An Arragement Most Foul

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"A trip to London sounds like a wonderful idea Constantine! We could rent out a house for the weekend and go out shopping, take your mother to places that she would like. I'm sure that will lighten her spirits greatly." Annaliel said as she smiled at him widely. "Oh I just know that Coriella will love this trip, I'll write my parents to let them know where we'll be so they don't get worried if I don't reply to letters, you know how they get."

Annaliel was very excited for the trip and not just because it will make Coriella feel better, but because there was much shopping that had to be done for the baby. Because of the funeral they had not been able to start working out plans for a nursery or even speak with a doctor about it. Hopefully Annaliel could bring Coriella along when shopping, certainly buying clothing for a future grandchild would take her mind off of her sadness.
 
"Wonderful!" Constantine himself had been to London quite a few times with his father, which was a bit saddening, but he was still all the more excited. Finally, his mother would be so happy and get better in no time! Running aroung the house quickly sending telegrams here and there to get ready for their impending departure, Constantine made sure that this would be a wonderful trip for Coriella, and that she wouldn't find out till she got there. His brothers were all packed up and ready to go, and when it was time to leave, they escorted a very unhappy Coriella into the carriage. "I don't see where you're taking me......" she mumbled in protest, not willing to do anything at all. Constantine also made sure that Annaliel would be comfortable during the long ride there since she was expecting. The trip was very long and tedious and took a week to get there, and, of course, Coriella had a fit the whole way through, that is, until she saw where they were headed...
 
Annaliel sent letters to her parents and sisters, letting them know where she was going before she started to pack. She needed to be prepared for the trip into the city since it would be so dreadfully long. She packed a few long novels as well as a small pillow, since she would certainly fall asleep if she got to bored. When the day came for them to leave Coriella was less than happy to be forced to go on a trip. Annaliel told her that it would be nice to get out and have some fresh air and that there was a surprise in store, and there would be. Annaliel and Constantine hadn't told Coriella about the baby yet, not knowing how she would feel when she was so depressed. Annaliel planned on telling her after they were settled in their rented out house, hoping that her mother-in-law would be willing to join her on an outting to shop for baby clothing.

During the trip Annaliel read her books and slept, some how being able to keep her slowly growing morning sickness under control. She leaned against Constantine often, looking a bit more pale than usual and having to slip in a little white lie or two to keep Coriella in the dark. It wasn't eas being pregant but she would get over it as soon as they arrived in London. Annaliel had to hold back a happy giggle as the look on Coriella's face completely changed once the outskirts of London came into view. They had rented a house near the edge of the city so there wouldn't be to much noise to bother them during the evening. When they arrived at the house Annaliel was glad to be on her own to feet, the bumpy roads having make her a little green.
 
Coriella was speechless! At first, she didn't say anything at all looking out the window in complete shock. It brought back so many memories for her. All the wonderful times her and Arelson spent together walking around the busy streets arm in arm, strolling through the countryside, laughing and exchanging pleasantries, going to the local theatre together.......... "Mother? Mother?" Donovan said waving his hands in front of Coriella's eyes politely. She hadn't even noticed they were inside the house, now, her mind encompassed in such sweet memories. She smiled a little and spoke softly before walking upstairs to her room, "....Thank you. This is very nice. I appreciate it very much." She seemed very happy and calm now, much to her sons' relief, and Constantine sighed softly before turning towards his wife to check on her. "How are you? You weren't too uncomfortable during the trip were you?" he asked.
 
Annaliel smiled as she noticed Coriella's obvious happiness. She loved that this plan worked, now there was only one more thing to do. After dinner, she and Constantine would tell her the big news, That would certainly be the icing on the cake for this day. She looked to Constantined and nodded her head, the greeness in her face slowly going away now that she wasn't bouncing around so much anymore.

"I'm fine, I'm just glad I didn't have to much morning sickness, or I would have to spoil the surprise for your mother." She said as she looked toward Coriella. "More importantly, I think we should tell her tonight about you know what, I certain that she'll shoot through the roof with joy at the news."
 
Constantine nodded in agreement and walked upstairs to change into something more comfortable before dinner. Elias and Donovan's wives had the dinner plans all made out already and ran around the house making sure everything was in place. They wanted Coriella happy and comfortable too. Coriella walked downstairs shocked that everyone else was already ready and seated at the dinner table. Sitting down with a sigh she joked, "This is all very nice, but it's kind of odd being the only older person around so many young people..." Everyone laughed and Constantine then looked towards Annaliel and then replied slowly, "Mother...me and Annaliel have something to tell you and to everyone else, as well...."
 
Annaliel tried to help where she could, the other two wives having taken change of everything. She then slipped off to change into something more comfortable for dinner. When the meal was ready she sat down next to Constantine and smiled happily, knowing that they would be telling everyone the good news soon. A laugh slipped out as Coriella joked about being the only old person and she continued to smile as Constantine started to bring up the news.

"Yes, You see...We found out a few days after Arelson passed away but we didn't want to interrupt the time of mourning. However, now that everyone is starting to over come the sadness we both agreed that he could help with a little boost...I'm expecting." She said with a smile at Coriella
 
Coriella smiled pleasantly as the other women gasped in excitement and the cooks brought in the food and wine. "I'm so happy for you both! I knew it was bound to happen sometime!" she said heart warmingly. Constantine sighed once again relieved to see his mother was quite pleased and he kissed Annaliel happily in response. He knew that there would be much to do tommorow about the child since they hadn't done anything at all in the past few weeks. The food was passed around the table along with laughs and light conversation, and things seemed to be going smoothly, so far. At bedtime, everyone quietly said goodnight to each other and retired to their rooms. "That went very well don't you think?" he said to Annaliel softly.
 
Annaliel smiled widely at Coriella's happy response as well as the excited gasps of the other women, it only seemed to make everything seem better. She kissed Constantine back sweetly before turning to her meal to eat. There was going to be a lot to do tomorrow and she needed all the energy she could get her hands on. They would need to go shopping for baby clothing and furniture, as well as plan out a nursery for the little boy or girl they would be having. When it was time for bed she happily said good night to everyone before turning to Constantine and wrapping her arms around him lovingly.

"Yes, I think it was absolutely wonderful. We should get to bed though, there is a lot of shopping to do and you have to come along. Your opinion is just as important as mine." She said with a small giggle.
 
"Oh, don't worry. I will," he replied holding his wife in his arms as he slept, awaiting the following day. The next morning, things weren't as busy as thought, and everyone was already downstairs eating breakfast and getting ready to go out on the town. Constantine, however, stayed curled up in his bed and was shocked at how late he had slept and rushed to get up and dressed quickly. He sat down at the table greeting everyone a good morning and smiled. "So, what's first?" he asked Annaliel and Coriella. Coriella smiled to Annaliel and said, "I'll let Annaliel pick."
 
Annaliel got up before Constantine and got dressed quietly, not wanting to wake him up. She went down stairs and had breakfast with the others talking with Coriella happily, glad to see her doing so much better. She giggled a bit as Constantine came down later, rushing a bit from having slept in, and sat down. She looked between Constantine and Coriella when they left her to choose what to do first, trying to think of something.

"Well, I guess we could go look at baby clothing, and then at furniture for the nursery, also where are we going to have the nursery? I would like it to be close to our room." She said as she looked at her husband.
 
"Yes, that seems to be the best thing to do," Constantine said while eatinghis breakfast quietly. Coriella wiped her mouth before speaking, as well, "I know of wonderful man who makes very beautiful furniture, especially for nurseries. It's where I got Elias' old baby crib. We could look if you like." As soon as breakfast was finished, everyone went out, and, of course, the local townsfolk was giddy to see all the Evingsdales in person walking the streets of London. Constantine helped with what he could as far as picking out baby clothes and furniture. He wasn't really all that good with things like that, but he helped anyway.
 
Annaliel smiled as she finished her food adn got ready to leave for their outting. It was nice to be walking around instead of staying inside the house like she usually did. Being married kept her busy and indoors far to long. As they went from shop to shop Annaliel couldn't help but smile as everyone in the city seemed to be happy to see them. When picking out baby clothing she did most of the work, Constantine not really knowing that to do, she still asked him questions though. When it came to getting teh furniture Annaliel seemed to get a little lost as well. Every thing was so lovely in the shop they visited and it was hard to choose which one would be best for the furture baby.
 
Coriella could see that Annaliel was undecided being surrounded by so many different, beautiful furniture, so she gave her plenty of advice on what was best for the crib to made of, types of railings, and what exactly she'd need for the baby so she wouldn't pick too much. It was such a long time since Coriella went looking at baby things, and she was surprised she still remembered so much! She even ran into a few old friends she hadn't seen in such a long time, making the day even better. She was very happy she came along, and let everyone know, much to their gratitude. Constantine and Elias picked a very lovely and private spot near the river for them to have lunch, and everyone seemed to be enjoying theirselves, so far. "Did you see the look on their faces? Gastly!" Elias joked while everyone ate and made small talk.
 
Annaliel smiled and was glad to have Coriella's help, it made the whole shopping process much easier. Eventually they choose a crib, changing station and dresser to hold all of the clothing they just bought, telling the store owner to send it directly to the house. After the shopping they stopped for lunch. To say that Annaliel was tired would be an understatement. If she was this tired from just walking and not even showing yet she could not imagine how much work it would be when she was nine months along. As Elias joked and everyone laughed, She leaned into Constantined and smiled a bit, glad that things were starting to look brighter now.
 
Constantine smiled back at Annailel. Things were beginning to get a lot better, and pretty soon things were getting back to normal. The nursery was soon set up, and Annaliel was definitely beginning to show more as Colette eventually gave birth to a son who she, of course, named Henry Farwell IV. She came down to Hemmingsway a lot to visit and to also introduce little, baby Henry. Elias and Donovan's wives eventually got pregnant, as well, and Coriella did her best to help them, too. A few traders came by to the estate wanting to auction off Arelson's old things since they were very expensive and, as expected, Coriella absolutely would not let them sell any of his things and had the men thrown out immediately. As for Constantine, he got a very important letter in the mail from the King. It was almost time for him to be dubbed as Duke. Constantine was very weak-kneed at this notice, knowing that he'd be taking on not only his father's position, but legal rights to the estate, the ranch, all of the servants, and so forth. He'd be ultimately replacing his father which didn't sit too well with him, but he remembered Arelson's final wishes and did his best to be excited about it. It wasn't long before all of England found out, too and now Constantine was running around the house answering letters, telegrams, and many visitors getting ready for the inaugaration. He made sure that a very pregnant Annaliel wouldn't get too tied up in the business. He wanted for her to worry about the baby alone, and even though it was a back breaking process, now the young man stood before the mirror in one of the many rooms in the King's castle, unwillingly donning a powdered wig, heavy makeup, and a regal outfit. "If I look at myself one more time in this disgusting outfit, I might vomit," he complained to Annaliel and Coriella.
 
Annaliel couldn't believe everything that was happening all at once. She was growing bigger every day and soon just gave up on corsets all together and wore long flowing gowns that gave her the freedon her belly needed. Colette gave birth to a very handsom baby boy which Annaliel quickly dotted on whenever Colette needed to take a nap from her constant mothering, it is better to be prepared for anything that might come her way. Coriella was getting better but still held onto Arelson's things, and with good reason too. Annaliel gladly helped beat back the traders, using her pregnancy mood swings to her advantage. Now, Constantine was getting dubbed the duke. FOr the longest time she had a hard time believeing it herself. With Constantine as Duke she would be the Duchess, naturally. Such a title made her a little nervous. She didn't speak about it to much though and just focused on the baby since Constantine needed to keep his mind on the growing plie of letters and constant visitors.

When the day of the inaugaration came Annaliel was sitting in the same room with Constantine, her belly so round she looked like she was going to pop! She still looked just as lovely, her sisters having given a helping hand to prepare her for the event. Her family was just as excited when they told them the news and her mother had been stopping by regularly to check up on her and give her a helpping hand as teh due date got closer. She new her parents and siblings were also here for the main and stood up, grunting a bit as she strightened herself and walked over to Constantine, turning him to face her quickly adjusting his outfit a bit, his constant fumbling and nervous behavior only making it worse.

"Sweetie, be you in your everyday suit or this ungodly get up you are still the most handsome man I know, now buck and smile for me, I need to get to my seat before the ceremony begins and you know how slow I am these days." She said, placing a hand on her belly as she smiled at him.
 
"Listen to your wife, darling. You look fine! Now we're going to get downstairs quickly," Coriella replied. Constantine took a deep breath and turned away from the mirror placing a light kiss on Annaliel's and his mother's cheeks before they left downstairs to get seated for the ceremony. He was so nervous it seemed almost impossible to keep himself from shaking and fidgeting and the 250 guests in the throne room didn't make it any better. The King said this would be a private event.....Some kind of private this is! Constantine stood outside the throne room doors as the court and the King made their entrances from the back and stated the introduction to the ceremony. The throne doors were pulled open, and Constantine kept a straight a face as he could as he walked down the long aisle towards the throne slowly. The guests quietly eyed his new garb in delight, making him all the more nervous, feeling 250 pairs of eyes staring down his back.

The King got up slowly and walked down the small steps til he was only 2 feet away from Constantine as he began,

"Constantine William Evingsdale, do you know of and agree to the concepts of this dubbing?"

"I do, Your Highness."

"And do you vow to keep all your words said today and in the future till your death true?"

"I will, Your Highness."

After the prefects were mentioned, and everything was agreed upon and answered accordingly, not just by Constantine, but to others in royalty, as well, along with Colette's father, which seemed to have taken forever, the King finally got down to the actual dubbing.

"Then, I hereby dub you Duke Constantine William Evingsdale! You have agreed to do the aforementioned things, and comply to things in the future. Thus, I also give to you the deeds to the late Duke Arelson's estate along with the rest of his property, and other things, as stated in the document, which you will sign afterwards. Now I might add to the normal ceremony, with the permission from the rest of the Royal Court, also to not only dub you as Duke, but as Grand Duke giving you almost total control over the kingdoms of Hemmingsway, Walsberg, Cornwall, Luxembourg, and Cambridge!"

At the King's last statement everyone jumped up and applauded as a very shell-shocked Constantine found it hard to believe what he had just said. After a few more words from the King, the ceremony was over and Constantine was officially Grand Duke. Countless people shook hands with him and shared a few word of congratulations, to him, as they proceeded to the banquet hall to eat, but he could only answer with half of his atttention. His brothers came about to congratulate him, they too unaware of the King's decision to make him Grand Duke, and he stood with them in hallway trying to get his bearings as they chatted in a celebratory manner.
 
Annaliel left with Coriella and took a seat in the front, looked around at the many guests that had arrived for the ceremony. She didn't know that there would be this many people! Things became quiet as teh ceremony began and Annaliel could help but smiled as she watched Constantine come down the aisle. She was so glad for him to be taking his fathers place, now his mother could relax a bit and not get to harrassed by other people...hopefully. It took much longer than she tought it would for him to dubbed as duke; she almost fell asleep half way through. She couldn't help it though, everyone was speaking in monotone and she didn't have as much energy as she used to because of the baby.

However, there was on thing that Annaliel did not expect. When the king accounced that Constantine would be Grand Duke her eyes nearly jumped from her sockets! Grand Duke was one of the most influencial positions in the kingodom! She had only been informed that he would take his father's place, not gain a completely new position. It seemed that Constantine didn't expect it either from teh look upon his face. When the ceremony was officially over Annaliel made her way to Constantine and his brother's though slowly because moving through a thick crowd of people was not easy, especially when pregnant. When she did make it over to him she hugged him happily and smiled, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek.

"Congradulations Constaintine! I'm so proud of you...So, did anyone know about the 'Grand Duke' position or was that just a surprise the king decided to throw at us?" She asked as she looked from him to his brothers, hoping to get some type of answer from someone.
 
"We all didn't expect it!" Donovan said for Constantine. They were just as shocked as he was and still chattered rampantly about it. "I knew," said a voice from around the corner. Coriella strolled in fanning herself innocently smiling proudly at Constantine. "The King asked me about after he discussed it with the rest of the Royal Court. I was very surprised myself at the notion, but being the intelligent young man you are, I knew you could handle it perfectly, and I knew Arelson would agree, too," she said hugging him lightly, "I'm so proud of you, and I'm sure your father would be, too, if he were here today." Constantine accepted all of his family's congratulations, and walked into the banquet hall arm in arm with his Duchess as he dined with the most high in political power, and laughed merrily. Just when he was getting a bit comfortable, a young page approached him and said that he was needed in one of the rooms in the castle and that Annaliel and Coriella could follow in about an hour. Walking behind the boy, suspiciously, he wondered what was so important and gasped unenthusiatically when he saw who was in the room.
 
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