La Vie Boheme

Not a bad day, considering

Not a bad day, considering I spent most of the afternoon working on a paper. Taking the rest of the night off, maybe to read some of my OTHER homework, feh. Here's an excerpt from yesterday and today. All the references to Alan are new today, since he just showed up. The rest of the scene was written yesterday.

Catriona curtseyed mechanically, and fled past any other would-be partners, stepping into the gallery for a bit of clearer air. Chilly night air called to her from a nearby window and she went to it, letting the breeze cool her burning cheeks and lift away the candle smoke that seemed to hang about her like a pall. Perhaps she did not need to remain a spinster after all. There seemed little doubt that Alan planned to broach the topic of marriage with her tomorrow; she doubted he'd flirt so much if he were only seeking occasional grazing rights for his sheep. Leaning out the open window, Catriona tried to decide how she felt about marrying a man who was not only handsome, but from a family much older and more prominent than her own. For all of the stories of drunken brawling after the death of his first wife, Anne, he seemed to live quite respectably, and yet… Catriona frowned to herself, unable to label the reason for her unease.

As she stood there musing, she heard a series of sharp cries from the woods at the edge of her lands. Despite the darkness, they sounded like nothing so much as a huntsman's cry, urging on his pack of hounds. The howl that answered the cries raised the hair on her arms, for it was a sound unlike any she had ever heard before. Once the howls died away, she heard a pulsing, pounding sound; at first she thought it might be her own heartbeat, but it was too distant, too distinct from herself. The drumbeat was too wild to come from within her walls, and it frightened her even as it called her feet to dance.