Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Terryn, darling, come down." The earl called from the bottom of the echoing stone steps to his daughter upstairs. When she replied that she looked horrid, the earl sighed. "Come now, sweetest, you know you look lovely."

Terryn gave one last frowning look at herself in the full length mirror before finally descending the stairs. "I look hideous." Honestly, it couldn't be farther from the truth. She was wearing the same dress she had at the ball, her hair half pulled back and a light amount of makeup on her face, which was something new and uncomfortable for her. She had a light mist of perfume around her, which smelled like a clean snowy day and lightly of lilies.

The earl's eyes widened. "Darling, that is completely untrue. Come now, your stepmother is out visiting a cousin, so it will only be the four of us dining the evening." He took Terryn by the hand and led her downstairs to the reception room, instructing the doorman to announce when the two guests arrived.

The doorman nodded and bowed before entering the manor and finding the Earl in the front room with Terryn. "The duchess and her grandson have arrived." The earl instructed him to welcome them in, so the doorman returned to the entrance and led them into the house. "This way please."

The earl approached the pair with open arms, taking the presents from the duchess and giving her a formally distant kiss on both cheeks. "Good evening to you both." He handed off the gifts to his porter and accepted the flowers and wine. "Thank you, young sir. This wine will be put to good use." He grinned and gave them both to Elizabeth to bring to the kitchen to open the wine and get water for the flowers.

Terryn stayed relatively quiet. She would have to try and be a little more reserved tonight, especially because of her father's keeness. She extended her hand to Marcus with a neutral expression. "Marcus."

Terryn retracted her hand quickly, uncomfortable around her father and the duchess.

"Very, thank you. We had a bit of a frenzy in the kitchen this m orning, but that cleared itself up rather quickly." He gave an amiable smile and held his hand to the duchess. "Would you like to come see the gardens we have? My wife just adores growing roses." It was obvious that his intention was to take the duchess and himself away from the other couple.

Terryn held up her hand, watching them around the corner. She knew her father tended to hang around a moment so she waited until she heard the garden door open and close before she relaxed and waved him over to a small couch that was in the room. "Forgive me, but I told you, my father is suspicious. He questioned me all last night, it was unbearable."

Terryn sighed. "What did he not ask would be a better question. He interrogated me on every aspect of my opinion, how I thought you looked, how you acted, your demeanor, manners, rhetoric, everything. He even inquired as to whether or not I liked the color of your sleeves!" She rolled her eyes. "And then anytime I said something positive about you, he would give me this incredulous stare. He also tried to make me admit that I was faking that laughter, but he forgets that he was trying to outwit the queen of cold logic." A small, triumphant grin spread on her face as she recalled how she had gotten him completely confused with her ambiguities to the point that he just walked off scratching his head.

Terryn shook her head. "No, that would most definitely cause him to suspect something. I never become heated enough to get into a quarrel with anyone. I always just end up ignoring them or laughing in their faces until they leave me alone." She frowned and slumped into the cushions, paying no mind to the fact that by normal standards she had a suitor next to her that she needed to impress.