"The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger--but recognize the opportunity." John F. Kennedy

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Chapter One

September, 1824

Lucy had never been more excited about something in her life. After years of being left out of social engagements and neglected in family invitations, it was finally her turn to have an adventure, to explore the world outside these four walls that she had grown up in.

It was almost surreal that she, Lucy Kensington, would be attending the Princess Royal. She would be at court! She would stand beside Princess Alice and might even be spoken to directly!

Lucy knew that she owed a great deal of thanks to her brother. Were it not for his position in parliament, there would be no way that a girl with her reputation would be welcome at court. But Kit was to become the next Prime Minister at the upcoming election, and the Royal Family obliged parliament with attendants that were politically supportive. Who could be more supportive than the PM's sister?

"You want Lucy to go to London?" cried Faith.

Her mother's tone broke Lucy's excited train of thought.

After Kit left the house in pursuit of Olivia, which Lucy was still dumbfounded by, Prince Edward had gone to speak with her parents about the position he had offered Lucy.

"Yes," replied Edward simply. His tone affected Lucy greatly. He sounded broken, yet hopeful, as though having someone like Lucy around his sister would bring him joy in this dark time for his family.

Edward looked back at Lucy. She saw such sadness and pain in his blue eyes. Lucy was surprised at how much this pain affected her. She felt as though she wanted to bring him comfort. The way he looked at her gave her a sense of familiarity with him, which was odd seeing as she had not seen him since she was a child, and they were really no longer acquainted. It really was quite confusing.

"Miss Kensington will have a place attending my sister at court," continued Edward. "She will have position, influence, money, and a kind friend in Princess Alice. I only want good people around my sister, you understand. In times such as these, I fear people will try to elevate themselves through my ... father's grief." Edward seemed to struggle, his voice cracking, at the end of his sentence. He quickly composed himself.

"Mama," Lucy said softly. "Please." Lucy looked at her mother intently. Surely Faith could see that this was the best, and quite possibly the only, offer Lucy would ever receive.

Lucy could see the guilt on her mother's face. Faith had felt Lucy's pain keenly, possibly even more than Lucy did. Faith would never be selfish with Lucy. Never again.

Faith looked to Cassian and nodded once. Lucy knew it would be hard for her mother to let her go.

"Very well," agreed Cassian. "Lucy can go."

Lucy beamed. She hurried over to the settee on which her parents were sitting and hugged them tightly. She hugged her brother out of excitement and then raced over to her sister at the pianoforte.

For how long had she been waiting for a chance like this one?

After embracing Emma, Lucy looked back at Edward to see him smiling a small smile in her direction. He could never comprehend how grateful she was. She would not let him down. Her excitement seemed inappropriate at such a dark time for Edward, and for the whole country! Lucy needed to quickly realise that she would be entering a house in mourning. But it was difficult to be rational when something such as this was happening to her!

Lucy quickly excused herself and raced up to her bedroom. It was only until recently that she had shared this room with Emma. Emma had been given her own bedroom at the start of the summer.

She opened the trunk at the foot of her bed and then threw open the doors of her wardrobe. After sorting through gown after gown, looking for dark colours, she quickly gave up and lifted them all out of the wardrobe. She would be bringing everything. She luckily did have some clothing appropriate for mourning owing to the funerals she attended rarely if ever a member of the community passed away. With a sewing needle and some black lace she could make it look elegant enough for court.

Lucy threw every gown she owned in the trunk and made her way over to her dressing table. Before she could start assessing the collection of potion bottles and jewellery that she had, her bedroom door opened.

Emma fidgeted with the cuff of her dress before nervously saying, "Do you want some help?"

Lucy could see that her sister was on the verge of crying. Lucy had never really seen Emma affected by anything before. Her life had always been so simple. She was never bothered by anything. Whatever she wanted, she got. It did not hurt to have a father who was wrapped around her little finger. Emma was still so innocent in so many ways. Lucy honestly hoped she could stay that way. The world was a kinder place to those who had not been hurt by it.

"Oh, Emma," Lucy said sympathetically, abandoning the dressing table and racing over to give Emma a more compassionate hug.

Emma promptly burst into tears and buried in face in the crook of Lucy's neck. Lucy tried in earnest not to inhale Emma's curly, black hair. Emma cried for a little while and Lucy comforted her by rubbing her back softly.

When she was ready, Emma pulled away and looked at Lucy with sad, glassy black eyes. "You won't be here anymore," she whimpered. "We won't be together anymore. We are always together."

"Emma," Lucy said quietly. "I cannot be here anymore. This place is not the same for me as it is for you. I pray this will always be a safe and happy place for you, and for Tom. But it can't be for me and I understand that."

Lucy could see that Emma understood the logic, but the reality of no longer having her sister with her was still at the forefront of Emma's mind. "Kit is in London," she offered, hoping to cheer her. "Perhaps Mama and Papa will allow you to visit me soon and you can stay with him in Kensington."

"I am only sixteen. They would never allow me to go on my own. And you know how Mama hates town. I shan't see you until you return to Derbyshire." The reality dawned yet again and Emma started to blubber. When Emma composed herself, she said, "I cannot wait to have a season next year. What it would be to marry a man with a house in London so I might visit you whenever I please."

Such a statement made Lucy certain that Emma was nowhere near mature enough to be married.

"Am I interrupting?" Faith asked as she knocked twice on the open door.

Both girls turned towards their mother and released each other. "No, Mama," replied Lucy. Lucy had managed to stay composed when Emma had cried, but she could see that her mother was now on the verge. If Faith broke then Lucy knew that she would most definitely, too.

"Emma, go into my wardrobe and fetch whatever black gowns you find," Faith instructed.

Emma obeyed her mother and left Lucy's bedroom. Lucy could tell that Faith wanted to speak with Lucy alone.

Lucy shared a special relationship with her mother, unique to that of all her siblings. Lucy knew that her mother loved all four of her children fiercely, but it was clear some of the time that she had loved Lucy longest. Perhaps her guilt added to this.

"Oh, Lucy," said Faith softly, "you cannot know the life I would have wanted for you. I fought so hard to protect you from any harm and all I did was inflict harm and pain upon you."

Lucy could not fully know the circumstances as she would dare not ask, but for a woman to be so desperate as to fake her own death to be away from her husband and to deny her child her birth right, Lucy's father had to have been a wicked, wicked man.

"I understand your good intentions, Mama," replied Lucy. She went to her mother and hugged her. Faith reciprocated the action and wrapped her arms around Lucy tightly. "You gave me a good life here."

Faith cupped Lucy's cheeks. "I only want your happiness, my darling. I would give anything for it. I would give anything for people to see you the way I do."

Lucy was not so naïve as to think that her reputation would not follow her to London, but she had hope that "illegitimate" might not always be the first word that came to mind when she encountered people.

"To see me the way you do, Mama, would be to see me with a halo," teased Lucy.

Her joke made Faith smile and her eyes water. "The prince has been Kit's friend for a long time. I trust that Kit has good taste in friends. And if the princess is as lovely as her brother boasts then I am grateful that you will have such fortunate connections in London. You are not alone there. You have your brother, and you will always have us here." Faith kissed Lucy's cheek. "Now, we ought to organise this trunk!" Her voice was still thick with emotion but Lucy could tell that her mother was putting on a brave face. She would cry later.

Emma returned with the gowns and together, the three Kensington women laid out dresses, bonnets, gloves, shoes, undergarments, and the like, taking note of which garments needed mending and altering, and what would need to be purchased when Lucy got to London.

As Faith and Emma exchanged ideas on how to improve a summer dress of Lucy's, she could not help but smile. Her life was about to change so dramatically.

Lucy lost track of the time. She had no idea of how long the three were in her bedroom for, but they were disturbed by a knock on the door.

Cassian poked his head inside, an alarmed expression was on his face.

Faith was the first to address him. "What's wrong?" she demanded to know.

"You three had better come downstairs," he managed to say, his voice full of surprise.

They quickly abandoned what they were doing and raced out of Lucy's bedroom. They gathered their skirts as they all but ran down the stairs. Lucy was suddenly panicking. Had Edward changed his mind? What could affect her father so?

They followed Cassian into the drawing room, and stopped in their tracks. Kit had returned, and he was not alone.

On his arm was a beautiful, red-headed woman.

Lucy beamed when she realised what had happened. She met Kit's eye and could already tell what the news was.

"Do you remember me, Aunt?" Olivia asked Faith.

Olivia seemed shy, which was a far cry from the confident, self-assured woman who had given Lucy advice earlier that day. But to be in this house, with all their family history, had to be intimidating.

Faith seemed to be in a state of shock as she looked between Kit and Olivia. "Of course, dear Olivia. But I do not understand. How did this happen?"

"Olivia and I have both grown up quite a lot over the years. We have both achieved so much. I always loved her. You both knew that," Kit said, speaking to Cassian and Faith. "And, as it turns out, she had not yet found the sense to stop loving me."

Olivia relaxed as little as she laughed at Kit's joke. "I know there has been much tension and conflict between us in the past," she said to Cassian, "but I do love your son. He has asked me to marry him and I have accepted him."

There could not be celebration until Cassian approved. Even without the knowledge of a prior attachment between Kit and Olivia which had obviously been kept secret for many years, Cassian's disdain for the Pendletons was a known fact.

"Welcome to our family, Olivia. I hope you two will be very happy together." Cassian embraced his son and future daughter-in-law.

The night continued in jubilation. Champagne was served, and Finn, Olivia's aunt Lorna, and their son, Paddy were all sent for. They celebrated Kit and Olivia's engagement, as well as Lucy's position in London, well into the night.

In the early hours of the morning, Edward came to stand beside Lucy.

"Do you think they will be happy together?" she asked him.

"I think that if two people fight hard enough to be together, despite what anyone says or thinks, then yes, they can be happy together," replied Edward.

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Sorry this took a little longer than usual! I had a very busy week! I turned 24 on Thursday :D  

Thank you to those who messaged me! I was so surprised that so many of you remembered!! And very touched! 

What else happened this week? Oh, yes! I changed a tyre for the first time! My mum had a flat on Monday so I convinced her that we didn't need no man so I YouTube'd it and changed a tyre wooooo. 

I'm working a new job at the moment. It's kind of like freelance, so this week I have a full week of work so the next update might not be until next weekend. 

I hope you all have had a great weekend xx

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