H [dec at 50] Lord
Lupus Thaddeus Castletown, 1st Viscount Castletown
W [60]
Lady Callista Marlene Appleton
Lupus & Callista || Cassian and Orlando
S1 [38] Lord
Cassian Ezra Castletown, 2nd Viscount Castletown
- W [38]
Lady Xanthe Amabel Honeycutt, 2nd Viscountess Castletown
{- Lover [36] Lord
Gervase Waldo Antonyn, 8th Viscount Antonyn}
-- S [12] The Honourable
Lysander Valens Castletown
-- S [10] The Honourable
Inigo Dmitri Castletown
Cassian & Xanthe || Lysander and Inigo
S2 [38]
Major Orlando Salvador Castletown
- W [36]
Clementine Lilias Soleel
-- D [3]
Calliope Prudence Castletown
-- D [3] Helwise
Marie Castletown
-- S [1]
Randolph Jasper Castletown
Orlando & Clementine || Calliope, Helwise, and Randolph
For
Lady Callista's 60th birthday, guests swarm into
The Quail's Nest from all over the country, and outside of it, as not only do
Orlando and
Clementine visit from Franconia, bringing a friend with them, but agents who served with
Lupus also visit from all over the world. Among them is a now elderly gentleman, forced into retirement when he was blinded in a gas attack when trailing the organisers of an insurrection in Caelum. He was gregarious and forthcoming, regaling the guests with tales of his adventures in Her Imperial Majesty's Service.
He was also not there to celebrate
Lady Callista's birthday, but had a more sinister goal in mind. What the did not reveal to his hosts was that the reason he was blind was that, when he served with
Lupus in Caelum, he was stranded by him and subjected to noxious gases that damaged his vision permanently, while
Lupus remained unscathed. He swore to himself that he would get revenge by blinding his enemy. Since he was long dead, his heir would have to suffice.
Thus, when he was once seated next to
Cassian during a game of
Royal Rummy, the man pulled out a butter knife he had swiped during breakfast, and jammed it straight into
Cassian's eye.
The men around the table all sprung into action. Some had to hold
Orlando back, else he would certainly have killed the man then and there, and never find out why he thought it a bright idea to stab his twin brother in the eye with a butter knife. One, luckily, was a doctor. He managed to assess the situation and judge that
Cassian would survive the ordeal, but his right eye - the one with the butter knife sticking out of it - was useless.
Lady Callista was horrified.
Xanthe tried to console her husband by joking that he looked very dashing as a pirate. Little
Inigo was thrilled, as he currently wished of nothing more than one day becoming a pirate - his uncle tried to tell him that he could instead join the Imperial
Navy. He was, after all, a younger son.
With their light-hearted jokes, it might seem difficult to believe that
Xanthe and her husband were growing apart. During her mother-in-law's birthday celebrations,
Xanthe was introduced to a friend of
Orlando and
Clementine's. He was Franconian, and
Clementine had been acquaintanced with him since childhood. When she introduced him to her husband, they turned out to have a lot in common - a lot more than
Orlando had with
Clementine - and soon became bosom friends.
Xanthe was immediately interested in him, and they spent their evenings in flirtatious banter. Following his injury,
Cassian grew withdrawn and melancholy, while the Franconian was perennially of good cheer.
They soon started an affair - even though they only see each other when
Orlando and
Clementine visit
The Quail's Nest or are visited by its inhabitants, which only happens about twice a year. They do not correspond in between - it would be too risky.
Cassian, while he feels that his relationship with his wife has deteriorated, has no idea of her infidelity.
Orlando has his suspicions, and is saddened by them. He was attached to
Xanthe, and suspecting she might be cheating on his brother dampens their relationship. Furthermore, he is rather jealous that she is now at the receiving end of his friend's attentions.
Feeling himself spurned, he has, for once, turned his attention to his wife, who reminded him that neither of them were getting any younger, and that heirs must be produced. At first, these attempts failed when
Clementine gave birth to twin daughters, but their third child was, blessedly, a son, so they could once again sleep in their separate beds.
masculine list:
https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/191050/124079feminine list:
https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/191050/124080