Sitting in the Palace

[Valencia Wilde]

Valencia liked the Lady Morgana, if only because it was a rather good way for her to see who was wearing what and what was in and what was out. She may have been thirty-three, but she always strove to look her very best, because if she was going to be a trophy wife she was going to be a damn good one.

The only thing she didn't like about the Lady Morgana?

When things slipped from talk of gossip or events to talk of their children.

Because quite frankly, Val did not like to talk about children. She only barely cared about her own, in a sort of distant fondness, she could not be bothered to give a damn about other people's. But now the women at her table were talking about their darlings and Valencia had to smile serenely and try to come up with something about one of them.

"Dear Horatio will be a Slytherin, I expect," she said, even though she honestly had no idea. Merlin, she almost wished hearing about the Isla Black-Hitchens scandal 24/7, when she compared it to this!

outfit

  

[Katherina Selwyn]

Katherina had gone to Lady Morgana’s with her eldest, so she wasn’t surprised when she ended up with a group of rather younger women. There was Mrs. Purebloodsurname, who Katherina was quite sure that was in her late forties, but she was still the oldest in their group. That was not to say that she minded the company of the younger ladies, of course. Katherina hardly considered herself ancient (even if her mind was different from those of the younger women) and she was good in almost all social situations, so she could handle being with women old enough to be her daughters with grace.

“Oh Merlin, you all make me feel so nostalgic with this talk!” Katherina commented after a while of hearing the ladies talk about their children and their potential Hogwarts houses. She had never been particularly excited about that when her children had gone to Hogwarts for their first year, though she did feel more pleased when she heard that they were Ravenclaws rather than Slytherins. The latter always seemed to be the ones she had more trouble with, even if compared with Noelle, she and Michelle were rather close.

“All I have to anticipate about is my grandchildren's’ houses!” she continued. “Which, I must admit, thrill me much more than my childrens’ ever did.”

  

[Valencia Wilde]

Val was quite interested to see what Katherina Selwyn had to say. Mrs. Selwyn had been a Lestrange before her marriage and while the Scrimgeours were fairly respectable (certainly moreso than anyone who let their children marry muggleborns, like the Prewetts!) no one had ever approached the Lestranges in terms of power.

Mrs. Selwyn was certainly a good one, too; all of her daughters had made excellent marriages and Val had never heard even a whisper of scandal against her son. Excellent all around. Certainly she was the sort of woman who would have something intelligent to say instead of waxing poetic about how Jane Whoever-Cared had gotten an O in her first year Transfiguration exams.

"Not to get us off topic - but did I ever get the chance to wish you congratulations on the wedding of your youngest?" Valencia asked with a slight smile, determined to get that little compliment in there, "Why do you think you're better pleased with the houses of your grandchildren?

  

[Katherina Selwyn]

Katherine just smiled and nodded as a response to Mrs. Wilde’s comment. Noelle’s marriage had been a respectable one, even if her youngest was so against marrying a second son. Mr. Macmillan would probably not inherit as much as his older brother, but he’d surely raise up enough in the Ministry to make a fortune on his own. Lucius was also a second son, but currently, he was one of the most influential men of wizarding Britain!

“While I do love all of my children dearly, I must admit that my grandchildren always had a softer spot in my heart.” Katherina replied. She was rejoiced when Michelle had given her her first grandchild and even if Katherina had her favourites amongst her children, she loved all of her grandchildren equally. “I can assure you that you will remember me when you have your own!”

Mrs. Wilde was still a rather young woman, but her eldest daughter would be old enough to marry and have children before her mother reached her forties.

  

[Valencia Wilde]

"I am certain that I will!" Val said with a little smile, "Goodness, I expect that Philippa - my elder daughter - may very well present a grandchild before we reach 1890! That's odd to think about."

It was - it made Val feel a bit old, which was not a feeling she necessarily appreciated. At least she had managed to hold on to her beauty so far; someone would still want her.

It would probably be Etta. Etta could always be trusted for such things, and after years of intimacy Val did not think that her sister-in-law was going to abandon her any time soon.