Love, Lies and Luck

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Lady Blake had always been a worrier. Widowed, with three sons and a wild daughter, few could fault her for it. However, the worrying lessened somewhat when she married mr. Blake, or should I say Lord Blake. Even in her late thirties and widowed, Lady Blake had held onto her beauty well.

"Henry stop fidgeting with your suit and Anna will you stop smirking. Calvin, why can't you be more like William. I should not have to tell my eldest son how to behave. Luke is the youngest and yet he is my only child who I never have to worry about."Lady Blake had been speaking in this manner since their carriage left London.

"For goodness sake Mother, stop worrying. Anna will stop smiling at whatever she is writing about, Henry looks fine so he will try to look more comfortable and I will act appropriately." Calvin stated exasperatedly.

Lady Blake visibly relaxed by this and thanked whoever it was who taught Calvin how to make people feel at ease so quickly.

On arriving, the family were escorted into the parlour where Lord Blake and his two daughters from a previous marriage, Amie and Beth, were waiting to greet them.

Amie Blake was a young lady of twenty, who prided herself on being called the beauty of the county. However, the Foresters, who were meeting these young ladies for the first time were sorely disappointed. Not only was Amie arrogant, but she also lacked intelligence and grace. Her beauty had also been slightly exaggerated, although her sister's was not.

Beth Blake was a pretty sixteen year old girl. She some intelligence and, like her sister, was accomplished in drawing, the pianoforte and sewing. Her coming out party had been scheduled for the following evening and the dressmakers were coming with dresses that night for the Ms. Blakes and Anna to choose from.

Lord Blake seemed like a lovely man and for Anna's sake, she hoped that at least one of his daughters inherited this quality from him.

"I do hope your journey was a pleasant one." He said while taking his new wife's arm to bring her to her seat by the fire.

“Allow me to introduce my children; Calvin my eldest, then Henry, and finally my twins Anna and William." They each slightly bowed as their Mother introduced them.

After some polite conversation about how their journey was, Lord and Lady Blake left to give the young people some time alone to get to know each other.

"Do you draw Ms. Forester. I see you carry a parchment book with you." Amie enquired seemingly innocently. "No Calvin is the artist in our family. I enjoy writing instead." Anna replied while jokingly pushing her brother's arm, which previously had been resting on the back of her chair.

"You write instead of draw? How odd that is. Surely you do not condone such a thing." Amie replied staring pointedly at Calvin and Henry. "Why of course we do. It would be a terrible thing should someone stop another from doing something they love." Henry exclaimed loudly. "Especially when the person in question is extremely talented." Calvin added. "Such a waste of talent that would be." William finished. Anna was blushing profusely by the time Luke finished. She hated when her brothers behaved as such.

Amie was quite shocked by this new development. She could not believe a woman of such grace, and beauty could partake in such a activity. "Well are you accomplished in anything else?" Amie asked, positive that she must be an accomplished lady

"I play the pianoforte and sing. Henry has also been teaching me foreign languages." Anna replied hoping to draw attention to her  brother's accomplishments instead of her own. "Really? How many languages can you speak Mr. Forester? Beth asked politely. Her voice was sweet and by it's quiet tone anyone could tell she did not speak in front of large gatherings often.

"I am fluent in French, Italian, German, Spanish and Russian." Henry replied changing his accent to suit the language in question.

They all laughed and passed their time in pleasant conversation about nothing really worth recording.