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HelpAri's Murder Mystery CAF #4
Welcome to THE NIGHTINGALE'S NEST cher529s, esteemed guest. Enjoy your stay. Try not to get killed.
THE HOST Lord August Wulfstan Hastings, 7th Earl of Ashbourne Amoret
THE HOSTESS Lady Xanthe Rosmunda Hastings ishild
Alas, Poor Duchess! Her Grace, the Duchess of _______ has suffered a turn of fortune. She followed Lady Xanthe as she smiled an acerbic smile, claimed a headache, and left the table after a guest (whose identity will remain concealed in the interest of building narrative tension) revealed her husband's involvement in the opium trade. She listened patiently as Lady Xanthe, fuming, and on the edge of tears, told her friend a sad story indeed (as suggested by aPerson).
Lady Xanthe was devoted to her mother, and invalid who suffered from chronic pains following a bout of illness in her thirties. She tried to maintain good cheer for the sake of her family - her only daughter, Xanthe, in particular. When the pain became too much to bear, she was prescribed opium by her doctors. Xanthe saw her mother wither before her eyes, turning into a husk of her former self. Even when her mother could no longer recognise her, Xanthe was her devoted nurse, and was by her side when she died. Xanthe began to hate the drug with burning passion and swore to have nothing to do with it. The realisation that the opium that killed her mother was manufactured by her husband made something inside her curdle like milk.
Xanthe's young friend tried to console her to the best of her ability, but she had her own travails, that she felt unable to share with her friend. From an outsider's perspective, _______ ought to be the happiest girl in England. The scion of a fantastically rich family, she spent her youth in a whirl of London balls, avant garde gowns that cost twice the yearly income of middle-class Londoners, and innocent flirtations with officers. And now, she has married the most eligible bachelor in the Kingdom - the rich, handsome, and landed (a rare combination indeed! And, at thirty, he is only a few years her senior!) Duke of _______ . They seem the picture perfect couple, and every magazine lavishes them with praise.
But what the magazines do not say, what even _______ 's friends do not know, is that the Duke - though he is handsome and his estate is the largest in the country, more beautiful even than The Nightingale's Nest - is an inattentive groom, out gallivanting while his pretty young bride pines for someone - anyone - to release her from her loneliness.
Her Grace _______ _______ _______ , Duchess of _______
First name: revived in the 19th century (https://www.behindthename.com/names/browse.php?operator_gender=is&value_gender[]=feminine&operator_description=isall&value_description[]=revived&value_description[]=19th - for inspiration: please note not all the names here fit this bill - Savannah certainly doesn't!)
Middle name: the name of an opera that premiered before the 20th century.
Surname: the surname of a British Prime Minister before the 20th century.
Dukedom: a ceremonial county in the South West of England (Cornwall, Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset, or Wiltshire).
BONUS: (optional, just for fun - I may or may not take inspiration): how did the twenty-something Duchess and forty-something Lady Hastings become friends? I heard a rumour they met under somewhat unusual circumstances, but I am not sure whether it is substantiated.
masculine list: https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/191050/124079
feminine list: https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/191050/124080
THE HOST Lord August Wulfstan Hastings, 7th Earl of Ashbourne Amoret
THE HOSTESS Lady Xanthe Rosmunda Hastings ishild
Alas, Poor Duchess! Her Grace, the Duchess of _______ has suffered a turn of fortune. She followed Lady Xanthe as she smiled an acerbic smile, claimed a headache, and left the table after a guest (whose identity will remain concealed in the interest of building narrative tension) revealed her husband's involvement in the opium trade. She listened patiently as Lady Xanthe, fuming, and on the edge of tears, told her friend a sad story indeed (as suggested by aPerson).
Lady Xanthe was devoted to her mother, and invalid who suffered from chronic pains following a bout of illness in her thirties. She tried to maintain good cheer for the sake of her family - her only daughter, Xanthe, in particular. When the pain became too much to bear, she was prescribed opium by her doctors. Xanthe saw her mother wither before her eyes, turning into a husk of her former self. Even when her mother could no longer recognise her, Xanthe was her devoted nurse, and was by her side when she died. Xanthe began to hate the drug with burning passion and swore to have nothing to do with it. The realisation that the opium that killed her mother was manufactured by her husband made something inside her curdle like milk.
Xanthe's young friend tried to console her to the best of her ability, but she had her own travails, that she felt unable to share with her friend. From an outsider's perspective, _______ ought to be the happiest girl in England. The scion of a fantastically rich family, she spent her youth in a whirl of London balls, avant garde gowns that cost twice the yearly income of middle-class Londoners, and innocent flirtations with officers. And now, she has married the most eligible bachelor in the Kingdom - the rich, handsome, and landed (a rare combination indeed! And, at thirty, he is only a few years her senior!) Duke of _______ . They seem the picture perfect couple, and every magazine lavishes them with praise.
But what the magazines do not say, what even _______ 's friends do not know, is that the Duke - though he is handsome and his estate is the largest in the country, more beautiful even than The Nightingale's Nest - is an inattentive groom, out gallivanting while his pretty young bride pines for someone - anyone - to release her from her loneliness.
Her Grace _______ _______ _______ , Duchess of _______
First name: revived in the 19th century (https://www.behindthename.com/names/browse.php?operator_gender=is&value_gender[]=feminine&operator_description=isall&value_description[]=revived&value_description[]=19th - for inspiration: please note not all the names here fit this bill - Savannah certainly doesn't!)
Middle name: the name of an opera that premiered before the 20th century.
Surname: the surname of a British Prime Minister before the 20th century.
Dukedom: a ceremonial county in the South West of England (Cornwall, Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset, or Wiltshire).
BONUS: (optional, just for fun - I may or may not take inspiration): how did the twenty-something Duchess and forty-something Lady Hastings become friends? I heard a rumour they met under somewhat unusual circumstances, but I am not sure whether it is substantiated.
masculine list: https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/191050/124079
feminine list: https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/191050/124080
This message was edited 4/22/2024, 3:28 PM
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