09:33Un touché, life left
09:35The servants shine the silver candle lips and brass fixtures
09:38They relit the marble hearths in the great hall
09:40I personally oversee the restoration of the family library
09:44And the gallery of military honours
09:46My father's battle maps
09:48His sword, his portrait, his medals
09:51Every detail placed according to the strict customs of Victorian nobility
09:56I stood at the centre of the great hall
09:59Looking up at the portraits of my ancestors
10:02My spine was straight
10:03I had lost an engagement
10:05I had lost the shelter of a husband
10:07But I had not lost my blood
10:10I had not lost my honour
10:13On the seventh day after the estate came back to life
10:16A carriage bearing the royal crest drew up before the gates
10:20A royal messenger in red uniform bowed and presented a letter sealed with wax
10:25The summons from the palace had arrived
10:29I entered the carpeted audience chamber
10:32Lowered myself into a graceful curty before the queen
10:35Then knelt in silence, back straight, waiting to be addressed
10:39I knelt before her, composure unbroken
10:42Your Majesty
10:44The engagement between myself and the Duke of Blackwood cannot proceed
10:47His heart belongs to another
10:50And Miss Lena is already with child
10:52Beside me, Amanda knelt as well
10:55Tears streaming down her face
10:57As she recounted every detail of the wedding night
11:00The queen listened from her throne
11:02Her expression growing darker by the moment
11:05I knew Blackwood was frivolous of heart
11:09She said at last
11:10But I did not him so bold
11:13To abandon a royal engagement on the wedding night itself
11:17For a courtesaire
11:21She exhaled slowly, her tone softening as she offered a reminder
11:25But Ilara, if you retreat to the Calloway estate now, London society will talk
11:31I lifted my gaze
11:33My eyes were clear
11:34My voice was steady
11:36Your Majesty
11:37The fault was not mine
11:39My father and brothers gave their lives for this realm
11:43The honor of House Calloway
11:45I can uphold it myself
11:47The queen was silent for a long moment
11:49Then something like approval surfaced in her eyes
11:53You are truly your father's daughter
11:55Strength
11:56Honor
11:57House Callaghan will rise again by your hand
12:00With those words, the audience
12:02This matter of dignity, of honor
12:04Came to its close
12:06And I, at last
12:08Had walked completely out of the cage
12:11Called marriage
12:12Three days after my audience at the palace
12:15The queen's royal gifts began arriving at the Calloway estate
12:19Word spread
12:20The tide of London society turned overnight
12:23The lords
12:24The generals' widows
12:26The ladies of title
12:27Those who had kept their distance
12:29When my engagement fell apart
12:31Now sent their calling cards
12:33Eager to renew their ties with House Calloway
12:36The Countess of Harwit came herself
12:38She took both my hands in hers
12:41Her voice earnest
12:43Elara
12:44You carry the spirit of a warrior's daughter
12:47You have the crown's favor
12:48You deserve nothing less than the finest this world has to offer
12:53Blackwood and that cordycet
12:54They are but specks of dust in your path
12:57Do not waste a thought on them
12:59I received them with poise
13:01Every gesture impaculate
13:03Neither pride nor resentment marved my composure
13:06Victorian high society does not weep for tears
13:10It bows only to those who hold their honour high
13:13And stand with their backs straight
13:15I had not cried
13:16I had not begged
13:18I had not clung to any man
13:20And yet
13:21By blood of the Calloway line
13:23By the trust of the crown
13:25I had claimed the most honourable place in London society
13:29All of this, Cale Blackwood did not yet know
13:32He still believed, in his innocence
13:35That I was merely smulking
13:37That in a few days
13:38I would swallow my pride
13:40And come back to Blackwood Manor
13:41He would never know
13:42That I had already warped towards something
13:45Far freer
13:46Far brighter
13:47Far more my own
13:48Than any Duchess's title could ever be
13:53Cale had always believed that I was merely throwing a tantrum
13:56A bride wronged on her wedding night
13:58Nothing more
13:59He was certain that in a few days
14:01I would swallow my pride
14:02Return to Blackwood Manor
14:04Not until the crown's gifts arrived at Calloway House
14:07Not until the old allies
14:09Entitled ladies began arriving at my door
14:11Did the truth finally strike him?
14:13I was never coming back
14:15I submitted the formal dissolution
14:17Of the engagement to the ecclesiastical court for filing
14:20Soon after the Queen addressed the matter at court
14:24Blackwood has set aside the match
14:26I arranged for him in favour to a court assayt
14:29I will not force a man to honour what he has already dishonoured
14:33All of London understood clearly
14:35The Queen's displeasure was never with me
14:37The disappointment, the disdain
14:39They belonged to Cale Blackwood
14:40When word reached Blackwood Manor
14:42Cale found himself like a beast caught in a trap
14:45No room to manoeuvre
14:46He had no choice left but to marry the courtesan who carried his child
14:50But he never understood that in the world of Victorian nobility
14:53No great house would ever accept a courtesan wearing the Blackwood Ducal crown
14:57He had torn apart the crown's dignity with his own hands
15:01And with those same hands
15:02He had thrown his family's honour into the mud
15:05The humiliation that awaited him
15:07The mockery
15:08Had only just begun
15:11In London, a noble wedding was never a private matter
15:14It was a ceremony of lineage, of honour, of the crown's recognition
15:18But the wedding of Kyle and Lena was a laughing gop from the very start
15:21On the day of the ceremony, the guests filled the hall
15:23Yet not a single heart carried genuine well-wishes
15:26They had all come to witness how this scandal would unfold
15:29Let the bride step forward to receive her vows
15:35Suddenly, her face changed
15:37Her stomach turned
15:38She could no longer hold it back
15:39Before the eyes of every guest, Lena bent over and vomited onto the ceremonial carpet
15:44The air frozen
15:45Then, pandemonium
15:47She's already with a child
15:49Who the father is
15:50Only she knows
15:53Take her away
15:54The honour of House Blackman has been dragged through the mud
15:57The hasty wedding, barely begun
15:59Ended in contempt and chaos
16:00The once charming duke of Blackford had become, Overnight, the greatest joke in London's movies
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