July 9th, 1891 — Emrys' Home, Bristol

Emrys had learned his lesson from prior attempts. He hadn't become as successful as he had, both in his shipping business and with his private investments, by not taking note of and learning from his own mistakes. He wasn't new to seduction, of course, but this was a different brand of seduction, and with a different purpose. Instead of showering Miss Cosgrove with compliments from the moment she'd arrived, he'd given only one or two demure remarks, then he'd spent most of the opening conversation exchanging dialogue with her chaperone. He was walking a thin line here, because women (or men, when they were on the receiving end of someone's affections) wanted to feel as though they were the center of attention, the only thing that brought light into the room. Chaperones, he had deduced, wanted proof that the gentleman in question had the capacity for respectability; they didn't want to believe him a devilish rogue who might pass the woman over for the next pretty face that wandered by. So Emrys was perfectly respectable, and perfectly polite, and the conversation passed perfectly well — and any time he thought he could get away with it, he'd pepper in something to keep Miss Cosgrove's attention. A quick mischievous glance, a flash of a smile, or maybe a line ostensibly directed at the chaperone but which Miss Cosgrove would understand as an inside joke, referencing their last conversation or one of their letters. This opening conversation was important to set the groundwork, he thought. The chaperone might seem like no one particular, but if Miss Cosgrove's family didn't trust her (and her judgement) they wouldn't have entrusted her with safeguarding their daughter's virtue. Impressing the chaperone would pay off in the long run, no matter if she was a scullery maid or the Queen of England herself.

Having fulfilled his duties in that regard after the first cup of tea had been served and consumed, however, Emrys was eager to have some time to interact with Miss Cosgrove in (relative) privacy.

"I would ask if the house lives up to your expectations, Miss Cosgrove, but I'm afraid you've seen so little of it," he said smoothly, discarding his empty tea cup and rising from the chair he'd been seated in. "Shall I offer you a tour?" A partial tour, anyway. Emrys didn't actually show people his house, most of the time — he was too fond of his secrets to put something as personal as his living space on display. But there was a pageantry to this sort of thing, so there was a rather large section of the house that was primed and ready for her to see it, and it wasn't as though a respectable gentleman ought to be offering tours of their bedroom, anyway.

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Clarissa Cosgrove Roberto Devine

  

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wild oceans shake what's left of me loose

E. Selwyn

Clarissa has never gone to a mans home that was not her relation before. She knew it was a little outside of the realm of the usual way of things but she also did not see too much of a difference from when her potential beaus came around for tea. This time around, she had simply reversed the usual location. Her parents and Kenneth were aware of her outting and since Kenneth had work while Clarence had taken his family on a vacation to America, they had entrusted chaperone duty to their most trustworthy maid.

Mister Selwyn was quite respectful of her chaperone, not treating her as if she were not in the room as many people were prone to do. Clarissa appreciated that and the chance it gave her to observe her surroundings whilst Mister Selwyn engaged her chaperone in conversation. The fact that the usually mildly cranky Mrs. Montmiller seemed quite charmed said something positive about Mister Selwyn. Smart of him, she thought. Clarissa could not deny that she was also charmed by the care he had taken to include her chaperone whilst also keeping Clarissa from feeling ignored.

"Oh, yes. I have been looking forward to seeing your home." It was, after all, the entire premise for her being here. "What I have seen thus far is quite lovely."

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set by Lady!

"Thank you," Emrys said with a genuine grin. He was proud of the house, which only stood to reason since he'd been deeply involved in the renovations and refitting of everything once he'd bought the property. It may not have been full of heritage and tradition the way some old English houses were, but the house suited his tastes and his style and he would never shy away from a chance to show it off.

Where he took her first was something of a calculated decision, though. Would she be more impressed by his art collection or the collection of horses in the stable? The house also had the typical amenities of gardens and parlors and entertaining rooms, but none of those were unique or particularly spectacular. He decided on art, both because he was unsure of Miss Cosgrove's athletic ability and because they'd been talking primarily about the house, not the grounds, and going through his art collection also involved showing off the rooms in which they were housed.

He led Miss Cosgrove through the hallways and rooms, gratified to see the distance at which her chaperone had decided to follow. A small victory, if she trusted him enough to stay just out of earshot. He explained some of the art as he went, interspersed with anecdotes about how he'd acquired them or why. After a few moments they arrived in an upstairs parlor, whose windows overlooked the city of Bristol and the seaside beyond.

"I chose this house because of its proximity to the harbor," he explained, with a sweeping gesture towards the view. "Two of those ships are mine. That three-masted one there and the one directly behind her."

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wild oceans shake what's left of me loose

E. Selwyn

Clarissa smiled as the man grinned. His pride in his home was evident in the way he spoke of it and the fact that he put thought into it. She was pretty sure that when Clarence II had moved out, eventually marrying, he had not given a single ounce of thought to the décor of his home. And now his wife was the one that decorated things and it wasn't always choices Clarissa could agree with.

Clarissa listened with genuine interest as Mister Selwyn spoke of his art pieces. It was quite the collection and she also got to see more of his home. Everything seemed to tie together and spoke of a man that enjoyed having a nice visual in his surroundings. Which Clarissa did not fault at all as she could sometimes be much the same. She laughed at the right moments as he told her his anecdotes and asked further questions of them every now and then that would both be not too personal but also display that she was 1) actually listening and 2) interested in what he had to say.

The view from the windows of his upstairs parlor was a wonderful one. "They are lovely," Clarissa said as he pointed out his ships, admittedly not knowing much about ships nor inclined to ever be near one for a while yet. "And this view is breathtaking. It was a good choice."

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set by Lady!

"I'm gratified you think so," Emrys said with a smile. "Particularly since you seem to be a young woman of such impeccable taste." True, he hadn't had much experience to base the comment on, but he didn't think it was far off base. She'd chosen excellent floral arrangements in their little letter exchange (although truthfully the fact that she was bold enough to send flowers to him when typical courting went the opposite direction might have been enough to pique his interest even if the flowers themselves had been horrid). Beyond that, though, she seemed to appreciate his tastes while he'd been giving her the tour of the house and the artwork, which was about as much of an indicator as one could expect from a debutante. Even if he'd visited her home, the decor would have been her mother's work, not her own. He had the impression that they were similarly inclined in that department, but really there was no way to know. Perhaps she was only being accommodating because she was flirting.

In any case, this was going well — at least as well as could be expected. Her family trusted him enough to allow her to visit with only minimal chaperone intervention, she seemed to be enjoying herself, and their conversation was flowing. There was no reason to stall and every reason to move forward with his true purpose here — but how to do it? When he'd asked to formally court Miss Fawley, he'd talked to her parents, and his tone had been similar to when he approached potential new business partners. He was going about this in an entirely different way, because he wanted to be sure that he had the girl on his side before overcoming the obstacle of formality. He was hardly a stranger to wooing women, but since the end goal here was different he was a bit at a loss. He couldn't exactly get Miss Cosgrove alone and steal a kiss and hope that would seal the deal.

(Well, he could, but that might get him into trouble with her family if it ever came out).

"It is a rather large house for a single man," he began, with a brief glance towards the chaperone to see whether she was in earshot or not — he would prefer to speak mostly for Miss Cosgrove's benefit for this next bit, and not for anyone else's. She was giving them a healthy lead, likely because he'd been so magnanimous in the parlor. "But that might be a problem easily solved."

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wild oceans shake what's left of me loose

E. Selwyn

"I like to think so," Clarissa said with a light laugh. She did like to think she had good taste, at least. It helped that the man genuinely seemed to have good taste, as well. She was able to genuinely appreciate his home instead of faking it out of politeness and being charming.

"It is," she said in agreement, smiling as he spoke of it being a problem easily solved. "I can only imagine that a man of good taste such as you should have no trouble solving it." She had no idea how Mister Selwyn had not been married yet but she could only imagine it must be because he had previously chosen not to.

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set by Lady!

If only, Emrys thought grimly. If he'd had his way he would have been engaged by now, to Octavia Fawley, but that hadn't worked out in his favor. Maybe in the end it was all for the best, though. He was beginning to think he liked Miss Cosgrove better than he had Miss Fawley, though since his acquaintance with her was still so new it was difficult to be certain. Miss Fawley had been perfectly adequate, but also perfectly average. In her letters she'd rambled on about all of the things young girls liked, and while he'd found nothing objectionable he also hadn't particularly looked forward to writing his replies. Miss Cosgrove, on the other hand, at least had a biting sense of humor. If it wasn't exactly the foundation for a grand romance novel, at least it was something.

"Unfortunately I've found that pursuit requires a bit more finesse than acquiring a work of art," he said, raising an eyebrow. "And, of course, a willing partner."

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wild oceans shake what's left of me loose

E. Selwyn

Clarissa could agree on that. She, herself, had decided against certain beaus. Usually because they bored her and she didn't like the thought of having a boring husband. It would reflect too badly on her and have people assume that she was also boring. Which just would not do.

"Very true. I personally think a young woman would find herself quite lucky to be your partner." So far, he was not dreadfully boring, he was charming, had good looks, a good home and was humorous even when in a bad mood. She didn't personally see a problem with him though that could be because she also did not know much about him. Which was fine by her, if she was quite honest.

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set by Lady!

Well, this was all going swimmingly, wasn't it? From this vantage point, it was hard to believe that a few minutes ago he'd been nervous about how to broach the subject. Things seemed to be flowing so smoothly, and Miss Cosgrove was picking up on all the right cues. He couldn't help but smile — he would have smiled anyway, because it was what one did when flirting, but it was nice that in this instance it was genuine.

"You think that personally?" he replied in a lightly teasing tone. "Shall we put it to the test, then?"

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wild oceans shake what's left of me loose

E. Selwyn

Clarissa smiled in response to the lightly teasing tone. "Indeed, I do," she confirmed, giving his next question a moment of thought. She was not generally a creature of impulse. At least, that was what she often told herself despite the evidence often pointing to the fact that she often acted on impulse.

"I would be amenable to that," she said, under the assumption that he was leading up to a request to court. She didn't have final say, of course. But she didn't see why her parents would decline, especially if she was already all for it. He was wealthy and pureblood — at this point, she was pretty sure that was all they would care about.

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set by Lady!

Emrys bit back a smile. It wasn't entirely done until he'd talked to her parents about it, but he liked his chances this time around. Their first real conversation had been at Liliana's wedding, after all, so it was unlikely that her parents would hold Liliana's existence against him (which he was still rather bitter about, since he'd had nothing to do with it).

"Delightful," he said approvingly. "Acknowledging that neither of us have a good deal of experience in such matters, perhaps we ought to leave it at that... though I am given to understand that a finishing education may cover some of the finer points. In your expert opinion, then, how long is sufficient to form a proper attachment?" he asked, one eyebrow raised. He couldn't come right out and say how soon can I propose, of course, but that was essentially what he wanted to know.

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wild oceans shake what's left of me loose

E. Selwyn

What he said was very true. She'd had the rough guidelines of what she should accept from a beau instilled in her from Roses. Of course, it did depend on situation as well. Though theirs was pretty clear cut, she thought. She did have to smile at being called an expert. "Two to three months has always been what I've believed to be a suitable timeframe." More importantly, she knew very well that her parents would be comfortable with said timeframe.

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set by Lady!

It was the beginning of July now, so two to three months put them either at the end of August or September. His initial goal of taking care of this matter before his next birthday in mid-October probably wasn't in the cards, then (presuming she would require more than a month-long engagement, which seemed to be in vogue these days as weddings trended towards the more extravagant). All in all, though, his timeline wouldn't be terribly far off, which was impressive given how much time he'd wasted sending letters back and forth to Octavia Fawley. Not to mention the Antonina shipwreck which had taken at least a third of the eligible young women off of the market for the following months. Not bad at all... assuming he could pull it off, and that he still wanted to forge ahead with things after he'd gotten to know her better. At the moment she seemed perfectly suited: she was well-bred, polite, reasonably pretty, could tolerate him being moody at least on one occasion and seemed to have a good sense of humor and decent taste. What more could anyone want in a wife? Some men looked for either love or for passion, Emrys knew, but he didn't consider either prerequisites. Love was mainly meant to ensure devotion and fidelity, which he frankly didn't care about (though he would not come out and admit as much anytime soon). Passion was nice, but it was changeable; having it one moment didn't ensure it would stick around for the length of the marriage. Besides, he had no trouble finding outlets for passion. He needed other qualities in a wife, which he believed Miss Cosgrove possessed.

"That seems quite agreeable," he said with a small smile. "I imagine two people of means and good taste can accomplish quite a bit in two or three months."

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wild oceans shake what's left of me loose

E. Selwyn