Chapter 357: Lady Jane’s last scandalous words.
For all his hatred of funerals, Sigrid did not think that Roland would volunteer to attend the funeral of the late Lady Jane Fairfax. But, that was how desperate he was to avoid all the Lords and ministers that he knew were seeking for his attention, concerning the matter or Akia Nithercott.
He was very uneasy, she could feel his body shivering on the inside like that of a cat. His stomach was even making some weird noises--grumbling. It could have been hunger, but who knew? Sigrid could not guess, she just held his hand and occasionally sneaked a piece of chocolate into his mouth.
Maybe eating candy at a funeral was not the greatest idea but this was Lady Jane’s funeral. A lot of things were going on that would be frowned upon more than the esteemed leaders of the empire eating candy.
Like the small group of four gossiping ladies that was huddled close together under sycamore tree, discussing Viscount Pemberton that appeared to be struck with more sorrow than the widower Lord Fairfax. The ladies were discussing the fact that Lord Pemberton had allegedly once been Lady Jane’s lover.
There was also the group of ladies that came dressed in cloaks with large colorful feathers. They claimed that they were honoring the late lady Jane as she had worn more feathery outfits than any other noble Lady in the empire.
The royal couple was certainly better than Miss Honour Wiggleton that was sobbing into a blue berry pie. Those that saw her wondered why she had brought pie to a funeral and why she was sobbing. She was too young to have been Lady Jane’s friend [sixteen]. The two had never been seen in each other’s company anywhere. So why she was crying even more than the children of the dead widow?
And then, there was Lady Percival, standing by the coffin with two drums of ale and sixty four bottles of wine. One for each year that Lady Jane had lived. She was insisting that this wine be buried with the dead. Her claim was that Lady Jane loved her drink in life and she would love it even more in the after life where she could finally drink with no judgement.
Sigrid actually found it sweet. Of all the people at the funeral, she was the only one taking Lady Jane’s actual preferences into consideration.
"We heard a great bond, Jane and I." Lord Pemberton slurred. Clearly, he was intoxicated.