1852 | Marina is born into an upper class, pureblood, landowning family of the wizarding Spanish elite in the Honduran inland. By this time, Honduras is independent, though has been under both Spanish colonial control and a British protectorate, so she is raised to be bilingual.
1858 | In the last half century, Honduras has been the site of rebellion, corruption and instability, but with the Acostas in their wealthy diplomatic magical bubble, it is a lavish, happy childhood for Marina, who is a strong force of personality amongst her siblings and is already showing signs of magic. The first instance is setting something on fire when she is angry, but she is full of passion as a child - so this is decidedly not the last.
1863 | Having also picked up Portuguese under a governess’ tuition, Marina joins her elder siblings at the wizarding school in Brazil, where students congregate from all over Central and South America. She greatly enjoys her time there, an active participant in classes but moreso in her social circles, wherein she already begins to prove herself a witty and charming girl.
1871 | Marina graduates from school an accomplished young lady, with an affinity (like most of the Brazilian pupils) for plants and potions, as well as a liking for astronomy, arithmancy and alchemy, and a secret soft spot for combative spells. Not that she is going to use any of that towards a career, don’t be ridiculous! Instead, she returns home to Honduras, where she helps her parents host parties and dinners and regale guests with stories and dances and smiles.
1873 | Although Marina has had her eye on a suitor or two in the past few years, her parents had picked out a suitable gentleman for her - and Marina decides on entirely another. Not that Spaniard Salvador Ramos is beneath her, not at all, but he’s a second son and scarcely older than her. Marina is a little shallow, though, and has a fancy for adventure, and is in love with Salvador’s charms, so eventually wears her parents down.
1874 | She and Salvador, having married, move to Europe where Salvador’s family and some of the businesses he invests in are based, spending most of their time in Spain but with stints in Portugal, Italy and Britain, depending on the seasons.
1875 | In autumn in Valencia, Marina gives birth to a son, and names him Antonio Miguel. She is entirely happy with her life.
1877 | It seems satisfaction is not to last. Antonio has suffered bouts of illness before, but he dies before he is two years old; for all his parents’ care and the help of healers, there seems to be nothing anyone can do. To compound this loss, Salvador never listens to her (or her family’s warnings from Honduras) when it comes to business, and one of his fruit companies goes bust the same year.
1880 | With most of Salvador’s remaining assets based in Britain, and his dearest sister happily married to an Englishman, they move to London for the bulk of their time. Marina cannot get to grasps with the weather or the city, and amidst all this discomfort, cannot seem to carry a pregnancy to term now that they are trying for another child.
1884 | They are settled enough by now, though they are still childless and have, for the most part, given up on that. The shine is certainly wearing off on their lifestyle: all Salvador seems to do is party and gamble with a group of rakish friends, all Marina can do is hold parties of her own to stave off the boredom, and all she and her husband do when they are together is bicker. Constantly.
And then Salvador tots up his debts, and actually decides to tell her how far they have sunk themselves - he has sunk them; no amount that she might have spent on herself compares - and the reality becomes very clear. His business interests are gone, their assets are gone, they owe a number of people, going back to Spain and to the Caribbean, and they had better hurry up and lay off some of their servants. And maybe sell the house.
1885 | But her husband has left it too late, and their pride prevents them from budgeting their lifestyle and letting everyone know how broke they are. With debts still hanging over their heads, the time comes to be tough, and, reverting to a more modest outlook, they inevitably slip down the social ladder. Marina adjusts faster than Salvador, it seems, because Salvador’s plan of action (which they follow, because when does he ever listen to her?) consists of going to his in-laws for help. His sister Lucrecia may have succumbed to the Laughing Plague last summer, but her widowed husband Cornelius Vane is a rich, rich man, and dutifully lends his aid. Or does so because he’s too stupid to say no, Marina thinks.
1887 | That said, that man and his accountants are now practically in control of their lives, to the point where they’ve moved in with him. To save face, Salvador says: better to keep their money woes as within the family as they can. This is mostly because Salvador has never wanted to stoop to having a useful job. And it’s not as though their former social circles haven’t long since noticed.
1888 | Marina has supposed she will have to get a job, then - has thought of training as a healer or some such career - but Salvador and Cornelius laugh at the idea, and Cornelius has another idea. He styles it as a family favour (never mind that the Vanes are not her blood), but she can’t very well refuse when they are so indebted to him. His only child, his angel, Miss Tryphena Vane is set to graduate in May, see, and to come out into society. And since she does not have her mother to ferry her about, won’t Marina be her make-do mother, and chaperone her for him?
1889 | It’s been a year of this now, of being Tryphena Vane’s chaperone, guardian, all-round servant. Cornelius has always doted on his daughter, but without her mother’s influence, well... Miss Vane is a spoilt brat, a monstrous girl, a pretty little she-devil. To the world she’s just like any other debutante, of course, is sweet and charming enough amongst her friends - though a little flighty, maybe - but when she is with her chaperone, she is capricious, scheming, petty and insolent. They pretend otherwise in company, of course, but the truth is Marina and Tryphena are bitter enemies. It’s a wonder they’re both still alive.