Midnight in Everwood(9)
‘Oh, how utterly delightful!’ she said, charmed yet bewildered.
Drosselmeier inclined his head with a small smile. ‘Consider it a small gift.’ He presented it to her.
Ida’s smile cut wider.
Marietta turned the glass swan in the candlelight, admiring its delicacy. ‘You flatter me, Dr Drosselmeier. I do possess an avid appreciation for swans; they are just the most exquisite creatures. Rarely do we witness such refined elegance in nature. I’m most delighted with your gift.’ She wondered if she’d been dreaming when she’d seen the vision. It was warm in the dining room and the windows had clouded with steam.
‘You are most welcome,’ Drosselmeier said softly. ‘Swans make for a beautiful model, though you must know they are as vicious as they are elegant. Nature is a cruel mistress and often brutal.’
Marietta looked up, curious at his words. ‘I fear it is all too common that beauty is laced with a darker edge,’ she said, and Drosselmeier’s eyes locked onto hers, darkening with intrigue. She sensed that he was a kindred spirit, governed by an alternate set of laws to the majority of their class. ‘Perhaps it is our own misunderstanding of nature that leads to us finding it cruel and brutal. For the swans, it is simply life,’ she finished.
Frederick plucked the glass swan from her hand and examined it, turning it this way and that. ‘Its design is marvellous, almost reminiscent of Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne through the stretch of the swan’s neck and the fluidity that’s evoked, though instead of transmuting stone to silk, you’ve played with the effect of light by using glass as your medium.’
Marietta nudged Frederick’s foot beneath the table. He gathered his senses, replaced the swan before her and cleared his throat.
As the soup course was taken away, replaced with the fish course and fresh glasses of white wine that Jarvis had pre-selected and run by Theodore for his approval, Marietta found her attention flit back to Drosselmeier, between the efficient bustling of the footmen serving their dinner à la Russe. The ivory candle shades illuminated his silvered hair and shadows skittered across his classic features as the footmen filtered back to their stations.
‘Your son is extremely cultured,’ he commented to Theodore, whose expression turned rigid.
‘Where did you reside before your arrival in Nottingham?’ Marietta asked before her father could respond.
‘After I had made the decision to depart London, I embarked on a pilgrimage to study my craft.’
Marietta paused in selecting the proper silverware. ‘Would you care to tell us more? If I didn’t know better, Dr Drosselmeier, I would say you were being evasive.’ Her smile was teasing.
Ida sighed. ‘Marietta dear, would you kindly desist in interrogating the poor doctor.’
Theodore swilled his wine, unable to quash his spark of interest; Marietta suspected he was every bit as curious as she.
‘That’s quite all right. I am afraid I have been caught; I was being vague,’ Drosselmeier said. He raised his eyebrows at Marietta’s poorly concealed amusement at the fact. ‘As much as it pains me, I cannot share the whereabouts; it’s a trade secret and one that I am compelled to guard closely.’
‘How intriguing.’ Frederick grinned. ‘There’s nothing like a few choice secrets to retain an air of mystery.’
Drosselmeier’s eyes didn’t leave Marietta. ‘Though I am at liberty to entertain you with the wonders I have witnessed in my travels. Of sitting atop a pyramid, witnessing an apricot and honey sunrise flooding the desert. Of ancient sea-battered ruins and cities buried deep within jungles. Of the icy wasteland of the vast northern tundra, where reindeer roam, the moon shivers and the Northern Lights enchant the skies.’
Marietta felt the stirrings of envy. It seemed having Drosselmeier as a regular guest would prove interesting indeed.
‘It appears you are a well-travelled man—’ Theodore cleared his throat ‘—though I am not so unworldly myself. You must join me for cigars after dinner and we shall exchange stories. I purchase only the finest; I share a supplier with King Edward, I’ll have you know,’ he added in an aside.
With the entrée of vol-au-vents came more champagne. Marietta declined both, listening to her father conduct the conversation as if they comprised an orchestra.
‘I was remiss not to mention earlier what a fine cabinet I spotted in your drawing room,’ Drosselmeier said as the remove was served. Pie in a burgundy sauce, potatoes sliced fine enough to render them translucent and a heap of fresh vegetables. Marietta cut dainty mouthfuls, stifled between the heavy richness of dinner and the unrelenting heat emanating from the flickering wicks.
Ida bestowed a beatific smile upon him. ‘You are far too generous with your compliments, Dr Drosselmeier.’
‘Perhaps you might allow me to craft you an addition for it?’
‘Why, I couldn’t possibly accept—’ Ida began.
‘It would be my pleasure,’ Dr Drosselmeier said.
Ida’s smile was laced with greed. ‘Well, if you insist then we would be most appreciative. Your inventions are simply marvellous; I have never seen anything quite like them before.’
Marietta had no doubt that shortly everyone would be clamouring for a Drosselmeier creation. A nugget of magic in their own homes, an enchantment to kindle their imaginations, warm them with nostalgic thoughts of days long past, of fairy tales and toys and playtime come to life. The man himself was charming, too, and Marietta was pleased to find that she had enjoyed his company. It had been some time since the Stelles had had a dinner guest she had not found insufferable and, what was more, she was not the only member of the Stelle family enamoured with the stories he had spun.