The stately home of Lady Victoria Darenvern and her family.

Darenvern Hearth is a Tudor manor home of its namesake with high windows and lofty ceilings, it houses domestic offices, bedrooms, and storage for the servants in the basement, the formal rooms are on the ground and first floors and the bedrooms on the floors above. At the back of the house there is a coach house, stable block and quarters for the coachmen and grooms.

One can stroll through the miles of flora gardens, which with their focus on plant varieties and colors are a delight for all the senses. Be spurred on by the stone-walled kitchen garden that produces a variety of delicious fruit and vegetables for family, guests, and house staffs enjoyment.



This message was last edited by the player at 11:46, Tue 31 Aug 2021.

One would find Lady Victoria Darenvern in the kitchen garden on a day such as this.  She had her basket resting on her arm as she plucked the purple sage and peppermint.  Her basket full already with marigolds, lavender, and savory.  She inhaled the sweet air and exhaled, delighted that she was able to enjoy such a fine day.  One of her favorite pastimes was wondering the garden and whiling away the hours.  Her mother had yet to give permission for her to go riding, just being cautious and ensuring her daughter didn’t have a relapse of the nasty cold that had her bedridden there for a while.

She approached the bench and placed the basket to the side and pulled out one of the sprigs of lavender holding it to her nose and breathing in the fragrance.  It felt like it surrounded her.  This is where the servant who was asked to summon the lady for her tea found the her.  Smiling and day dreaming.

Victoria stood up and adjusted her day dress, she had on a simple white muslin long sleeve ensemble with rows of ruffles at the hem.  Her bonnet also white and embroidered with all differently colored flowers, blues, yellows, even pink and orange.  She asked her maiden if her mother was expecting and visitors this day, to which she was told, no.

Following the maid they entered through the side door and she washed her hands off, Victoria had laid her basket to the side and she asked the maid retrieve it and see to the herbs and flowers for her, she would help as soon as she was free from whatever chores her mother had for her.

With clean hands she removed her bonnet and her boots and carefully donned her slippers.  She pressed a lady’s handkerchief to her face and with her smile fully set she went to see to the dining room to join her parents.

When she entered she only found her mother, "good morning mother, it is a beautiful day."  Victoria sat in her appropriate seat and waited for tea to be served.  Once they both had been they dined, drank tea and had a rather nice time that morning.

In reply to Lady Victoria Darenvern (msg # 2):

You and the Vicar both seem to love fine gardens.

The Vicar arrived at the front door and asked if Lady Victoria was at home.

A maid came into the dining area and let Lady Victoria know she had a caller, the new Vicar.  She excused herself and asked the maid to ready the parlor.

Heading over to the front door Lady Victoria smiled, "Vicar Arabin, please come in, we can sit in the parlor.  Would you like some tea?"

"How lovely to see you, Lady Victoria. You look a vision of loveliness today!"

And indeed she did. Why, the Vicar was quite taken with the sight. He handed his hat to the maid with a nod of thanks.

"Yes, I would relish some tea. How are you settling in?"

She curtsied as she did so her smile seemed that much brighter for his compliment.  Heading into the parlor she asked for a fresh pot of tea to be brought out for them and choose a seat by the windows, so she could feel the warmth of the sun.

"Thank you Vicar for you are most kind." She made herself comfortable on the seat, "I am settling just fine.  I am hoping to get out and about into the village a bit more.  And how about yourself?  Father is excited you have taken up the post here, how are you liking Alton?"

"It seems most agreeable so far, Lady Victoria," Arabin replied.

"It is my first proper parish. I was a chaplain in Oxford prior, it is a quite different kind of work when your flock is composed solely of young men tasting adulthood for the first time.

"Where were you living before you came to this delightful house, may I ask?"

Victoria smiled as the conversation took root, "I am glad you are settling in Vicar, Alton is a charming little town.  The baker here out does any that I've ever had in London and that is no exaggeration."  She listened some more of his prior position but couldn't comment for she felt it would be in bad taste, if they had known each other better perhaps, maybe another time.  She really wanted to make a good impression on the new Vicar, it was important to her.

"We lived in London, my eldest brother Harr...err...Harold, Viscount of Harrowby resides in the family home there as does my other brother Darby.  We also stayed many a summer close to my mothers family in Warwickshire, so a bit all over the place it appears."

She tilted her head, "Oxford you say, although most of the Darenvern's attended Cambridge my brother Benjamin attends Oxford.  He has marvelous times he tells me.  By chance maybe you know him?"

"Ah, a split household. Did that cause surprise? I met many people, do you know which college he attended and what he was reading?"

He ran his mind over the many young gentlemen he had encountered, numbering in the hundreds. The name Darenvern didn't pop immediately.

He sipped his tea.

She chuckled softly, "it has caused quite the commotion here, this you can be sure of." She laughed again softly before continuing.  "He attends Balliol, as for his reading he has been training in History and Economics.  Benji is an avid reader of the Roman Histories, while I am more favorable of poetry.  What of you Vicar?  Besides your studies, what else do you enjoy?"

"I am a Merton man," said Arabin, "But I may have encountered him at a University lecture. I do quite like history, but my real passion - indeed my initial studies - is botany. Had I not had a vocation, I might have been lecturing by now. Your house has beautiful gardens... do you have an interest in plants, also?"

He sipped more tea.