"Starting with me." Lady Iryne joined them. She brought with her a string quartet and they settled down. "Mauve tells me that you are not in a good mood. I brought you some instrumentalists to play you some music. If you need someone to sing, I can hire the three beauties as well."
She did not give Sigrid a moment to say yes or no and instructed the instrumentalists to begin.
*****
In the kitchen meanwhile, a storm of gossip had already been initiated among the servants. They were all pretentiously lingering in the large kitchen under the guise of of doing kitchen related tasks. Some were sitting around a table, eating afternoon snacks and making last minute preparations before serving lunch.
The subject of East Ridley's good looks was livelier than the clatter of iron pots and rich scent of roasting duck.
