"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"
She had borrowed the white dress from Miriam. Innocence. A white ribbon in her hair, too. White gloves, white stockings peeping under the girlishly short dress. Only her black Mary-Jane shoes and her black plaited hair, spoiled the snowy vision as she walked, head bowed, with Miss Hardy, into the Newspaper Office that sunny Thursday morning. She had borrowed a white lily from Mr Jolly's, too, and that she held in clasped hands.
As per usual Arabella had managed to turn a simple transaction, an apology, into an over-the-top dramatic performance.
They entered and Arabella's eyes perceived the unsuspecting Mr McVay in his usual place, she quickly turned them back down to the floor. With bowed head she piped up in a trembling voice: "Mister McVay, Sir, I...." she suddenly started to wail "Oh! You tell him please, Miss Hardy! I can't bear to!! I'm so ashamed!!" and with that she turned on the tears, easy as twiddling a tap for this girl, and threw to ball into Miss Hardy's hands.
This wasn't about apologising to Phin, this was about being seen to apologise to him by Miss Hardy, otherwise she would lose her job!
"Every town needs a newspaper."
With bowed head she piped up in a trembling voice: "Mister McVay, Sir, I...." she suddenly started to wail "Oh! You tell him please, Miss Hardy! I can't bear to!! I'm so ashamed!!"
Phin turned in his chair prepared for the worst at the sound of Arabella Mudd's voice. Seeing her, and the manner in which she was dressed, looking most contrite, he began to worry as to the reason for this visit. And in the company of Miss Evelyn Hardy, Owner and Leading Actress of the Excelsior Theater Company, this looked a bit of the usual from the girl.
"Yes ladies, may I be of service?" He asked, eyes fixed on the Lilly, whatever this might be, it certainly was not how it started out. "Miss Hardy, Arabella." Mentally trying to decipher the meaning of the dress, ribbon, and flower. What was Arabella Mudd up to? It had to be something of great importance to her to go to such lengths, or perhaps not, perhaps it was something simple grown to the extreme. "Tell me what, exactly?"
JulieS, Javia
Eve looked up and rolled her eyes. Another performance but at least Arabella had taken her advice to apologise to Mister McVay. Arabella's dramatics was a sure sign that the girl had no real intentions of apologising but if she did enough to appease the editor, then Eve would be content with that.
Schooling her own features, she smiled at the editor. "Good morning, Mister McVay. I've asked Arabella to come here today to say sorry and to repeal certain things she has said to you."
She nudged Arabella, "Well, go on. No use wasting a per...er opportunity like this now that you have come this far."
"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"
Schooling her own features, she smiled at the editor. "Good morning, Mister McVay. I've asked Arabella to come here today to say sorry and to repeal certain things she has said to you."
She nudged Arabella, "Well, go on. No use wasting a per...er opportunity like this now that you have come this far."
Arabella nodded forlornly and shuffled forward, head still bowed low. She put her lily prop gently on the table and moving around the editor's desk, suddenly threw herself on her knees and grabbed Phin's hand before looking up at him with glittering blue tear-stained eyes.
"Oh Mister McVay, can you ever forgive me for the foolish follies of my youth?!" she cried histrionically "I onct did you a terrible wrong and I am here this morning to right that wrong! Although it is true that you did print a whole bunch of lies about me, I should never have stooped so low as to threaten to tell folks that you tried to touch my lady-bumps, especially as you never did try to cop a feel of them, probably through lack of opportunity, who knows? But either way, I should never have stooped so low, and for what? WHAT?! A mere retraction of all those terrible lies that you printed, saying I was a terrible bridesmaid, which I wasn't and just ask Clara Lutz if you don't believe me." she shook her head a little, where was she? Oh yeah...
"Oh, Mister McVay, noble McVay! Magnanimous McVay! Please tell this poor penitent wretch what she must do to earn your forgiveness and friendship... and perhaps get some good reviews of our plays in The Union?"
She herself was pretty proud of that speech, but Miss Hardy definitely needed to work with her on some of her diction. 'Onct' indeed!
Arabella then tried to smother the newspaperman's hand with grovelling, slobbery kisses while all the time hoping that the knees of her one good pair of white stockings weren't getting too grubby on his newsroom floor.
"Every town needs a newspaper."
"Arabella Mudd, I have no idea as to what you are talking about. And please young lady, get up, and stop slobbering all over my hand." Phin stated, Put off by her over-dramatic display.
"Now! I do not recall what the actual need for the retraction was at the time, other than to stop you from hounding me about the Lutz wedding, and your atrocious behavior, which I may well have overstated. But, that was some time back, and no longer a bone of contention. What is done is done. I cannot retract a retraction, and if I could, I wouldn't, certainly not at this late date. You seem to be the only one bothered by it."
"Miss Hardy, I'm terribly sorry about all of this with Miss Mudd here. I'm sure you have heard many flights of fantasy from Miss Mudd, some actually based on fact however exaggerated they may be. She has the talent, misused as it is, to be a fine stage actress if only she could separate fact from fantasy." He paused looking at the girl, black ink stains on the knees of the white dress from the everpresent ink dust on the floor. He fished out some change, "About that dress, Arabella, I doubt it is yours, but in any case, here is five dollars to replace it, though I take no responsibility for the damage." Producing the gold coin, and extending it toward her.
This was turning into quite the morning, first the ladies, then the Mayor and the new judge, and now Miss Hardy and the irrepressible Arabella Mudd. Only the beauty of Miss Evelyn 'Eve' Hardy had brightened a flabergasting morning! "It is my hope that there is some resolution to whatever it was that brought you here, and you Miss Hardy, it has been a pleasure to see you again."
As Eve listened to Arabella's long-winded apology and McVay's response to it, she couldn't help but wonder if the young girl could put in all this energy into her performances, she might become a success.
"Miss Hardy, I'm terribly sorry about all of this with Miss Mudd here. I'm sure you have heard many flights of fantasy from Miss Mudd, some actually based on fact however exaggerated they may be. She has the talent, misused as it is, to be a fine stage actress if only she could separate fact from fantasy."
She had to agree with McVay's assessment of the situation. Even if Arabella had been exaggerating, it was still good practice for the girl to learn to eat crow. There was no doubt Arabella would probably have to do it at least a few more times in the future given her strong will.
"It is my hope that there is some resolution to whatever it was that brought you here, and you Miss Hardy, it has been a pleasure to see you again."
"The same here, Mister McVay," Eve answered, "As for a resolution, I believe there has been substantial progress in that direction."
She opened her reticule and pulled out two tickets. Handing them over to McVay, she smiled, "Please take these with my compliments. I do hope that you will be able to come to our next performance."
@[Flip] Javia
"Every town needs a newspaper."
"Why thank you, Miss Hardy, most generous of you. I will make it a point to attend." Phin replied appreciatively of the tickets. "Having some real entertainment, aside from what is offered at the Stardust, and Miss Mundee singing. I'm sure that Miss Mudd here can certainly attest to the woman's voice." Then he paused a moment with a smile.
"Arabella, Miss Mudd, If I remember correctly I printed a retraction about that article concerning you, and the Lutz wedding. I find it odd that you would be delving into the past about that, hopefully, my offer of assistance for the home for women that you had attempted to start will not be treated in the same manner. I do sincerely wish you all the best in this endeavor with the theater." Phin actually liked the young woman and her ingenuity. She just had this problem of stretching the truth, and sometimes making something out of nothing.
"And Miss Monahan and Miss Kaufman, I've not seen either of late, how are they?" He asked.
Javia JulieS
"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"
"Having some real entertainment, aside from what is offered at the Stardust, and Miss Mundee singing. I'm sure that Miss Mudd here can certainly attest to the woman's voice."
"Well, sure, but she can't help it, you wanna try singing above all that noise, it's bound to get a little shouty." Arabella defended her friend, although Mr McVay had surely meant the comment as a compliment. "Believe you me, Miss Hardy, I never used the pedals in that place." she told her boss.
"Arabella, Miss Mudd, If I remember correctly I printed a retraction about that article concerning you, and the Lutz wedding. I find it odd that you would be delving into the past about that, hopefully, my offer of assistance for the home for women that you had attempted to start will not be treated in the same manner. I do sincerely wish you all the best in this endeavor with the theater."
"Yeah, I think Miss Hardy's just getting her knickers in a twist about nothing, really. You're a little highly strung like that, aren't you Miss Hardy?" Arabella asked her cheerfully.
"And Miss Monahan and Miss Kaufman, I've not seen either of late, how are they?" He asked.
"Oh Bridget's bein' held prisoner by the Wentworths, I reckon they've got her locked in their attic and tied up in a straightjacket or something. Brendan, er, Mister Connolly's going to try and rescue her, if he can, but let's just hope he actually marries her this time, huh? Oh, and Dolly, er, Miss Kaufman's, just fine: she's been taking in all the costumes that Miss Shaw left behind when she ran off with that cowpoke, see, cause I'm so flat-chested..." she stuck out her lack of assets by way of illustration "... and that Beatrice had a bad case of the pneumatics, didn't she Miss Hardy?."
@[JulieS]
"Every town needs a newspaper."
"Yeah, I think Miss Hardy's just getting her knickers in a twist about nothing, really. You're a little highly strung like that, aren't you Miss Hardy?" Arabella asked her cheerfully.
"And Miss Monahan and Miss Kaufman, I've not seen either of late, how are they?" He asked.
"Oh Bridget's bein' held prisoner by the Wentworths, I reckon they've got her locked in their attic and tied up in a straightjacket or something. Brendan, er, Mister Connolly's going to try and rescue her, if he can, but let's just hope he actually marries her this time, huh? Oh, and Dolly, er, Miss Kaufman's, just fine: she's been taking in all the costumes that Miss Shaw left behind when she ran off with that cowpoke, see, cause I'm so flat-chested..." she stuck out her lack of assets by way of illustration "... and that Beatrice had a bad case of the pneumatics, didn't she Miss Hardy?."
Phin struggled to keep from laughing as Miss Mudd went on in great detail answering his questions and beyond. The part about Brendon Connolly rescuing Bridget Monahan was distressing, the boy could find himself in real trouble. It was the age-old problem of how was he going to support her. Brendan had had a number of jobs, that was for sure, and how long he'd be at Kaufman's butcher shop? Not that he particularly cared what the young fellow did. It was dizzying trying to keep up with Arabella Mudd's tales of woe.
JulieS @Javia
"That's one way of putting it," Eve replied, "However, this is not the time or place to be discussing Miss Shaw's or your attributes."
Eve didn't care one way or another what Arabella was going on about where this Connolly fellow was concerned. What matter was the way Arabella was being seen as. If they wanted to sell tickets to the well-heeled part of town, then something would have to change. She wanted Phinn and others to think of the young girl in a positive way and not as a laughingstock or even worse as a whore.
Turning to Phinn, she said graciously, "Please forgive my young friend for being so forward in this regard. She still has a lot to learn."
@[Javia] Flip