--

"There will be little rubs and disappointments everywhere, and we are all apt to expect too much; but then, if one scheme of happiness fails, human nature turns to another; if the first calculation is wrong, we make a second better: we find comfort somewhere..."

Mansfield Park

--

When Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell arrived unexpectedly at Vorash Hall in early June, he had expected only the open arms (and conveniently, open doors) of long treasured friends. What greeted him was, in fact, the enthusiastic welcome of a woman who desperately needed a distraction from her own melancholy.

Although Cameron certainly never would have wished such trying times upon the young woman whom he thought of as his own sister, it did admittedly occur to him that her current state of heartbreak could be particularly helpful in fulfilling several key points of his personal agenda in Gateshire.

His acquaintance with the Carters had begun a few years ago, when Jacob had happened to be his first training instructor. The two men had kept in touch even after Cameron had been transferred, and when he was back on British soil, he had been invited to stay at Vorash Hall. Perhaps Jacob had been hoping that his new star pupil would bond with his daughter—and in fact, he had, although probably not in the way Jacob may have liked. Cameron had instantly been attracted to Samantha as an engaging and intelligent best mate, with whom he could easily spend time, but there had never been any romantic inclination between them. When asked, he would have described Samantha as a much loved sister, and absolutely nothing more. Still, in many ways she had become his touchstone, a rock to turn to for advice when the world seemed like a particularly trying place.

This was perhaps the first time that their usual dynamic seemed reversed. He had come to Vorash Hall to seek Samantha's advice and counsel, when in actuality, perhaps it was she that could better benefit from a spot of friendship.

Then again, who was to say that they could not help each other?

Sitting in the parlor, drinking their customary pot of tea, Cameron carefully mulled over their current respective plights. He knew that the likelihood of Samantha sharing the particulars of her situation was slim to none, and short of being fully informed, the only cure for sadness that he knew of was distraction. Luckily, his particular needs could provide an ample one, all of which brought him to the present conversation.

"I suppose that you are wondering at the abrupt nature of my visit," Cameron finally stated, munching on a scone.

"Well, you do normally write before appearing on my doorstep," Samantha teased. "Not that your presence is ever unwelcome."

"Of course not!" Cameron laughed. "But I have to admit that I have more specific reason for this visit than an overwhelming desire to catch up with you, old friend. I do not recall if I wrote to you speaking about my recent promotion…."

"You did not, and I'm quite angry with you for it. Dad had to inform me on his recent return home. Congratulations, though."

Her good wishes were sincere and deeply felt, which provoked in Cameron a deep sense of achievement—there were few women who would understand the intricacies and difficulties that went into a military promotion, but Samantha Carter was certainly one of them. "Thank you. As you know, with this promotion comes a substantial rise in my income—one which now leaves me free to pursue interests that might otherwise be unobtainable. The chief of these being, of course…."

Samantha sighed, putting down her teacup. "You want to find Vala."

"Find her? Yes, I suppose that's a necessary part of the process. But ultimately, I want to marry Vala."

--

If Samantha Carter was generally considered a subject of public concern, then it would be fair to say that Vala Maldoran was one of public outrage. Despite what many saw as numerous flaws in Miss Carter's character, the entire population of Gateshire would easily agree that they were nothing compared to the downright hopeless case of Miss Maldoran's irretrievable good name.

Both women had been born rich and privileged, and strangely, it seemed to satisfy neither of them. While Samantha chose to take out her frustrations by enmeshing herself in the forbidden facts of an inappropriate education, Vala had chosen to express her discontent by purposely engaging in various forms of inappropriate behavior. As a young woman her sins had run the gamut from garish and practically painful honesty to lewd and even sinful conduct. Finally, at the age of sixteen, she had been sent away to a reform school, in the hopes of instilling within her some modicum of sense of what could be considered appropriate behavior.

For years, nothing was heard, which most everyone had considered a blessing. Finally, upon the advent of her graduation, she was invited into the house of her great uncle Langford for a summer visit. It was a well-known secret that the old man harbored hopes of encouraging an engagement between his niece and his adopted son Daniel, which would have had the convenient side effect of only increasing the family's concentration of wealth and power. While sparks had certainly flown when the two met, they were not the harbingers of a peaceful, happy, and prosperous union so much as they were the slightly dangerous indicators of an extremely volatile relationship. The pair certainly had a unique connection, but neither could seriously entertain the thought of a romantic one.

This had also happened to be the summer in which Cameron spent nearly two months at Vorash Hall, recovering his strength after a particularly vicious injury sustained in the heat of battle. While Daniel's attraction to Vala had been one of a strange sort of morbid curiosity, Cameron's had been a slow-growing ember of interest that all too soon flamed into something more. Both sincere and earnest in his attentions, Cameron had honestly intended to do right by Miss Maldoran, despite the vociferous objections from all sides. As Samantha saw it, this had left Vala in a somewhat uncomfortable position, trapped between relations who strongly opposed a match to an only moderately paid Major in the army and the future of spending her life with Daniel, which, while entertaining for the rest of the world, may not have been the most satisfying life. To make matters worse, Samantha had honestly believed that Vala had been attracted to Cameron as well, and the idea had frightened her—she was not the sort of woman with whom deep connections came naturally.

By August, she had obviously had her fill of the situation, and one evening had packed her bags to join a group of gypsies that had been passing through town. Personally, Samantha always thought it had been a brilliant escape—Vala had the sort of mind that was ideally suited for a gypsy's less-than-legitimate exploits. She had figured that Vala would be happier and Cameron would forget his affection, given time.

Of course, she had recently learned that some affection did not fade away, no matter how much one might wish for them to do so. As such, she was perhaps more sympathetic (and perhaps even a little sentimental) towards Cameron's plight than she elsewise might be.

"Marry her? You find that you are still that enamored with her, then?" she asked, uncertain of the correct response.

"Yes, quite. And since it now seems that her family has quite relinquished the idea of her entering into a marriage with Daniel—or really, anyone else of respectable background—I have more of a practical chance than I have had previously. The extra income does not hurt the situation, either."

All of these were good and valid points, but then, there was one other significant item he had neglected to mention. "But Cameron, I do not believe that the Maldoran or even the Langford family had ever been your most substantial challenge."

At this, he smiled, though Samantha could fathom no reason why he should. "You mean, of course, that Vala is not exactly the type to settle down and submit to marriage with anyone, despite her family's opinion."

"Well, you have to admit that she's extraordinarily strong-willed."

"You would recognize that!" he teased, an accusation that brought only pride to her features. "I do not wish to change Vala in any way—I am perfectly content to marry her as she is. Despite all of her many and varied objections, I do not believe that she shall be happy living such a solitary life for very much longer—she's much too social. I even think that she might find some appeal in establishing a home of sorts, as long as it was free of the restrictions that she finds so very binding to her existence. These are things I can offer her, as well as the fact that I love her quite in spite of—maybe even because of—her many…eccentricities. I even believe that I shall be able to provide her with some excitement now and again, if everything goes according to plan."

His declaration was sweet, in its own strange sort of way, and really, very practical—but then, she was used to hearing nothing but good sense from Cameron Mitchell. "Oh, so you have a plan then?"

"Of course I have a plan. I shall just need your help in carrying it out."

Intrigued despite herself, Samantha rested her chin her hand. "I'm listening."

--

The plan was, and always had been, deceptively simple. From what he knew of Vala's character firsthand and from what he had deduced in her relationships with others, she was an extraordinarily contrary sort of woman. While she could in no way be in doubt of his affections for her, his chances in actually securing a relationship were, in fact, very small. As evidenced by so many of her life choices, Vala was intrigued by what she could not have, not by what was plainly within her reach. When you compounded this trait with her somewhat substantial streak of pride, you were left with an interesting combination—a woman who did not want easily obtained attentions until they were no longer hers for toying with.

Her patterns of behavior persisted even when they put in jeopardy things that she might legitimately desire—like, as Cameron hoped, a real and defined relationship with him. He was not basing his hopes on his feelings alone—on several occasions last summer, there had been considerable evidence to illustrate that she was by no means as immune to him as she might wish him to believe. In fact, he attributed her genuine interest in him as a factor in her hasty decision to run away—when it came to dealing with real emotions, Vala's preferred method was to ignore them all together.

All of this he had taken into account when trying to determine a course of action. Once carefully thought over, it was the age-old simplicity of jealousy that he felt had the best chance of being an effective tactic against Vala's considerable defenses. The combined slight of the idea that someone could so easily toss aside what had been supposed to be violent feelings of love towards her with the apparent ardent attachment of her suitor to another woman might possibly be enough to contrive a situation that would most easily work in his favor.

Now he was faced with the task of convincing Samantha that this course of action was a permissible one. Typically, she was not the sort of person to engage in such complicated intrigues, being a great believer in the concept of straight-forward dealings. However, this was perhaps where her distressed mental state might factor in most advantageously.

"I want to carry out a bit of a farce for Miss Maldoran's benefit," he began to explain, choosing his words carefully. "I propose that we—speaking here, of course, of you and I—pretend to form a romantic attachment and even enter into an engagement. Granted, it would be nothing more than a pretense with which to draw Miss Maldoran back here, complete with her somewhat wounded pride and indignation."

His friend blinked, digesting this information. "Do you really think that will work?"

"Most likely, as long as we're thorough in our charade. Be sure to be seen around town, then after a few weeks place an announcement of the engagement in the paper…Word gets around, even to women on the verge of exile such as Vala. It would be in her nature to confront me if I am her true desire—if not, then at least I know for certain one way or the other."

This last point seemed to strike a chord with her, and finally she nodded. "Fine then."

Honestly, he had not expected to convince her with such ease. "Really? It would mean you'd once more appear to have had a fiancé only to lose him."

Though the fact was a serious one, it only drew her laughter. "I've already had the five—what's one more jilted lover? As long as I can inform my father of the fallacious nature of the engagement in order to avoid undue interest on his part, I don't see a problem."

Strangely now that he had obtained her approval, he felt curiously ill at ease about the situation. "Samantha—and you must forgive me for perhaps being a bit impertinent—but if this is going to put any modicum of your own happiness in jeopardy, then I can simply come up with another option."

Her smile was sad. "Cameron, I thank you for your consideration, but believe me when I say that had that been the case, I would have informed you."

She had not informed him of the specifics of her situation, but then knowing Samantha, it was doubtful that she ever would. Still, he would speak as plainly as he could without knowing the details. "There is no hope, then?"

"There is only the hope that my…preoccupation…will fade, given time."

From where Cameron sat, that response translated to no hope at all.

--

Though she had yet to take note of it, Jack's watch over Samantha Carter was vigilant, utilizing tactics as simple the occasional ride by her dwelling to ascertain the status of things and as complex as setting Walter to paying close attention to the gossip running rampant through town daily. So when he noticed that a new visitor had arrived at Vorash Hall as he passed by, he took no immediate concern.

It was Walter returned from town with more detailed news that his suspicions arose.

"Apparently, sir, the young Lieutenant Colonel is recently promoted and quite the intimate friend of the family. It is not unusual for him to stay several weeks at the Carter residence whether or not the General is there."

Perhaps a bit imprudent, but not entirely unheard of considering the many live-in servants and other appropriate chaperones. Thus far, he had heard nothing over which to be concerned.

"But there is some speculation as to his timing—with his latest promotion came a substantial raise in income."

A sinking feeling began settling deep within O'Neill's stomach, heavy and foreboding. The reasons were two-fold. Firstly, a rise in income meant that the supposedly innocuous family friend could now more than afford to support a wife in a fairly comfortable style. Secondly, there was something to be said for the idea that some men, once introduced to living with money, would always hunger for more—an appetite that could no doubt be satisfied by Samantha's considerable new dowry.

"Do many suspect him of having anything other than innocent intentions towards Miss Carter?"

This, Walter considered carefully. "There is a mixed opinion. Everyone acknowledges that despite her history, she is an exceedingly agreeable woman, and a decided attraction for any man—perhaps even more of one to a man who wishes to improve his connections within the Army. Still, he has been friendly with the Carters for many years now, and no whisper of romance has ever been uttered between them."

Suspicious timing then, but nothing that was as of yet condemning. "Walter, please continue to quietly suss out further information."

"Always, sir," the ever-helpful man replied. "Now, about these four letters that require a response…."

Impatience swelled in him at the thought of facing tedium like paperwork. "Surely you can handle those, Walter."

"…Of course, sir," came the exasperated reply before O'Neill once again found himself alone in the library, mind preoccupied with this recent turn of events. If Mitchell's intentions turned to the more romantic sort, the distant watch he had been keeping upon Miss Carter in order to preserve his own state of mind would no longer be sufficient to ensure her protection. This meant awkward run-ins and tense situations, both of which were sure to taint even the memory of the happy friendship that had once existed between himself and his comely neighbor.

Looking around the room, he felt a deep sense of discontent. He had intended to expand upon the science tomes within the library even further and make several improvements to the room itself as a wedding present to Samantha, had things between them ever progressed to such a level. He had even had formal plans drawn up, though he had planned to give her free reign to decide the details for herself. Now, this room held little joy for him, knowing that with things in their tense state, she was unlikely to even make use of her standing invitation to borrow a book from his thus far unused collection.

Not for the first time in the last few weeks, he cursed the stroke of ill-fate that had caused Jacob to seek his confidence at that precise moment in time. If perchance he had approached him but half an hour later, things would now be much more happily settled. Instead, he had been relegated to a position of dutiful watching, always keeping in close contact with the object of affections without ever being free to express them.

Sometimes, he wished that he was not the sort of man to worry about details like honor and duty. But had that been the case, then he should never have been even close to the sort of man that a woman like Samantha Carter deserved.