Southern Paradise Part 3

No sooner had the girls left their extravagant transports, than their dutiful negro maids rushed to attend to their dresses, carefully fluffing them and making sure the flounces were in order. A negro butler bowed deeply and said "My ladies, may I announce for you the arrival of our guests Master Robert Winterburg, his son Master John Winterburg and their friend Master Charles Hawcourt." Charles noted how the butler emphasised the word "master" whenever uttering the name of a superior white. The girls took no notice of either the butler or their maids and instead glided towards the gentlemen their noses still pointed to the ceiling. Robert and John bowed a little, with Charles following suit and the girls similarly curtsied slightly. The plumper one was the first to open her divinely shaped lips.
"Mr. Winterburg, what a fine pleasure it is to see you" she spoke in her beautifully winsome southern accent, which was both refined and innocent.
"Indeed it is, Isabella my girl. I know you've met my son John before but I'd like to introduce my friend Charles Hawcourt, of England." Robert replied.
"Why I do declare, you've brought someone from ENGLAND! I'm delighted to meet you" said Isabella to Charles, her voice having changed into a soft giggle which was no less perfect or pretty than her normal tone. It positively made Charles weak at the knees to be the center of attention for these two belles of the South.
"I...I am honoured to meet you too, mi'lady" he stuttered, finding it difficult to keep his act together.
"Oh where are my manners, this is my sister Victoria and welcome to Paradise Glade!" she excitedely tittered. Victoria merely smiled in a mixture of bashfulness and haughtiness, like she was shy and superior all at once.
"Why if we'd known there'd be visitors we would dressed accordingly" said Isabelle, "do excuse us." With that the two girls glided up the stairs, quickly followed by ten maids obviously eager not to be the subject of their mistress' ire.

"Robert Winterburg, to what pleasure is this?" said an unknown voice to the wistful gentlemen. Turning round, they were greeted by the sight of an exquisitely dressed white man in a top hat and holding a pipe.
"Why Thomas, the pleasure is all mine. I just thought I'd stop by and introduce a new acquaintance of mine, someone who maybe of special interest to you" replied Robert.
"I assume you mean this fine young man here."
"Hello, my name is Charles Hawcourt, good sir, Charles Hawcourt of England" said Charles.
"Hawcourt? I have indeed heard that name before, and you say you're from England?," he paused, "Well, let us leave this talk of business for now and enjoy the pleasures my wealth affords." replied Thomas.

A bell was wrung and the men were shown into the lavish dining room of the palace. The table could have sat at least thirty people but had been set for the seven of them Robert was sat at one end with Thomas at another and Charles found himself in the middle. The room's large oak doors opened revealing the ladies, now dressed for dinner. Lady Grainger entered first, wearing a light green muslin dress with short sleeves. The dress seemed smoother than the one Charles had first saw her in and this factor combined with the dress' flounciness, due to a hoop skirt and multiple petticoats, made her seem to glide more effortlessly than ever. Next to follow was the precocious Victoria, who wore another short-sleeved gown but this time in white with pink ruffles at the bottom which made her look as if she had stepped directly from heaven and onto earth. Finally came Isabelle, who contrary to her other female relatives wore a long-sleeved gown which was modest in its coverage of her body yet its vast flowiness and regal purple colour made her look less a good Christian and more a pampered princess, heiress to the richest throne in the land. They dallied in single file, each with their dainty noses pointed to the ceiling in snobbish haughtiness. As they approached the table, the men rose and the dinner maids, dressed in a green velvet uniform now, with the same frilly apron, silently and thanklessly pulled out the chairs for their mistresses to be seated.

Dinner at the Grainger's never seemed to end. After polishing off one large plate, the slaves would enter with yet more Southern delicacies and they took pains to make sure they kept their superiors satisfied. Lady Grainger and Victoria daintilly turned their noses up at the food presented to them after the 3rd course but Isabelle indulgently kept pace with the men and behind the cerulean eyes and alabaster face Charles noticed an appetite for indulgence within her that was difficult to satiate. Talk at the table inevitably turned to Charles' reason for being there.
"So my boy, from where in England do you hale?" asked Lord Grainger.
"Well, my father is the Earl of Brantley, however I have spent most of my life in London" replied Charles nervously in the presence of those beautiful belles.
"Oh London, how exciting, have you met Queen Victoria?" giggled her namesake excitedly.
"Actually, I was present at her wedding to Prince Albert" he chuckled in reply, put off guard by this beautiful girl's innocence.
"Oh my, a true member of the aristocracy, what brings a gentleman like you to the South?" asked Lady Grainger. At this question Charles paused. He couldn't say he came here in hope of grabbing a slice of the plantation pie nor could he come out with a dull answer which would rat him out all the same.
"My lady, I've come here because London has become awfully dull. England is becoming full of men who are rich yet have no knowledge of fashion or beauty. I can no longer be among the false aristocracy of Europe, I believe that only in the South can I find people of true wealth and substance" he said, a well-fabricated lie perhaps but one which would fall under later questioning.
"Oh how awful. It must have something to do with their abolishing slavery, I cannot imagine PAYING my servants" said the winsome Lady Grainger.
"What do you mean they pay servants, mother dear?" asked a curious Isabelle, joining the conversation.
"My dear, they aren't any nigras in England, so they have to pay their servants just like we pay our overseers and Mr. Cork" answered her father. A look of shock crossed both girls' faces and Isabelle went back to eating. The wealth of these girls had been so abundant all their lives that they were unable to even consider a life without the ease they experienced. It took Robert's son, John to restart the conversation. He had been hitherto silent.
"Victoria, you know I'm to go to school in New Orleans soon." he said shyly, trying to elicit the haughty girl's attention. At this attempt to garner her approval, the girl merely stuck her nose in the air and ignored the poor beau. The Grainger girls were ruthless in their snobbery, barely acknowledging those they deemed below them. Dejected, John looked to his father who simply smiled at him, obviously in full knowledge of his family's inadequacy in trying to come up to the level of the Grainger's. Lady Grainger was next to restart the conversation.
"Gentlemen, I trust you know of the ball up at Trianon Vale next week" she said.
"Why yes, I have always gotten on with the De La Tour Du Pin's, it just depends whether our friend wishes to go" said Robert in reply. The idea of a ball was beyond exciting for Charles, and he quickly assented to the chance of meeting more Southern Belles.
"I'm not sure Trianon Vale is big enough to hold a ball of any proper size. Why, their ballroom is only half the size of ours" sniffed Victoria in her delightfully snobbish manner.
"And their Lucy is an abominable flirt. why last time we were there she was all over Christopher Pennington. It was shameful" spoke Isabelle, visibly disgusted by her rival Southern Belle.
"Now now, girls. The De La Tour Du Pin's remain a fine family, and there will many other distinguished guests present as usual." spoke Thomas, trying to calm his spoiled girls down. By this point Charles was ecstatic, his odyssey into Southern paradise was becoming more and more rewarding.

After dinner they left the table for the negroes to clean up and went into the large lounge area. The daughters sat themselves down on a large velvet couch and John awkwardly sat next to them, still being haughtilly ignored by the sisters. Thomas and Charles sat next to each other on armchairs while Lady Grainger reclined on a chaise long and Robert stood. Each of them had a maid fanning them, careful not to draw attention to their inferior slaves. Thomas turned to Charles and said "So my dear boy, what exactly is a Hawcourt doing in the South...really?"
"Well, I'm given to believe that we're related. I couldn't possibly allow England to continually neglect our American relatives." Charles replied diplomatically.
"As soon as I heard that name I knew you weren't just some English migrant. I think I'm right in saying that the Hawcourts were the family my grandfather's sister married into, which would indeed make us blood."
"Yes, I believe so. In truth I came here in search of a little bit of something new. I spoke the truth when I told you of London's dullness, and I certainly feel very much at home here in the South"
"I've never left the South or been back to Europe. There's no need when a man can live like this!"
"Certainly, I must say your house eclipses many of the palaces of European royalty."
"My father would have it no other way. He hired a European architect to build this palace as a new Versailles, untroubled by the masses as the real one so was!"
"Indeed! No one in England can really imagine wealth like this existing in America."
"I believe that I have perfected the pursuit of wealth in the South. Building on my father's legacy, the Grainger Empire doubles in size every five years. If you would stay the next few weeks, I should like to show you what I have done to make this plantation the most profitable and largest in this state." Charles' heart fluttered. He was being given the opportunity to stay in paradise for longer!
"Why that would be most..enlightening, my good sir." he said in reply, trying to contain his excitement.
"Well my dear Winterburgs," said Thomas, raising his voice so as to be heard by the room. "It is getting late and you have a long drive ahead of you. I will send some slaves to prepare your carriage."
"Of course my dear Grainger," said Robert with his customary civility, however both he and his son looked rather crestfallen at being ushered out of the palace in this manner. As he approached the door, he gave Charles a look which signaled that Robert did not want him to forget the debt he owed him for bringing him into this locale.

With the other guests gone, the excitable Southern princesses became more interested in this curious foreigner their father had taken in. Both now sat upright with the delicate poise that Charles' had previously thought only belonged to the most distinguished aristocratic Ladies of Europe. He would even go so far to feel that these girls exceeded their continental counterparts in elegance and delicacy due to the sheer ease and luxury of their lives, which surpassed even the daughters of kings. When each girl sat down a slave maid would rush to keep her dress in perfect order, carefully straightening each ruffle, and neither girl took any notice of this wondrous show of devotion on the part of their inferiors. As the party sat down anew, a slave butler rushed in serving delightful hot tea and conversation resumed.
"Why, you must've been to all the capitals of Europe, Mr. Charles" spoke Isabelle, attractively smirking behind her silk fan as she demurely kept her poised manner of sitting.
"Yes, my Lady. While I've not seen Berlin I can tell you Vienna is a lovely place" replied Charles, perfectly charmed by the young beauty's flirty yet virginal pose.
"I've no desire to see Europe. All those people and all that noise. Why, I can barely take the bustle of New Orleans without feeling faint" said Victoria in haughty disagreement.
"I would agree with you, my Lady, I've always felt I was a country boy at heart" said Charles, eager to please both of the angels.
"O, but it must have been wonderful. The balls, the princes, the great halls. I should love to have be mistress of a plantation in France or Austria, where old families come to dine at our palace rather than those awful Herbert's and De La Tour Du Pin's" said Isabelle wistfully.
"My lady, the South is I promise you, far more genteel than any European ball of industry men and shipbuilders" said Charles. Charles had been in swoons of attraction toward both girls as soon as he had seen them, but as the conversation wore on he was more entranced by Isabelle's mixture of quiet gentility and haughty indulgence which made her queen among all Southern Belles for him. In the space of but a few hours Charles was in love with his host's daughter.