother.  Edmund could not say yet that he liked him, but at least he had come to feel sympathy towards him.