<strong>Helena sits down for some tea and polite conversation</strong><br/><br/>"Harry it is," Helena obliged, glad to have permission to use his first name.<br/><br/>She sat herself down in the offered chair and took a moment to peel off her white gloves.<br/><br/>"This?" She looked down at her dress as Cooper complimented it. It was nothing spectacular, not fancy or expensive, but compared to the severe black thing he'd seen her in last, the kind she always wore when working, it did look rather lovely. "It's just…well… I thought I'd try not to look like a governess for once," she admitted. "To be honest I'm glad to be away from the manor, from all of it, if only for a day. I feel so very uncomfortable there. Like I told you in my letter. It's good to be in a city again. And I’ve always loved Brighton. It feels like… Like being abroad I suppose…" all those exotic looking buildings.<br/><br/>As the tea and scones arrived Helena placed a napkin onto her lap and poured herself some tea. Deciding the color was about right she proceeded to fill her cup, then Coopers, and added milk and lemon for her own before buttering a scone which she put it on a plate and passed to Cooper, then buttered one for herself. She didn't even realize what she was doing until after she'd done it, and once she did she looked positively mortified.<br/><br/>"I'm sorry..." she spluttered, feeling her face grow hot, "I just... I..."<br/><br/>Oh Gods, she'd gone and served him tea and had buttered his scone like she was used to doing for the children.<br/><br/>She took a deep breath, and, in an attempt to brush over the breach in etiquette, proceeded to stir her tea with the utmost concentration, gently, not clinking her spoon against the porcelain, and placed the spoon back on the saucer before lifting cup her lips and taking a small sip.<br/><br/>"The children are well, thank you for asking," she said after that somewhat lengthy pause, placing the cup back on it's saucer. "Surprisingly well, given what happened to their parents. Though I'm afraid they tell some very strange tales. Just the other day they were going on about meeting this...<em>Gypsy boy</em>. I would've told them off for having over-active imaginations except I'm not sure it's imaginary at all. I wrote you about seeing strange things...?" She met his eyes then, did he think her mad for that? He hadn't said so in his letter, had been perfectly understanding, even admitting to seeing some strange things himself, but then she hadn't been able to see his face as he read her letter and wrote his.<br/><br/>"Well..." she said, lowering her voice and leaning a bit closer to him, "Just a couple of days ago I found a hurdy gurdy in the children's bedroom. I moved it out but it was back in place only a few hours later. I even tried hiding it but it keeps... reappearing," there was a slight tremor in her voice at that last word. Yes, it was driving her quite mad.<br/><br/>That was assuming she hadn't gone mad already, she did wonder.