Winnie sat on a bench that sat among a lovely bit of the park. Although the temperature had not yet dropped low enough for her to see her breath in the air, the old woman still wore one of her thicker shawls for the outing that day. It wouldn’t do to get a chill. As she waited for Lady Kane, she would watch all the young people walking by, making note at what appeared to be fashionable that season and smiling at any of the young couples that strolled past her.

Whenever the other woman arrived at their agreed upon location, Winifred would rise from her chair and curtsy, “Lady Kane,” said the old woman, “Very good to see you. I understand that you have been traveling about these past few weeks? I trust that all your travels were quite safe.”

Helena wasn't terribly well frequented with Winifred. What she did know was that the two were close to one another in age, and that was something increasingly difficult to come across these days.

She would manage as much of a smile as Helena ever wore. "Baroness, a pleasure as always." 

"Yes. I've been coming, and going to my own lands." The elder explained. The Kane lands were two to three days away. Just making the journey was something which could easily take up the best part of a week. It would take either a fool, or an incredibly large force to risk threatening gifteds in the Kane lands whilst they were under the old family's protection. Helena was the cautious sort however, and she wasn't all that inclined to broadcast the fact that they were there to the whole world.

The elder took a moment just to look around, and take in the scenery. "I'm here now though, and I do intend to settle a few matters in the capital." 

Winifred like most elderly ladies loved gossip. It was one of the few pleasures of life she could still engage in. She was pleased that the rumors of the Elder Lady Kane was not hearsay, “I assume that everything is running smoothly back home?” She asked conversationally, “As you may have heard, Loren has been filled with danger and intrigue these past few months.”

“Are one of he matters you wish to settle the reason you’ve asked me to meet you here, my lady?”

Helena wasn't as plugged into much of the gossip channels as might have been common within the capital. What she did hear was almost inevitably from Kane sources. Those usually had a condescending vision of what was going on outside of their own lands. "Yes. Much of it brought on itself, it has to be said..." The elder couldn't help but mutter through clenched teeth. A sizeable amount of Lorendale's trouble could easily have been avoided in the Kane woman's mind.

When it came to the subject of what had brought her here, Helena would glance around, as if to ensure that they were indeed alone, before she continued. "It has to do with Scout Kane : my granddaughter. Are you familiar with her?" Helena couldn't imagine that Winifed wouldn't have heard of the young woman, but felt it cautious to ask all the same.

Helena seemed to be a woman that did not tolerate nonsense, and Winnie liked her the better for it. She’d met too many people of late that seemed content to let the state of things burn unattended. She remembered a time when things seemed to be taken care of faster, bad things less tolerated.

But then the topic of their meeting was at hand, and Winnie was only too happy to discuss, “I am quite familiar with your granddaughter,” she smiled, “She came to see me just the other day, in fact. Such a fine young lady.”

The Kanes were a household who usually found their own partners. They weren't quite as constrained by family traditions as some of the other nobles. So long as any partners could, and would fight, they would make good partners. 

"Ah... I see." Helena's most recent discussions with her granddaughter came back to her. "She seems to have been a bit ahead of me then." For once, Helena wasn't bitter or upset about it. Instead, she was actually rather proud. It showed some of the initiative, and forethought about such matters which Tybalt had always been lacking. "I assume she came to see you about business, then?" By "business", Helena of course meant that of suitors and eventual matrimony. 

Winifred noted that the other elder seemed slightly surprised at her granddaughter’s visit to her. Had Lady Kane not told the elder Lady Kane that she’d seen a matchmaker? Marriage as far as the nobility in Loren went was usually a family affair. Had she meant to keep it a secret, or had she simply not told her yet? Winifred supposed it was none of her business, but there was no harm in wondering.

“Indeed she has come to discuss business with me,” Winifred took out a small notebook from her pocket and started to flip through the pages, searching for the notes she’d taken during her meeting with the younger Lady Kane, “And I have two men in mind that I believe would suit her should she wish to proceed with either of them. Can I assume, Lady Kane, that you wish to hear of them?”

Scout had mentioned her intention to go to a matchmaker, but had spoken of it in such a way that the elder had assumed that it was a somewhat more abstract idea, than something concrete she had actually planned out, and acted on. Helena found herself to be oddly proud of her granddaughter. It was certainly more than her uncle Tybalt had ever done... "I suppose that I still need to get used to the fact that she isn't a child anymore." The elder mused. The woman was out doing, and planning her own things now, without a family member to hold her hand.

At the mention of the promise of some names, Helena's ears perked up. It was why she had come here of course. "Naturally." There was a smile on the woman's face as she made the request. She was curious. Scout, should have been relatively easy to find a partner for, at least on paper. She had power, a title, wasn't unattractive or old, her family was one of the oldest and more powerful ones within Lorendale... Her grandmother had good hopes for this endeavor.

“I can relate, my lady,” Winifred thought of her grandchildren, “sometimes it amazes me that I have a child that is old enough to have children that are in their twenties,” time truly flew by too quickly. She remembered giving birth to each of their children, and was often shocked when she was reminded how long ago those days were.

Winifred was more than pleased to comply. It wasn’t uncommon for elder family members to take a special interest in their younger relative’s love lives, and they often had insight that proved useful to the matchmaker, “I presented her with three, but she rejected one—a Count Quinton Featherton, due to him being good friends with a man who is anti-gifted, and was concerned that his values would sway in the same direction,” ah, she found the page with the other two men, “The other two men I do believe she would be very agreeable to. The first is Count October Montgomery. He is a royal guard and from a very respectable family, and he also seems to be a good sort of boy,” Winnie often lamented that none of her daughters were still single, or that her eldest granddaughter was not yet old enough to marry, “The other she was not sure of given a shaky history. Are you familiar with Remiel Allemeade, Lady Kane?”

Time passing by quickly seemed to be a uniting quality among the elderly. There wasn't a person over the age of forty whom Helena spoke with who didn't complain about how the days were flying by, and they were unable to account for just where it was that the time was going. The elder smiled softly at the thought. She didn't mind the passage of time, so much as the effects that it had on her body. She could do with her joints being a bit more compliant than they were. 

The mention of Quinton Featherton caused Helena's brow to furrow. "Yes, I have heard of his supposed views..." Given her school, the elder made a point of trying to keep track of those whose politics, and opinions might prove to be dangerous where they were concerned. "Perhaps you know more about him than I do, but do you think that he would feel comfortable in a family such as ours?" The Kanes tended to edge towards sympathy towards the gifted. They didn't make much of a secret out of it, to have someone the other way inclined join their family would surely only lead to conflict and strife. 

October Montgomery would be met with more approval. "Yes, I've heard of him. My son speaks very favorably of him." Of course, he was a soldier. That was always a definite plus for the Kanes. Then came the mention of Remiel. "Yes. I haven't met him in person yet, but I know of him." Again, thank Tybalt for that.

“Lord Featherton…” Winnie paused, trying to think of the right words to say, “He seems a decent and charming fellow and is very good looking. He is from a good family, although not the most prestigious family. Even so, they were very respectable when they were living and Lord Featherton appears to uphold that reputation in all his actions,” Winnie certainly would not suggest him as a match for anyone if she thought he was a bad sort. That would be bad all around, not to mention her own reputation as a business woman, “As for getting on with your family…I am not sure now. I confess, my sources did not inform me that he was associated with any anti-gifted families. As far as I knew, his family had gifted on staff and treated them very well.”

“Your son is correct, Lord Montgomery is a very respectable man, my lady,” she thought back on her conversation with the other man, “And Lord Allemeade seems to be a very respectable sort, too. He is oriented toward family and his duties. What more could you want from a man in this day and age?” Indeed, there seemed to be a rather large influx of dalliances of late.

The elder would hum at the prospect of Lord Featherton. If she'd heard some rumors, then others would have as well. Did they want to mix the Kane name with such a muddied waters, especially when there was no fighting blood to be reasonably gained from such a union. No... She didn't think that he would do.

"Indeed. It sadly seems to be something of a set of values which is becoming ever rarer these days." Helena had little hope for the current generations. As she saw things, they were self-absorbed, and lacked the vision to see the greater picture. There was no shame in being a vassal or a servant of the crown, quite the opposite, and yet so many seemed to strive to better their lot, regardless of the consequences for those around them. Oh well... The fact that there were a few our there whom somehow Winifred Whistlebottom had managed to track down gave the elder at least some hope for the future. "I might have some reason to have a few dealings with Remiel Allemeade myself." Helena mused, without going into much detail. "Perhaps I could float Scout's name past him then. Do have any suggestions for Lord Montgomery?" 

Helena was no romantic. If swords weren't involved... Well, she found herself to be drawing a blank. 

“Yes, and for both the men and the ladies,” Winnie shook her head, “It’s a terrible shame, really. The shame and dignity our generation was raised with is slowly dying, and I fear they are all suffering for it.” She had so many young people coming to her for a match, but the values just were not there. It was a challenge she was happy to meet even as she wished it were easier.

“For Lord Montgomery,” she thought of that young man with a certain amount of fondness. Such a good man, “I thought of not only your granddaughter for him, but also Lady Florina Bellerose, the niece of Marquess Phaedra Rainecourt-Marx. Have you heard of her? She has recently been given a position at court—advisor of the gifted, I think—and is a very well-mannered young woman.”