Chapter One

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:06:00 -0400

This is the story of Virginia Winslow, and her five sisters. If you don’t already know, the Winslows were one of the most eminent and respected socialite families in all of England. Until Virginia shook things up. I’m not trying to say that the Winslows were humiliated, nor am I saying Virginia was a wild child, because she had actually been quite the opposite for most of her life, always following her sisters examples, and behaving her father’s rules. Anyone but myself would ask what went wrong, and I guess to understand the rise and fall of the Winslow reputation like I do, you really must hear the story from the beginning.

When Lord Winslow was a young man of 23, he had inherited the title Viscount and was in 68th place for the crown. While spending time at court, he fell in love with a young Lady Katherine, the Duchess of Kent, who was in 9th place for the crown. A marriage between the two was unheard of, and soon he had married another lady, the daughter of an Earl, 52nd place for the crown. Lady Winslow bore him 5 daughters. Laural was first, Flora came second, Annabel was third, then came the twins, Ginger and Rosabla. But sadly Lady Winslow developed an infection after the twins’ birth, and died. During his marriage, Lord Winslow had become an extreme favorite of the king, and was made the Duke of Manchester, which brought him up to 17th place. After a few years had passed, Lord Winslow married the woman he had fallen for years before. Katherine bore him one daughter, Virginia. For years she mothered the daughters that weren’t hers as if they were. She saw all of through each of their first seasons. All but one. The second Lady Winslow took ill, and eventually passed away before Virginia had even turned 14.

With or without a mother the Winslows were a family. And with six beautiful girls, society soon began to talk about the ladies’ lives,. As each of the girls grew, so did their reputations. However gossip is gossip, and it is hardly ever true, so that’s why I’m telling this story. And nobody, except I, knows how it really went, not even all of the Winslow girls.

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Laurel, as the oldest, was the first to marry. Her husband was an spanish diplomat, and nephew to the queen. The Spaniard often kept to himself or traveled, which allowed Laurel to spend a considerable amount of time with her family at Grandview. She had been very close to her stepmother, and when the Lady passed, Laurel had taken it on as her job to finish the mothering duties for her sisters as they progressed into women. This meant matchmaking, chaperoning, and facilitating all potential suitors.

Next was Flora. Now, Flora was considered the wild child. For a long time she didn’t see life any deeper than the surface. She would attend parties, and not return home for days. She was the subject of most of lurid gossip, but it was her own reputation that was harmed not her family’s. Laurel proved though, that she could find her sisters husbands. Flora’s reputation had made the status of her virginity (or lack there of) known. No man would ever court her longer than three weeks. Laurel, however, found a young, extremely wealthy, Austrian widower, who took a shine to Flora. During the beginning of the marriage, she quickly drove through his patience, and soon realized it was time for her to calm down.

When Flora settled, Annabel didn’t know what to do with her time. She and her older sister had been inseparable. But Annabel did not have the same reputation as her sister. She had often been stuck cleaning up the mess, which wasn’t unpleasant, but also wasn’t always convenient. Flora was quiet, but opinionated. She had caught the eye of Renfred Kane, a nobleman turned barrister. Annabel was the type who needed candid signals, and Lord Kane was not the best at speaking plainly. After much frustration on Annabel’s end, she married Renfred. She still visited Flora from time to time, but didn’t have to clean up anymore messes.

Flora and Annabel had been an commensalistic relationship, while Ginger and Rosalba’s relationship was quite the opposite. Ginger was spirited, while Rosalba was gentle. The girls never caused serious scandal (I say serious scandal, because they did cause some sweet, innocent, kind, selfless scandals). The girls loved to put on plays and perform for parties, and while this was all innocent, it went to a higher level when Rosalba started writing her own plays, and Ginger began to make it a trend to play the male parts. Then one summer the girls decided to chop their hair off in protest of something or other. Laurel was in a frenzy about how their new styles would ward off the any prospective husbands. But the girls’ hair eventually grew back, but the length had not stopped suitors from knocking at their door. Ginger married William Ansel, a politician much much older than she, but retired her acting pants. Her marriage was not deemed the most suitable by Laurel, but Ginger did not care for she adored her kind husband. As for Rosalba, she was not married yet by the time our actual plot begins, but she had fallen in love. His name was Gerard Culbert, and he was a poet. Their courtship had consisted of many love letters, and afternoons spent thinking about the other.

While each of her sisters had found a husband, Virginia was yet to even come out. Virginia was young and naive. After her mothers passing, her father sheltered her, and he left it up to her sister to fill the role that had been left vacant. She was breathtakingly beautiful, but utterly unaware of it. Virginia was also an extremely talented pianist; but then again, all the Winslow girls were musically gifted in someway or another. All of them had been taught to read music, and a choice of an instrument. But Virginia, had secretly exceeded her sisters, and had begun composing her own music while she was still a child. She could be found in the parlor playing the piano when she should have been attending her studies, which was usually latin. But this was childish behavior, and Virginia was almost 17, which meant she was to be presented to the court soon. Laurel’s concern was that, since Virginia was young, fair, and the last Winslow girls, men would throw themselves at her with an overflowing amount of proposals. Virginia wouldn’t know who to chose, and once she did, she would choose the one with the nicest smile, disregarding any status, or money. Now this is where our story begins;

Laurel had made a small list of reasonably affluent young bachelors in England who had some kind of connection to the family, whether it be a distant relation or a friend of a friend, and invited them to Virginia’s pre-coming out party. The king was to attend her the actual coming out party, and his majesties attendance would make it the party of the year. In the meantime, Laurel checked in with each of the bachelors, researching which one should be the predisposed choice. Eventually, she decided upon Caleb Lowell, the youngest son of the Lowell house, and nephew to the king. Laurel chose him above the rest, and began planning how to spark the courtship. What Laurel didn’t count on though, was the attendance of Lowell’s illegitimate cousin; Malcom Ward.

Virginia & The Five Examples

Chapter One