I fear I have never taken a quote so far out of context. And to top it all off, I am almost late for this. But, well, you know what they say...
(In case you don't know, by that I mean, Better late than never, and better almost late than late. I can't remember anyone ever saying that, but I'm sure someone said it sometime.)
Well! I have had a pebble of a story rattling around in my brain for quite some time now (or perhaps that rattling sound is 'gainst the hollow'd walls of an empty cranium; who knoweth?)... at any rate, it is sufficiently beyond me to prevent my writing much of anything, much less that story itself. I blame it on Dani. It's been five weeks, I think. Yes. And still it eats up each waking hour... always writing, never written... (addendum: the "pebble of a story" is not this story; 'tis not The Brew. That would be too easy by far...)
And so I fall back on Beautiful People, and the character-based questionnaires in an attempt to distract myself. It has been a while since I said anything about my tea story, which still lives but only as an inert and idle plaything. I blame that on the marked lack of tea in my life the past few weeks.
beautiful people: lady jane grey
Lady Jane belongs to that odd variety of characters upon whose existence a story depends absolutely, a fact which is only apparent because of her marked absence from the plot itself. I have yet to bring her into a single event in the timeline of the story (even in my mind). All she has done is not be there, and still she manages to bleed personality all over the silly thing. I know her better than any of my other characters simply because of that. I have discovered more of her story and ideals through not writing them than those I am actually writing.
do they have any habits, annoying or otherwise?
Lady Jane is in the habit of disagreeing with her brother, which he finds annoying. She is also in the habit of gardening, which the gardener finds annoying because she is better at it than he is, and which Lady Jane finds annoying because she has terrible allergies. And she has a habit of rejecting William Taylor's proposals of marriage, which (no doubt) vexes him terribly. As far as usual habits go, she has a habit of being orderly in that kind of way that most people call disorder, but if this annoys her butler he never mentions it to me.
what is their backstory and how does it affect them now?
Jane grew up with nobody around but a nursemaid, and then later a governess. Her constant company apart from that (before she was old enough to know what was proper) consisted of the Taylor children, the nieces and nephews of her governess. Her general state of isolation did not vex or weary her; she took to it as naturally as a fish to water. I think it could be rightly said that she did not become, but was born something of a hermitess (despite the companionship of the Taylors in her childhood and a fine education at a school full of sweet, friendly peers) and cares very little for the society or companionship of others. And as for the Taylors, she sees little of any of them except for William on occasion, and I'm afraid she despises William for a lot of reasons that have nothing to do with their separate classes (most of which he deserves). Prior to her disappearance, she exhibited an independence which some might call heedless and headstrong in anyone of a lesser class.
how do they show love?
Jane, if you'll permit a bit of repetition, is a hermitess. She is not often in the way of showing love - that is, she is not full-out affectionate. She demonstrates her affections for her household staff by allowing them to work for her; she does not need them, and would (by her own nature) rather live completely alone. Apart from that, if you meet her on the streets and she likes you, you probably will not realize it immediately, and may never do so unless she has some opportunity of doing you some good later.
how competitive are they?
While the people of her day certainly do climb ladders in society and play sports and engage in other pursuits that necessitate competitiveness for success, Lady Jane has none of these in her immediate context. She is, quite simply, successful by virtue of her existence and character. She has never vied for the affection of a man or a human being; she has never had to, for it was either owed (and given) or unwanted. She is not into making money; she has enough to live comfortably by. She does not need to exalt her station; she has one of the highest places in the country, and she is not flamboyant enough to render herself insecure. Perhaps one might call her politically competitive... she is thoroughly, and perhaps violently, passionate about the good of her country and its people, but in a way that is so foreign to my own pseudo-democratic state of mind that I still do not quite know what she is about. She does not give herself to a system of government or a political party or a cause; nevertheless, she has put all her eggs in one basket, so to speak, and beyond that it is not for me to say.
what do they think when nothing else is going on?
Lady Jane is one of those proud, odd souls who can look back on the moments of decision in her life and know she did rightly without pang or suspicion of self. Mostly, she likes to look at the edge of the forest just under her bedroom window and wish it were not so far removed. Perhaps that is her only regret.
do they have an accent?
Jane has the moderate, polished tone of a well-bred Englishwoman (I cannot put a regional name to it; I do not know enough). I can best describe it by saying that her voice is neither fussy nor dull, and she speaks with more strength of conviction than outright passion.
what is their station in life?
The title Lady Jane speaks rightly of nobility. She is from a family of a higher station in society, though not older, than the Falcons. The title itself is not worth very much at all; lords and ladies in Chelsea usually fall amidst the rest of the families of property (Darjeeling could probably go about as Lord Falcon, if he cared to), but somehow the Greys managed to attain to greater prestige. Here the details are vague and probably intentionally obscured, but her mother married twice and Jane has a half-brother, and the few people who know that much attribute it to that second marriage.
what do others expect from them?
That depends on whom you ask. The general populace expects a bucketload of enigma, with a lot of scandal underneath to provide fodder for speculation. The butcher and the grocer expect their bills paid on time with no fussing, which they get provided the produce is good. Those with political and economic interests other than the butcher's and the grocer's prefer her to remain in her corner of the world (she would be useful in society, were she not so unhelpful).
where were they born, and when?
Lady Jane was born in Steeple, Chelsea, being the daughter of Lord and Lady Grey, who held (and still hold) a little less than half of the profitable property in the area. This took place thirty-some years before our story begins. The historical timeline of the land of Chelsea is as of yet very vague and unknown, and so a specific date would do you almost as little good as it would me.
how do they feel about people in general?
Lady Jane never knew her parents. She thinks often of them, and finds (contrary to popular occurrence) that their shadowed faces do not convince her of her own anguish or bitterness, but a simple curiosity and satisfaction. She sees enough to know they were people, and she knows enough of her station to realize she might not have known them as such if she had met them. Individually, she does not seem to feel about anyone; that is, she anticipates true and proper sentiment and acts on it without bothering to languish in a state of feeling. As for people in the broadest general, she loves her country, but not with the usual sort of patriotism; she will not stand up and thunder out passionate pleas for the good of the people. She is not interested in causes; she is a strange blend of reserve and hearty disdain for the impersonal. If she has ever loved anyone, it is but one person, and that with a fierceness of will and action that most people mistake for a lack of intention altogether.
suddenly, as rare things will, it vanished.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Not sure how Dani would get involved there...
I'm afraid I must confess to being rather un-American -- tea is not among my favorite beverages.
Mind you I think the writings of one well soaked in tea are quite wonderful :)
Awesome character.
Is tea an American thing? I took it to be a British thing that we stole, having once got over the whole Tea Act shenanigan.
I think Lady Jane sounds splendid, Anna, in her way. Not that I think I would necessarily like to meet her (the meeting would probably devolve into awkward silence), but she makes a very intricate and enigmatic character. Especially for having never shown up. Does her half-brother show up in the story...?
I am still not sure that she does not show up in the story, ever; she has not done so yet. But her half-brother will almost certainly be there. He cannot get out of it so easily.
(And I think most people meeting Lady Jane find it exceedingly awkward and stilted, though she surely has their respect. You're not alone.)