Heather’s third letter to Arley, written during the Youth Green Moon, in which a new way to have dinner, albeit in the ancien régime style, is described and interrupted by two visitors.
Dear
brother,
Not
much has been happening here. It hasn’t even began to defrost. I still have
company. And now have dinner with silver candelabra. You see, when I told the
fox fairy he could stay, I didn’t just let him hang around. I fed him too. A
bit of dinner the first night, and then a midnight snack, and in the morning my
modest breakfast and at noon lunch and when I offered him afternoon tea, he
insisted he would take care of dinner.
So
when the clock struck eight, four wooden automatons in garnate and gold livery
appeared in my dainty dining room and two laid a tablecloth of the finest lace,
as fine as that around Beaurenard’s throat, and put some wild violets I had
gathered in a silver and green onyx bowl
they brought with them and produced blindingly shiny silver dishes and cutlery
and two four-stick each candelabra. One wooden man produced food out of a magic
hamper, a fancy pumpkin soup and then a tray of faux seafood and next a whole faux turkey,
much stuffed with nuts and dry fruit.
The
fox ate a little of all that, as if none of it mattered. I must say I have
never seen anyone peel and handle seafood more neatly than Beaurenard. Mine was
prepared for me by one of the wooden servants, for we each have one of these
standing next to our seats, serving us very attentively throughout dinner.
While the third watched, ready to produce dessert, the fourth wooden man played
the violin. Frankly, it makes me a little nervous to eat with a side show, even
of soft music. It even did back at Mum and Dad’s palace during formal dinners.
But that is how I eat every night now, since Beau always does the dinners. And
I have to dress for dinner, because it wouldn’t look right otherwise. And I am
thinking of refurnishing and ordering a finer dining table and chairs, because
my sweet little country-style set is rather humble for all this magnificence.
Though
at least three desserts are served every night, the fox always has green
grapes. I tried one, and I can’t see how he can actually eat them, they are so
unripe. I had to ask him why he eats them.
“Don’t
those upset your stomach? They are too green to eat. Do you need to prove you
can?”
The
fox fairy laughed.
“I’m
not the kind that needs to prove anything. I know how to accept defeat,” he
said. “I just want to remind myself that even victory can be sour…or bitter.”
We’ve had two visitors who have shown up during these dinners. Guess who one was? None other than Betabel, come to ask me for the recipe for the chocolate icing I glaced a chocolate cake Alpin once devoured with. She would not sit and dine with us, showing herself to be so shy I don’t know how she could make herself come to us, but I got up and made a copy of the recipe for her. She scampered off the minute I gave it to her, murmuring thank yous, and would not let Beau or his automatons see her home.
The other visitor was Radley, the Flynn brother
you are supposed to be acquainted with. This one did sit with us and have some
dinner. To my surprise, Radley is a hare fairy. I suppose that if the Flynns,
who are supposed to be all fox fairies, can have a hare fairy living peacefully
among them, that indeed is a good reference, just as Beaurenard thought it
might be. But then, as if he knew what I was thinking, Beau said that Brother Radley
was the shrewdest member of his family.
Well,
that has yet to be proved.
´Bye
for now, dearest Arley, says Heather.
P.S.
I attach the recipe for the cocoa icing. Camelia once asked me for it too.
Please see to it she receives it.
Cocoa Icing
Two and one half cups confectioner’s sugar.
One half cup cocoa.
One half cup soft butter.
Three or four tablespoons of milk, depending
on how the blending goes.
Sift the sugar, then sift again, this time with the cocoa. Add
the butter and then the milk and stir away until properly blended.
Enjoy, with chocolate cake or just by the sinful spoonful.
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