girls do what they want */ evelyn

[evelyn marie dalton]

How could it be that something as small as this had turned into something bigger, something that was a massive deal? Something that was enough for her parents to think of disowning her for having these thoughts, she could not even imagine how her family would react to hearing that she'd also acted on these feelings. Obviously she hadn't done so and she was determined to keep it this way, she couldn't risk anything happening to damage his chances of working for them and her relationship with her relatives. And all her problems with this state of mind were because of their birth circumstances, something that they could never change. They could pretend and act as differently as they liked, she would never be a lower status individual and he would never be a noble. It seemed grossly unfair that the thing keeping them apart was something they could never alter. But, if she could, would she take up this opportunity? She didn't know, she liked being from a rich family, she had no intention of working for money and she was still a spoiled person, regardless of how nice she might have appeared on rare occasions. Would she have given up for one the other, if she was given the ultimatum? Yes, was the answer but she didn't want to admit to herself which she would choose. It was unthinkable and she needed not to spend her time on hypotheticals that would never arise - she would never be allowed to choose him.

This had to be his fault again, firstly it was his fault for creating these kinds of thoughts and feelings in her and secondly, it was also his fault for being born in the wrong class. Why would he do this to her? It was enough to go off the idea of him altogether, knowing that his status was keeping her from ever being able to express how she truly felt. Not just about him, but about other things, she couldn't even sound as gracious as she was if other people like her were present in the same room. Would it be such a big issue if she was to treat servants in a similar manner as she would treat the suitors her mother insisting on her daughters meeting? Clearly it was. She didn't dare think of behaving in the same way as she was now as when they were sat in the dining room. Such behaviour would put both of them at risk of severe suspicion about the nature of their relationship. As though they could ever have anything that was like a relationship, even if she told him how she felt, it would but nothing than awkward. A servant would not be as stupid to form a crush on a person in her position, so a relationship of any kind was not only forbidden but impossible to conceive. Since screaming and pushing tables over wasn't something she could easily explain, she was left with the option of reacting in an understated way, which she gladly did. Sighing inwardly, she attempted to rid her mind of all these thoughts, knowing there was no point even considering these impossibilities any longer.

He saw his employment by her father as a reasonable explanation as to why he should not expect any gratitude? This made her more uncomfortable, feeling that her father did not at all appreciate the things that his servant did to help him. How, after knowing all of this, could he continue to act as though his valet had merely done the least expected of him? What could she do though? If she marched up to her father and actually starting making demands about how he treated Corbin, he'd definitely suspect something was going on. Why else would she show so much concern for how he was treating his own servant? Why would she even care? Perhaps he'd even blame Corbin instead, thinking that he must have confided in Evie about the way in which he was treated by his employer. "It doesn't make it right." She stated, knowing that she was right in what she was saying. "You do all this work for him, probably cover his back when he doesn't know his own child's favourite flowers and he gets all the credit and you don't even get a word of thanks." She sounded more emotional than she'd been aiming for, now she was starting to sound more like a passionate rights activist or someone who cared deeply for his plight. "I mean, everyone deserves some gratitude every so often." Now she'd calmed it down, trying to convince him that she just believed everyone had some sort of innate right to be treated with this level of respect.

She smoothed down the edge of her dress, as she looked up at him, hardly daring to believe the informal tone he was using towards her. Had anyone else been in this room, or heard this conversation, there was no way that he would be able to talk in this manner again. "I trust people in different amounts," she replied. It wasn't that she couldn't trust anyone, but that there were things that she would definitely never part with, particularly the information about her feelings towards servants. "I suspect a few people are aware of my favourite things. How else would I always end up with them?" She'd worked out long ago that someone other than her father was responsible for making sure each of his offspring received their favourite things, keeping up the appearance of their perfect rich family image. Her head tilted, not fully understanding his choice of words in response to her earlier comment. "You realise, Mr. Tharme, that talk of my skin is deeply inappropriate for a servant?" The thing she realised was that a comment such as this was the closest she'd ever get to a genuine compliment. But at the same time, she was surprised. He noticed the complexion of her skin? But why would he do this, he had no reason to do so?

It seemed confirming her question had no effect, either there was nobody that made his job more worthwhile, as he claimed, or he wasn't at all willing to share these details. Normally, she was quite a curious girl and she hated to know that she would never know for sure which of these two situations was the real one, but she decided against questioning him further. Besides, what was the point asking questions like these when she would never hear the answers she desperately wanted to hear him say? It was better to leave things as they were and have the remote possibility that he was indeed thinking what she did, even if she knew she was fooling herself for even considering that he felt as she did. "Is that a tone you should be addressing the daughter of your employer with?" she asked, a slight amused tone used as she noticed that his tone sounded less subservient than usual. "It almost sounded as though you were making demands, rather than conforming to demands made of you." Oh, he'd be so dead if he was ever to speak those words to her or anyone else in front of her father. He'd probably have worse things to worry about than being dead, but for now, he wisely chose to keep these words between them. It was risky though, she thought. Did he know that she would be willing to overlook it, or act as though this was something acceptable to say to her? Surely this was dangerous for them both?

"You do not look forward to that day?" she repeated, unable to stop the same grin creep onto her face, almost without even noticing this happening. Something about him appeared to have the ability to make her want to smile, regardless of the situation. "Is this because you want me to remain a spoiled and delicate girl, unable to take care of herself? Perhaps you wish this for selfish reasons?" Of course this was for selfish reasons, but not the type of reason that she desired. To have her be completely independent would result in a serious decline of things he was required to do for her. Any person whose job relied on someone not being able to do the things they could do for them would wish that the employer never learned to do these things themselves - they would soon become jobless. She spun around, taking the dress and how it looked upon her. She was rather impressed with the choice, but she felt a pang of disappointment hit her, once again, that the comments he made sounded more like a shop assistant who wanted her to make a large donation to his holiday fund rather than what she would have liked to hear. "The dress is indeed lovely," she replied, them both knowing this to be true. "But, I was rather hoping more for a comment about how I looked in the dress. The dress itself would remain the same no matter who was wearing it."

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tagging corbin tharme. outfit click here. word count blah amount.
notes none to speak of, except forgive the weird template i've just made up.

[corbin elliot tharme]

A huge part of Corbin hated every single time that she didn't call him by his first name. It would have been heaven to hear his name slip from her lips, especially if they were accompanied by the feelings that he had for her. He'd have given anything he could to just hear that, even if it was only once. He'd even suffer the agony of not being able to love her after it was all said and done. But he knew that was stupid and masochistic and he knew that it was the one thing that he shouldn't have been wishing or hoping for. He knew it would be so much better for him if she was completely horrible to him like some of the others. He knew that the easier option would be for her to treat him like crap because then he'd have reason to hate her, and eventually that would overtake the... other feelings he had for her. As terrible as it was though he didn't want the easier option, not even for a second, because it would hurt him, and even more so, he didn't want to hate her. It was sick and twisted, but hating her would be awkward too. Every feeling he could have for her would compromise his work, and Andrew would ask too many questions if either love or hate became too obvious from him. But then the silly thing also was that as much as he loved his job, if he knew that she loved him, and giving up his job would enable them to be together, he would do it in a heartbeat. He'd not even have to contemplate it. But then he also knew just as well that even if she ever did feel that way, which was highly unlikely, giving up his job would make no difference, as he'd have to be a noble to even be considered appropriate for her to choose, so whatever choices he made, she couldn't choose him.

Corbin couldn't understand why it would be so easy to open up to her. Sometimes, when they were alone, he felt like he could tell her everything he'd ever thought about her, or about her father, or about everything he'd ever felt, and it would be fine. It most certainly wouldn't and that was a certainty, something he was sure about, something he knew, and still it felt as though it would be fine. This was terrible, he wished that if he'd fallen even this much for anyone it would be someone in the town, or even a fellow employee although that was still forbidden. Still, that was better than falling for one of the daughter's of the man that he worked for, correct? Of course it was. He could never be with her, he would never be with her, and he promised himself that he would do all he could to stop feeling this way. He couldn't help really, the way that his heart skipped a little when he heard her voice, even if it was saying something simple. Or the way that he was constantly trying to make her smile with simple comments, because he loved her smile and she could never know that. Or even, the way that he stood a little taller or smiled a lot more when she was near to him. It would be hard, these things came natural to him now, he'd had this crush for so long. Damn him for picking her of all the people in town and on the estate. One of the Dalton's. He'd practically set himself up for a fall. Wait, no, there would be no fall, because no one would ever find out. She could never know all these little things. "It's a pleasure to do this job, Lady Dalton. I'm glad just to have some sort of hand in making everyone's life easier. I like helping people."

[/color] Corbin spoke softly, pausing before smiling a little and parting his soft lips to continue. "Lincoln said, Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition."[/color]

Had Evelyn sounded a tad more emotional than Corbin had ever heard her before? No, that couldn't be, he had to imagine that. After all, she sounded like a very emotional activist for servant rights then, but she'd never said anything like that before. "Everyone should have someone that they can trust wholly. Who else can we be completely ourselves around?"[/color] Corbin asked, sounding a little more wise than he felt, considering the feelings burning inside him. He bowed his head to hide a blush as she mentioned all her favourite things and how she'd always ended up with them. He'd prided himself on anonymity, and, over time, he'd managed to collect adequate information about the Dalton children, so that he could figure out their favourite things. It had taken a while and involved talking to other servants about them, but it was easily done. They all worked for the same person really, anyway, and that was Andrew. He was the one that called the shots and if they thought that Andrew had wanted the information, no one would deny him it. Andrew hadn't bothered to ask Corbin to ask though, he did that of his own free will. "I am aware, Lady Dalton. I do apologise, I simply meant that it wasn't used to rough and repetitive work. Not that that is a bad thing either, I mean.. Uh,"[/color] He couldn't think, and ran his hand through his hair as a nervous habit. "Your future husband will prefer it if your hands were soft to hold, I am sure."[/color] he finished, feeling a hurt in his own heart when he thought about that idea. Surely that one day would come though, and he'd be there for it, suffering in silence. But this was his job, after all.

Corbin's eyes went wide for a second, realising how his words had sounded. In a rush he stammered to apologise. "Forgive me again, Lady Dalton, but I did not mean for it to come out like that, I meant only that it doesn't seem like something that is true, but I am sure that you don't doubt that I am lying. This job is rewarding in many ways, as I have explained"[/color] Corbin countered, trying to apologise again with the look in his eyes. He didn't mean it to sound like a demand. He had afterward realised an amused tone but to apologise was to cover his back if she was annoyed anyway. He wasn't lying, the job was rewarding, as he'd explained, but that wasn't the only way that it was rewarding, but that was something that he simply couldn't say. The colour climbed back into his face as he realised that she had indeed heard what he had said. "No Lady Dalton, I like helping you, and this family, and it is an honour to serve you all."[/color] Corbin replied, hanging his head to hide the blush as best he could. "It is because I enjoy the purpose that I serve here. I am glad to fulfil it, and I am glad to be of use here, to you, your family, and also to my mother, as I help her with money matters."[/color] Corbin explained, his head still hanging down to hide the slowly fading blush. "With respect Lady Dalton, I do not think that is true. Every wearer brings something different to a dress, whether it be that it hangs a little differently or the colour looks different slightly against someone else’s skin tone, or even if it is because the dress looks prettier because you are wearing it. That last one is true, and that is my honest opinion. Is there anything else I can do for you, Lady Dalton?"[/color] Corbin asked, the blush creeping back. He probably shouldn't have said that, but he did promise her an honest opinion.[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify]

this thread was made for evelyn dalton and it is an epical 1329 words long. corbin is wearing these clothes and the lyrics for this template come from girls do what they want - the maine (and i'm sorry it took so long!!).

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[evelyn marie dalton]

If he couldn't be a noble, which was a fact anyone and everyone could confirm for her - a 'commoner' could not wake up one morning and decide that they were now in a different social class, the only option left open to her was for her to give up her status. Would she do that? Doubtful, very doubtful, she'd lose her family forever. She didn't want it ever to come to that horrible decision, choosing between him and her family, especially when her chances of being with him weren't even wholly dependent on what position she had in society. More than that, she couldn't see why anyone would be forced to have that ultimatum thrown upon them - why couldn't she have the opportunity to have both? Perhaps because of that small, annoying fact that they were practically worlds apart and that not only would they both suffer consequences of such an occurence but also that he never met her eyes unless he was required to. He hardly ever looked at her, she'd noticed, almost instantly that her favoured servant didn't look at her unless absolutely necessary and it made her angry and disappointed at the same time that she could never demand that he should do this. Unless she started complaining about him not meeting her eyes as being rude, which would only give him more reason to avoid her, something she would not allow to happen. She honestly enjoyed the short amount of time they spent together, although she believed that her father must think her to be the most spoilt of his children when she was asking for things from his servant also. For more time in the presence of Corbin, she could allow him to think whatever he wanted, as long as it wasn't the truth.

Some times, she longed for the simplicity of the years before she met this servant boy and lived her life in the manner in which she had been instructed and was perhaps as spoiled as her father might think. Of all the things she could do to cause problems for herself, this was not the best option, she'd sooner have killed the family pet or something. Her family would get over that much quicker than if they were ever to learn of her secret crush. Try as she might, she eventually had to resign herself to the fact that she was breaking both tradition and law in her household and that she couldn't control her thoughts as much as she liked any longer. Something was clouding them and this something was pointless to keep dwelling on - why wasn't she concentrating on things that were actually going to happen? Like meetings with men that were considered actual matches for her, people that were rich and snobby just like her and nothing like servants. She didn't care about meeting anyone else now, she had no interest in people who were on the same level as her relatives and herself, she saw that enough at home and it wasn't how she intended to live her life. She wasn't intending to get a job, but if it meant she couldn't be seen as a subservient wife to these suitors, she'd choose employment every time.

So, that hadn't gone as smoothly as it could have done, she knew he'd been almost shocked by her sudden demands for him to be treated better by her own family. But again she was distracted by his admission that he thoroughly enjoyed working for her father, despite not getting the gratitude she still believed he deserved. Even if she didn't quite believe that he had explained everything that made his job worthwhile (from his point of view) she had recognised that there was little chance of getting any other excuses out of him on that particular matter. Maybe he did just enjoy having a job where he was serving other people, although she could not think of many situations that were worse in her perspective but that was just it - their perspectives differed entirely. "You're a good person, Mr. Tharme," she commented, hating inside at how the end of this sentence sounded so formal, but informality would have been forbidden for either of them. Every word of that comment was true, she did think he was a genuine person, something that wasn't always easy to find in a world of riches and finery. "But your work here is always worthy of recognition, even if you are not told as much."

There was no escaping the fact now that this conversation definitely had elements of equality in how they were talking to each other. She didn't know why he felt that he could talk to her in a manner reaching above civil and politeness, maybe it was that he sensed a warmth coming from her recently. Yes, that had to be it, why else would he treat her as though they were of the same class? Maybe he didn't believe in social statuses? That would make a change certainly, from the people who surrounded them in everyday life. She tilted her head slightly to the side, puzzled by his response. "Did you perhaps have a person in mind whom I could confide in?" This question of course barely needed answering if it was directed at her. But now she was somewhat curious about his comment, it sounded almost as though he knew who she should talk to and trust. "I should be very grateful if you could divulge this information." It was obvious that she trusted him, in the normal way that a servant should be trusted - expecting them to do anything asked of them and not to betray their employers' trust or kindness in providing a job for them in the first place. But something about his personality made her want to trust him more than the average person, although she could never admit this to him.

What could she say to something like that? She could hardly disagree with him openly when they both knew that she had never done an hour's worth of practical work in her life, in her head she had no reason to. She was rich and noble, with magical abilities which served any purpose she needed, although she evidently couldn't display these abilities to many others. She couldn't claim to know what his job was like, or either the work of his fellow employees, she would just be lying to him and herself. "You are probably right," she said, sighing inwardly. "It would be best if we stick to the roles in which we are accustomed." And best if she found a way to stop kidding herself that anything could ever happen between them. "However, I do not think my future husband will have a say in the matter, I intend to live my life in the way I wish." Judging from the standards of men her mother had invited to the house before, she had no intention of ever getting married. "Seeing as I do not care for marriage at this moment, any future husbands will have to look elsewhere for girls with suitable hands."

"You do not need to apologise repeatedly, Mr. Tharme, for you have yet to offend me," she replied, hiding a small smile at how concerned he was that he might have caused her bother by his words. Understandable as his reasons for rushing to correct what he thought she had criticised him for, but his stumbling over his words brought this suppressed smile to the surface until she found herself giggling a little. "Do not worry, as I said, I am not offended by your comment, so it shall be forgotten." Regaining control of her emotions, she straightened herself up and nodded, her face returning to its usual expression. "I think your mother is proud to have a son like you." Acting as though she hadn't said anything of this type, she distracted her eyes from his face and glanced around the room for a few seconds before she heard what must have been the most common phrase he used in this house. "I do have a second request," she responded, trying to indicate towards her back. "Could you fasten the button at the top of the dress? I cannot reach it to do it for myself."

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tagging corbin tharme. outfit click here. word count blah amount.
notes none to speak of, except forgive the weird template i've just made up.

[corbin elliot tharme]

Corbin seriously couldn't see why he even let himself entertain the notion that she would ever want to be in a romantic relationship with him. She was a noble. She had money and class and social standing. She could have whatever she wanted, and the only way for her to be with him would be for her to give that all up, and there was absolutely no way that he was worth losing money and status and class and her family for. He would hate to have to make that choice and if it wasn't a necessary choice why would she ever choose to make it? He wasn't worth it, she would know that, and anyway, why would she ever be attracted to him? He wasn't as good looking as the men that visited the estate. He had nothing on them, he should stop thinking that he had any chance but to be honest, he didn't want to lose that little bit of hope, as sad as that sounded. Hope was good to get you through those days when you had nothing else to concentrate on. When you were waiting outside the library for hours for your Lord, or doing menial and boring tasks for him, then it was nice to have something else to think about. That hope kept him going some days, he didn't want to lose that. That was sad, wasn't it? He surely could cope without the thought of seeing her at some point in the day, couldn't he? That didn't bear thinking about.

Maybe Corbin knew that it would be good if he met someone else, but the truth about it was that he couldn't see anyone but her. It was bad, wasn't it? He'd fallen for the daughter of the man he served. Damn her for being so beautiful and alluring to him. He wanted to know everything about her. He wanted to sit up talking into the early hours, making her laugh quietly or even waking people up with how much they talked and laughed. It was a cheesy romantic vision that he had and he knew that it was very unlikely that it would happen. He wanted it badly all the same though. He smiled honestly when he heard her compliment to him. He was a good person, that was true. He was honest and kind and helped whoever he could, whenever he could. He'd go above and beyond to make sure that the Dalton's had everything they could ever want and more. He did all that he could for them, but he had to admit that he did put extra effort in when it came to Evelyn, and gifts for her. "It is kind of you to say that, Lady Dalton. I'm obliged to disagree though, I do my best."

[/color] He said, bowing his head low, his modesty taking over. He couldn't help it, it was engrained in him now. After all, pride comes before a fall, as they said, and he wasn't a huge fan of heights. "I am glad that you appreciate it, Lady Dalton, I'm here to serve you as best I can."[/color] Corbin spoke softly, twiddling his thumbs again.

Evelyn seemed to be talking to him as an equal, and although this should have surprised him, it seemed quite normal to him. That was odd, wasn't it? To feel as though it was normal to be walking with a noble. He couldn't believe it really, or at least he shouldn't have been able to, but yet, here he was, continuing the conversation in the same tone. He didn't believe in it all though, to be honest, that because she was born into a certain family with a certain rich heritage, she was of a different class to him. It didn't make sense to him. They were all people after all. The job had instilled that sense of self worth in him though, because when you were talked down to like you were of a lower class than them, you began to feel that way. It was like a breath of fresh air for her to continue the tone that he had slipped into and accidentally set. She didn't seem to be acting like a noble at the moment, but that wasn't a bad thing. "If you should ever wish to talk to someone, Lady Dalton, and for some reason would not wish to confide in the servant assigned to you, I am here to help, if you should so choose to summon me, of course"[/color] He felt like he was rambling now. Did that make sense? Did he just offer for Lady Evelyn Dalton to confide in him whenever she felt like it? But that would be bad, as it would mean extra time with her and that would only make what he felt worse, wouldn't it? Damn his want to help.

Hearing her testimony against marriage, Corbin couldn't hold back the smile, and so he dipped his head in an attempt to hide it. He didn't know how well that had worked, however, but he didn't like the idea of her marrying anyone else other than himself. That was selfish and silly because the likelihood was that whenever Priscilla decided it, he would have to help prepare the house for her wedding, and for her husband to be to stay, and many other such occasions, and that would kill him. It seemed though that she wouldn't like it much either. "Then they will be missing out, Lady Dalton, but it would be better for you to be happy in a relationship than stuck in a marriage that you hated. You would come to resent the man that you would have to call your husband and that would never be good."[/color] Corbin spoke softly, glad for once, that his fiancée from the past had stopped their engagement before it had progressed any further. He wouldn't have wanted her to resent him for trapping her in a loveless marriage. He loved her though, so it wouldn't have been loveless, really. He didn't love her any more though. A few years of heartbreak kind of took away the love that you'd once felt. He'd never loved anyone since either, and he wasn't even sure if what he'd felt then was real love, but at the time he seemed to believe it.

Corbin sighed a little with relief once she'd assured him that his apologies were unnecessary. He was glad he had not offended her, as his concern was great that he might have bothered her with his words. He couldn't hold back a grin as she spoke about his mother being proud though. That was one thing that Corbin aimed for, because he didn't want her to have a lazy failure of a son that did nothing with his life. At least he had his work, and he was good at his job. He didn't have a family to love her though, but one day, he did hope. If he could ever see anyone other than Lady Evelyn again, anyway. "Thank you Lady Dalton, I appreciate your comment. I hope that she is proud of me. I don't want to fail her."[/color] He said, meeting her eyes and then bowing his head again. He raised his head when he heard of a second request, though, and blushed immediately at the thought of this task. "Of course, Lady Dalton. Anything you wish."[/color] He spoke, straightening himself up and trying to divert his thoughts. He stepped close, his hands shaking, and reached to do up the top button. It was fiddly, and took a few moments, and then his hands stayed there for a moment, as if not to break the spell of being so close to her.[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify]

this thread was made for evelyn dalton and it is an epical 1329 words long. corbin is wearing these clothes and the lyrics for this template come from girls do what they want - the maine (and i'm sorry it took so long!!).

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[evelyn marie dalton]

This was so inappropriate and definitely crazy. She suspected when this feeling first arrived that she might be losing her mind but now she knew for sure. Not only was this situation crazy but it was also ridiculously dangerous, for them both, regardless of whether she would have liked to say the opposite. Although she would have liked to think that doing these things and behaving this way was not something that her parents would disown her for, she had serious doubts that they could ever react differently. For this reason, she'd known almost instantly, as soon as she'd realised what she was feeling and thinking that she could never let either of her parents find out exactly what she spent a large amount of the day doing. But this reluctance for her parents to know what she felt was not only a selfish one, she was genuinely concerned for what the consequence for Corbin would be, even when he was clearly not to blame. She couldn't let him be subject to a similar disdainful treatment by her family when she was the only one at fault, it wasn't his problem that she kept thinking the wrong things. This was one of the reasons that she knew she definitely had an issue - if something could make her think about someone else in the same way as she thought about herself. She wasn't naive enough not to notice that she was a very selfish individual, but now, he seemed to have affected this somewhat. It was a very confusing transformation, a transformation that had not yet made her see others in the same way as she saw him, but was starting to make her doubt some of the things she'd been conditioned to believe in since birth.

Confusing, no doubt, but such a simple and easy solution lay ahead, one that would possibly put everything she had started to think about at rest. Or so she thought, now she wasn't so sure that this solution was in fact a 'solution'. She'd realised quickly that the answer lay in avoiding him as much as possible, or resisting the urge to order him about for those moments together. But now she wondered if going to the other extreme might make her parents, particularly her father, more suspicious. What reason could she give as a logical one which made it difficult for her to be around him? There were very few things she could say that would not end badly for him, thinking he had said or done something to upset their precious daughter. Clearly any excuse that she gave for why she spent as little time as possible in his company would have to be incredibly well thought out, with consideration of all the possible outcomes. Or she could leave it and try to carry on as normal. Great, except she was doing this now and she obviously wasn't doing things as she was expected. Could she honestly say that she wouldn't mind not seeing this guy as often as she had started to? Probably not, she knew instantly, she liked the time they had together, even if he had come to conclude that she was far more supercilious than he'd first imagined, enjoying the idea of ordering people around so much that she came up with an imaginary list of jobs for servants other than her own.

Clearly, she had two options available to her - either she ignored everything she was feeling and continued to act as though nothing had changed, which was the option she had currently selected, or she attempted to avoid him as much as possible. Sadly neither of these options seemed a successful one, she had tried and tested the first and look where it kept getting her. If someone from her family walked into the room right now, Evie would have condemned them both. But then avoiding him didn't seem appropriate either, she knew she would miss seeing him and perhaps, as a result, her emotions would be more likely to explode? Although, saying that, she wasn't that confident that her feelings weren't about to pour out at any moment now, she was struggling. She was not used to having to exercise so much constraint over her words and actions, to have to show this much self-control and it was significantly more difficult than she would have guessed or liked. The sound of his voice distracted her, moving her head upwards. "I like that you're modest" she stated, unable to stop a small smile finding its way onto her face. "It makes quite a nice change from the men I usually encounter." Probably nobody here, nobody took an interest in what qualities a servant had, other than the useful ones which could be applied to their job. Breathing in, inaudibly, she tried not to act oddly. So far, self-control was not going well.

"I think, you forget, that it is unusual for my family to be seen as ourselves, everything is about image and grandeur. Besides, if I was completely honest, I think I have found a few people who I can talk to. Hayley unfortunately has to cope with most of my dull conversations." She had momentarily forgotten that she had her own servant, or rather, she had another person assigned to her, Hayley no more belonged to her than anyone else. But she was grateful for the girl's company and words, even when she had a tendency to be blunter than most servants would have seen as appropriate when talking to a noble. But, as much as she appreciated Hayley and all the things the girl did for her, it somehow wasn't the same as the conversations she had with the male standing opposite her. Biting her lip, she looked at him again, taking in what seemed to be a strangely inviting offer. "You would have me confide in you?" she asked, quite confused about why he would make such an offer, perhaps he didn't expect her to take it and therefore was merely being polite. "I shall bear that in mind, but thank you for the offer." She wasn't sure that them spending any more time together was a good idea, but she could hardly be in denial to herself about how appealing this offer sounded.

Did she see him smile a little bit more when she said that she had little intention of getting married? She was almost certain that her words had caused him to grin, for whatever reason, but she could not be sure when this smile disappeared almost as soon as she'd spotted it. "They would only be missing out on my constant complaints and demands," she responded, knowing this to be the truth. "Despite everything that my parents have tried to teach me, I do not think I would make any wealthy man a good wife." She resisted the urge to pretend she hadn't said that, because she could hardly act as though those words hadn't been interesting or distracting. She'd made the grave error of including 'wealthy' in that sentence. Why? She didn't want to keep thinking about it, because she knew deep down that whatever she had meant by this sentence, it was not a good thing to have said. "I expect Bethany shall be the first to be married anyhow," she commented, still unsure as how she should now behave. "She will make a far more suitable wife than myself." She'd evidently inwardly decided to overlook her previous response, hoping that nobody else but her had heard this mistake. Either way, what she said was true, she did not want to marry anyone of a similar background to herself, she'd seen enough of these men to last her a lifetime.

As opposed to men like her father's valet, perhaps the only reason she actually found herself thinking of him like this was because he was so different to the 'guests' her mother insisting on inviting around to the estate. Could this be true? She wasn't sure, there were definitely many things about Corbin which demonstrated a completely contrasting personality to that of the men she spent most of the afternoon trying to ignore. But then, if this was the only reason, why would she focus only on him? There was hardly a limited number of males working for her family and she could see no reason why her mind would have chosen him specifically. So, the remaining conclusion was that there was something about him that she found more attractive. Maybe it was that occasionally he treated her like someone he liked, rather than someone he had to pretend to like. "I'm sure you could never fail her. You are..." Yes, what exactly was he? She paused, trying to think of a good ending to that statement. "...an excellent employee." Wow. He'd love that amount of complimentary words. This was soon forgotten, as he did as she asked and helped her to fasten the dress. She knew it was wrong to even think of it, but she automatically wanted to reach for his hand. Biting her lip, she moved slightly. Self-control.

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tagging corbin tharme. outfit click here. word count blah amount.
notes none to speak of, except forgive the weird template i've just made up.