To Gather All the Little Dragons

[Lord Daven St. Claire]

"Lady Marisa de Vere," Daven explained to Cecelia, "She is an orphan, but she is under the care of her Uncle, Lord Rupert de Vere, who happens to the Master of Intelligence." And a snake, for good measure, Daven was certain. "You may have seen her." Daven was about to go on to describe her appearance, but refrained from herself. His daughters did not need to hear him describing the more attractive attributes of Marisa.

The daughters, to his surprise, were taking this rather calmly. None of them seemed overtly upset, but he could tell they were also reserved. Julia had the most reservations and he knew exactly why she did. Hell, he even understood why she felt the way she did. A woman that was younger than two of his daughters coming in to the be Duchess of Twinport? "Yes. I'd like you all to meet with her. I am not ..." he paused, and then grumbled a moment.

"I am not going to rush into this," he promised each of them. "It is a considerable adjustment for everyone. I want to see if it even has a chance of working. If it does not and she truly upsets all of you, then I will call it off and be done with it." That and it gave Daven a chance to get to know Marisa all the better for watching how she handle his children. His daughters were the most precious people in his life, his true gems.

[Lady Julia St. Claire]

Her jaw tightened when her father spoke of courtship, confirming that his fascination with Marisa de Vere was taking a turn for the serious. Wisely, Julia continued silent, observing the faces and words of her sisters as they suggested a meeting with the young woman - girl, really - to better gain an impression of her. She was admittedly torn between astonishment that her father was genuinely considering taking Marisa as his wife, anger that he would dare seek to replace her mother, and apprehension that he did so in a desperate effort to gain the son denied him. None of that was voiced, her face deliberately smoothed into neutrality before her eyes scrutinized her father's face for the truth behind his words of calling it off. Unfortunately, it was not merely her choice in the matter; her three sisters had as much right and weight in this decision as she did.

Damn the entire thing.