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viscountessevie · 1 year

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Something There Vignette #2 - The Carriage

A/N: Welcome back to all who have been following this story aka my besties who have been either helping me beta reading and editing this with me or those just along for the ride reading snippets and listening to me ramble - here’s a second part of Chapter 1! [Taglist in the notes!]

Those who are new: Hello there! This is a fanfic for Lord Cassidy from Mr. Malcolm’s List and since he didn’t get a love interest in the film and is PRIME HR hero material, I gave him one! Her name is Lady Persephone Parker-Greens and you can read all about her in the links below. This is a childhood best friends to lovers story with marriage of convenience and a touch of forbidden romance.

Masterlist | Vignette #1 | Vignette #3

Yall read The Waltz and came back? Okay so some context, after the waltz they are both ambushed by other suitors and debs respectively and it’s just a filler scene that was too boring to post but probably will sharpen it up by the time I post the fic. The following vignette takes place after their separation at the Ball and they are on their way home together since they’re neighbours. Happy Reading yall!! [Added a watermark to my edit this time! I mean this is a very niche edit but if anyone does want to share - please let me know beforehand but reblogs are the most appreciated! Thank you]

As they left Amberton Manor, Sephy started to spring back to life. She could be the life of the party if she pleased and the occasion called for it. However, there was a guarded wall up with her performances in the Ton. If one knew where to look. Cassie knew. Now, as she pulled herself to his side, she allowed herself to relax in his presence. This is when the real fun began.

"There she is." He chuckled, his arm around her waist squeezing her playfully closer to him. They were so close she could feel the vibrations of his laugh against her own body. "I could have sworn you were about to put yourself to bed in the middle of the ballroom floor after Dick Chumley tried to engage you a second time."

Finally feeling free from prying eyes, she produced her fan hanging from her wrist and delivered a quick swat against his chest. "I would never. I will have you know, I am the perfect debutante" She gasped dramatically before hitting him again, lightly this time. "And that was for ignoring me while talking to Lady Feather."

"Lady Feather? You're slipping tonight, my dear Sephy." He teased and she couldn't help but smile at the endearment. It was just like any other night of theirs so why did it feel different? She shook her head to settle herself as they reached her carriage.

"Oh, I know exactly what her name was. It was Lady Gwyneth. She had far too many feathers, I'm surprised your nose was not aggravated." They left the conversation there as Cassie excused himself for a moment, running over to his valet and carriage. Most likely to brief that he'll be travelling with her tonight and to follow them.

She was opening the door to let herself in when he jogged back and swatted her hand away. Holding out his hand to guide her in, he opened the door for her. Sephy clasped his hand grateful and climbed in. Once she situated herself comfortably, she tugged him in. They both underestimated her strength of her pull as he tumbled inside and landed squarely on top of her.

She fell back onto the seat and their bodies pressed against each other under his weight. This time it did not feel as alarming as it did in the ballroom. Sephy was starting to enjoy being pressed up against Cassie. Before he could put out his arms to stop himself from crushing her, their faces came close together and their lips crashed into each other. Fire was the only thought that ran through her mind. It was the only way to describe how she felt having his lips on hers. Every part of her was set aflame.

The initial shock wore off a moment later and Cassie pulled back. He stared earnestly into her eyes, silently asking Sephy for permission to continue. They both knew their whole night had been building up to this. The waltz had been the turning point for them both, most of all for Sephy who was seeing Cassie in a new light. Oh, it was maddening how desperately she wanted to have him kiss her again.

Persephone didn’t need a moment to think before nodding enthusiastically. Tilting her head up, she pressed her lips against his. She let herself melt into the kiss. Her hands instinctively found his hair, her fingers tangling themselves through his thick locks while Cassie’s own hands came to cradle her head gently. Her fingers trailed down to stroke the nape of his neck, earning her a moan from him. She smiled satisfied against his lips as she brought her hands down to his lapels to tug him closer to her. They shifted their position so their legs could slot perfectly together. With one hand running through her hair, Cassie slid the other down the curve of her neck - letting her shiver in the wake of his touch before cupping her breast through her dress. His thumb rubbing against the hard pebble of her nipple, causing her to whimper into his mouth.

For those few minutes, they forgot themselves. They were completely wrapped up in each other, oblivious to the world outside. Then the door closed behind them, the noise startled the two. Persephone swore she jumped out of her skin while Cassie jumped away from her, landing on the seat across from her.

She used to always adore how well she could read him and how expressive he could be. Tonight, it felt like a curse. It was crystal clear how he felt about the kiss. Watching him carefully, she could pick out his furrowed eyebrows, eyes trained to the ground - he wouldn’t even look at her - and it had brought out his worst habit: chewing his lip to the point of drawing blood. She did take pride in how flushed he was from the kiss with his once perfectly styled hair all mussed up and swollen lips she was sure she could spend a lifetime kissing. Before she could part her lips to speak, he spoke first. He was stammering and fidgeting with nerves. Whatever was he nervous about?

“Sephy - Persephone, I apologise. That was highly inappropriate and… I shouldn’t have done that. It-it shouldn’t have gone that far. Good God, I compromised you.” He covered his hands over his mouth. She knew he was one for theatrics but this was too dramatic, even for her taste.

“Thank you for the delightfully astute observation, Caswell.” She said dryly, rolling her eyes at him. She was upset that ‘compromising her’ seemed to be his main priority. She hated that he seemed to regret what just happened and so she deflected. If he hated it, then she was going to pretend she didn’t care for it. “It was just a kiss, you do not have to get your breeches in a twist.”

“How are you so cavalier about this? I stole your virtue!” He dropped his head into his hands and let out a long groan. She could only glare at him with mild annoyance. With his dramatics, she couldn’t even enjoy how much she liked being ‘compromised’ in his words. “You didn’t steal anything, for Christ’s sake!” She leaned over to take his hands in hers. He slowly lifted his head up and finally looked her in the eye. She rubbed soothing circles on his hand while she reached out to caress his face and ran her fingers through his hair gently. He slowly started to calm down. “And I’m cavalier about this because it’s within our discretion, Cassie. It never happened if we don’t say anything.” She assured him. It hurt her to say it, but it was true. She loved him too much as a best friend to trap him into a marriage over a silly kiss that he certainly seemed to have hated.

“I am not going to lie to your parents, Persephone.” She did not care for the way he hissed her name and dropped her hands from his. “I did compromise you and I will be asking your parents’ permission for your hand in marriage the moment we get off this carriage.” He insisted honourably. He was so earnest about it all, she couldn’t hate him for it. What she did hate however was the finality in which he said it. She narrowed her eyes at him, staring him down with a glare usually directed at others for misstepping but he knew it all too well.

“Marriage?! Please tell me this is one of your jokes, Cassie. I assure you it is absolutely not funny.” Her tone was incredibly flat. The seriousness in his eyes told her exactly what she needed to know. She crossed her arms and stared hard at him. “Does your future bride get any say in the matter?” Her sharp and sarcastic tone was giving him whiplash. His eyes flashed and she could tell he was wounded. She had pushed her tone a little too far - making a mockery of his proposition by calling herself his bride. Nevertheless, she steeled herself and kept staring until he answered her.

“It’s the honourable thing to do, dearest and were you not just complaining days ago that you were already tired of the season and wanted a husband to fall into your lap? Well, here I am.” He grinned up at her. Now it was his turn to reach out and laced her fingers in his.

Shaking her head, she started to re-evaluate how her life had come to this. She had said that. Irony truly was a cruel mistress. Her thumb dragged across his as she gazed down contemplating at the sight. Who wouldn’t want to be married to their best friend? It was not as if she had never considered the thought of marrying him before. She was not one to be fussy about her marriage built on love. She knew exactly the kind of world she was born into. Marriage was a transaction and the safety net of the next chapter in a woman’s life. If one were to be rather pessimistic, it has been said that marriage was a woman’s legal death. She knew it would not be that awful with Cassie. Yet she knew if she allowed this, she would be robbing him of actual love. She knew he wanted a love match. He always has, ever since they were children. He was the dreamer and she was the practical one.

“No, Cassie, I will not be robbing you of your independence. And aren't you supposed to be upset that you've been ensnared by the claws of matrimony?” “Must you always forget, Sephy? I’m not like them - you know me better than that.” “Why are you so eager? We’re not in love.” She shot back.

Before he could answer, the carriage came to a stop. He huffed, "All this bickering when I could have been getting better acquainted with my bride." His eyes twinkled at the comment as he leaned in close to her. His eyes dropped to her lips for the briefest of moments. She glared at him when she realised he was teasing her. He never knew how to be serious, could he?

His wit was one of the things she enjoyed most about him. Tonight, it made her want to strangle him. Just as she was about to protest, the carriage door opened and her mask came on. She looked to him with pure adoration and was all smiles as Footman Jack helped her from the carriage. Forging forward first, a good distance was kept between them that no one but Cassie would be none the wiser to. Once they reached her front door, she spun on her heel to face him.

"I trust you'll keep our discretion tonight to yourself. Good night, Lord Cassidy." She gave him a cold curtsey and left him wondering where it all went wrong. "May I at least walk you to your room?" He hurried to catch up with her and gave her a pleading look. She never could say no to him. She nodded slowly, not trusting herself to say anything else.

The exhaustion of the day was weighing on her. Sensing this, he shuffled closer to offer up his shoulder to lean on. Old habits die hard and Persephone laid her head against his shoulder as he guided their way to her room. Breathing came easier when her parents were nowhere to be seen lounging in the drawing room. She knew Cassie well enough to know that he would have somehow let it slip to her parents about their indiscretion. It was an uncomfortable silence on the walk to her room. She absolutely despised it. This is exactly why she never let the thought of marrying Cassie go beyond considerations. All superficial attractions did was ruin friendships. Theirs had long transcended a friendship, they had a deep lifelong bond that couldn’t be compared to anything else. She wouldn’t trade it for anything else, not even a marriage based on lust with him. It was simply not worth it.

When they finally reached the threshold of her room, Cassie was the first one to break the silence. “I truly am sorry for tonight, Sephy.”

She couldn’t fathom what was so horrible and regretful about the kiss that he had to be sorry. She may not want to marry him because he felt pressured to do so but she did not regret that kiss. Not even a little bit, not even at all. It made her want to scream desperately, “I’m not!” at him but she was far too tired to muster the energy. All she could do was nod mutely.

“Promise me you will not tell my parents about tonight?” She pleaded softly - they would without a doubt have the two of them be married before the month’s end. The idea of Cassie resenting her later in their lives for trapping him in a loveless marriage broke her heart. There could be love in their marriage, just not the one he wanted.

He dipped his head in affirmation, silent and deep in his thoughts. She wished he would tell her exactly what was wrong. While they prided themselves on knowing what was wrong with the other most days, they could not read each other’s mind. This certainly was uncharted territory for the both of them. Sephy was so sure he was going to turn and walk away without a friendly goodbye when he took a breath. She watched him intently, unsure of his next course of action.

“Sephy…” He started to fidget with his hands as he always does when he was nervous, which was most of the time. She took a step closer to him and clasped his hands in hers. “Yes?” Looking up at him, her eyes were gentle and encouraging. You can tell me anything, was the unspoken reminder. He managed a small smile. “Would you consider being courted by me? We would not have to marry, however it would give us a chance to explore a romantic attachment.”

The hope that filled his blue blue eyes made her heart ache. She couldn’t do it, she couldn’t break his heart. She swallowed every one of her protests and slowly inclined her head.

“May I have some time to think about it? It’s been quite the night, Cassie.” She laughed softly, attempting to lighten the dark mood that had been cast upon them. His lips tilted up to match her laugh but it didn’t quite reach his eyes like it always does.

“Of course.” He stepped close to her and pressed his lips against her forehead. “Have a good night, dear Sephy.”

Persephone had closed her eyes when he kissed her forehead, allowing the moment to wash over her. When she opened them, Cassie was gone.

#Mr. Malcolm's List #Mr. Malcolm's List Fanfiction #Lord Cassidy #Lord Cassidy x OC #OC: Lady Persephone Parker-Green #Something There #Cassephone #Oliver Jackson-Cohen #FC: Simone Ashley #The Viscountess Writes

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