There is No Such ...

A Continuation of Part 1, and
Part 2

Seraphine thought hard on this and slyly said, "Wouldn'st thou want to see me happy, my dear Cassie?"

"But of course! I would do anything for you, my lifelong friend."

"Then ye shall come with me to this Michaelmas feast. I would not have it any other way. Thy task is to treat Domingo well and be firm friends with him."

Cassie sputtered, "This is prosposterous! I shall be ever so rude and uncouth to him that he would prefer to spend the evening talking to a host of mad hatters than me."

At that point, Seraphine levelled a quelling look upon her friend. "Thou hast promised to do anything I bid, Cassandra Van Houten. And thou shalt fulfill it to thy very last breath. With the utmost decorum AND good manners."

Cassie clamped her mouth shut at that. There was no benefit in arguing with Seraphine when she starts using one's full name. Very well, she shall be present at the dratted feast but she shall ensure that all of Domingo's affections would be solely directed to Seraphine.

---

And thus, the morrow having arrived, the two best friends found themselves standing in front of Domingo's house. Seraphine wore a rich mahagony gown, in an effort to detract attention from her mousy brown hair and unfashionably tanned appearance.

Cassie deliberately donned on a dress that was commonly worn by the tavern wenches across the town. For sure, Domingo would be utterly repulsed by her tawdry and wanton appearance and deem her to be an unsuitable wifely material, she reasoned with herself.

Seraphine was appalled by her friend's bad fashion sense, but alas, it was too late to force Cassie to change into something more appropriate. Thus, she begrudgingly decided to let go of the matter.

The door was opened by a roguish looking man. Both ladies gasped.



"Domingo! Upon my word, thou art magnificent!" Seraphine said quite without thinking.

"Edward! What on earth art thou doing here?!" Cassie bristled.

The black caped man held out both arms in absolute delight. "Why, such blatant adoration surely doth overwhelm me. Seraphine, I presume? Alas, I am not your Domingo. Rather, I am the beau and love lorn suitor of the very lovely Cassandra."

Seraphine's hand flew to her mouth, "Upon my word, is this some sort of sick joke, Domingo? I never knew that ye could jest in such a cruel manner!"

"He is no Domingo. He is as he says he is, that blackguard and knave Edward, whom I have the misfortune to fall in love at first sight many moons ago."

"Thou speaketh untruths, Cassie! Pray, do not tease me so. I know I am uncomely, but surely, I do not deserve to be made a fool of!"

Thankfully, before the two ladies could jump on one another and tear their hair apart, another man appeared on the scene.

"Did I hear the enchanting Seraphine call my name?" this man said. Apart from him being richly garbed in lordish attire, he looked exactly like the pirate.



Both ladies very nearly swooned in immense shock. What on earth could this possibly mean??

To be continued