Welcome to Charming, where swirling petticoats, the language of flowers, and old-fashioned duels are only the beginning of what is lying underneath…
After a magical attempt on her life in 1877, Queen Victoria launched a crusade against magic that, while tidied up by the Ministry of Magic, saw the Wizarding community exiled to Hogsmeade, previously little more than a crossroad near the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In the years that have passed since, Hogsmeade has suffered plagues, fires, and Victorian hypocrisy but is still standing firm.
Thethe year is now 1894. It’s time to join us and immerse yourself in scandal and drama interlaced with magic both light and dark.
I recall a conversation we had some months ago where I asked you for your expert opinion on how long two people might need to form a reasonable attachment, and it seems your answer was entirely correct — or correct in the eyes of society, at any rate. A rumor reached my ears recently (as rumors are wont to do, belonging as I do to such a large family with so many sisters and nieces to draw my attention to such things) that some have begun to speculate about what lies ahead for the two of us.
I could never bear to be deemed predictable, so if the gossips say we might be married by Christmas I confess my mind jumps immediately to what we might do to most shock their sensibilities — perhaps embark immediately on a journey to the Amazon? Though of course we are a bit limited by what your parents will allow. I imagine they would not want to send a chaperone on a spontaneous month-long journey. What do you think?
I have also been made aware of such rumors. As you said, many of my peers have predicted that we will be wed by the end of the year. It is quite humorous to me, I have to admit.
You are entirely correct, my parents are unlikely to agree to such a thing. I should think their opinion would be different were we to be engaged and travelling with my eldest brother Clarence Cosgrove II and his wife. Or perhaps even my parents themselves. The Amazon would be such a lovely trip but alas, one that is impossible for me to go on unless suitable arrangements that my parents were comfortable with were made.
Engaged and laden down with two additional traveling companions? It does seem a formidable barrier. How do you think Clarence Cosgrove (I or II) would fare with a machete in hand? I've heard clearing a path in the Amazon can be quite arduous.
Alas, there tend to be many barriers for a young lady to do anything worth doing. As for your question, I believe my brother would be a lot more capable with a machete as hard as it is to imagine either of them to wield one. He would certainly be a lot more amenable to traipsing through the Amazon without much complaint or questioning why we would ever want to do so in the first place.
Everyone questioning why we want to do it in the first place is half the point, of course. It lends an air of mystery, and I would much prefer to be thought mysterious than predictable.
Shall we go next week? Assuming, of course, that I can address the aforementioned obstacles by then.
