Authors Note: Hey all! Thanks for the comments! You flatter me as always :) Here is the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it. There is a lot of work setting up characters when you do AU and it is sometimes difficult, but really fun giving them a backstory that fits.
Please review for me, nothing would make me happier :) :D :)
Here is the first appearance of Gossip Girl... xoxo
A new season is upon us, dear readers, and with it some much needed intrigue. Welcome back to the Beau Monde from country estates and trips abroad, London has been dreadfully dull without you. When will the first scandal break, I wonder? I do not pretend to possess second sight, so I will pacify my excitement with some well placed guesses…
…The ever popular former Viscountess Van Der Woodsen has been strangely absent as of late. But, with their family's penchant for infamy, this humble lady can only wait eagerly for her return. Returning with her, her two children, perhaps? The young Viscount Eric Van Der Woodsen should be heading back to Eton. However, his sister Lady Serena is past due to come out this year. Reputed for her beauty and charm, Lady Serena might be this year's Incomparable. Of course, you have to overlook the family shames and concentrate on the pretty face.
Her cousin, Lady Blair, daughter of the late Earl of Waldorf and stepdaughter to Baron Rose, might not match Lady Serena in beauty but her double dowry more than reconciles the two…
…And what about the prime catches of the season, you may ask? This columnist has heard the elusive Duke of Bass may favor London ballrooms this year in search of his duchess! But, careful ladies, this duke has been labeled the worst kind of rake. His colorful exploits and conquests cannot be printed here for they are not for tender ears, or eyes.
Similarly, if his grace attends the whirl, his faithful friend the Marquess of Archibald may fall in step behind him to the altar. While his exploits may be tamer, keep your guard, rakes often travel in the same carriage. But, with their handsome looks and equally handsome fortunes, these two may prove irresistible. Do not say I did not warn you…
Society Pages 13 March 1817
Damn… Damn, damn, damn!
Blair repeated the blasphemy in her head until it became a chorus. She crumpled the paper between her fingers and tossed it on the breakfast table with an annoyed moan.
"What is it, dear heart?" Baron Rose asked his stepdaughter in a concerned tone while slicing into his ham.
"Forgive me, my lord, it is that insufferable gossip columnist again." She explained, reaching for the paper once more, jabbing an accusing finger at the passage, "She mentions my double dowry."
"It is not as if it is a secret. Any young lady would be lucky to possess one. It gives you the freedom to marry someone who will truly suit you." Cyrus gestured with his fork as he gave the reminder in his light, optimistic way.
She smiled at him apologetically. Blair really loved her stepfather, something she never thought possible after her father's death. Cyrus added to the dowry Blair's father had set aside for her, since he had no daughters of his own. He was such a good man, letting her into his life and his heart. They always took breakfast together when he was in town, for they were both early risers. Her mother could be abed for hours and if they waited for Eleanor to rise, they would surely starve.
"Pray forgive me again. I sound spoiled and unappreciative. I am aware of my good fortune. I would never pretend otherwise. It is just…" She paused her sad eyes leaving his understanding ones. "I fear that every degenerate gambler and fortune hunter will be clamoring for my hand. And I want…" She trailed off again, unable to complete such a revealing statement.
Yet Cyrus smiled knowingly at her, "It is understandable, dear hear. You want to marry for love."
She nodded with a resigned sigh, "Am I being naïve? I mean, to entertain the idea that I will meet someone I love and who loves me in return?"
"Some would say yes, however I found your mother so there must be some hope after all." He patted her hand in a comforting, paternal way and turned his attention back to his meal.
Blair was grateful, she did not want to discuss it further. Yet, that did not mean she could control her thoughts which stubbornly continued on the same topic. She wanted a love match. She freely admitted it, even if it was only to the baron and to herself. She understood that her goal could very well be unattainable. Love matches were rare, specially in the upper echelons of polite society. Most marriages were political or financial moves, connecting powerful families and more importantly, bloodlines.
Not that she didn't understand the importance of marrying well. She liked her life as a society darling. She loved the parties, the gowns, the attention. She was not that naïve. Wealth was also a significant factor, she liked her lifestyle. And not too long ago, she was unappreciative of her status and wealth. Yet, her life had changed, and she along with it. Her common sense hadn't fled however, she still knew that money, even though it didn't mean everything, meant something. Blair would never consider herself completely mercenary. She was simply realistic. A realist who wanted to fall in love, never was there a more accurate oxymoron.
It was true, that her mother and Baron Rose were madly in love. But, her mother and father had not been.
Her parents did grow to have affection toward one another and her childhood was splendid. She knew that it was their mutual love for her that bonded them more closely. Having only been blessed with one child, and a female at that, they knew the title would not be carried on by their efforts. Blair's father nevertheless poured so much love and devotion into her, his death was shattering. Since he had no sons, save his brief years with Eric, the earl taught Blair as if she were a son. Beginning with riding, fencing, and shooting and continuing on to the running of the estate. Her mother, never one to be outdone, doted on her equally. She concerned herself with all the feminine pursuits like etiquette, fashion and music. Consequently, Blair was well rounded and accomplished, though her less lady like talents would not be touted to society. Her parents wanted a full life for her and as a result, her childhood was brimming with love.
Still, her parents had never been in love with each other. Her mother grieved when the earl passed, certainly. He was her friend, her life's companion. Simply put, he was just not the love of her life. That honor went to Baron Rose two years after the earl's passing.
Blair thought she knew all the different ways two people could love each other, but she was wrong. Once she saw the Baron and his new Baroness together, she started to yearn. Suddenly, Blair wanted not only what her parents had, but what Cyrus and her mother had as well. She wanted to love her children as much as she had been and simultaneously love her husband the way her mother did her second. Maybe it was simply too much to hope for, too much for one person to want. But, now that she did want it all, she could not see herself settling for less.
"Thank you, Cyrus. I am going to have my ride now." She pecked his cheek as she passed. She needed to clear her head and riding, even if it was just in the park, was the perfect avenue to do so.
"Good morning for it, just remember to take a groom with you." Cyrus called out as she walked from the breakfast parlor.
"To the devil with her!" Charles shouted, slamming down the society pages onto the breakfast table.
"Hope I am not interrupting," Nate drawled from the entryway.
Charles' butler, Masters, had long given up on announcing the marquess when he entered the household. Nate knew it annoyed the elderly man something fierce, so he would sneak in at every occasion.
Charles glared at him, "I believe you have your own personal residence, do you not?"
Nate picked up a plate from the sideboard and began to fill it with eggs, "Indeed," he offered amicably, "but your cook is better skilled."
Charles grumbled an oath under his breath.
"What has you in such a dower mood today? And who exactly were you sending to the devil when I arrived?"
Charles waited until Nate was seated at his right with a heaping breakfast plate.
"This woman." he replied, stabbing the newspaper on the table between them.
"You actually read this?" Nate asked in a voice that was a cross between incredulous and entertained.
"Apparently so." Charles countered through clenched teeth, ungratified by his friend's inference.
Nate could be annoying to the extreme. He went through life very differently than Charles. Nate didn't carry the same childhood scars, he might have experience parental badgering, but never parental indifference. Still, Charles couldn't even be jealous. Nate was a good friend, a dependable companion. He was always up for a lark, but was there to help Charles out some of his worst scrapes. Many would call Nate charming, affable, good humored, but little else. Charles understood that his friend wasn't simply devil-may-care, he was supporting and solid. Truly, he was the only family Charles had ever known. He also had a talent for handling society. Nate could swan through a ballroom, do the pretty and leave in good cheer. I talent that Charles, decidedly, lacked.
"No need to get up in arms about it, man. It is not as if she said you cheat at cards or you plan on deflowering twenty virgins in the offing." Nate said with a shrug and irritating placidity.
Charles' jaw clenched again as he attempted to keep his temper in check, "You did not even read it yet."
"Yes I did, when I broke my fast at mother's."
Charles' eyes narrowed first on Nate's face then on his apparent second breakfast of the day, "So you read it too?"
"Mmm." Was his only reply since he had just added a spoonful of eggs to his mouth.
"And still you see no reason to send that meddlesome female to the devil?"
Nate swallowed his bite and remarked, "It is not as though her musings were a complete fabrication. You are looking for a wife and, like I told you before, you do have a reputation."
"I was hoping to conduct my search in a more circumspect manner. And surely you do realize that now I will be prevailed upon by every fortune seeking, title hungry female so frantic they will risk their reputations to trap me." Charles complained, giving up on his meal entirely, his appetite suddenly nonexistent.
"What does it really matter? You, yourself proclaimed that a convenient union was all you desired. Therefore, find one you can tolerate and be done with it." Nate suggested as he dug into his kippers.
Charles remained silent. He knew Nate was right, what did it matter? But, being a rake and being stamped as one in a London gossip rag were two very different things. A marriage of convenience was all he desired, true, yet all his life he had been sought after for his moniker and inheritance. People saw him as a blaggard, a useless dandy, that is unless you want a husband for your daughter. The hypocrisy never failed to astonish him. The whispers about his dubious character would be instantly forgotten if a marriageable female was in the room. All because he was a duke.
Now, he enjoyed the perks his circumstances allowed him and he recognized his privileged life was not to be taken for granted. But that was not all he was… right? Was it too much to want someone who might actually like him? Maybe so, since the ton now thought of him as this years most dangerous catch.
He did not aspire to love a wife, he refused to make himself vulnerable as his father had. Women were weak, they died at the drop of a hat. If you gave your heart to one of them, you would quickly find it next to her in a cemetery plot. So, he would endeavor to find a 'tolerable' woman as Nate put it. Unfortunately, the Beau Monde had always been in short supply of such a reclusive creature.