A Jewel in the Dirt - 16. Be my Guest

Dante sat on his bed, drinking the bitter herbal tea and admiring his newest possession. It was a strange feeling to hold in his hands a world created by his mistress, characters and destinies designed by her. He put the cup down and read the summary:

A princess on a quest for revenge. Five warriors to protect her- and all with their own plans. Six fallen angels stirring up the darkest fears and desires. The kingdom is on the brink, but is this fellowship the death blow or salvation?

That sounded dramatic enough to make Dante smile, and he kept turning the pages, skipping over the publisher's details and pausing at the dedication: "For the warriors I have the privilege of knowing in real life- but especially for Frank." Below it was handwritten 'for Dante' and he stroked the blue ink. If she sold him, he certainly wouldn't forget her.

 

Mistress Alice sat at her desk and let her fingers fly over her keyboard. On her laptop, which stood diagonally next to her, a colorful chart glowed and papers were scattered next to it, all of which appeared to be handwritten notes.

Slowly, Dante knelt beside her and lowered his gaze to his well-behaved folded hands. Kneeling humbly had never been his particular forte, but nevertheless he waited with all the patience he could muster. And indeed a good deal of time passed before Mistress Alice pushed her headphones back and sighed.

"You are persistent."

"It is not proper to leave such a position without you sending me away, Mistress."

"I didn't call you."

He looked up and indicated a shrug. "I wanted to apologize again, Mistress," he said seriously. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I'm really sorry, I was educated better than that. And I thank you very much for your gift, I don't deserve it."

A wry smile on her lips, she sighed. "I was once told that kindness and patience achieve more than punishment. All right, what is it? Or was that already all?"

"No." Only semi-successfully did he try to stifle a grin. "I have a question about the book- or two, actually."

She made a prompting gesture and turned her chair toward him.

"Why is Frank mentioned in the dedication? And why is Aris called Aris? It sounds awkwardly like Ares."

A smile flitted across her face. "How much have you read?"

"The first chapter."

She nodded thoughtfully and her gaze wandered briefly into the distance. "I explained to you, didn't I, that our daughters and sons of the Great Mother could pass for angels in other religions under certain circumstances?"

"Yes." he confirmed quietly.

"Well, in the religion there, there are different angels and one of them is called Ares. According to legend, a great warrior. Aris' father wanted his younger son to be a great warrior, so he chose a name that sounds very similar, because to choose the name of the angel himself would be blasphemy." She gave him a mocking look, then continued: "But that will come up sometime later. You could answer your other question yourself with the second chapter."

"Frank appears in the book?" He raised a brow skeptically and she shook her head.

"No. But surely you've noticed that Aris is not the brightest light of the night."

"Yes, but... oh, mistress, that's mean. Frank is not stupid." As indignation rose in him, a gentle expression settled on Mistress Alice's face.

"No, he isn't. But he and Aris have some things in common, like an accident that changed them forever."

"I still think the comparison is unfair," he muttered defiantly. Part of him scolded him a fool for being so critical of his mistress' motivations; another part wondered why he was so protective of Frank.

She was still smiling. "But who among the readers knows Frank? Who can actually make a connection? I explained it to you, but no one else knows, and by the way, no one cares about the dedications anyway."

Still critical, he raised a brow, but before he could formulate his next comment, she asked:

"Speaking of Frank... was it okay to spend the nights at his place?"

"Of course. I think it did him quite a bit of good."

Now it was she who raised a brow.

"I mean," Dante began his explanation, "he seems a little lonely, and I think it was quite good to have someone completely focused on him for a little while."

A guilty expression flitted across Mistress Alice's face. "You guys talked a bit...?"

He nodded simply.

"Good." She hesitated, and again her gaze wandered into the distance before she continued. "I won't violate his trust in you and I won't ask about what you talked. But if there is something you think would be better or important for the family to know, then please, Dante, tell me."

He nodded again, and because he had already mentioned it to Tom, he told his mistress about it as well, although again, he casually skipped the kiss: "He asked a few questions. Those... teenage questions." To his astonishment, Mistress Alice seemed startled at first, before a- strangely forced-looking- relief spread through her posture.

"So he is developing after all, then."

"Perhaps he has simply lacked a confidant until now, though I do wonder why that should be me, of all people, when he hardly knows me."

"Have you asked him about it?"

"Yeah, but...", Dante shrugged a little helplessly, "I mean, me being honest and reminding him of Anthony can't be everything."

"... and I thought he had found a brotherly confidant in Tom."

"He said Tom wasn't honest with him," Dante stated matter-of-factly, and Mistress Alice again raised a brow to unexpected heights.

"I take it from your face that you can relate to his statement."

"That Tom didn't tell me about his past as a free man, I can sympathize with, but... he should have told me about Blaise-" He swallowed the word, after all, he was talking about his mistress's father here, who was making a strange face.

"That Pa is fucking him? Well, it must come from somewhere that he's considered Pa's favorite."

"Did you know?"

"Sure. Everyone does, it's not a secret." She shrugged almost disinterested. "Is that why you quit this pathetic little game?"

Exasperated, Dante pursed his lips; kneeling before his mistress like this, he suddenly felt very vulnerable and strangely compelled to answer. "If he feels abused, I don't want him to compensate with me." To his astonishment, she reached out and caressed his cheek.

"Some people love to play with power, others actually just want to compensate for something. Only for the one who suffers from it, it usually makes no difference."

He wasn't sure what she was getting at, which was why he held still and didn't give an answer. In fact, after a moment, she sighed.

"You won't like it, but you'll still be working with Frank and Tom again, starting tomorrow."

He hadn't expected anything else, so he nodded devotedly. "Yes, mistress."

"Rest a little longer, but later you will help with dinner and be present."

"Yes, mistress." A little awkwardly because out of practice, he rose and even bowed, which Mistress Alice acknowledged with a roll of her eyes, which he answered with a mocking smile, which in turn brought an amused twinkle to her eyes.

~

Blaise said the grace.

Since it was usually the women who did so, this circumstance was thus noteworthy enough that no one reached for the silverware after letting go of each other. The silence following made the back of Dante's neck prickle until Miss Carolyn finally cleared her throat and said gravely:

"Adam has cancer. He'll be coming home tomorrow or the next day to spend his last weeks here."

Out of the corner of his eye, Dante saw Seth nod thoughtfully, as if he had expected nothing else. Jack gave a strange whimper, but then remained silent, instead Frank took the floor:

"Are you going to buy someone new, Ma?" His pitiful tone would definitely have suited Jack better.

"Later, Frank, not right away," Miss Carolyn replied surprisingly gently. "Adam has served us well for many years and we will honor him for it." To this was probably added the sober fact that a farm did not need so many working hands in the winter, but of course no one said so. Instead, the meal was now begun.

A bit lacking in appetite and still with an underlying stomach rumble, Dante was poking at his already unusually small portion when Mistress Alice asked, conspicuously casually:

"How's Flynn settling in?"

Presumably all eyes twitched briefly to Flynn, who perked up with red ears.

"They always have a few problems at first, you know..." replied Miss Britney no less conspicuously casually, "but he's well-pleasing."

"You'd expect as much from someone like him." Mistress Alice returned snidely, and Dante saw Flynn now blushing completely.

"Oh, my... does Dante lack for anything? Do you want Flynn to show him a few things?" Now it was Miss Britney who scoffed snidely and Dante who got red ears.

"Not in the least. His behavior was impeccable. You'd think he'd missed me."

"And I thought you just went for free men..."

"She didn't have a slave at all before..." Miss Sarah remarked decidedly calm, almost dismissively.

"Right, well that must be quite an adventure now..." Miss Britney giggled affectedly and Mistress Alice snorted.

"I stand by my opinion: only free men will give you what you need and want."

"Dear, if you're talking about feelings-" Miss Sarah began, but was interrupted by both a clearing of the throat by Miss Carolyn and Mistress Alice:

"I'm not."

"What do you expect from a man, hmm?", Miss Britney wanted to know disdainfully, and Mistress Alice snorted again, her tone indicating that the conversation was over for her:

"As long as you're happy with a whore, you don't understand the answer anyway."

"Girls, that's enough." Miss Carolyn's cool interjection was actually unnecessary.

Dante, on the other hand, wondered what his mistress had intended by such a provocation.

"The children don't need to hear such things," Blaise added quietly.

"The girls will have slaves of their own later," Miss Britney returned.

"They're a long way from that. And Jack is definitely too young for that kind of talk."

"Grandpa," Jack promptly chirped in between, "Grandpa, what's a whore?"

"Men like Flynn." Jessy said emotionless. Something clanged loudly in the embarrassed silence.

"But-", Jack began confused, only to be interrupted by Miss Carolyn:

"That's enough! Dinner is over!" Her tone was like a whip lash and Dante involuntarily ducked his head, even Seth quirked an unhappy face. "Jessy, you go to your room until I talk to you! Alice and Britney, you're coming with me!" She wheezed. "Really, where are we?"

In the kitchen, TJ nudged Dante. "Do you know what that was about?"

"I have no idea," Dante returned with a shrug, in exchange for which Seth sighed.

"Miss Alice was inquiring what had been going on in her absence." Strangely awkward, he set a couple of plates down on the countertop. "I guess this was her way of bringing the subject to the table so blatantly it must be talked about."

"Yeah, but... why the whole point?", Dante wanted to know.

"She made her opinion known and... presumably this is her way of expressing support for Jessy." Seth grimaced and Dante raised an eyebrow.

"You mean because Miss Carolyn is finally talking to Jessy now?" Daniel asked, oddly skeptical, and Seth nodded.

"From behind through the chest to the knee... it doesn't get much more roundabout than that," TJ grumbled, shaking his head uncomprehendingly.

"I'm not a whore.", Flynn muttered defiantly from the background and when Dante turned to him, he got a venomous look.

"I guess you can't get out of that box," he said anyway, and Flynn pressed his lips together for a moment.

"Like you know what it's like to serve with full body commitment on a daily basis."

Oddly, that elicited a grin from Dante- he ignored Seth's admonishing look. "You're right, sugar blossom, I don't know. But if I'm honest, then I'd rather haul wood that weighs more than you than serve a mistress like yours." He sent a wink afterward. "And I still have my fun."

"That's enough, guys. You don't have to do a dance here like the ladies outside." Seth's tone brooked no argument. "Do your jobs."

~

"Hey, Sugar Blossom, send Dante up to see me!"

"Yes, Miss Alice."

Dante, already standing at the foot of the stairs, grinned and scurried back into the hallway and kitchen. It hadn't been his intention to give Flynn a new nickname, but it had only taken a few days before 'sugar blossom' had become cemented. Flynn hated him for it.

"Hey..." Flynn grumbled as he entered the kitchen. "Miss Alice sent for you."

Dante merely nodded at him and Seth, who had already pulled a funny face after Dante had unexpectedly reappeared, now looked almost annoyed.

"What are you doing here anyway, Flynn? Miss Britney wanted a bath."

"Miss Alice has-"

"Your own mistress always comes first," Dante lectured him in an overly friendly manner before Seth could.

"The bathtub fills up on its own, anyway."

"Don't even start with that," Seth began his lecturing after all, and Dante nodded eagerly.

"Listen to him, Sugar Blossom, a man like him has a lot of experience." For that he got a deadly glare from Flynn and an annoyed sigh from Seth, but Dante gave them both a cheerful smile and now really went to his mistress.

"Mistress, I- uh, mistress?" Her room was empty and dark to boot. Confused, he stepped back into the hallway.

"Frank, I beg you, your petulance only provokes it!" Mistress Alice's voice sounded through Frank's half-open door at that moment, and Dante knocked there half-heartedly before entering. Mistress Alice was dressed simple, yet noticeably better than usual; Frank, on the other hand, was standing next to his closet in sweatpants and a washed-out shirt, pouting, his curls still clinging damp to his forehead from his shower.
"Dante, do something," Mistress Alice demanded.

"Um, do what?"

She pointed at her brother. "He needs to put on something respectable. Otherwise, Ma's going to take it out on both of us."

"That's not fair!" Frank grumbled and Dante sighed.

"Nothing in life is fair."

"That's not helping!"

Dante shrugged. "What am I supposed to do? Dress him up like a doll?"

Frank grimaced even more and Mistress Alice growled wordlessly.

"He's a free man." Dante added with a clear look of what he thought of this illegal handling here and she glared angrily at him.

"Freedom is also a constraint, Dante. An invisible one, perhaps, but a constraint nonetheless. And in this case, Frank is compelled to follow social conventions."

"He isn't. He could give a damn and stay here in comfortable clothes."

"Well, then he's still forced to choose. Birthday party on the one hand, punishment on the other. Please, little brother, choose wisely." With an exaggerated bow, Mistress Alice turned to Frank, who made a face once more.

"You're mean."

"No, I'm not. You know perfectly well that Ma will be furious if you insist on staying here."

Dante smiled sympathetically and shrugged helplessly; Frank sighed.

"Plague and cholera- what a choice."

"At least you have a choice." Mistress Alice grumbled annoyed, giving Dante a quick glance.

"Come on, Frank, put on something nice. You congratulate politely and then stay inconspicuously in the background until it's polite to leave," Dante said gently and Frank sighed deeply. Dante expected some retort, but Frank merely sighed a second time and then gestured toward the closet.

"And what should I wear?" he asked sullenly.

Mistress Alice began to search through his things without hesitation, pulling out something here and there and finally shaking her head as she handed him something. "You need some new clothes badly."

"And a haircut." Dante interjected quietly and Frank sighed again.

"That means a trip to Townsend. Ew. I don't want to."

"That's enough!" Apparently, Mistress Alice's patience for her little brother was not infinite. "You're twenty-three, not three! Great Mother, I seriously wonder what Lucia sees in you..."

"Love you, too..." Frank returned, surprisingly dry.

Dante tried in vain to stifle a grin, and Mistress Alice sighed.

"Get dressed and then come downstairs. Dante, when our stubborn toddler is finished, go back to the kitchen."

"Yes, Mistress."

"My goodness, I look like Pa." Frank stared critically at his reflection.

Dante, leaning against the wardrobe, grinned. "Maybe it's working as a deterrent."

"Let's hope so..."

"You really don't like her, hmm?"

"No. How many times do you want me to repeat it?"

"Well, you could just kiss her back and then maybe you'll change your mind." At the strange look he got, Dante shrugged exaggeratedly slowly. "Just an idea..."

"I doubt it." Frank's look began to unsettle Dante, but that's when he turned back to the mirror and ran his fingers through his hair- in a gesture Dante had seen on Blaise many times before, and one that emphasized the striking resemblance between father and son.

"You shouldn't keep your sister waiting."

"No..." Frank sighed again and tugged at the hem of his sweater.

~

Mikey had complained earlier about how cold it was in the basement by now, and Dante had to agree with him; in fact, he was looking forward to wearing slippers in the near future. He shivered and cracked a smile as he passed the slave kitchen, where Dennis waved at him in greeting, a paring knife in his hand. The door to Blaise's office was open, so he knocked more as a courtesy before taking a step inside.

"Dante... ah, are those Seth's papers?" Blaise leaned back and smiled cheerfully.

"Yes. He asked me to remind you about the copies."

"Right, the copies..."

Dante handed him the papers Seth had shoved into his hand and wiggled his cold toes.

"I know, it's cold down here. But wait and see when the snow falls," Blaise muttered after a sideways glance, flipping through a stack of documents next to the printer. "I wish Ma would allow us to heat this area a little more than the bare minimum."

"Why do you call your wife Ma, anyway?", Dante wanted to know curiously.

Blaise laughed softly. "It kind of crept in after Britney was born." But then he paused and a subtle frown settled on his face. "You didn't grow up with your parents, did you?"

"No."

With a sympathetic nod, Blaise stood up and then held out papers to Dante. "Well, I hope you found a nice home here. Despite the little squabbles..."

Dante, receiving a companionable pat on the back, nodded silently and forced a smile. Even if his own father were like Blaise, there was nothing he could have done to prevent Dante from being given away; even a free man didn't have enough rights to object when the mother of his child decided something, and in Denser's Port, nearly all women looked down on free men.

"Dinner will be ready soon," he then said to somehow end the conversation, and Blaise nodded.

"Good, good..."

Dante nodded back and turned to leave. A few steps further, however, he was almost run over by Tom, who stepped out of the work slave pantry.

"Oops, sorry, I-"

"No harm done," Dante said hastily, moving on before Tom could say anything more. The teamwork had gone very quietly and professionally, but Dante could tell by Tom's face that he would have loved to talk to him.

"Hey... why don't you come down and join us later? I'm sure the others will want to see the match, but Blaise brought some new playing cards and Dennis would be happy to-"

"I'll think about it..." Dante gave back over his shoulder, shaking his head inwardly- there was a book in his possession waiting for him.

~

Dante rubbed his eyes and groped uncertainly for the right pan. To his surprise, it had been Seth and TJ who had dragged him downstairs to join the workers. Along with Dennis, Tom and later even Jim, they had played cards for far too long, and now Dante yawned unabashedly at the fridge, his dry lips and the corners of his mouth stretching.

"I'll bet the butter could just see all the way down into your stomach."

At Frank's sudden remark, he winced and turned around. "Morning, Fra-" Hissing, he sucked in the air and took a step toward Frank, whose lower lip was chapped and swollen. "Great Mother, what happened?" Uncertainly, he raised a hand, but then stood there foolishly while Frank went to the open fridge and took out the bowl of eggs.

"Chronologically or by priority?"

"... chronologically." Dante replied slowly. Even though he had been up late, Mistress Alice and Frank had come home even later.

Frank shrugged. "I was polite and tried to stay out of Lucia's way while staying close to Alice. Didn't really work. She tried to kiss me, I politely said no- she was offended and got into an argument with Alice. We then went home, but Lucia seriously called here and complained." He paused and touched his lip briefly.

"Does it hurt much?" Dante asked quietly, still caught off guard.

"It looks worse than it is. T'was Britney, by the way, trying to get me to understand that I'm supposed to be doing my duty." There was bitterness in Frank's voice which hurt Dante just from listening to it.

"Is there anything I can do?" The question sounded as helpless and powerless as Dante felt.

"Breakfast." Frank replied quietly, pulling up the non-swollen corner of his mouth. "Dinner at the Parkers' was horrible."

Dante forced a smile to his lips as well and got to work, but as he slowly stirred the sumptuous breakfast in the pan, Frank suddenly wrapped his arms around him from behind.

"I just don't want to kiss Lucia," he said in a strongly defensive tone. "And... I don't think I want to kiss any woman at all."

Dante felt Frank's fingers twitch nervously.

"Is that bad?"

"No. I think the only ones who'll have a problem with it are women like Britney or slaves like Sugar Blossom."

Frank didn't reply, but just snuggled closer to Dante for a moment, and only when Dante started to get uncomfortable did he murmur: "I'm glad you're here." Then he let go of Dante, grabbed his cup from the cupboard, and made himself coffee as if nothing had ever happened.

~

"What happened?" Tom also wanted to know as they trudged through the frosty morning.

"Was Britney," Frank grumbled. "She wants me to kiss Lucia."

As Tom gave him a quick questioning look, Dante grimaced in denial and shook his head.

"Kissing can be a very nice thing," Tom then said lightheartedly. "Really."

"Would you want to kiss Lucia?" asked Frank, still grumpy.

"No. But I generally don't like women very much." Tom hesitated for a moment. "You know, it's okay if you'd rather kiss a man."

"Hmm.", Frank made indecisive. "I still don't see what's so great about it."

"It'll come..." As Tom lovingly ruffled Frank's hair, Dante wondered why Frank was being so closed off to Tom. 'You're not honest with me, so I'm not honest with you.' wasn't a very good strategy in the long run, but he'd probably better explain that to him in private.

~

Two days later, Dante was somewhat surprised when Mistress Alice did not keep him in the house for the preparations for the Horners' visit, but put him and Frank in the car and drove them to Townsend. They spent a few hours in various clothing stores buying new clothes for Frank- which neither of them particularly enjoyed- and afterwards Mistress Alice pushed her brother- who protested vehemently- into a high-class hair salon. Dante felt rather out of place, but the two slaves who were looking after Frank until the Lady of the Trade had time chatted so light-heartedly that this soon subsided. In the end, Frank was actually happy- in Dante's opinion, the sides were far too short and the curls on the top of his head too long, but what did his opinion matter- and plucked a daring curl into his forehead.

"Where are we going now?" he wanted to know as they stepped onto the sidewalk.

Mistress Alice frowned thoughtfully, and when Dante followed her gaze, which fell on a cozy café, he shook his head weakly. She sighed. "Since I'm sure Ma won't like it if Dante stays away from the preparations altogether, we'll just go to the drugstore really quick and then head back home."

And so, a little later, Dante and Frank trotted through the store, which was completely overloaded with smells and flashing with unpleasant cleanliness. Mistress Alice had a basket on her arm and was taking a decidedly long time.

"Here, smell this."

Dante winced as she held a bottle under his nose; he'd been so focused on bodyguard mode that he'd paid too little attention to his mistress in person. "Smells like cotton candy." he said, rubbing his nose.

"Perfect."

"I thought you liked cherry more."

"Right, but this is for Jessy. Speaking of which... Frank, be a dear and get me another basket, will you?"

"Sure..." Frank disappeared between the shelves and Mistress Alice passed the basket, which was starting to get heavy, to Dante before tossing a few more things in. He stifled a remark that he still had plenty of shower jelly and such, but then raised an eyebrow when she tossed two packs of condoms into the basket.

"You don't spend that much time with Valentine..." he muttered to her.

"Who says they're for me?" she returned with a cheeky grin.

"Well, certainly not for Jessy."

"What about you?"

"I certainly don't need any either." And since he couldn't imagine her buying condoms for Miss Britney or her Ma, or that Miss Sarah had much need at the moment, he seriously wondered what she was up to with them, but he didn't inquire further, especially since they were out in public and Frank had returned with an empty basket.

"Do you need anything?" she wanted to know and Frank shook his head. "Fine..." Determined, she went on, tossing several lip balms into Dante's basket- and then clearing what must have been a dozen of them into Frank's basket.

"What are you going to do with all of them?" Frank asked dumbfounded, before Dante could.

"Isn't it obvious?" she asked back, moving one shelf ahead, where she determinedly tossed hand lotions and foot creams into the second basket.

"They are for the workers," Dante said with a questioning undertone, and she nodded, turning to him.

"You look terrible already, and winter is yet to come." Fleetingly, she touched his dry lips.

"You've never done this before." Frank seemed positively caught off guard and she gave him a smile.

"Things change, Frank."

"True enough, but..." He left the sentence unfinished and she gave him a gentle nudge.

"Come on, our boys deserve a little attention."

"That's right too..."

"Oh, Dante, before I forget, the green lipstick is for really bad times, the light blue is for daily care."

"Thank you, Mistress." he mumbled, a little embarrassed, and promptly licked his dry lips. Inwardly, he shook his head at himself- a few months ago, he would have laughed if someone had told him he would someday be excited about the prospect of slippers and lip balms.

~

"Good evening, Miss Horner." Bowing deeply, Dante made an inviting gesture.

"Maggie. I talked to your grandmother on the phone earlier, but tell me, is it really just a cold?" Miss Carolyn sounded genuinely concerned.

"Yes, just a cold, but at her age..." Maggie Horner had a thin voice which sounded as if it might fail at any moment. She was leaning on a cane as well as on her older brother, Matthew, but smiled brightly.

Matthew gave Dante a brief confused glance, but then stepped aside as Mistress Alice rushed over and grabbed Maggie's arm.

"Hello, Maggie!"

"Alice!"

Miss Carolyn smiled indulgently. "Charles, Robert..."

The two men- father and uncle to Maggie and Matthew- had already closed the door and nodded in unison. "Miss Mitchell."

"My, my... Carolyn is quite enough. How many times do I have to say this actually?"

Charles grinned. "Every time."

"I'm afraid so."

The seating arrangement surprised Dante, as did the somewhat odd greeting or the fact that there were merely four of the Horners. Miss Carolyn sat with Blaise, Robert, and Charles on one side of the table, the young adults on the other with the three children as if as a buffer between them; even their conversations had absolutely nothing to do with each other.

As Dante and Seth had served the light first course and Dante casually posted himself behind his mistress, Maggie said into a pause of conversation: "Anne's pregnant, by the way."

"Again?" Miss Britney asked with a roll of her eyes, and Maggie shrugged.

"She didn't tell me her reasons over the phone. But she's always wanted a big family."

"Cue big family..." Miss Sarah nudged Matthew, who was suddenly looking uncomfortable, with her elbow, "when are you going to find yourself a wife, Matty? Children don't fall from the sky."

"It's not that much of a hurry..." he muttered, blushing.

"You know I'm no help to you there." Maggie poked- intentionally or not- the same wound.

"What about Lucia?" interjected Miss Britney innocently. "After Frank repeatedly rejected her-"

"Lucia Parker is not coming into my house," Maggie retorted sharply, giving Frank a sympathetic smile. "The woman is a plague."

"I know." Those were the first words he said that evening, Dante noticed. Though he also noticed now how Matthew was squinting at Mistress Alice, who was pointing her fork at him at that moment.

"Sarah's right, you know. Your farm could do with a strong woman."

"Exactly, Matty. Isn't there one you like?" Miss Sarah nudged him again, decidedly good-humored.

He nudged back and smiled teasingly at her. "You're already taken."

"But not married," she returned, blushing.

He shook his head and then patted her belly with surprising affection. "This isn't a good idea and you know it."

"If Anne keeps this up, you might adopt one of her brats," Miss Britney butted in again.

"And if you keep it up, brother dear, you'll never have any children," Maggie remarked with a wistful sigh.

"I've got time."

"But the farm doesn't." Mistress Alice sad quietly, and he looked at her, perhaps for a moment too long, before lowering his eyes and blushing.

"I know."

"Okay, guys, give me a summary of everything I need to know about the Horners and the Stones," Dante said as he hurried into the kitchen a while later; all the gossip he'd had to listen to was still glowing in his ears.

Daniel and TJ raised their brows in equal surprise.

"Facts or gossip?", Daniel finally wanted to know.

"Both."

"The Horners are in financial trouble," Daniel began matter-of-factly, but TJ shook his head.

"Wrong end of the stick, Daniel. So... hard facts: Matthew has a crush on Miss Alice. Miss Sarah had a crush on Matthew in the past. Matthew used to date Anne Stone. Victor Stone is Miss Alice's ex-boyfriend. The Horners are having financial difficulties and Miss Britney is eager for the day when the Mitchells can take in the Horners as tenants- the Stones are also interested but do not have as great financial resources. Gossip: Anne had her eye on the farm after Melanie's death and Maggie's diagnosis, and was only with Matthew because of it. Depending on who you ask, she left him for one of the following reasons: he's impotent. He actually had it in for Victor. She and Victor are in an incestuous relationship. He just wanted her money."

"TJ, that's enough!" Daniel interrupted him angrily.

"Why? Dante asked."

Dante was actually a little overwhelmed with the amount of sudden information. "Who's Melanie?"

"The middle Horner child. She died of leukemia when she was a teenager," Daniel replied. "Anne Stone is talked about a lot, by the way, because-"

"Because the Stones are just weird," TJ interjected. "The Washingtons only have sons, the Horners are just unlucky, and the Stones are weird."

Daniel sighed in annoyance. "TJ... What I was going to say: Anne's oldest child Sophie is severely handicapped, both mentally and physically, and of course that just gave a lot of fuel to the incest rumors."

Dante nodded. "Forgive me for saying so, but Sarah and Matthew still seem very close." To his surprise, it was Seth, laden with plates, who suddenly appeared next to Dante, who replied:

"They were thick as thieves as kids, and it hit Miss Sarah hard when he chose Anne. But she got over it. Now, enough gossip, clear the table."

"Sure..."

With a little more background knowledge, certain things were suddenly obvious, Dante thought, slightly amused.

Matthew and Miss Sarah would have made a cute couple, but his eyes kept wandering to Mistress Alice, who took no notice and instead talked a lot to Maggie. It was she who later helped Maggie to the car and still later stood in her room with a satisfied smile, undressing just as Dante entered the room after a rather perfunctory tidying.

"What do you think of the Horners?" she wanted to know straight out, slipping into her pajama top and turning around.

He shrugged. "Seems like a troubled family to me."

Her smile faded. "I guess that's true. Cara was Ma's best friend until she... well, they say she killed herself because of postnatal depression, but that's not talked about. Just like Melanie or Maggie's mysterious illness isn't talked about." She sighed and he began unbuttoning his jacket. "Frank should have gone to them as an education slave," she then said quietly. "But that was the plan before certain disasters..."

That's how quickly the mood can tip, Dante thought guiltily. "I'm sure he and Matthew would have gotten along just fine." From what he'd overheard, Matthew was in charge of a lot of technical repairs around here and had dropped a comment or two about Frank's work.

"They do just fine, but Matthew is... a little overwhelmed with Frank, I think, besides all the concern for Maggie. Like most, he underestimates him."

"That's pretty easy to do," Dante pointed out, and Mistress Alice sighed.

"I know... Well, whatever. Good night, Dante."

"Good night, Mistress." She switched off her bedside lamp and in the dark Dante went to the bathroom, thinking with a strange feeling in his stomach that Mistress Alice again had seemed like she could have used a comforting hug.