Taking a Chance (Elenora)

[Lady Gwyneth]

Gwyneth sighed with frustration as she entered the Grand Hall. Earlier in the morning her father had tasked her with a new plot. She was to locate Lady Elenora, whose family were friends with the hated Burnells. She was to befriend this lady and gain information. She truly was in no mood after a night of no sleep, but nonetheless she will do her best to comply with her father's wishes.

It didn't take long to find the lady, yet Gwyn took some caution to approach her. Since her father's order, she had spent her free time calculating a way to go about it. And always, when dealing with such matters, it was always wise to employ a bit of caution.

Gwyn paused to take in a short breath and enlist a smile. She needed it to seem as though she didn't have a deceiving manner behind her smile. She needed a smile without the slightest hint of scorn and annoyance. Normally she didn't need to take too much of a care on this matter, but dealing with the Burnells in such a fashion as she was about to do, called for it.

Satisfied with her smile, she moved forward until she stood across from Elenora. "Hello," she began, faking a voice of kindness. She carefully studied Elenora's reaction, thinking of the best direction to take the conversation.

Tags: Lady Elenora
Timeline: Several years prior to series 1
Setting: Grand Hall - mid-day

[Lady Elenora]

It was mid-day and seeing as it was still mid-winter, everyone was gathered in the Great Hall for a lunch feast. The food, as always, was magnificent -- it had all of Nora's favorites and the wine was divine. Nora knew that her younger sister would be jealous, but she was too young to be out in society yet, so she was back in her chambers with their governess to look after her.

Looking over towards her father, she smiles as she sees him deep in conversation with one of his oldest friends, the Lord of Westhaven - Godfrey Burnell and his wife Lady Marjory. Though they are deep friends, since the Burnell family live a little further than them, she herself rarely sees them. Although, she has developed a little friendship with their daughter Cara and found her to be quite friendly and nice. So they definitely had plenty to talk about with Cara possessing a fair amount of confidence and a full abundance of conversation!

Taking another slip of her goblet, Nora hears someone say hello to her. Looking up, she sees that the source of the voice is Lady Gwyneth. Nora has never met the woman before, rather she had heard of her from the Burnells. She did not know the specifics, just that the Burnells and the Wynters were rivals. Thinking that it is odd that the lady specifically approach her, a few moments pass before Elenora finds her voice, "Hello, Lady Gwyneth - I believe?" She asks, making sure she has the right lady in question.

[Lady Gwyneth]

"Hello, Lady Gwyneth - I believe?" Elenora asked.

Despite feeling a bit of her pride being ripped out, she continued to smile. "Yes, I am Lady Gwyneth." She replied, momentarily letting herself slip and thus showing her true self. She quickly realized it and straightened, regaining her composure. She hoped that the lady hadn't realized the mistake, as that would mean the failure of the mission. And the Wynter's couldn't afford any more humiliations at the attempts to defeat the Burnells.

The Wynter-Burnell rivalry had lasted for nearly three full generations, the start of which happened during Gwyn's grandfather's time. Her grandfather had once been companion to his counterpart, having been close friends. However, in their early twenties, after gaining their titles, Gwyn's grandfather fell in love with his friend's betrothed. She loved the Lord Wynter in turn and they eloped at Ellesfield, much to the Lord Burnell's disdain. However, at the time, Lord Burnell was off in another kingdom. Upon his return nine months later he slew his enemy's wife, who was fresh from giving birth. The child, Gwyn's father, was only spared due to Lord Burnell's inability to harm a child. He stormed out of Ellesfield, with the infuriated Lord Wynter on his trail. However, Lord Burnell escaped to his own home and due to a claim of being under a powerful spell, was spared Lord Wynter's wrath.

And ever since the Burnells had been the enemies of the Wynters...enemies to the death.

She briefly struggled to remove her family's history from her thoughts, eventually triumphing over them in order to part her lips to speak. "What do you think of the feast?" Gwyn asked, with the intent of striking up an easy and quick conversation.