Nesah quirked a brow when Uriel stood up for himself. It had been nicer when he was still the little brother and they could all bully him. But when he suggested they all hated him, she muttered beneath her breath: "Don't be ridiculous."

Though she gave him her coat, Nesah hadn't intended for Uriel to take her it, but for a servant. He had none, and now both eyebrows rose. This was getting more and more ridiculous. Her brother living the life of a working class man! And his intended wife independent? Of course... Didn't sound like it, considering the fact that she had wrapped her legs around the first man who would have her and had then blackmailed him into marriage by getting pregnant.

Okay, she kind of had to appreciate the shrewdness there...

"Tea, please..." she said, crossing her arms as she presumably followed him to the kitchen. "You know you could get some girl from the workhouse, right? You'd only have to offer her food and board." Admittedly, some dirty workhouse child would probably be worse than Rose. Still, he'd have a servant and that would at least raise him above the working class. At least her brother would have a hint of respectability in that area. As for the others... Nesah had time.

He put her coat on the closest empty peg without a bothered look upon his face. The sound of a couple of dogs barking filled the background for a moment and he rolled his eyes, then murmured cheerfully, "They must have found the beef bone I left for them this morning. Hah." His eyes danced merrily. He really was happy it seemed, he fairly glowed with it. He turned about and led his sister to the kitchen, getting the stove lit and putting a kettle of water on.

Uriel looked at Nesah and then sighed, knowing she wouldn't understand what he was doing with his life. She was so spoiled that she wouldn't or couldn't even take care of her own coat. He pulled out a chair for her and then said, "After you." He was itching to light up his pipe but that would mean leaving her alone in his house for however long the tobacco lasted. Assuming she took a seat, he would nudge the chair in some and then move to get the tea cups and such. "I'd offer you cakes and such but I don't have any to offer. I do, however, have some bread I just baked not an hour ago and some fresh butter. Nothing like it." At least he was offering something, right? "If I find someone both my fiance and I like, I will think about hiring someone."

Uriel started to hum in his pleasant bass, something he never did at home. He LIKED the work, it seemed, he liked doing stuff with his hands. His siblings didn't seem to understand. Up until he met Kitty, he was depressed and lonely, and she filled him with love and life. "You know, sometimes when you love someone, you see passed trivial things like wealth and such. There is no shame in humility, either. I built this house with my own two hands. I did that." He placed a plate with the bread as well as a crock of fresh butter on the table, as well as a jar of honey if so desired. Then the kettle was whistling and he was moving almost gracefully to obtain the thing and pour it into the pot with the tea leaves. He set that on the table to steep and got the rest of the stuff that went with it. Cream, sugar, et cetera.

He continued to speak, "I have a purpose now. That little baby is my responsibility and my heart is already filled with such love that it cannot be contained. I have to make it right for him or her."

Nesah jumped a little at the sudden barking, but quickly recovered. She sat down and observed her brother as he worked like a common servant, happily. What on earth had happened to him? But Nesah knew that she needed to pick her battles. There were so many wrong choices that Uriel was making, but with such determination, that she knew that if she would fight him on all of them, she would lose altogether. If slaving like a labourer made Uriel happy, well... that was always something that could be fixed later on. He could still hire servants and go back to university and get himself a real job once he sobered up. But boy, how it infuriated her to see how little her brother appreciated the privilege she was working so hard for. And when Uriel said he might hire someone, Nesah resolved to work on that immediately after leaving and to spam her brother with suggestions.

"I would love to try your bread," she said as if delighted by the idea of her brother baking. She tried not to cringe at the humming and even more so when Uriel started speaking about love and the baby. She hated irrational people, and 'love', if that was what it was, had clearly interfered with Uriel's capacity for sound judgement.

She sat back in her chair. "Love is fleeting," she commented in a businesslike voice. "But family remains. Blood is thicker than water.". And now she pleaded: "Uriel, whatever else you do, don't become a catholic. You'll break mother's heart."

He sliced up a piece of bread for her and then poured some tea when it was ready, then placed it on the table. He poured the tea in a cup and prepared it the way he remembered she liked it, then set the cup in front of her on the saucer, with the bread on a plate offered with some honey and some butter. Whether she really wanted to try the bread or not was of no consequence to him. If she didn't eat it, he would. He hunkered his tall frame down and sat in the chair opposite of his sister, steepling his fingers as he regarded her with curiosity and wariness.

And then she started to protest as he knew she would, and he scowled. "I've already made my descision. I doubt it would break her heart, I am the least favorite." He snorted, then reached over to grab a cup for himself and poured some tea into it. "Even if I didn't love Katherine, which I do, I still have a child to consider and a duty to that baby. I am honor bound, Nesah. Do you expect me to just ignore my own child?"

Nesah took a slice of bread and put some honey on it. She was about to eat when Uriel spoke, and she put it down on her saucer beside her cup and leaned back. She considered her response, taking her time. Nesah did not like this situation at all, and part of her wanted to shout and Uriel and shake him.

Not that shaking him would be possible for her. Uriel had lost some weight, but he was still tall, and he looked stronger than ever.

Anyway, she knew that escalating the situation would get her nowhere. He would kick her out and ignore her advice, like he had ignored Zech's.

"I'm not telling you to ignore your child." It was what she wanted to tell him. But Uriel seemed smitten with his intended bride, and in love with the idea of being a father. There would be no movement there, other than her own being shown the door. "I'm telling you not to become a Catholic. Mother loves you, despite what you seem to think. And more importantly, you should love her. This whole thing with the child will upset her. We both know it. But you becoming a Christian... How can you betray her, us, our community... God...?" She waved her hands in ever widening circles as she spoke more and more agitated. She took a deep breath to try and regain her self-control.

He peered at her with a stony expression as she all but begged him not to convert. He heaved a sigh and said, “I know she loves me, and I know I risk breaking her heart… but you’re asking me to give up whatever happiness I just acquired, and to sin further.” He hitched his pant legs and then sat down across from her. “Regardless of my feelings for Katherine, I’d marry her still for the sake of not having a child out of wedlock. I count myself as lucky that we love each other.”

He steepled his fingers for a moment as he gave pause, then poured tea for himself. Before he went on, he took a sip of the brew without adding sugar or milk. “I have a duty to my child… And since you bring God into this, I’d like to point out that He’d prefer me to do the right thing by the little one, would He not?” His voice did not raise, but the look on his face certainly indicated that his dear sister had touched a nerve or two. Uriel was trying mightily not to lose his temper, yet he’d had enough of Nesah and Zech both trying to talk him out of his impending nuptials and conversion. Stupid siblings.

Nesah took a bite of the bread and chewed, savoring the sweetness of the honey. The bread was actually really good, and she tried to focus on that while she listened, in order to stay calm. She was in fact really irritated, and rather scared of the drama Uriel was going to cause in their family. But there was time. She just had to stay calm and reasonable and hopefully he would do the same.

She put her slice of bread down on the saucer again and pursed her lips while she thought. Then she spoke: "I understand that, Uriel. You have a duty to that child." She didn't want to understand it. "If you're absolutely certain it's yours," she added. She wasn't. How many penniless women had played that trick on a wealthy gentleman before? "But I don't see what you converting has to do with it. You could... become a liberal..."

She resisted the urge to gag.

Still, a compromise was better than losing her brother altogether.

"Damn it! Whether that baby has my blood or not, that's my baby. Mine." He finally showed his temper, but it was restrained and he did his best to keep his voice from rising even though it was firm. He stood and began to pace. He stopped and there was genuine hurt and tears swimming in his eyes, though the latter remained where they were because he would be damned before he would let her see him cry. "I don't care whether you nor Zecheriah approve of my choices... And I will deal with whatever comes with mother..."

Uriel was furious, livid even. That she should even... suggest... that he wasn't the father of the baby... was preposterous! He threw up his hands and then said in a forced tone, "Bugger to all of you if you can't accept that I am doing what I think is best!"

Uriel's sudden outburst startled her. She frowned at him disapprovingly while he started pacing. Great, a tantrum was just what she needed while she was trying to have a reasonable discussion. Clearly her younger brother was still very much a child, whatever his size might suggest. And with that thought to reassure her, she picked up her cup and sipped her tea, and just let him rage.

When it seemed he was done, she took the time to set her cup down carefully, moving the bread to avoid getting honey on her cup. "Come now, Uriel, there's no need for vulgarity when we're only worried about you," she said at last, her eyes moved from her cup to her brother. Clearly suggesting the baby wasn't his had been a mistake. He was clearly obsessed with the harlot and wouldn't hear a bad word about her. Fine. Perhaps in a few months the enchantment would wear off and he would draw his own conclusions. For now, she would have to tread even more carefully. "The bread is nice."

"Worried about me?" he scoffed and threw up his hands in a gesture to indicate what was around him, "I have never been better. I help children in need, I am building a farm with my own two hands with my own money," because he was smarter than people gave him credit for and knew how to be frugal, but that part was left unspoken. "I may not be living the lavish lifestyle the rest of you are, but I am happy! I spent years trying to amount to something, to be someone mother and father could be proud of, only to be treated like nobody cared before now. And now you care? If you care so much, then why are you just now here? Why have you not written to me or asked after me until now? Where were you?" It was obviously a rhetorical question.

"Kitty has shown me much more compassion in the time that we have spent together than all of you have in the last year. She has shown me kindness, and she has comforted me because my own family could not see fit to tell me I am worthy of love!"