Heart's Content

Part One

{Art by Gordon Johnson from pixabay.com}

In the parlor there was a brightly colored painting of a small group of boisterous revelers. Nadine Olivay, the mistress of the household, stood in front of it with a hand resting alongside her cheek and jaw as she examined it carefully. She had never particularly liked the painting, it wasn't that she disapproved of the sentiment it presented so much as its unusual style. The odd mixture of brilliant colors was offset by the dullness of color in other areas and there was one gentleman whose face was oddly distorted in a way that caused Nadine discomfort and displeasure because of that particular feature always catching her eye. Her husband's father had gifted it to her and Maurice upon their marriage and she couldn't help but think it to be some sort of joke considering her father-in-law's strange sense of humor and then she began to suspect that part of the joke was to see how long they would let it hang in their home before they finally grew sick of it.

Now as she stood and pondered it, it wasn't precisely because she had tired of it, that was something that had occurred the moment she had seen it, but because it was not a necessity and since she doubted that either of her in-laws would make a fuss over the matter given the current state of things, she believed it was time to bid farewell to the eye sore.

"This one as well if you will," she made a brief gesture towards the painting as she spoke to the housekeeper who nodded and wrote down the name of the object in question as well as its placement in the house.

Nadine's son, the eldest of her two children, chose this moment to pass by the parlor entrance as he walked briskly to the front door and peered through the side window. He was tall and slender like his mother but with a squared jaw and dimpled chin, much like his father. He had dressed for an evening out, a weekly excursion that he, his sister, and his fiancé never missed. He wore a blue suit coat that was so subtle in color that it almost appeared to be gray and had trim of the same color along the sleeves and seams though the shade was darker and matched his pants. For a distinct splash of color he wore a cravat in a maroon shade and his dark brown hair was cut short but allowed to fall how it may atop his crown and near his face, though the carefree nature of his hair did not detract from the view of his vibrant blue eyes. After he observed the road out front, he distractedly made his way into the parlor as he adjusted his cravat, arriving as his mother was glancing between a table that had been set below the painting she so disliked as well as another table that was closer to the door and currently in use by the housekeeper as she wrote in the ledger. Sabien glanced at the words she had written as he passed her and grinned, laughing slightly as he addressed Nadine, "finally found an excuse, eh?"

"Sabien, please. It is no laughing matter," she cleared her throat and smoothed the front of her skirt in slight embarrassment as she shifted her gaze briefly to the housekeeper who paused in her writing but didn't say anything to cause her mistress more discomfort as yet another item was added to the growing list of objects Mrs. Olivay planned to sell.

"Of course mother, my apologies," Sabien spoke with a more somber tone, his lips pressing into a thin line for a moment as he placed an apologetic hand on Nadine's shoulder while they all stood in silence. He could recall a time when the Olivay household was bustling with life and the only time there was occasion for silence was when all of its inhabitants were asleep. However, now the manor's waking activity was a mere shadow of its former self and the halls were generally silent and seemingly abandoned as only a sparse amount of staff still remained in order to attend to the general upkeep of the manor and its occupants.

The family name was an old and well-known one and had generally been associated with money despite the recent hard times they had fallen into. They were no longer able to throw the elaborate parties they once did in the amount they once had on account of the fact that they no longer retained the abundance of wealth they once held, and because of this they tended to rely on acquaintances for entertainment and invitations as well as public venues in order to maintain some of their reputation despite rumors. Of course while they made a show in public, many of the rooms in their home estate had been closed off, anything very fiscally but not sentimentally valuable and easily resold was removed while other objects were covered and left in silence and darkness so that there would be less for their minimal staff to keep clean.