Façade: Chapter 1

Engagement

Short Summary: Weary of all of her troublesome suitors, Kory Anders makes a proposition to her best friend, Richard: let us pretend that we are engaged… RobStar, BBRaM

Full Summary: In an age where people are frequently married out of social convenience, Kory seeks to marry for love. However, dilemmas stand in her way: troublesome suitors, a worried Galfore, and time…the inevitability of being too old to be considered marriageable. To thwart these suitors and buy herself a bit more time before Galfore becomes overly concerned about her prospects, she asks a friend, Richard, to pretend that they are secretly engaged.

"I would hate to do this to you now, especially when Galfore is away, but I have to depart from here for the next fortnight or so…on business, official business for Bruce." Richard Grayson looked apologetically to his companion, Kory Anders, expecting to see some sadness or perhaps disappointment at this announcement. However, he was quite surprised to see that she displayed no exclamation of shock or sorrow and merely looked contemplative as she sipped the remainder of tea within her cup.

"Forgive me for my lack of emotion at present- I have had a most unpleasant morning and am quite expended emotionally, but I am sorry that business calls you away. I shall miss you dearly." With a sigh, she paused, imagining how absolutely entrapping the next few weeks without Richard would actually be.

Her sister, newly and proudly married, Kom Anders or rather Mrs. Roy Harper, was coming to stay at the manor with her new husband in the next week. Kom was no doubt visiting so soon, before she had the chance to properly explore all of the Harper property, so that she could so very maturely rub it in Kory's face that while she was happily married, Kory remained single, and in the current situation, it appeared that she would remain single for quite a while. Although all of Kom's letters had been filled with the typical displays of sisterly love and concern ("My darling little sister dear, how are you coping with my recent marriage and my departure from Tamaran Hall?"), beneath the florid civilities, it was clear that Kom was imminently concerned that her sister was not yet keeping anyone company. At Kory's present age of five and twenty, Kom already had several prospective suitors, all of whom, suited her manners so well that she could have chosen to marry any of them and been completely content. Kom, in the end, of course, chose to marry the wealthiest of her suitors- Mr. Roy Harper, who was sociable and pleasant, but in Kory's humble opinion, he had deficiencies when it came to judging others' characters, especially since he, who had been considered one of the most eligible bachelors of their province, had chosen to marry, of all people, her sister.

It wasn't that no one was interested in Kory; Galfore (who, being childless, after her parents' deaths had raised her and Kom as his own), who was also growing increasingly concerned of his favorite godchild's marriage prospective, had seen to it that she had suitors, although hardly any of them were truly fit to be marriageable. Kory had treated them all civilly, but frankly, the eligible bachelors were too old, too pompous, too dull, or worse of all, a combination of all three faults. Yet, since she loved Galfore deeply, she hadn't the heart to tell him that many of the suitors whom he encouraged on were not to her liking.

And of course, there was the issue with Richard. She would not have minded if he'd shown interest in her, but given the current situation, they were merely friends, but close, even best friends at that. He was her first friend after Galfore had decided to raise her and her sister as their official guardian. They had met when she moved into the city abode, which they dwelled in for the majority of the year. They became fast friends immediately as he showed her around the city and taught her of the more intricate details of the expected mannerisms in polite society. They parted briefly when Galfore decided, and continued to do so annually, to reside in their country estate, Tamaran Hall, during the spring and the summer. Kory had thought that she was to be parted from her dearest friend Richard for several weeks when it was happily discovered that Mr. Bruce Wayne, Richard's guardian, possessed a country manor near theirs (about ten minutes by carriage).

Thus, the two friends spent enough of their time together that, as they grew older, they aroused the speculation of many that they were lovers. Of course, their guardians, Galfore and Bruce were not the nosy sort to force relations; they were the sort that believed that relationships should be only on the terms of the two persons involved within them. Although Kory believed that Galfore had sincerely hoped that her friendship with Richard would develop into something more, the friendship that they kept remained static, and since no blatant sparks of attraction were shown despite all of the time that they did spend together, Galfore eventually gave up and began nudging Kory to find a suitable husband by inviting bachelors to call, rather frequently.

All that had ever transpired between her and Richard on a romantic level had occurred when they were still children. On a cold winter's night as they followed the adults home after a long, dull ball, they had lagged slightly behind. Half asleep from exhaustion (resulting from the late hour in which they were out) and boredom (for the ball had been terribly dull, full of adults dancing and little entertainment for children), she had little energy to devote to walking, and thus, Richard had to loop his arm around hers and drag her along or they would be left behind. The adults had quickened their paces as a result of their great desire to return to the warm comfort of their hearths.

She shivered as they continued walking, and soon found, to her great surprise that Richard had taken off his jacket and draped it around her. She recalled protesting that he would probably be cold now, but he merely shrugged and declared it to be a gentleman's duty. Although she argued that he was hardly a gentleman yet, he merely grinned and led her forward, all the while their arms linked and interlocked.

It was completely impulsive… Upon nearing her door, she began to return Richard's jacket, and as she turned about and tried to untangle herself from the sleeves of his jacket, she felt a spark of warmth upon her cheek. She believed herself to have imagined it all for it was so brief, but seeing Richard's expression, his face burning a scarlet red, confirmed it for her. And before she could meet his eyes, questioning, he grasped his jacket from her and ran off after Mr. Bruce Wayne. The day afterwards, they had vacated the city…she wouldn't see him again until the next summer, and by then it not only would have been too long ago to broach the subject without causing awkwardness, but Richard was in such a stage that romance with girls were deemed as rather "icky".

A pleasant memory indeed…but memories alone could not save her from a few weeks of her sister's company without the comfort of Richard. There were, of course, other friends in the area: Miss Raven Roth, Mr. Garfield Logan, and Mr. Victor Stone were among those closet to her in relation, but as the circumstances were, it was socially difficult for her to visit Garfield or Victor. Being unmarried and unengaged, she could not visit her male companions without a proper chaperone. Galfore or her sister would have served as fine chaperones for her, but unfortunately, Galfore was gone for the next few weeks on trading business and her sister did not much care for Garfield or Victor's company and would prefer to instead, visit her own friends in order to show off her new husband.

There was still Raven for comfort, and Kory could easily visit her without social inhibitions. Unfortunately, though, when Kom was paying her visits, social callings would primarily be done to her liking, since she was the guest and Kory, as hostess, would need to ensure her happiness. Kom liked Raven even less than Garfield or Victor, dismissing her as uninspired and too quiet for her tastes, and would, of course, not willingly pay her frequent visits. Given the usual circumstances, Raven would still be welcome to visit Kory (thus providing her an escape from Kom's company), and although they lived near one another (twenty minutes by horse), Raven was in no shape to travel. She had injured herself, sprained her ankle just the past week. Since Kory still had a few days time before Kom's inevitable arrival, she planned to spend as much of it as she could afford visiting Raven and keeping her company as she recovered from her injury. The details of her injury, as Raven had tersely hinted to her in a brief note, were quite interesting, and Kory was eager to hear of them.

"Kory?" Richard asked her inquisitively as a look of concern crossed his features. "Should I go? You seem rather distracted."

"I am most sorry; I was merely contemplating how I could minimize the time that I must spend in Kom's company when she visits."

"I'm sorry about the timing of this trip; if Bruce had not been busy with his present case, I wouldn't have needed to help him with this-"

"There is no need to apologize, Richard." Her tone indicated that she felt guilty for burdening him with her concerns, but enthusiasm quickly touched her voice when she asked him of his present business. "But tell me, what sort of case is Mr. Wayne involved with?"

It was commonly known that Bruce Wayne was well connected with Duke Gordon; they were friends and frequently visited one another. Consequently, Wayne's other adopted son, Timothy Drake, was married to his daughter, Barbara; they were currently traveling around the world, tending to Mr. Wayne's trading ports in faraway nations. Richard had often expressed his desire to travel around the world and trade as his younger "brother" did, and it was agreed that the two would switch positions once Tim returned from his travels. He would tend to the Wayne's trading empire, while Tim would tend to the Wayne estates. Richard was excited of this prospect, but did dread Bruce's warning that if ever he desired to marry, he needed to do so before he began traveling, for Tim had been away at sea for eight years, and when he returned from overseeing trading, he would be a bit past the marriageable age, even for men.

It was, however, not commonly known that the duke oftentimes provided Mr. Wayne with tasks and missions…odd ones that the duke had been asked to take on by others who asked for his help in secrecy, usually out of fear of embarrassment. The duke had several other duties to attend to on a daily basis and hadn't the time for everyone's commissions, but because he was a generous, kind-hearted man, he could not cope with leaving these clandestine tasks and requests unattended. Thus, he employed Bruce's help in accomplishing many of these tasks.

This time, as Richard described to her, Bruce was on a more serious and difficult mission. Although Bruce refused to divulge much information, Richard reasoned that it was perhaps a murder or kidnapping for how deeply grave Bruce had been whenever asked about the current task at hand.

"You have not yet told me though, what Mr. Wayne has allotted to you this time. I am most curious and eager to help, if I may be of assistance."

"My case…" He chuckled slightly out of the amusement of his situation and partially, perhaps, out of a bit of disappointment on how comparatively mundane his case was for his laugh was not completely infused with mirth. "It's far less exciting. I'm supposed to find a newly eloped bride by the name of Catalina Moth, daughter of the eccentric physician, Dr. Moth, who has a fetish for insects. Miss Moth…or shall I say Mrs. Catalina (because Dr. Moth didn't provide the name of the groom) secretly married one of her father's assistants and ran off with him because her father hadn't seemed to approve of the marriage; now he regrets his harshness and wishes for someone to find and retrieve his daughter."

"How very much the scandal, Richard. Pray, do not say more, for my weak, womanly body is feeling fairly faint." Kory feigned an impression of her sister, who was known to adhere very stringently obedient of the social standards.

Richard chuckled good-naturedly. "I'm sorry Mrs. Harper, I hadn't expected your arrival yet. Should I go find your smelling salts?"

"No…I shall allow you to do nothing of the sort. Only my husband, whom I recently married, who has in his possession five estates and a yearly income of fifteen thousand pounds, or another female shall have the liberty of retrieving my smelling salts." Kory paused a moment, as she quelled her giggles. "And I for one, am shocked that you would to retrieve my salts for me; I, a married woman!"

She could no longer maintain Kom's manner of speech as she gave in, completely, to laughter. Richard joined in, and perhaps, the pair of them was a bit far too loud for in a few moments one of the servants, an old nursemaid of Kom's who arrived in the room to take away their finished tea tray looked disapprovingly upon Kory and muttered a stern, "Well at least your sister was sensible enough to be married when she was wanted."

Upon the servant's departure, Kory arose and shut the only door to the room quietly behind her. "I shall thank her later for allowing us the excuse to have some more private conversation." She looked as if she were immersed in thought for a moment again before she continued speaking. "I have decided that I shall relay to you the events that occurred this morning before I ask a great favor from you."

Richard nodded and his brows furrowed in slight confusion and concern as he saw a rare frown cross Kory's usually cheerful face. "Of course, Kory."

"If I may ask, I understand that Mr. Wayne, like Galfore, was never one to push…erm…" She paused searching for the correct way to phrase the issue upon her mind without adding to the already awkward area of conversation that she was about to broach. "That is to say…has Mr. Wayne been slightly more…adamant, so to speak, about the issue of marriage in more recent times?"

To this, Richard looked pensive for several moments as he recalled the last few encounters he had with Bruce over the past few weeks. Their conversations were terse, especially as of late since Bruce was busy with the duke's current task, both merely stating what needed to be said, both careful that they weren't wasting words for Bruce was taciturn by nature, and within his presence, Richard fell quiet as well. If they did have any personal conversation (their talks usually dealt with business) at all, it mainly regarded Richard's upcoming job switch with Tim, which was now confirmed to occur in about a year's time, whether he felt up to being at seas and in foreign lands for a great majority of the next few years. They'd mainly talked of the differences in manners that he would need to employ while bargaining with foreigners…Bruce's past experience in Portugal, which was surprisingly filled with amusing anecdotes…different languages and phrases that he had to master. He truly didn't notice any hints toward matrimony until Kory had questioned him…Bruce had in fact been subtly asking him if he was absolutely certain that he wanted to go through with the job switch…if he was certain that he could afford to spend up to a decade abroad whilst his fleeting youth dissipated.

"Richard, you do not have to respond if you do not wish to. I am afraid that I was too forward in my-"

"No, it's fine Kory…I was trying to be honest with my response. It's odd, but you're right…Bruce has hinted at the issue of marriage far more often than in the past. I suppose it had to do with my going abroad next year. Why do you ask?"

"You see, Richard…" A dim blush of embarrassment began spreading across her face as her voice wavered slightly. "Someone proposed to me this morning…"

At this Richard, who was frequently able to maintain perfect composure, goggled her and exclaimed in a rather disheveled and shocked tone. "Someone what? You're serious?" Kory nodded, but before she could amend her words and calm his worries, words spluttered vibrantly from his mouth as he, clearly distressed, stood up and began pacing around the room. "But I…I thought that you had always wanted to marry for love."

"How do you know that I was not in love with the man who proposed to me today?" As she approached him, a faint smile crossed her lips; it was cruel of her to keep him from the entire truth for so long, but she could not help to be amused by Richard's behavior.

"I…well, considering the fact that we have known each other for so long, I would have thought that you would have mentioned him once or twice if you were indeed in love. I still cannot believe that you, of all people, would agree to-"

Placing a comforting hand upon his shoulder, Kory interrupted him. "And you are precisely correct, my friend…I refused him…in fact, rather vehemently, though I do regret being so harsh now. I assure you though…you shall find his proposal most humorous." Her smile faded slightly as she looked directly into her friend's cerulean eyes. "All of this though has made me realize how deeply endangered I-we are of being forced into a marriage of social and economic convenience, which is why I must ask you of this favor. You may find it odd and inconveniencing, but I do have my reasons for it."

"All right Kory, let's hear it."

"I…my request is this…let us pretend to everyone else save for a few trustworthy friends that we are secretly engaged. My proposal today was easy and perfectly reasonable to refuse, but I fear that, someday soon, I may, perhaps be given an unwanted proposal that I cannot so readily reject. I do not wish to be forced into marriage with one whom does not have my heart."

Richard nodded and a most serious expression grazed his features. "Ah…I see." And they remained for several moments more in an awkward, uneasy silence. In her mind, Kory cursed herself for being so rash and daring to be bold. Yes, Richard was indeed a close childhood friend, but social civilities must be obliged in some form or manner, even amidst their informal tête-à-têtes. Her request of pretending that they were in some sort of relationship clearly crossed the boundaries of decent behavior even among close friends. She should apologize. Profusely.

Yet, before she could begin to form a proper apology, he spoke up. "Kory, could you explain it to me again…if we pretended that we were engaged, it would, of course, rid you of all of your suitors. But what purpose would a secret engagement accomplish?"

Richard spoke evenly and calmly as if it were just a matter of a complex business arrangement, so she could not gauge his thoughts, his feelings on her request. "I…well, a false, open engagement would be a rather difficult matter to successfully handle; it could backfire and accidentally become a permanent arrangement. If some of my suitors were to inquire further by asking Galfore of the matter…it would be most complicating. Whereas, if we were…if we merely acted as if we were somehow secretly engaged, we will not be held liable."

He nodded, agreeing, as she continued to explain. "That is to say, if we were to act as if there was something clandestine happening between us and people were to inquire further into the matter by asking us, we are both to neither deny nor confirm their allegations. Soon, the rumor will spread to undesired suitors, and we, or at least I, will be free of them. Galfore, and likely Mr. Wayne, will be led to believe (even if we deny these rumors in front of them) that we are indeed somehow involved in a courtship, and it will cease their worries on our matrimonial prospects."

"We shall, of course, end this façade once one of us encounters someone whom we may desire to court. Since we would have neither denied nor confirmed a secret engagement, it will simply be a matter of misunderstanding on everyone else's part. Therefore, there will be few lasting consequences." Her voice tapered off as she finished explaining the entirety of her proposal. Had she spoken too long? Described far too many details of her request?

"Kory, I think I need some time to think about this…"

"I am most sorry…I have burdened you most unnecessarily-"

"No, don't worry about it. I'll benefit from it as well…it's a pretty well thought out plan, though if we do decide to go through with this, we need to think of some way to unconvince those who we previously convinced that our relationship is purely platonic." He smirked, and Kory drew a breath of relief; she hadn't insulted him with her request. "I think I'm in the mood for an anecdote though, so tell about that marriage proposal this morning. Who asked?"

"I do feel a bit guilty now in revealing his name…"

"Allow me to guess then, so I can properly envision what occurred. The rector?"

A surge of mirthful appall crossed Kory's face. "Richard! The rector has twice been widowed and is nearly old enough to be my grandfather!"

"General Val-Yor, the esteemed bachelor who swore never to marry until he encountered you."

"His heart was set on a deal from Galfore!"

"Mr. Roy Harper."

"Richard! He is married to Kom!" Although Kory was openly frustrated by all of Richard's increasingly ludicrous guesses, her exasperation bated upon a suppressed laugh from him. "Kory, you are hilarious when you get riled up."

Pouting, she uttered a "I…oh Richard, that was a most terrible guise to incense me."

"And now you know precisely how I felt when you delayed the news that you hadn't accepted the marriage proposal. We're even."

"I suppose that it will take you all afternoon to guess who the wishful fiancé was, so I shall provide you with his initials. C.F."

"C.F…you don't mean the chubby man who's always at the theatre, do you?" Richard was clearly very surprised at this.

She nodded. "The very one."

"How are you even acquainted with him? I've always just thought that he had no interest in anything outside of the theatre."

"He is also apparently quite interested in wealth and family heritage…" And thus, Kory began relaying her relations with C.F. to Richard.

Kory was an optimist when it came to the merits of others, and her initial behavior towards C.F. displayed every bit of her belief that everyone, no matter how eccentric they behaved, deserved to be treated kindly and politely. How they had met was an accident…

Kory, Kom, and Galfore had decided to spend an evening at the theatre, and they happened to have a seat near where C.F. The play they had watched that evening, the Gothic Play to End All Other Gothic Plays-the sequel, was quite terrible both in plot and in its execution, and Kom didn't bother to restrain her utter contempt for it. C.F. apparently especially loved this particularly play and openly engaged in a heated argument with Kom about the matter. Feeling somewhat sorry for him as Kom began snidely insulting his slightly unkempt appearances, she had attempted to end the disagreement by telling Kom to stop berating him and apologizing to him about Kom's behavior. It was only then that he had even acknowledged her presence, and he asked her what she thought of the play, to which, she responded politely but ambiguously with a "It was rather interesting…"

He seemed to have taken her response as a compliment and a display, on her part, of her desire to know him more, so he began to visit her weekly, on Sundays, for precisely half an hour, when the theatre closed early. Hoping that he might provide some entertaining company, she conversed with him.

Kory, however, began finding that C.F. was rather pompous. Every time he visited her at the manor, he acted as if she should be absolutely honored that he was spending time away from his plays to see her. He criticized nearly everything about her abode ("The cushions you have for your chairs are far too soft. Why, at the theatre, I only sit on cushions that the play house has guaranteed meets the standard quality of good cushions as described eloquently by the Cushion master in the play The Cushion Vigilante."), the snacks he was treated with ("Did you know that at the theatre, you can get crumpets far crunchier than these?")…In fact, he spent most of his time complaining and criticizing everything that wasn't from the theatre. Although Kory began to avoid him and subtly hint that the servants were all getting quite irritated with his behavior, he never seemed to notice and seemed to increase his reprimands. She wanted to be a civil acquaintance for him because he didn't seem to have any acquaintances outside of the characters within the plays, but she began the worth of her endeavor as his conversations became increasingly one-sided. She could hardly ever get a word in, and whenever she did have the rare opportunity to voice her opinion, it was driven down by an opinion that a play's character had-far more eloquently stated, as he would add. Surprisingly, though, it wasn't until his marriage proposal that Kory truly became infuriated with him.

It began innocently enough in the morning: he surprised her by visiting her on a Wednesday morning, though he seemed to have decided to harp upon all of her faults.

"Kory…you know, you aren't as pretty as the characters as I envision them in the plays that I read. In fact, I think your sister is somewhat prettier than you, although I think that even with her looks, she'll have difficulty getting married." She wasn't vain and could stand an insult against her looks.

"I don't think that you're as well read as you could be, but you aren't to be blamed. It's the heritage that runs through you. Being merely an adopted child to a well off family doesn't mean that you have inherited all of the knowledge that your guardian has (like in that play The Letter: The Story of My Family from An Adopted Child's Stationery Part III), and it must be especially difficult for you when your parents who left you orphaned, I, with my great knowledge of plays, assume, were probably not that smart or well-mannered. This is all to say that I have come to a decision." Kory barely heard his last words, as she was growing increasingly irritated. The jabs at her intelligence were unkind, but insults hurled at her parents were clearly unfounded. As she was about to politely ask him to leave her, he started munching on a biscuit and began speaking while crumbs dribbled down his shirt.

"You should feel honored at this moment…" C.F. paused as he went and picked up another biscuit and promptly stuffed it into his mouth. "I want you to marry me, so that I can correct your many faults and short comings."

"Pardon?" Kory's mouth dropped open from shock…all of his unkind criticisms of her were merely precursors to a terribly put marriage proposal. His pompous proposal was what a girl needed to hear to feel oh so special and so very loved…honestly…

"I know that you must be so honored at this moment that I have chosen to marry you, but hang on, don't get over excited yet. I have a critical question to ask of you, before we proceed to actually go through the formalities of marriage. How much is your dowry?"

He couldn't be serious; that he expected her to feel flattered after that mess of a proposal? Upon seeing the smug, overwrought expression plastered upon his face though, Kory thought she was perfectly right to be furious with him- he was so self absorbed that he was able to convince himself that she would kneel down and beg him to marry her after such an indelicate proposal and such an improper question. Coolly, she replied, lying. "A mere fifteen thousand pounds…a year."

Clearly surprised by her dowry, a greedy smile crossed his face. "That's wonderful. Let's say that we get married the first week of March when the theatre has a break-"

She, however, interrupted him. "I am not yet finished. I am sorry if I have led you to believe that I may have wished to marry you; I have no intentions now or ever of marrying you."

"Kory, you are merely nervous right now." And he continued on rambling plans for the wedding, which she was solely responsible for planning, as if he hadn't heard her clear refusal. "I have bestowed upon you an honor-"

"You have not heard a word that I was saying. I do not wish to marry you. Please, kindly leave right now. I can show you to the door." At this, he had finally begun to take her serious, and as he tried voicing how deeply mistaken she was in refusing his proposal she merely strode over to the front door and opened it.

"He was really out of line wasn't he?" Richard remarked mirthfully as she finished her anecdote. "The next time I'm seated near him in the theatre and there's a terrible play onstage, I'll be sure to insult him for you." He added, as words of comfort.

"I thank you Richard."

"And now, if I may ask Kory…how much are you worth so that when someone asks and we are pretending to be secretly engaged, I would be able to give an accurate estimate?" He smirked as he stopped speaking.

It took a brief moment for her to realize the significance of his words that he would go through with her request, and the moment she understood, she quickly wrapped her arms around him in one of her friendly backbreaking hugs. "Richard! You are a most wondrous-" The moments he began to return the hug, both were interrupted by the arrival of the same servant who had come into the room earlier. They broke apart quickly as the servant gazed, eyebrows raised, at Richard and then at Kory. "A calling card for you ma'am."

Kory thanked the servant as she left and turned over the card. It was from C.F. She giggled as she read his note. Curious Richard peered over and began reading over her shoulder.

Because I cannot afford to lose the fifteen thousand pounds a year that you are worth, I shall ask you to again, reconsider my proposal.

C.F.

"Well, he certainly is very considerate of your feelings." Richard observed.

Kory nodded, and folding the card over, she tossed it directly into the fire. "Richard…I cannot thank you enough for being such a wondrous friend. I suppose our façade, though, will be easier to keep up now than we anticipated…"

AN:

Man…I definitely did not intend to make this chapter so long. I sincerely hope no one was bored to death by the end of it lol.

C.F. is supposed to be Control Freak (he'll only make a brief cameo in this chapter); I couldn't think of a way to make his name seem more appropriate for the era…so hence the initials. He's erm quite OOC, but I think I was trying to adapt him to the times…liking theatre instead of TV/movies. C.F. proposal scene inspired by Mr. Collins's proposal to Lizzy in Pride and Prejudice.

In terms of the summary, I wasn't sure if I should immediately brand this as an AU (although it clearly is one) on the summary page since AU, I've heard, turns off readers? I haven't, however, seen any regency era fics in the TT section, and I thought it would be fun to do a sort of "corset" era piece. I will try my best to make this fic avoid the cliché.

What will hopefully happen in this story (college is starting again quite soon and I'll be getting busy again), although it will be centered around Starfire, the other titans, Robin, Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg will also all have a good chunk of the plot dedicated to them. Other characters that will be featured include Slade, Malchior, Bumblebee, Jinx, Kid Flash (although he won't exactly be a kid in this fic.), and Terra. As of now, I'm planning to have two major "mysteries" for Richard and Kory to solve (the tasks from Duke Gordan). The first task, as described in this chapter, is simply to find Kitten who recently eloped with her husband and bring her back to her father. I'm estimating that the first task will not take more than five chapters. The second task is far darker and more of a mystery; the rest of this fic will evolve around it. It begins as a search for a few missing people that turns rather amiss. Part of Raven's and part of Beast Boy's role in this story will be made quite clear in the next chapter.

Anyhow, after an excessively long series of notes, this probably contains historical mistakes...most of what I know from the era is from reading Jane Austen/Bronte books/AP Lit class. Hope no one is too OOC so far.

I am open to suggestions for improvement, as always. Please review, flame, critique, comment, etc!