BATH, 1940
H [79] Brigadier-General
Arthur Lionel Tarquin Blackstock
(Emily Amy)W [dec at 58] Venezia
Romilly Hero Burdet
(Wraith)
S1 [49] Captain
Arthur Hannibal Wulfhard Blackstock
(cher529s)- exW [50]
Thekla Miranda Heywood
(JuliaF)-- S [25]
Constantine Horatio Arthur Blackstock
(JuliaF)- Fiancée [24]-- D [19]
Rosalie Venezia
Philomena Blackstock
(RowenaRavenclaw)- W [40]
Millicent Ava Greenwood
(JuliaF)-- S [8]
Edgar Hannibal Theobald Blackstock
(RowenaRavenclaw)
D1 [47]
Guinevere Charis Letizia Blackstock
(JuliaF)- exH [52]
Sigmund Franz-Joseph Cavendish
(BlueOcean123)-- D [17]
Elfrida Tullia Cavendish
(Wordsmith)- H [45]
Vincent Ashley Vaughan (Emily Amy)-- S [7]
Taliesin Sigmund Vaughn (Uilos)
S2 [45]
Samson Jericho Marcus Blackstock
(Guest)- BF [46]
Hamish Peredur MacConnell
(Uilos)
• Dog [2]
D2 [43]
Evangeline Camilla Aktaie Blackstock
(JuliaF)- H [47]
Valentine Francis St.
Anne (Darkbone)-- S [21]
Peregrine Michael Francis St.
Anne (JuliaF)-- D [15]
Evanthe Mary Constance St.
Anne (JuliaF)
S3 [41] Second Lieutenant
Leonidas Enoch Tarquin Blackstock
(.)- W [39]
Alice Helena Goldsmith
(Guest)-- S [17]
Atticus Tarquin Blackstock
(Uilos)- GF [31]
Agnes Victoria Coventry
(cher529s)
D3 [39]
Lavinia Constance Hero Blackstock
(Uilos)- H [58]
Ignatz Ferdinand-Gottlieb Cavendish
(Wordsmith)-- D [11]
Hero Godeliva Konstanza Cavendish
(Cinnabar)-- S [8]
Silas Ignatius Banquo Cavendish
(Emily Amy)
S4 [36]
Hector Osric
Maximilian Blackstock
(RowenaRavenclaw)- W [40]
Emilie Arabella Van Bergen
(Guest)-- S [11]
Rex Osric Blackstock
(Laura B.)-- D [8]
Opal Venezia Blackstock
(Cinnabar)-- D [4]
---
It is the autumn of 1940, and
Europe is once more at war.
Upon hearing that Germany invaded Poland in 1939,
Arthur suffered another stroke. This one left him bed bound - a condition
Arthur finds humiliating. He cannot stand the lack of independence, and often snaps at the servants. The only person safe from his wrath is his granddaughter
Elfrida, now 17, who has taken on the role of his caretaker.
Arthur is grateful for her companionship. Despite the two strokes, his mind remains razor-sharp. His eyesight has deteriorated so much as to make reading nearly impossible, so he makes
Elfrida read him newspapers for hours every day. Recent news of Operation Dynamo has lifted his spirits - "the boys still have it in them", he tells
Elfrida.
Art's marriage with
Millicent - who allows him, and him alone, to call her
Millie - has weathered the years well. Their son,
Edgar, is now 8, and far more energetic than his straight-laced parents: he reminds
Art very much of himself as a young boy. His relationship with
Rosalie, however, remains strained.
Much to his chagrin, his daughter has stood by her teenage ambitions and became an actress, performing in
London theatres and paying no heed to the bombs flying overhead.
Constantine has finished his law degree and joined the legal department of the War Office, where he works diligently on matters of national security. He has become engaged to a student at one of the women's colleges at Oxford, and they plan to marry in the spring of 1941.
Gwen and
Vincent's marriage has remained steady, though it is based on compassion more so than passion. Their son,
Taliesin, is now 7. She remains in contact with
Sigmund, who has thrown himself head-first into the anti-fascist movement.
Gwen worries about him and about their daughter,
Elfrida, who remains isolated and bitter, rejecting her stepfather and half-brother entirely. She fears that
Elfrida, who has devoted so much of her life to her grandfather, will be inconsolable after his passing - which seems like it will come to pass sooner rather than later.
In 1938,
Sam and
Hamish became exiles once more. Neither of them wanted to leave
Paris but the situation was becoming untenable. It was with sorrow that they left the smoke-filled cafés, the botanic gardens, and their charming flat in the Latin Quarter for Zürich. They have shed their Bohemian lifestyle like a frayed coat - they are too old to remain Bohemians anyway, they console themselves.
Hamish has abandoned his mediaeval manuscripts, and instead writes for anti-fascist newspapers.
Sam, too, continues to write Marxist literature. They have exchanged the companionship of their many bright, sparkling friends (who knows what fates those friends might meet in Nazi-occupied
Paris?) for that of an exceptionally shaggy stray dog of murky origins.
Valentine's breakdown still weighs heavily on his family. He remains institutionalised with few signs of improvement.
Evie visits him as often as she can. She feels guilty for not having done something, anything, to prevent his descent into madness, and tries to be a dedicated mother to her children, neglecting her art in favour of doting upon them.
Peregrine has grown into a fiercely independent young man, and works as a war journalist, cycling through
Europe with a camera and capturing the devastating effects of the war.
Even as he remains far from Kensington, he remains protective of
Evanthe, and writes to her as often as he can. Her artistic talents have continued to blossom - and. Cats used to feature prominently in her paintings, but they have given way to bicycles.
Alice eventually discovered
Leo's affair with
Agnes. She did not wish to cause a scene, and thus, did not ask her husband for a divorce, but she has made it clear that their marriage is over. Along with
Atticus, now 17, she moved back to her native
Ireland, to live with her father, the retired General.
Leo's relationship with
Agnes soon crumbled too, and she emigrated to Canada in '39. Unsure what to do with himself,
Leo rejoined the army - in part to quell his boredom, in part to redeem himself. There is, after all, a war to be fought.
Ignatz has become one of the most reviled men in England, as his support of the British Union of Fascists and unabashed loyalty to
Oswald Mosley progressed into a full-chested defence of
Adolf Hitler. He tried to convince
Lavinia to defect to Nazi Germany - but before he could do so, he was arrested alongside Mosley.
Lavinia, too, who had been involved in the BUF - albeit through her loyalty to
Ignatz rather than any deep ideological commitment - faced a harsh reckoning. She has become a pariah - most of her family had stopped speaking to her years prior, but the ostracism she and her children faced was new. She left
London quietly with
Hero and
Silas, and settled in an obscure part of the countryside.
Hector's feelings for
Alice, his sister-in-law, have only strengthened following her separation from
Leo. He does his best to suppress them out of loyalty to his wife and brother. His marriage to
Emilie remains superficially happy - they have welcomed a third child, a lively and charming girl adored by her elder siblings. While they look a picture-perfect family,
Hector is plagued by guilt, knowing that any further entanglement with
Alice could destroy what remains of his relationship with his brother. The strain is beginning to show, and
Hector's once steady demeanour is fraying.
---
Constantine's fiancée
First name: the name of a plant, but NOT a flower.
Middle name: light and airy.
Surname: a rare occupational surname.
Sam and Hamish's dog
Named after a modernist or surrealist writer.
Hector and Emilie's daughter
First name: like her mother's first name, it is an unusual spelling of an English name.
Middle name: honours
Alice's first, middle name, or maiden name.
masculine list:
https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/191050/124079feminine list:
https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/191050/124080
This message was edited 8/23/2024, 1:46 AM