Irene, Duchess of Feldane

Irene walks unsteadily into Basil's office. It is not her usual entrance; she is not a cutter under sail so much as one limping off a shoal. She catches herself on the edge of a bookcase, pulls herself up straight, and looks at him.

Basil responds from his usual island of work, "Irene, I had not anticipated your arrival."

Irene, drily, "I imagine not." One hand drifts up automatically to smooth her hair, settle the hang of her gown. Irritably, "Shall I schedule the next conversation?"

Basil says, "There is no need." His eyes finally take note of her appearance, "Is there something wrong?"

( An efficient conversation, in Feldane fashion. )

Allright, folks, I need consensus on a date.

Is there a weekend date coming up that people are generally available? Can we agree on it so that Feldane can schedule its, uhm, Upcoming Thing? There will be flowers! There will be cake! There will probably be an upset parent or two! It will have free booze!

February 3 and 23 are right out for me. That said, I am speaking largely to Feldane, here, but feel free to throw in your own availability, too!

A letter to Saul Windchaser, delivered by Feldane courier. It does not bear the Feldane mark; instead its wax is indented with an odd urn-shaped impression. The first several lines are written in dark brown ink that is swapped out later in for prosaic black lettering:

Dear Saul,

I would like you to know how much I enjoy our little talks. It is so very nice to see young men brought up properly who take the time to humor old ladies. You are terribly kind to spend time keeping me company! I am glad that you have come safely to Amber, and your brother is a brave young man with a proper fraternal spirit. Please tell him that I am glad to see him welcomed in Feldane. You and Emma make such a charming young couple; you do bring out the sweet, trusting side of her nature. You will have such *handsome* children!

I have asked to send a sweater with this letter. It is turning cold (if I remember the seasons correctly) and you and your brother worry so much about other people that you might catch your own death of cold and never notice. Also, two books, and I hope you and your brother won't mind reading them. One is a primer on investing. I thought that it might be helpful in your efforts to help other people if you set aside some of your pay to make more money to help other people. It's a noble cause! The second is a book of poetry that I quite enjoyed in my day. It's not too flowery, but if you like it, you might share it with Emma.

There. I hope that is not too much from a little old lady. I am looking forward *very* much to our next talk.

Gwen Feldane

(There are, indeed, 2 books and a warm sweater that is probably much too long on most men. The poetry is, as promised, not at all florid, but rather in the vein of Sonnets from the Portuguese.)

( Cut for mercy. )

1. Crush grapes with Addison. Take the opportunity, while he is hip deep in purple goo, to discuss with him the obligations of fraternity and duty and how metaphorical a window can be.
2. Allocation of property.
3. Meet with Corwin.
4. Have A Word With Errol.
5. Validate that Taleyn has stopped wearing her shame.
6. Brace Basil.
a. Hold still. This one may involve not-yelling.
b. Wear the fetching slip, in case he finds his spirit.
c. Bring Improving Book. You may have time to read it before he speaks to you again.
d. Attempt to deflect him from foolish Mandrake lad. (Lads?)
e. Attempt to deflect him from Addison's sense of duty.
f. Attempt to def - you know what, just bring the book.
7. Examine this Mandrake Captain, Elijah.
a. He thinks Basil is the lesser evil, which suggests an astonishing lack of judgment.
b. He is a Mandrake Captain, which ditto.
c. The Aunts like him.
d. At least he is not Corwin or Cosimo. Could be worse.
8. Look gratefully at Emma, who is not requiring me to have a word with anyone.
a. Figure out what Emma is up to. Girl's a Feldane.
b. Inquire about jewelry. Bring chamomile tea and something small and fuzzy to stab.
9. Continue expanding 'gardens' in Feldane.
10. And, unfortunately, look into the Rebman yelling in the parlor last night.
11. Expect adventuring soon, since Random was over last night.

To Do:

1. Prepare grape crushing ceremony for Addison. If he's a true Feldane, he'll know that this is his *one* opportunity to wear his purple spats.
2. Prepare unrelated surprise for Addison.
3. Ceremonial dinner for Taleyn.
3. Meet with Corwin.
a. Continue making dry, vague remarks at Corwin. Smile pleasantly.
4. Announce Errol/Dullsy engagement.
5. Continue expanding 'gardens' in Feldane.
6. New quest ideas for Alys.
7. ... prepare appropriate remarks when Alys mugs Culver.
8. Follow up on Random and the Mandrake apartments in their ex-townhouse; note: is Random still Minister? Or just on drunk without his knickers leave?

[In her Grace's own hand, neatly written on one of her informal cards, waiting for Errol when he returns from dragonhunt inspecting the hydraulics in Begma]

Errol,

I look forward to your report on hydraulics. 

Please let me know how the inspection went. I would like that report to come in the form of hard numbers. Be prepared to demonstrate how you qualified your data, what quantifiable results you determined and how you calculated them, your control groups and any cost saving measures you determined, including forecasting for growth and market shift.

Thank you,
Mother

A very long time ago, a marriage was arranged between the Duchies of Mandrake and Feldane. It was agreed that the first son of the marriage would inherit Feldane and the second son would inherit Mandrake. As it happened, they had twins. Jacob would inherit Feldane (and indeed, Feldane is descended from him) and Cosimo would inherit Mandrake. Excep that the brothers went on a trip together one day, and only Jacob Feldane returned. Feldane claimed that as Cosimo had no children of his own, Feldane inherited his properties. Mandrake, and especially Ris Mandrake, have been fighting Feldane ever since.

Enter, one afternoon, one Cosimo Mandrake into the hall of Feldane...

( So that doesn't make Irene happy. )