January 31st, 1891 — North Bartonburg

A copy of Witch Weekly arrived via owl promptly every Sunday. Whereas many went to church, Verity sat on the bench at the bottom of her bed and combed through the pages for any pieces of gossip worth noting. It was her ritual, her saving grace from the boredom that was mourning.

That was, at least, until she spotted Ford's picture staring back at her whilst reading an article about Miss Belby. Verity read and reread the article thrice, not at all comprehending the idea of her brother — who was arguably just as graceless as Grace — sneaking off to a closet with ... Miss Belby. It couldn't possibly be true, not when their reputations needed to remain intact to secure respectable matches. Surely, Ford — who was the most insistent that they all marry well — wouldn't be so careless. Verity deliberately closed the magazine and left the safe confines of her bedroom to find her brother.

Her search didn't take long (How could it when their home was as tiny as it was?) and she found him alone in the parlor. At least she wouldn't have to contend with Noble or Grace with this inquisition. Or, Merlin forbid, Mama. "I expect congratulations are to be in order," she smiled. "When are you and Miss Belby to expect your new arrival? Or is she Mrs. Greengrass now?"

  

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set by mj

Yesterday evening had felt too long, given that he wasn't interested in any of the art, or the dancing, or the society, really. He'd come home and had a drink with Noble and then gone to bed, feeling tired less because of the hour and more because of the prospect of having to do this again every night for the next year, or possibly longer if Clementine stayed in school. He'd been enjoying a quiet morning alone with a book, as a way to steel himself for the rest of the day after the ball the night before. Just him, his coffee, and Geoffrey Chaucer. Until Verity arrived, that was.

Her tone sounded sweet enough, but he knew her better than that; she was making fun of him, he was sure. He was especially convinced given that nothing she'd said made any sense whatsoever; suggesting that he might run off and marry Miss Belby because she'd seen him having a painfully awkward conversation with her the day before was on par with Clementine suggesting he have an heiress for Christmas. Patently ridiculous.

"I'm not really in the mood for teasing, Verity," he said with a sigh, raising his coffee cup to his lips. "Maybe try again at lunchtime."

  

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Set by Lady!

"Who said I was teasing?" She asked, taking the seat opposite him. Of course it made sense for him to play dumb to her questions. One oughtn't ever willingly confess to such serious transgressions, after all. But, truly, she had expected better of her brother.

She opened the magazine to the earmarked page and began reading aloud, "Miss Belby was seen making alluring fan-signals and coquettish overtures aplenty to Mr. Fortitude Greengrass, a man too close in age to her to be any serious match for a husband. And yet - judging by the garish shade of red they were both flushing at the party, Witch Weekly is in no doubt Miss Belby found herself in another broom cupboard that very evening." She concluded with a pointed stare that spoke volumes to her displeasure. "There's more, shall I continue?"

  

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set by mj

Verity moved to take a seat and Ford reluctantly placed his bookmark in the pages of his book, letting it lie idle in his lap. There was no deterring his sister when she had something on her mind, so it would be best to just address it. He'd expected the jibe about Miss Belby to just be a lead up to something else, though — a request for another new dress or berating him for not introducing her to someone the night before, if he had to guess — not the actual matter she'd come to address. He was shocked when she pulled out a copy of that silly girl's magazine and read his name out of it.

"A broom cupboard?" he repeated, his ears and cheeks as red as they'd been on the night in question. "What does — is that an allusion to something? I don't follow."

  

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Set by Lady!

"A broom cupboard," she confirmed. Miss Belby's exploits in broom cupboards were well documented and, given thaf the harlot in question was a few years her senior, Verity fully expected Ford to be aware of them. Not even he could be as oblivious as he was pretending to be, to do so would make him out to be a fool.

Or...was he a fool?

Verity knew only the basics of what transpired between men and women. She knew their anatomies to be different, that the experience was often uncomfortable and would ultimately result in children. As a man, Ford presumably understood more of the concept than she. Obviously, if he was to be a father in a few short months then he had the greatest understanding of all the Greengrass siblings.

"It's no allusion at all, but rather a statement. Tell me, did you and Miss Belby plan your stolen moment in the closet? Or was it the heat of the moment like in all those silly romance novels?" Was passion truly worth risking all their reputations for?

  

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set by mj

He'd been holding out hope that maybe 'getting into a broom closet' was a euphemism he hadn't been exposed to before, and the article was trying to say she'd been embarrassed, or something. Verity's further remarks chased any remaining hope from his mind; it was an allusion to exactly what he'd expected. How on earth had anyone gotten that impression? His Christmas conversation with Miss Belby was about as far removed from passionate lovemaking as any conversation could be.

"There were no stolen moments," he insisted, still flustered. "And certainly no — heat of the moment or fits of passion or anything else. What does that article say?" he asked, reaching for the magazine in her hands. "Give it here."

  

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Set by Lady!

Rather than allow Ford the satisfaction of reading the article for himself, Verity stood and moved out of reach with the magazine. "One hopes the new modiste has plenty of fabric to spare, for Miss Belby is certain to need plenty more around the midriff in the next few months." She read as she stepped out of reach, taunting him almost as though they were children. His reaction thus far had proved him to be the fool she thought him to be. So, some harassment wouldn't be an issue. Especially not after he skimped on their Christmas gifts.

"As to whether she will seek out Mr. Greengrass for a solution or turn elsewhere for a husband in desperation, we cannot yet say." She continued lastly. "If you ask me, you should firmly distance yourself from the likes of Miss Belby. She'll bring nothing but scandal upon our house, and she isn't even an heiress."

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   Aldous Crouch

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set by mj

"I haven't done anything with Miss Belby," Ford insisted, making anther grab for the magazine and this time managing to latch onto the corner before she could pull it away. "I don't know where anyone got the idea —" he started, before drifting off to quickly skim the article, or at least what he could see of it while it was still firmly in his sister's hands.

"I can't believe we let you read this trash," he said as he finished, letting go of the magazine and retreating to his chair, shaking his head. It had no basis in fact whatsoever, except that he had spoken to Miss Belby twice, as the article stated. But if speaking to a woman was all that was necessary to form an unbreakable attachment or, apparently, conceive a child, he thought a great many of the unmarried women of wizarding England would find themselves in similar trouble.

Before he reached his chair, a horrible thought occurred to him. "How many women read that trash?" he asked, already a little afraid of her answer.

  

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Set by Lady!

Verity rolled her eyes. Gossip and trash held few similarities, and seeing as the magazine consisted only of the former she knew it to be a worthwhile read. "Have you never paid any attention to the happenings within society?" She asked with a raised brow though she was already well aware of the answer.

"Everyone reads it, Ford. Even men who insist they have never touched its pages." Verity could think of three instances off hand where she stumbled upon boys at school reading the magazine.

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   Aldous Crouch

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set by mj

Oh, dear; that was what he'd been afraid she would say. "And people believe it?" he asked incredulously. He had only heard anything from the pages of Witch Weekly a handful of times before in his life, when other people at Hogwarts had been talking about it, and he'd had no opinion on those particular facts (or non-facts, as the case may be). Now that he was actually involved in one of their stories, it seemed patently ridiculous that anyone might think there was even a grain of truth to what was written.

If everyone read it and believed it, though, then they would apparently think that Miss Belby was expecting. Ford had seen her yesterday and had no reason at all to believe that to be the case, but knew how quickly a woman's reputation could be damaged by such rumors. Miss Belby likely knew it, too — she'd had experience with a very similar thing earlier in her life, as the article had pointed out.

"Perhaps I ought to write to her," he muttered pensively.

  

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Set by Lady!

"Absolutely not!" Verity insisted, aghast by the very notion. "She will be the center of focus for months to come. Besides, you were not the only man mentioned. Should she be with child there's no way to guarantee it's yours." Only one thing could come from further association with the hussy: scandal. "Here, read it for yourself." She dropped the magazine on his lap.

  

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set by mj

How many times did he have to say that he hadn't slept with Begonia Belby? Maybe he needed to be more explicit. He'd said there were no moments of passion or stolen moments, but maybe Verity actually did think a woman might become pregnant from something less than that. Though if she needed a sex talk, Ford was — entirely unprepared for that particular task. That wasn't the sort of thing fathers were supposed to do, was it? He needed to run this by Noble.

"I highly doubt she's with child," he said, rolling his eyes. "And if she is, it's certainly not mine. "But I should hate for anyone to think less of her because some busybody saw her talking to me once at a party." He'd done enough damage to her self-esteem, he thought, without ruining her reputation, too.

He thought he'd already gotten the gist of the article from glancing over it when it had still been in Verity's hands, but unfolded the pages now and skimmed it over again, just to be sure.

  

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Set by Lady!

"Then you have no cause to write her." Verity insisted with a sense of finality. If it wasn't Ford's child it would be someone else's who wouldn't do right by Miss Belby. The last thing the Greengrass family needed just before Grace's debut was for Ford to elope with a harlot as a grand act of chivalry!

"Writing will be but an admission of guilt. If nothing happened then you're best not to address it." Even if something happened Ford would be best not to address it, as well.

  

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set by mj

"An admission of guilt?" Ford repeated, incredulous. Miss Belby was hardly going to think he was guilty of anything; she knew much better than that, and regardless of what this gossip magazine had said he did not think so poorly of her that he thought her wits might be at all confused on the subject of who had fathered her child, if she was pregnant (which she almost certainly was not).

"Unless you think someone from this tabloid will be sitting around reading her mail, I can't see that anything I might say in a private letter would be anyone's business," he pointed out.

  

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Set by Lady!

"She has maids, Ford," Verity all but groaned. "A housekeeper, sisters, a mother. All women who might find it within themselves to snoop through her belongings as a means of self preservation or the latest gossip scoop!" Verity wasn't a huge fan of invading one's privacy, but would if she must. Especially if Grace was being secretive about the details of such a scandal. "It doesn't matter what Miss Belby says. It matters what everyone else does."

  

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set by mj

He didn't like it, but Verity did have something of a point.

"Fine," he said, taking his original seat again. "Well, then, if you've satisfied your curiosity over my supposed dalliances with Miss Belby —" he gestured vaguely towards the door. This conversation had put him rather out of the mood to read, but he wasn't inclined to keep talking about it, either.

  

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Set by Lady!