Even In Death - Paperwork

Jp with Jaxx and Cindy

Friday, May 24, 1889
Ellington Estate - London

The sun had awoken Elizabeth before her maid did. A quick greeting to her parents, breakfast, then to check out the office her father had created for her. It was nice, not as large as the one she had in France but certainly large enough. She asked for a servant to get Lily, when the woman was done with breakfast and escort her to Liz's office.

Lily was already up and dressed before a maid was sent to wake her. She was used to getting up early to work for Lady Elizabeth so her internal clock kept her from over sleeping. She was grooming her hair when the maid knocked on the door to let her know that breakfast was ready. Lily then left with the maid into the hallway where she was met by another maid escorting Dr. Jackal as well. They greeted each other and then made their way to eat breakfast and some small talk before Lily had to make her way to see Lady Elizabeth. Dr. Jackal made his way to a study with a maid to read up on the research documents he brought with him. The maid was kind enough to keep his coffee cup filled and aid him with the small things he would need. Lily then arrived at the door with the maid to see Lady Elizabeth. The maid knocked and introduced Lily to Lady Elizabeth.

"Please, Miss Lily, have a seat." Elizabeth pulled out a file with some paperwork. "I just have a few things you need to sign before the funeral. This first one is giving permission for your father to be buried in London." There was empathy in her voice towards the younger woman. Paperwork could seem cold given the circumstances but it was necessary to make sure everything was done properly and legally.

Lily nodded as she took the pen and papers to sign them. She then replied, "This whole ordeal weighs greatly on my chest Lady Elizabeth. The loss of my father, the kidnappings, the threat of the cult, the threat of my father's enemies, the concerns of my estranged siblings, the concerns of those trying to steal from me, the concerns of the corruption in my father's companies and my being a werewolf is far more than I could ever handle alone. I am truly blessed to have your support and protection. So I am not signing this because I am desperate for your aid. I am signing it because I trust you and your family to be by my side even when no one else will." Lily then pushed the papers back to Lady Elizabeth after signing them and set the pen down. She smiled as she said, "I know this would be improper to say before others but if I were to have a big sister, you would be my first choice.”

"We," meaning her family (which, of course, included Sung) are glad we can be of assistance to you." Truly they were. The big sister comment made a faint smile cross her lips. "Thank you for that. I wouldn't mind for you to be my little sister." Though sibling relationships weren't something she was used to. No Eldren had that, after all. "I would like the team to, eventually, see themselves as a family. I know that we've not been a team long enough for that to be the case " It was a nice thought. They did already look out for each other.

There was more paperwork, how the death tax was to be paid, burial in a family plot, etc. They went through it pretty quickly. "We will leave for the burial in about three hours.”

Lily agreed to keep everything as simple as possible to reduce their stress levels. It was pointless to have a fancy funeral to show off to any strangers attending the funeral. She didn't need to impress anyone at this point and already found a new place to belong in the Order under Lady Elizabeth. She took comfort knowing that the Duke's legal team was among the best to handle all the chaos that would unfold when the will was to be read. Since her father was very wealthy it meant a lot of shady types would be after his money as well as her estranged siblings. Lily had mixed feelings about meeting them and thought giving them a pay out would be easier to deal with if it got complicated.

"After the funeral people will come back here for the wake. I hope this is not too much on you." It was proper etiquette. "There is one other thing I must warn you about, regarding the funeral. Are you familiar with Spiritualism?”

Lily replied, "I understand. I will do my best to be proper during the wake. As for Spiritualism, I have only learned about it from texts. I have yet to meet anyone who does such things. Will it be a new threat?" Lily had a concerned look on her face.

"Not a threat. However, some Spiritualists have taken to attending burials of people they are not acquainted with. From what my father told me, they stay in the background, are quiet and respectful but it sometimes can be disconcerting to have random people show up to the burial that were not expected." Elizabeth explained. "Supposedly, it is a small group, in London, who does this. I am not sure why, it likely has something to do with their beliefs regarding the afterlife.”

Lily seemed a bit concerned by this and replied, "I see. That is concerning. What procedures would you take if an Eldren was having a funeral? I would like to avoid any additional concerns if possible.”

"Extra security," Elizabeth explained. My father has already requested it but we just needed to know if you wanted to allow the Spiritualists or not. Some people do, others do not. I can then tell my father you would like security to keep them from the burial. They will not show up for the wake as that is not what they are interested in.”

Lily thought for a moment then replied, "To be honest I know it is selfish of me to ask but I prefer to limit the attendees to approved family, friends and business representatives. I fear too many unknown people may cause too many problems for us. If they really want to pay their respects to my father they can visit his grave after all this is over.”

"That is more than understandable." Elizabeth responded. "I will let my father know."

She looked through the papers, "That was all I had for you but do you have anything you needed to talk to me about or any questions?”

Lily sighed and then pondered for a moment before tried to consider the best way to express her thoughts. She then replied, "To be honest I am nervous about meeting my father's other family. I know they are relatives, but I just found out about them so I really don't want to get my hopes up that we will get along. I am worried things could get troublesome if they are the greedy type. So I do take solace in your father's ability to handle this matter. To be honest I can't wait till this whole thing is over." Lily had a trouble expression on her face.

"We will make sure everything works out as best it can. Not many people challenge my father's word on such matters." Elizabeth knew it was a benefit of him being such a high nobel rank.

Lily agreed with Lady Elizabeth and worked out the fine details involving the funeral and wake. It was a delicate matter but since the Duke was handling it, Lily felt comforted that any backlash could be quickly and easily handled. Only a fool would challenge the Duke and it was very bad for business to cross him.