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BATH, 1900

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H [39] Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Lionel Tarquin Blackstock (Emily Amy)
W [34] Venezia Romilly Hero Burdet (Wraith)

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S1 [9] Arthur Hannibal Wulfhard Blackstock (cher529s)
D1 [7] Guinevere Charis Letizia Blackstock (JuliaF)
S2 [5] Samson Jericho Marcus Blackstock (Guest)
D2 [3]
S3 [1]

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It is the autumn of 1900. Arthur has fully transitioned into his role as military advisor, refining military strategies and training junior officers. Still, nothing compares to the thrill of commanding an army. The Boer War has stirred his patriotic passions - though he is far from the front line, he remains a staunch supporter of the British military effort. At home, he is a stern, disciplinarian father who stresses duty and honour to his five children.

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Venezia flourishes in her social and cultural endeavours. She has become a leading figure in Bath's musical society, organising regular concerts for the benefit of war widows and soldiers' families, and her soirées are the talk of the town. She entertains her guests with sparkling conversation, the best wine cellar in Bath, and the most beautiful violin playing they have ever heard outside a concert hall.

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Art, the Blackstocks' eldest son, is now 9 and a pupil at Woodhouse Grove School. Although more industrious than his father was at his age (Arthur, as a schoolboy, preferred to play practical jokes on his sister and her friends), Art idolises him in many ways, proclaiming to anyone who will listen that he will make his way in the army and make his father proud.

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He has grown into a bright, eager boy, full of verve and vigour, with a passion for science and exploration. His personal bookshelf at home is overflowing with books on explorers, atlases and compasses clutter his desk, and the maid has given up clearing away the maps he would study into the wee hours of the morning if allowed.

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He gets on with Guinevere and Samson - Gwen and Sam to the family - as long as he is always allowed to dictate the terms of the game. He is always the Duke of Wellington when they play and, in his more charitable moments, allows Gwen to be Lord Uxbridge and be shot through the leg by a cannon - a position, he assures her, which is most honourable and for which she should be grateful.

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Sam is not so fortunate - he is relegated to the role of Napoleon, and is attacked by the combined forces of Art (for whom sharing a name with Wellington is a point of personal pride) and Gwen, while being denounced as a "miniscule Frenchman".

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Gwen, now 7, has grown into a lively and opinionated girl. Venezia has tried unsuccessfully to instil a love of the violin in her daughter, but in vain. She prefers the piano, however, and rather than playing the sweet tones of Debussy that her mother loves so much, she has turned to Bach and Wagner.

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That, and sneaking downstairs to practice at midnight, which has got her into hot water with her father, who often comes down in a rage to give her a piece of his mind and wake up the whole household). But Venezia sees much of her younger self in Gwen's spirited defiance, and is more tolerant of her transgressions than Arthur.

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Sam, 5, looks up and envies his older siblings. He is closer to Gwen than to Art - when Art is at school, he has his sister all to himself, and without Art's influence, she is willing to go on imaginary adventures across the North Sea with him instead of throwing pillows at him. Perhaps even more than Arthur and Venezia, Sam is thrilled by the latest additions to the family: a girl and a boy. Soon, Sam imagines, he too will be able to be Wellington, while his younger sister or brother will be relegated to the role of Napoleon.

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The daughter

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First name: the title of an English-language 19th century poem (her mother's favourite).

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First middle name: used in Ancient Rome and Italy (https://shorturl.at/SX3El).

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Second middle name: a character from Greek mythology connected to the sea.

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The son

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First name: after a king of Sparta (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_kings_of_Sparta).

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First middle name: Biblical, contains the letters "ch" (https://www.behindthename.com/names/gender/masculine/usage/biblical/substring/ch).

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Second middle name: either Lionel or Tarquin (after his father).

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masculine list: https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/191050/124079
feminine list: https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/191050/124080