Realistic or Modern Victorian London

[GreyZone]

Margaret made sure her still-battered shoes weren't visible as she climbed out of the carriage and fell in step next to Victor. "Thank you for carrying our luggage, sir."


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Syrrus]

"Sir? Ya' don't have to call me sir, ma'am, dat sounds far from what I am." Jack chuckled as he began walking towards the train, together with Victor - though the nobleman waking infront of him, of course. Victor made sure they found the last train before giving the young girl a long glance. "Are you hungry, Margaret? I think we should eat."

 

[GreyZone]

Margaret took in a short breath, stopping beside him. "That sounds like a good idea, yes." The truth was, if she ate more than an apple, she would have to have her new stays loosened.


"Master," she said in reference to Victor, "what exactly does my job here entail?" It had not passed her notice that he insisted upon walking in front of Jack. Of course, she hated it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Syrrus]

"Please, refrain from calling me that." Victor said, with a strange expression upon his face, as if he had tasted something very faul. "Jack is calling me tiltes only to pester me, so please, do not join in on his antics." Dusting himself off, for no apparent reason, Victor walked towards a cafe, not far from the trainstation, and decided to sit down at a table near the window. Jack popped down the cases outside, by the wall and took a seat on top of them, while be lit a cigarette which he had been carrying in his coat pocket.


"Your job is to assist me when needed. Be it reading maps, keeping a date in mind, small quests - anything. Though at the moment I got nothing for you. Tea, please, no sugar and no milk. Thank you." Victor looked up at the waitress who smiled back at him, before looking at the young madam.

 

[GreyZone]

Margaret smirked at that. "And what is keeping you from believing that I am calling you titles for the exact same reasons? And at least I know it does not put me at risk for being considered disrespectful or something or other." She shrugged. "I can do that. Are you sure it just wasn't my winning wit and charm that made you want me to join you on this journey with unforeseeable purposes?"


But her confidence quickly evaporated as soon as the waitress turned to her; she had never ordered anything in her life, so she attempted to follow Victor's lead. "I would like tea as well, ma'am."

 

[Syrrus]

"And a coffee for the gentleman outside, yes, the one on the bags. Thank you." Victor nodded and returned his gaze towards Margaret with a slight smirk. "Well, perhaps I simply wished you to join so I knew you wouldn't continue your whining to a different man. Or perhaps I simple wished to do something about it all together."

 

[GreyZone]

Margaret laughed at that, blood rushing to her cheeks in embarrassment. "I truly should not have told you that because now I will never hear the end of it. So what is your planned course of action if you wish to do something about it all together?"


She was trying to do everything she could to hide just how out of her own element she was. Even though she had never been more dressed up, she was free. There were no needy children upstairs, no greedy father, no devilish baby on her hip. How bad could it be?

 

[Syrrus]

“That I do not know.” Victor watched as the young waitress placed two cups of the in front of them, together with a pot of cream and another with sugar bits – expensive treat to say the least. Victor gently picked two of them up and popped two bits into his tea, a pouring of cream and stirred it gently with the silver spoon. “Perhaps something we should not mention in polite conversation. You are of marry age, that could also be an option, if I wished for a wife – especially a wife as busy body as yourself.” Victor grinned her way, and watched Jack through the window, how he flirted with the waitress, enough for her to give him a kiss on the check and a cake – on the house.

 

[GreyZone]

Margaret tried to hide the flash of shock in her eyes when he said that. In her heart, she knew that he was doing it just to tease her and to see her blush. She could tell herself that it did not matter to her all she wanted, it would not change the fact that her cheeks were so flushed that they almost matched her hair. After taking a drink of her tea that was too long to be natural, she set it down and swallowed hard, her hand rattling with the cup. "So there is a possibility that I am not accompanying you for this trip alone."


Was that the best way to ask her question? She refused to come off as petty and excited about the mere prospect, but she couldn't even call herself a girl if marriage wasn't something that was constantly on her mind. It had to be; no one wanted to remain the spinster at home for the rest of her life. Especially if her home life looked like Margaret's. "I am just impressed that my accusations of you our last time together did not scare you off."

 

[Syrrus]

Victor hummed on the idea for a few minutes, while sipping his tea and leaning back in his seat. He looked rather picturesque, something you would see in a painting in the later years of 1920’s; with his brow in a deep frown and one hand resting upon the table.


“So, you ask a question for me to ask the question, a proposition for a proposition.” He continued to stir the tea, popping another sugar piece into the liquid. “This travel will take us a few years, three or perhaps five, maybe more. When we return to London I will consider my options, and would the picture look like it does today – perhaps I will indeed ‘pop the question’ as it were. I will hopefully have seen enough to use it as an excuse to settle down, by then.”


Victor finished his tea, just in time for a slice of cake to be put down before him. Gesturing with his silverspoon towards Jack, through the window, he pushed the plate towards Margaret – seeing how the cake was meant for her. “Besides, I believe you would be much more happy in the arms of Jack T. Johnson.”

 

[GreyZone]

She watched him intently as he spoke, enjoying her tea more than she thought possible. It was surprisingly wonderful to be around beverages that weren't alcoholic to her.


"Sir, with all due respect," she began again. "I am almost seventeen. In five years... If you want to actually have a wife and multiple children, it will have to be sooner than that." She wasn't about to tell him that she was absolutely terrified of giving birth after seeing her own mother take her last breath because of it, and how horrible the result of her laboring was. But she knew that it wasn't an option, that pregnancy and childbirth were inevitable.


"And what makes you say that?" She took the tiniest bite of the cake, attempting to hide how wonderful it tasted; she would look like the poor creature she fully was. She then pushed it toward him. "You may have the rest."

 

[Syrrus]

“When I wish to have a wife is all up to me, many men takes older women as their life partner, why cannot I?” Victor nodded, as if he had spoken truth and nothing but it. He scratched his chin in thought, wondering what else he possibly could say to boost the young ladies confidence. Though her question made his eyes wander towards Jack. “Jack is a hardworking young man, not much older than yourself – and he is always positive, unlike myself. A kind and simple soul, who wishes for nothing but to live life to the full, no matter if that means being dirt poor, or royalty rich.”

 

[GreyZone]

Margaret raised her eyebrows and took another drink of her tea. "Then you, sir, have never assisted a woman in childbirth. I know it's unmentionable to men, but you know me enlighten to understand that it matters little to me if we should or should not discuss it simply because of society. Do you want children?"


Her eyes followed his to look at Jack. "Oh, I'm sure he's a rather nice fellow; I enjoyed talking to him well enough at the bar. He made me laugh. But there's no /mystery./ I had him pegged in an hour. I don't want to be with a man that I know better than he knows himself. There is no fun in that, no passion, and I will be bored by twenty."

 

[GreyZone]

*know me enough

 

[Syrrus]

“No, I do not wish for children – I cannot stand them.” Victor wrinkled his nose in distaste. He could not stand unnecessary noise, smells or anything of the sort. Children were a mess, horrible little things who he saw no use in, except perhaps to move humankind along.


He peered through the window at Jack again, who was enjoying the sun, smirking upon they who walked by and raising his hat towards the noble, almost as if wanting to confuse them with his presence. “I suppose that makes sense, in an unhealthy way. A woman should always think of what is best for her, what can keep her safe and content. Mystery is hardly one of them.”

 

[GreyZone]

"Victor, children can be nice. The little boy after Jane was a marvelous baby, and he still is." She laughed a little. "Anyway, you would not even have to bother yourself with them. You wouldn't be the one changing, bathing, feeding them, or the one bringing them into the world."


Margaret offered Jack a tiny smile. "Mr. Edwards," she responded quietly. "I have spent my whole life repeating the same damn day over and over again. A desire mystery and uncertainty so badly I could cry."

 

[Syrrus]

Victor shook his head. “That is all irrelevant. I enjoy my life, just like it is – now. I do not need children, no matter how… sweet, you say they are. They are noisy and noise frustrates me, no matter what it might be.” Mister Edwards placed some coin upon the table as he rose. “I believe we should leave for the train.” He gestured towards Jack, who instantly jumped up on his head, placed the cup he had been handing on a table and picked up each and every bad, as if it was nothing.

 

[GreyZone]

A light smirk played on her lips at that. "Oh, so then you are planning to never have intercourse with your wife, I see. I suppose a good woman would be delighted by that, since we are always taught that it is nothing more than succumbing to the carnal desires of men, something detestable. A task, at best."


She made sure that her words were quiet enough that Jack wouldn't pick up on them and think her less of a lady.

 

[Syrrus]

“Have you never heard of the sock method?” Victor said, as he put his hat back on his head. Jack peered at them as they walked out of the coffee shop, though said nothing about their curious choice of words – truth be told, he had no idea what they were conversing about.


“The train, Jack, if you please.” Victor continued, as they walked across the street towards the trainstation. “Aye sir, I’ll get it to stop for ya’ as soon as I pull these magic cards out of ma’ pocket. Oh, wait… I forgot ‘em at home, too bad.”

 

[GreyZone]

Margaret looked up at him curiosity. "Whatever that is, I highly doubt it has power to stop children. They are rather strong-willed little beings."


She actually laughed at Jack's statement. "Oh, sir, we will have to fire you. That is completely unacceptable. Bring this train this instant."

 

[Syrrus]

“Aye, aye ma’am- Or Mrs Edwards, or—hmh, well. Let me see what I can do for ye’ aye?” He grinned, from ear to ear, attempting to not get too much on Victor’s wick, though it seemed as if the nobleman ignored his friend completely, as he opened the door to their train and waited for the lady to step inside, while Jack hurried along towards another couch and with their bags. “He never stops talking, that man, once he starts.”

 

[GreyZone]

Margaret watched while Jack bustled around with amusement. "Well, he called me Mrs. Edwards, so I suppose I'll take it in stride."


She gathered her things onto her lap again, as if someone was going to jump out and mug her at any moment.

 

[Syrrus]

Victor sat down in their private little cube of bliss and closed the door behind him, just as his companion had joined him inside. He placed his hat on the rack above the seat next to him, and sat down. It took his notebook out of his pocket and continued to scribble like he had done in the cab.


Jack soon joined them, though he leaned against the door, smiling in his usual way. “There, ya’ bags are safe and sound, can I retire to ma’ seat?”


“It depends on the young madam, do you need anything, Margaret?”

 

[GreyZone]

She always found it amusing that he simply ignored her teasing altogether, and nodded. "I am perfectly content and will be for the rest of the ride, I am sure."


Knowing that he would just ask her to if she did not on her own, she took out her book. Margaret knew well enough that children's books would be easier to start with, but she was much too prideful to carry around anything but literate fit for Mr. Edwards himself.

 

[Syrrus]

Jack nodded, bowed his head and left them to it. He did not enjoy the nobles’ arrangement, to sit in a little cage without anyone new to speak to. He rather sit in the cramped space of the main part of the train, instead of the first class.


Edwards did not pay much attention to what had happened, the next time he looked up from his notes, they were already moving, and Jack was long gone.