Taming the Rakes

11

Lily had gone up to her room to change before the arrival of Lord Iscor; she had taken the time to look over the file her father had put together, so that she knew exactly who he was.

            “Amadeus James McEvoy, Duke of Iscor and Lord High Admiral of His Majesty’s Royal Navy, only child of the late James and Amelia McEvoy, fifth Duke and Duchess of Iscor,” Lily recited to herself in her mirror. She sat at her vanity table wearing nothing but a cream corset and cream stockings with emerald clocks. Her maid worked on her hair, transforming it from a simple, morning up do to a low bun with a few curls escaping quite naturally. “Best friend of  High Crowned Prince Sebastian, Privy Council Representative from the Navy on the Princes court…” Lily sighed frustratedly, looking back down at her notes. “Why must he have so many titles!? It is simply frustrating to try and memorize, Sage,” Lily complained to her lady in waiting. “You will have to know all of this, too, for when we move to the Capital City after the wedding.”

            Sage smiled silently, applying a light coating of makeup to her lady’s face. “Lord Iscor is also seventh in line for the throne of Dechya, he has a bastard sister who is his ward, and his mistress is one of the Seven Daughters of the High Court, I believe she is the third youngest,” Sage looked at Lily in her mirror. “Is that all correct?”

            “Of course, it is, Sage, you are absolutely brilliant,” Lily smiled in satisfaction at her reflection. “I do not think we need to mention his mistress tonight, however,” The two girls giggled together as Sage held up two gowns; one, a beautiful lavender color with violet accents on the wrist cuffs and around the hem, cream embroidery snaked around the bodice and down the tight, form fitting sleeves. The other was a beautiful, deep chocolate color with cream lace and embroidery. “Oh! Sage you have truly outdone yourself with both gowns! I do not know if I could possibly choose between them…” Lily studied them closely, and then looked at herself in the mirror. “The brown, I think, for today. Perhaps tomorrow I will wear the lavender; tonight, I want to be as naturally beautiful as possible.”

            Sage nodded in agreement, helping her lady into the extremely form fitting bodice and sleeves that buttoned all the way to her elbows; the skirt was fuller, with more embroidery all around, and a cream bow around the waist that made her appear even slimmer than she already was. Lily looked at herself once more in the mirror as her maid helped her into a pair of deep brown boots, to support her slim ankles. As they finished, Lady Aramoor entered her daughters’ room and looked over her. “Perfection, my dear Lily,” her mother sighed with a smile. “Lord Iscor is certain to love you from the moment he lays eyes on you…which should be any moment now! He is in your fathers’ office discussing the marriage agreement and your dowry. He will meet you in the tearoom in fifteen minutes.”

            Lily nodded, straightening herself to her full height and walking down the stairs gracefully. In the tearoom, she sat in her favorite chair, her mother sat near the window with some needlework, to chaperone the couple. When the door opened, Lily’s breath hitched in her throat; Lord Iscor was beautiful, with caramel colored eyes, sandy hair, and olive skin. He seemed fit, with slightly broad shoulders and a very even frame. “Amadeus McEvoy, Duke of Iscor, m’lady,” her fathers’ man introduced him at the door.

            Lily stood, curtsying low, her eyes looking up at him over her long eyelashes. “Lord Iscor, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Lady Liliana Montgomery, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

            Lord Iscor bowed, taking her hand in his and kissing it softly. “The pleasure is mine, Lady Liliana. I must say, you are much more beautiful than your portrait.” He complimented; his voice lower than she would have expected based on his looks. Lily motioned for them to both sit, one of the house maids poured them tea and took a cup to her mother. “I sincerely look forward to our wedding, however I am afraid it cannot be in the Royal City; your father and I spoke of this, and due to the recent plague that ravished the city, we simply cannot take the risk. He has arranged, however, for our wedding to take place here, tomorrow, before we return to the Royal City tomorrow.”

            “Oh, well that is perfectly acceptable to me; I would rather keep everyone involved safe, and be able to get to our home as soon as possible, so that I may get established in the running of the household and taking some of that off of you so that you can work with the Royal Court and the Royal Navy more, seeing as how you have so many new responsibilities as the new High Admiral of the Royal Navy.”

            Lord Iscor smirked, nodding. “It is quite nice to hear that you are competent, the last woman I was introduced to could hardly pronounce the word Admiral,” he chuckled, waving his hand dismissively. “You need to be introduced to the Royal Court, become a Lady of the High Crown Princess Beatrix; you know she is pregnant with High Crown Prince Sebastian’s first child? You will be very busy, I am certain. If we have enough time to produce an heir, we should be just fine.” Lord Iscor seemed very matter of fact about everything, and Lily saw no reason why they should not get along perfectly fine. “You are aware that I have a mistress? It is a part of the contract I made with your father that I should be open with you about that, always.”

            “Oh yes, I am well aware that you should have a mistress,” Lily stated plainly as she sipped her tea. “The third youngest daughter of the Seven Daughters of the High Court, Princess Gwendolyn, is it not?” Lord Iscor nodded, obviously impressed with his future Duchess. “I have absolutely no issue with you having a mistress, if that is what dear Father was worried about; a woman must be true to her husband, a husband must be true to his needs,” Lily quoted her elder sister, and wished Lea had been there to see that she was mocking her. The mockery seemed to fly over her future husbands’ head, as he simply nodded and stood.

 “I will rest before dinner tonight, and then tomorrow we will wed,” Lord Iscor kissed her hand again, before bowing and leaving the room.

Lily sighed, standing, and walking over to her mother. “I am going to check the menu for tonight, and then I may take a walk, Mama. I will make an acceptable husband of him; of that I am certain.” Her mother smiled, patting her shoulder lovingly before Lily floated out the door.