Taking A Day Off

[Pearce Lockheed]

The Marquis had made a lot of house calls recently. So more formal, others less so, but in most cases, he found himself, as usual, trying to be of assistance however he could. Offering his skills, influence, material wealth if need be. The farmers especially seemed to be in a bit of a spot these days. The move and winter had not been kind to agriculture.

At the moment, however, the blonde was enjoying personal time. He wasn’t reviewing reports or planning new expansions or organizing events or training Whisky or teaching today. He had decided to take the day off and relax, starting with a bath. He’d since moved on to breakfast and some personal reading. It was honestly a bit strange to have a morning to himself, without Zander or Briella or Percival or any other needs to attend to before his own.

It was actually a little lonely after a while. Pearce found himself in his library as usual, settling in an armchair with a book on recent history in Teronna and his usual cup of tea. Bright Hollow Estate was ever open to visitors of course, and Heather would see to it the lord of the house was informed of any guests. Not that he was expecting any.

Lorelei Rainier

[Lorelei Rainier]

Lorelei had gotten word that a certain Marquis was talking to farmers, the why was lost on her but she heard this, and being a farmer herself she was curious as to see what was up with that. With a little hum, she would dress rather simply; a clean white blouse and a deep red skirt. She had a belt that rested on hips that looped with a small whip attached to it.

Since she was going over herself, the Baroness would have a package that was some well procured herbal tea and coffee all neatly wrapped in a cloth- best to arrive with something so that it wasn't rude.

When she arrived at Bright Hollow, she would head up to the door and knock on it to be greeted by a woman and Lorelei would offer a sweet smile, "Hello, my name is Baroness Rainier, I was wondering if Marquis had a moment," she told the woman who would have her wait to then go inform the lord of the manor.

[Pearce Lockheed]

"Lord Lockheed," Heather's voice pulled his attention away from the book he was reading. She nearly always called him that, but the tone she used was more formal than usual. Which implied guests even before she said as much. He folded the red fabric bookmark between the pages and rested it in his lap for a moment. "There is a Baroness Rainier calling."

It was not a name he recognized, even before the war. But there was some new nobility these days. His face must have clearly communicated his lack of recognition.

"She has the look of a farmer about her," the head of his staff offered helpfully. Heather was a working citizen herself, often visiting the market for every day items and gardening around the estate and her own home. He trusted her evaluation of such things much better than his own. It also served to help him understand what it was the woman likely wanted.

Pearce set the book on the side table and eased himself out of the chair,running his fingers through his hair out of nervous habit more than anything. "Seems my visits to a few of the other agricultural sorts have not gone unnoticed," he mused. "Have her seen to the blue room."

The blue room, so aptly named for the color of the stained wooden floor and the blue marbled table tops was located on the north eastern side of the house and received quite a bit of natural light, making it a very bright space. The upholstery was decadent but colored a simple, brilliant white. It opened through large double doors to a large cheery sun room. It being quite a bit nippy out still however, these were closed to help retain heat in the large house.

Lorelei would be lead there by a friendly but not very talkative servant who clearly had something else on her mind, that being a new dress she was making for herself. The stitching was a nightmare, but she had finally figured out the best approach to attempt tonight.

Refreshments of white peach tea and butter and white chocolate flavored cookies.

Pearce arrived not long after. He wore something slightly less fancy than his usual (considering he had not been expecting to interact with anyone beyond his own staff and resident friends and family) but it was still a quite fine tailored white tunic, black trousers and a green sash sort of thing around his waist. Zander had used the word 'dashing' once or twice. "Lady Rainer? Marquis Pearce Lockheed. Pleasure to meet you. I am...not entirely familiar with your family. My apologies." He offered a friendly smile. Introductions and pleasantries first, before business.

[Lorelei Rainier]

Lorelei was patient, no rush on her part but her mind was wondering if the children were behaving or if they were causing trouble for everyone. That made her smile a little, who would be getting dessert tonight and who wouldn't was now on her mind until the woman returned for her and she would bow her head a little to her, "Thank you," she told her as she kicked off and dirt from her shoes before walking into the clean home.

She didn't chat with her, just walked with her while her eyes looked about until she was in the blue room. This was fancy! She would thank her again before she left and so Lori would just mill around curiously before turning to see the blonde gentleman walking in. Remembering her manners, she dipped into a small curtsy to him. Him not hearing about her family made her tilt her head to the side a little as she smiled, "That's alright, my family hasn't always been that known but if you ask other farmers they know of us," she told him with a relaxed tone. She had a slight accent to the way she spoke, it was subtle but there still.

"My family deals in a mix of llamas and alpacas while I also have taken in those who lost their family from us relocating," she told him. No, she didn't overly want to get into that, she lost family in that and that was painful enough to remember. She would put on that relaxed smile though, she was curious about things but getting to know each other a smidge was important. 

[Pearce Lockheed]

Pearce returned her curtsy with a bow, though he had rather been expecting a first name. To which he assumed it would be business before pleasure, which was alright with him.

Ah, so Heather had been correct about her being a farmer. Not that he had doubted the woman, but it was better to hear it from his guest directly. It at least explained why she had sought him out. Her explanation of llamas and...whatever that word was left him a bit wanting. The marquis knew very little about farms. He also felt like he was receiving mixed signals from the woman.

After a moment of confused silence which he attempted to hide by gesturing for her to take a seat, he understood maybe he was reading too much into...well, everything. He was used to a different breed of nobility than this Baroness. That was alright with him, he simply changed tactics.

"That is quite noble of you, my Lady." He imagined she meant 'from the war' more than relocating. He had lost some distant relations but his family had kept to themselves more than he would have liked. He had an immense amount of resources growing up. Thinking what he could do to help others with those resources made him quite appreciative of her cause. Maybe tat was what this was about? "Do you have a lot of wards at the moment? Perhaps there is some way I can be of service." He realized he was still standing and sat in one of the chairs across from her, offering a hopeful smile.

[Lorelei Rainier]

Her head bowed a little to him at that praise he gave her, a small smile on her face at that, “Thank you…honestly, it’s the least we can do because there was so many who lost parents and relatives,” she said with a shake of her head at that.

Giving a small nod to his question or request, both. “I would greatly be indebted to you if you could help. I don’t have the needed funds to expand the house for everyone to have a space they can call their own and so I am looking to make an additional house connected to the main one so that we can all still be together but have appropriate space. I’d be more than willing to set up a payment plan to repay your aid if you were able to lend some,” she didn’t want to just ask for money without offering to repay. It wasn’t in her to not give back.