The Lady Who Left

II. A Mismatch and a Pact

Calan Haverston, Lord of Easton, was amongst the most eligible gentlemen in the Town. His father, Charles Haverston, the Lord of Carnfield, was one of the ten Town Leaders and would have been the Prime Minister if he did not step down eight years ago. The very mention of their name summoned respect and praise. In fact, their bloodline had been amongst the most fortunate. Well, until Calan and his brothers were born, in Cressida's honest opinion.

The brothers did nothing but spend their wealth going around the Town, engaging in trysts that the gossip section of the Town Herald was only happy to feast on.

But they were gentlemen, and two had titles in their names. Those were enough to make all mamas drag their daughters to balls or gatherings, always hoping that the Haverston brothers would grace them with their presence. It happened throughout the four social Seasons of the Town.

The Willowfair Season always opened the Town Leader Convention for the first three months of the year. The Wickhurst Season, the most vibrant and scandalous, started on the second quarter, then Sheills and Granville respectively for the rest of the year.

Tiny Town was the only city that did not host a convention. In fact, Tiny Town was primarily independent, but for political and economic reasons, it had to take part in all crucial decisions.

While all ten Leaders and the Prime Minister convene with the members of the House of Lords and House of Commons during the four Seasons, the schemes to leg-shackle every possible unmarried gentleman brew on the surface through countless balls, operas, and tea parties, all officiated by the desperate mamas and daughters. While the men decide the fate of everyone, the mamas try to manipulate that of their daughters and sons. Most often, they were more successful than the conventions themselves.

But the Haverston brothers were elusive. It was very rare to find the three brothers in the middle of a ballroom. The most common questions were always whispered around: Are they not in Willowfair for the Season? Were they at the Theobald weekend party? Then will they be present in the Wickhurst Season?

When word got out that the eldest brother, the Lord of Easton, was finally getting married, Cressida's life turned from slightly bearable to grandly horrid. Not only was she subjected to ire and envy, she was also the favorite example of the mamas as they wagged their tongues on the subject of seducing the Town's most elusive bachelors like the Haverston brothers.

That last bit was the most infuriating thing for Cressida. There was no seduction. There was not even a dance shared between her and the Lord of Easton, an opportunity most ladies of her standing would grab for a chance to brush their gloved fingers with a lord as their grand attempt at seduction. And to hear rumors such as having been caught in a tryst with Easton was outrageous! No such thing happened!

There was merely a secret negotiation between her father and Charles Haverston, both of whom had worked together as Town Leaders, and thought it best that their eldest should marry each other. Her father, Lord of Belverst, doubled her dowry, while his wife, Lady Eloise, promised that Cressida would sire the Haverstons as many heirs as they needed although she herself bore an only child and the said child was nowhere near to being called a son.

As pathetic as she found the arrangement to be, Cressida knew that to throw a tantrum was not only unladylike, but it would also only strengthen her parents' resolve to marry her off to Calan. She knew her mother was thinking she had caused them enough trouble.

She had been to countless balls, dressed in the best dresses that Willowfair could offer, and yet she had not received a single proposal for marriage.

Not that Lady Cressida was unpleasant to the eyes. In fact, she could make a few gentlemen turn to give her a second look. But she surrounded herself with an air of confidence that most men would not want for a wife.