Interview with a Fictional Character – Lady Odyssa

–’I’ve been writing about you, you know.’ Her soft, hazel eyes widen.
–’Me!? Whatever for?’ It is my turn to stare at her. I can almost see her. She sits straight-backed on my plump Ikea couch, her hands primly on her lap. Her mustard pelisse is neat and of good quality. The colour suits her, but the one frivolous thing in her appearance is the happy, primrose bow under her chin that fastens her bonnet. She is beautiful, but she has no idea. She is capable and clever, yet she struggles with feelings of inferiority and lack of self-esteem.
I recognize myself in the awkwardness, sympathetic of the feeling of always being weighed and measured and found wanting. Not that I ever was as pretty as she, but I certainly was prettier than I thought.
Her story is one of great strength and moral integrity in the face of hardship and, as it is vastly different from that of any average Regency lady, it is well worth telling.
–’Your life is very interesting’, I say diplomatically. ‘And you have accomplished a great deal…’ Shaking her head slightly, she makes a vague gesture that is both warding off my words and an indication to the cup of coffee on the table before her.
–’Forgive my rudeness, but I do not suppose that there is any chance of tea? And milk?’
–’Oh.’ I smile sheepishly. ‘I do apologize, but I’m afraid not.’ We are devout coffee-consumers in this house, with dairy intolerances. I don’t tell her that, it would be indelicate to speak of bodily functions. ‘Biscuit?’ She accepts and, gingerly balancing the store-bought, glutenfree danish on a paper-napkin, she takes a small bite and holds back a grimace. I can’t say I blame her. I wouldn’t eat them either if I didn’t have celiaki. Another thing I can’t discuss with her.
–’Your family, they are in good health?’ I enquire in my best imitation of posh English.
–’Why yes, thank you, my husband…’ A pretty blush rises in her cheeks. ‘…is very well.’ Unwittingly, her hand cradles the lower part of her belly. It doesn’t show yet, but I know it’s a boy.
–’What news of Herefordshire?’, I ask. ‘Is life there still as charmed?’
–’Oh yes, it certainly is! When the Cannop sisters can be avoided.’ I laugh at this but she looks uneasy. ‘That was not very charitable of me’, she adds. ‘The Dowager House is currently being done up for Mrs Makewell and her sergeant, and poor Tilly has only dropped one earthenware jug this week. So far.’ She smiles with warmth. ‘It is Teddy’s seventh birthday soon and he is getting a puppy. Sergeant Light bought it from Sir Gorsley.’ She shudders. ‘There is plenty ill which could be said of him, but really he is just a sad, lonely creature.’
–’Did he ever write to your father?’
–’I should not think so, but really I have not the smallest idea, I am not privy to my father’s correspondence.’ I can see how the topic still pains her and she makes an effort to keep her composure. ‘We are still waiting to hear from the bishop regarding opening a school, but for now we are teaching the children on the estate inofficially. The youngest Owen brother really is a clever, little chap, learnt to read and write in a jiffy. Which reminds me…’ She says shrewdly. ‘May I interest you in a subscription to our charity scheme helping disabled veterans to find decent and dignified work?’ How can I refuse? It is all my own ideas after all and she wheedles fifty fictional pounds from me. Though a small sum in the 21st century, to her it’s a substantial amount. Ah, what the hell, I think, make that five grand! After all, I am made of fictional money. Lady Odyssa is all speechless gratitude, but I ward it off by asking after her friends.
–’It is my sole complaint’, she says with a slight sigh, ‘that my friends should be so far from me.’
–’It’s not that far to Miss Wynne’s uncle’s estate in Worcestershire, merely some 30 miles…’
–’Yes’, she lights up. ‘Still, it is not the same as seeing them every day, and I dread to think what shall happen when Juliet removes into Sussex.’ I ponder her question, pleased with my own plots and designs for her friend. When I look up again, she has faded. The coffee in her fictional cup is cold and the danish has an ever so small nick in it. The sagging couch was bought second hand and isn’t really Ikea either.
Pensively, I chew my danish whilst I post an update to my blog.

Lady Odyssa (née Langston) is the main character in the 3rd volume of Regency Tales, ‘Odyssey of Attachment’.