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Silk & Scandal
Smashwords Edition
Copyright © 2013 by Cassandra Dean
ISBN: 978-1-61333-518-5
Cover art by Scott Carpenter
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Silk & Scandal
The Silk Series – Book One
By
Cassandra Dean
~Dedication~
To Lucy Clark, my F4E, CP, etc, etc, so on and so forth,
To Wednesday coffee and finishing each other’s sentences. To Sovereign Hill and Top Secret Super Special projects. To obsessing about Doctor Who and Joss Whedon, to forgetting to blog and to do your mum’s articles, to koeksisters and mineral water and awesome fun times.
You’re the bestest, F4E.
-CD
Prologue
Hong Kong, 3 March 1838
Dear Mr. Cartwright,
Oh, how formal that sounds! I fair cannot write such without wanting to laugh. I believe I shall address all correspondence from now on as “Dear Thomas”, and be d***ed to propriety! (I have censored this word, Thomas, for I do not wish you to EXPIRE upon the spot.) No doubt you shall scold me for such an address, but you are on the other side of the world and far enough away that I should do as I like and you can have NO say in it.
No, I jest. Of course you have a say, dearest friend. Even from the other side of the world.
I miss England, Thomas, and I miss our talks over the backyard wall. Tell me, how goes your clerking for Lord Harry? And how are Lord Harry and Lady Millicent? Have you received your scholarship yet? Has Cambridge accepted you? Oh Thomas, I have a million questions and must wait MONTHS for their answers. But, the most important questions are for you. How are you, Thomas? Are you well and happy? That is, as well and happy as you can be, seeing as you no doubt miss me DREADFULLY.
Finally, and perhaps most important of all—how is our wall? Has the wisteria yet bloomed?
Yours in exile,
Nicola
***
London, England, 10 September 1838
Dear Lady Nicola,
The wisteria bloomed two months ago. Our wall is looking rather festive, draped in small purple flowers. I must say, it is odd looking over the wall and not seeing your face. Tell me, do you still wear that smudge of dirt, or was that solely a London fashion?
Answers to your questions: Well. Well. Yes. Not yet. And I don’t miss you at all. How could I, when you pepper me constantly with letters? Honestly, Nic, I’m beginning to think you, and you alone, are keeping the Royal Mail in service.
As for my studies, I have applied to Lincoln’s Inn in the First Official Step to Becoming a Barrister (capitalized to stress its import). I should hear word regarding my application soon. Cross your fingers for me, Nic, for you always did have the devil’s own luck. How else should you still be alive at the advanced age of seventeen and three quarters?
Yours, etc.
Mr. Cartwright
PS Note the correct address? You would do well to adhere to such.
***
Hong Kong, 28 February 1839
DEAREST THOMAS,
For your impertinence, I shall be very informal indeed. Oh, you are so very vexing! Do you truly believe you have some sort of superiority, simply because you are ALMOST twenty years of age? I should like to know what the difference is between us. Next to nothing, I imagine.
Hong Kong continues to defy all my expectations and remains quintessentially boring. How can such a vibrant culture continue to elicit such apathy? Most likely it is because I am confined to the British quarter. Honestly, Father will not let me venture farther than ten feet from its borders. It is beginning to annoy me greatly.
Please extend my love to Lord Harry and Lady Millicent. And, of course, I wish you the very greatest of luck in your application to Lincoln’s Inn. Crossing my fingers for you…now!
Yours, etc.
Lady Nicola Fitzgibbons
PS See? I can be formal when required.
***
Trinity College, Cambridge, 1 August 1839
Dear Nic,
And I can be informal, if required.
As you can see from my address, I am studying at Trinity College. Cambridge is quite a change from London, but I am enjoying myself immensely. There is much to do on campus, not the least of which is, of course, my studies.
However, it is not all books and learning. I have made acquaintance with several lads studying law, and we often find ourselves at a local pub, The Haversham Arms. Arthur and I watch in amusement as another lad, Hiddleston, argues with a girl whose sole purpose seems to be to irritate him.
Have I mentioned Arthur before? You would like him, Nic. He seems reserved and staid, but that is only a cover for sly wit and a brain set for deviousness.
During breaks in term, though, I return home. Last break, Lord Harry and I undertook a tour of Lincolnshire, as he represented various landowners in legal matters. It was quite illuminating, and I hope we shall do so again next break.
I hear you are demolishing hearts left, right, and center. Perhaps it is you should consider discretion? I only suggest this as I am concerned some may not be as forgiving. I mean, I know you don’t mean half what you say, but others have a distressing tendency to take one’s words at face value. When tales of the scandal one has caused reaches all the way from Hong Kong to London, it may be time to question one’s actions. Perhaps it is you should restrain yourself? Just a suggestion, of course.
Thomas
***
Hong Kong, 19 July 1840
Dear Thomas,
Well, it appears I have done it again. The Scandalou
s Lady Nicola, that’s what they whisper here of me, when they think my back is turned and I cannot hear.
But Thomas, I ask you, can I help it if two gentlemen see fit to duel over me? You may be assured I did not lead them on, no more than any other girl here. Perhaps I danced with each more than was seemly, and I may have shown a little more affection than was wise, but they both should have known there was nothing in it. They, as I, saw fit to relieve the unmitigated boredom that is the British quarter in Hong Kong.
Honestly, Thomas, you would think this exotic part of the world would be full of excitement and adventure, but it is not. It’s exactly like London, only there is no Thomas-over-the-wall to alleviate the mind-numbing tedium.
Please write soon, dearest friend. Tell me all of your studies, and your adventures at Trinity College, and your friends, and what is happening with that case you wrote of in your last letter. And, most especially, tell me more of this girl. Who is she? Does she occupy your time? What are your thoughts on her? Do you think her pretty? Do you—
I am sorry. ’Tis none of my business. Please write. I need SOMETHING to occupy my time.
Nicola
***
London, England, 25 December 1840
Dear Nic,
Merry Christmas! Season’s greetings and wishes for both you and Lord William, from me, Lord Harry, and Lady Millicent.
So…what’s this I hear of you miring yourself in scandal once more? What happened to the somewhat measured Nic I knew? Or the one who declared she would change the world, were her father to travel overseas? Nic, your father has his diplomatic mission, but perhaps you should wait for the new year before tackling such a lofty task.
While we are speaking of it, why must your scandals involve members of the opposite sex? Perhaps, if you’re truly bent on shocking the masses, you could undertake an action that betters the world at the same time?
Anyway, enough of my lectures. It’s not my place. You have your life, which is wholly apart from mine, and you have a strength of will which is practically unrivaled. It’s only I have…concerns. For you. You know this, don’t you? Tell me if I am being too…well, Nic, I want to use a word less than savory, so I will leave it there.
Instead, let us talk of a new topic. Arthur, Hiddleston, and Evans came to stay. You remember them, the lads from Cambridge? They came down a few days ago and we whiled away the hours in the Lion and Rope, arguing law over a pint or two. Perhaps three. Possibly four…maybe more like seven.
Let me end this by wishing you again a Happy Christmas. I wish I could say it in person, but I shall have to make do with impersonal words.
Merry Christmas, Nic. I wish you were here.
Thomas
***
Istanbul, Turkey, 6 April 1841
Dear Thomas,
It has been an age since your last letter. No doubt you’ve heard of the scandal here in Istanbul and that is staying your pen. However, I shall have you know NONE of it was my doing. How was I to know the Turkish believe one affianced after a single kiss? Really, have you heard of anything more primitive?
I have taken under advisement your words on world-changing. I believe I could do something with that, if I thought hard enough. Perhaps a charity? Though that sounds just as boring as anything else. I’ve attended their meetings. They are all talk and talk, and nothing gets done. I do not believe I should be good at charity. Do you have any suggestions?
Write soon, Thomas. I miss news of home. Have you received the bar yet? Tell me of your studies. Do you have any legal problems you need solving? And your friends, how are they? How are the public house girls?
Please write soon. And disregard the scandal, it is sure to blow over by the time this letter reaches you.
Yours, shamefaced,
Nicola
***
Bucharest, Wallachia, 21 October 1841
Thomas,
Will you not write? Perhaps your letter was lost.
Nicola
***
Lincoln’s Inn, London, England, 15 January 1842
Nic,
I hope this letter finds you well. There is some talk in London of a Romanian Vicomte who wasted away in want of you; however I find myself too busy to think much on such things.
I am still studying in Lord Harry’s chambers, and am delighted to inform you I have achieved the bar. You may now refer to me as Thomas Cartwright, Esq, Barrister at Law.
Nic, I can scarce believe it has finally happened. Lord Harry attended my admission to the bar, and you should have seen how proud he looked. I am immensely thankful that I could achieve what he always wanted for me, what he and Lady Millicent both wanted.
So, as barrister, I try my third case next week. Regina v. Allen. The prosecuting barrister seems a likely chap, and is not restraining his ability, for all that I am new. Consequently, I am learning in leaps and bounds, though I do not think I should be able to best him in this instance.
As for suggestions for activities, perhaps you should attend your father? No doubt he is in want of your company. You do seem to spend a lot of it with vagrants and undesirables.
Yours, etc.
Thomas Cartwright, Esq
Barrister at Law
***
Stockholm, Sweden, 1 May 1842
Thomas!
I was SO glad to receive your letter! It has been too long, dear friend.
It so dreadfully dull here in Sweden. I find myself occupied with afternoon teas and shopping and social occasions. And, I suppose, I must inform you of another scandal.
It is ridiculous, Thomas! I do not mean to lead these gentlemen on, but they will insist on seeing things that are not there! Maybe it is you have heard the particulars in London? Do not believe them, Thomas; only half of what they say is true. If only it weren’t so dreadfully dull here.
In response to your suggestion, I would attend to Father, but he seems wholly concerned with his work. I am much left to my own devices, and as such I do seem to find trouble more often than not. Father seems not to mind the scandal. In fact, I believe he barely notices.
Speaking of alleviating boredom…tell me, how did Regina v. Allen work out? You were such a tease to tell me nothing, but I managed to discover what it was about anyway. Aha! You did not expect that, did you?
So, if it were me, I should have tried a self-defense angle. It seemed that Mr. Allen could have been in fear for his life when Captain Bracken made to draw his sidearm. But perhaps I am stating the obvious, and in any event the case would be long over now.
Oh, Thomas, I can just picture you standing in the Bailey, your wig on so precise and your robes freshly starched. Tell me all!
Write soon,
Nicola.
***
London, England, 3 June 1842
Dear Lady Nicola,
I regret to inform you of the passing of Lord Henry and Lady Millicent Farrier. Their carriage overturned en route to Portsmouth, and they did not survive their injuries.
I hope this letter finds you well.
Yours, etc.
Thomas Cartwright, Esq
Barrister at Law
***
Bombay, India, 8 November 1842
Dear Thomas,
I am so very sorry for the passing of Lord Harry and Lady Millicent. I cannot even begin to fathom how you must feel. I wish I were with you, dear friend, to give you any comfort or whatever you might require of me.
Know my thoughts are with you, and should I be able, I would rush across the lands and space between us to be by your side.
All my love,
Nicola
***
Vienna, Austria, 5 August 1843
Dear Thomas,
I can only think you have lost all knowledge of how to write.
Nicola.
***
Lincoln’s Inn, London, England, 26 November 1843
Nic,
I am sorry. We should not speak. I have achieved the bar now, and have plans to enter
Parliament. As such, I must employ moderation and discretion in all things, including my acquaintances, and while you are ostensibly a lady, I fear I cannot continue our correspondence.
This will be my last letter. I wish you well.
Yours, etc.
Thomas Cartwright, Esq
Barrister at Law
***
Vienna, Austria, 1 March 1844
Thomas,
What do you mean, “ostensibly”? Are you touched? You don’t write for a year and half, and when you finally do, you use words such as “ostensibly a lady”?
Let us pretend that letter was never written. I cannot think of any reason for you to act in such a harsh manner, except perhaps you are still in mourning for Lord Harry and Lady Millicent and that makes you act so harsh. So we will ignore it, and everything will be as it ever was.
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