Post by Philip Garwin on Nov 7, 2015 16:05:26 GMT -5
Tristan marries for the first time when he's eighteen years old. He's young and impulsive, lacking in self-control and so very passionately in love that he swears defiance against anyone who would think to step between them. Isobel has a dark beauty that turns his head almost from the moment he sees her; everything from the tilt of her head to her coy smirk to the fall of her black hair over her shoulders catches his eye and has the older generation of his family - Pip, Ashlyn, and Nieve especially - dreading a repeat of his grandfather's seventh year.
"I love her," he loudly declares to his parents, Jon and Rafe momentarily disregarded as his green eyes turn stubborn and Isobel curls into his possessive arm around her waist. "I love her and she's mine and you don't get a say. Not in this. You can marry Julien off all you want but I refuse to be part of your games if it means losing her."
Jas scrutinises his second son through curious hazel eyes, and seems on the verge of opening his mouth if not for the brief touch of fingers against his forearm. Val shakes her head slightly, cautioning a softer approach than one Jas could give for something he absolutely does not comprehend, and a sideways flick of his eyes to Jon and Rafe shows that his brother and friend both agree with his wife in this matter. It's rare for Jon to acknowledge that Valérie might ever be right about anything and Jas half-wonders if this is one of the changes that his flourishing relationship with Rafe has wrought in his brother. Jas clicks his tongue against his teeth contemplatively before a lazy roll of one shoulder bequeaths the floor to his admirably poisonous tart of a wife. Perhaps Tristan has the right of it, since he certainly hasn't had much to look forward to after watching the arranged marriage between his parents.
"Certainly you may keep her, sweetheart," Val asserts, her French accent twisting through the words as she smiles solely at her son, dismissing Isobel as nothing more than an insignificant ornament. "Take a seat and we shall begin the planning for the wedding. After all, what better time than when you have both parents together in the same room for once, and our Head here besides? I presume she's not still fit to wear white without it being a mockery, of course. You are my son, after all." She ends with a lilting chuckle, green eyes flashing at him knowingly.
His mother makes no mention of his Cartier cuff, which makes Tristan exhale a sigh of mingled relief and resignation. She knows. Of course she does. She is his mother, after all, and any man with sense knows not to underestimate Valérie Cartier when it comes to gathering information. She was picked as Dad's wife for reasons beyond her pretty face.
***
His relationship with Isobel ends in flames. Their passion burns itself out entirely too quickly, leaving nothing but bitter ashes and hopeless embers left untended. Tristan is not entirely proud that he begins his duties for Avis, his new Head, before his marriage is legally ended but he and Isobel have been over for months now and everyone knows it.
Without sex to smooth the way, the two of them have very little in common. Isobel's resentment leads to arguments that no longer end in tangled embraces and heated kisses but rather smashed breakables and slammed doors. Tristan hasn't spent a night in the bed he's supposed to share with his wife for over six weeks when he goes on his first assignment, charming his way into a pretty young socialite's arms so he can rifle through her absent brother's paperwork when the girl is safely asleep. Even when Avis has no need of him, Tristan opts to sleep on couches or in spare rooms until the divorce is finalised.
Isobel hurls her engagement and wedding rings at him with unfailing accuracy when they say their final goodbye, both bouncing off his face and leaving trails of blood dripping from the two gashes by his left eye. Gen's mouth tightens, protective fury glimmering in the depths of her dark eyes, and Aunt Flick hands off baby Tara to her older daughter so she can cluck over him with gentle worry, and Dad's expression holds a chilling promise of pain, but it's his mother's reaction that Tristan finds most telling and most chastising. Val cradles his jaw in her palm with tender gentleness as she draws her wand against his skin to close the cuts and vanish the blood but her green eyes tell him that this is his own fault, that he shouldn't have tried to chase after something that he knew Isobel couldn't ever give him.
"Your open heart is a great joy to those of us blessed enough to be loved by you, my darling boy," she murmurs as Tristan closes his eyes against her sadly knowing gaze. "But sometimes you cause yourself unnecessary pain with how true you are to your Cartier blood. Your uncle is a sentimental fool but I do believe there's some truth in his theory that your first loves will never bring anything but pain."
***
Bethan is as different to Isobel as any two women could possibly be. The only similarity between Isobel and Bethan is the darkness of their hair, which is, Tristan reflects somewhat ruefully, a mark of his own preference that he simply cannot seem to escape.
Quiet and softly-spoken, more a diplomat than a fighter and more a housewife than anything else, Bethan is a mark assigned to Tristan by his cousin and he falls for her without fuss or fanfare, losing yet another fraction of his heart as the steps of his courtship become more sincere. Stephen rolls his eyes, a begrudging witness to this romance as the whole of Hogwarts had been to the explosive relationship with Isobel, but keeps his opinions to himself - at least within his brother's hearing. Tristan knows well that he's likely a hot topic of discussion between his little brother and their godsister but Gen has never been able to keep her nose out of anything she deems potentially interesting. He loves her but sometimes wishes Aunt Flick had given her to Drake and let Dad have Tara, who is infinitely easier to handle in large doses.
Tristan wins her with soft words and gentle charm, enraptured by the honest innocence of the young woman. Bethan is the same age as Stephen and yet she almost seems younger than teenaged Gen at times, with her wide eyes and sweet nature and her utter adoration of everything Tristan is. She's a welcome ego boost after the wreckage that his ex-wife had left behind and he does love her, as genuinely and deeply as he had once loved Isobel.
Bethan smooths the jagged edges of his heart, heals the gaping wounds into ugly scars, but she's repelled by the truth behind his family. Everything about the Cartiers is anathema to her, pushing her away even as Tristan coaxes her back in and loses himself in her. In the end, their marriage lasts nearly twenty one months - an incredible improvement to the ten months he had lasted with Isobel, Tristan acknowledges - and he is left newly divorced for the second time shortly after he turns 23, a baby girl sleeping in a cot next to his bed that he has absolutely no idea how to raise.
"I love her," he loudly declares to his parents, Jon and Rafe momentarily disregarded as his green eyes turn stubborn and Isobel curls into his possessive arm around her waist. "I love her and she's mine and you don't get a say. Not in this. You can marry Julien off all you want but I refuse to be part of your games if it means losing her."
Jas scrutinises his second son through curious hazel eyes, and seems on the verge of opening his mouth if not for the brief touch of fingers against his forearm. Val shakes her head slightly, cautioning a softer approach than one Jas could give for something he absolutely does not comprehend, and a sideways flick of his eyes to Jon and Rafe shows that his brother and friend both agree with his wife in this matter. It's rare for Jon to acknowledge that Valérie might ever be right about anything and Jas half-wonders if this is one of the changes that his flourishing relationship with Rafe has wrought in his brother. Jas clicks his tongue against his teeth contemplatively before a lazy roll of one shoulder bequeaths the floor to his admirably poisonous tart of a wife. Perhaps Tristan has the right of it, since he certainly hasn't had much to look forward to after watching the arranged marriage between his parents.
"Certainly you may keep her, sweetheart," Val asserts, her French accent twisting through the words as she smiles solely at her son, dismissing Isobel as nothing more than an insignificant ornament. "Take a seat and we shall begin the planning for the wedding. After all, what better time than when you have both parents together in the same room for once, and our Head here besides? I presume she's not still fit to wear white without it being a mockery, of course. You are my son, after all." She ends with a lilting chuckle, green eyes flashing at him knowingly.
His mother makes no mention of his Cartier cuff, which makes Tristan exhale a sigh of mingled relief and resignation. She knows. Of course she does. She is his mother, after all, and any man with sense knows not to underestimate Valérie Cartier when it comes to gathering information. She was picked as Dad's wife for reasons beyond her pretty face.
***
His relationship with Isobel ends in flames. Their passion burns itself out entirely too quickly, leaving nothing but bitter ashes and hopeless embers left untended. Tristan is not entirely proud that he begins his duties for Avis, his new Head, before his marriage is legally ended but he and Isobel have been over for months now and everyone knows it.
Without sex to smooth the way, the two of them have very little in common. Isobel's resentment leads to arguments that no longer end in tangled embraces and heated kisses but rather smashed breakables and slammed doors. Tristan hasn't spent a night in the bed he's supposed to share with his wife for over six weeks when he goes on his first assignment, charming his way into a pretty young socialite's arms so he can rifle through her absent brother's paperwork when the girl is safely asleep. Even when Avis has no need of him, Tristan opts to sleep on couches or in spare rooms until the divorce is finalised.
Isobel hurls her engagement and wedding rings at him with unfailing accuracy when they say their final goodbye, both bouncing off his face and leaving trails of blood dripping from the two gashes by his left eye. Gen's mouth tightens, protective fury glimmering in the depths of her dark eyes, and Aunt Flick hands off baby Tara to her older daughter so she can cluck over him with gentle worry, and Dad's expression holds a chilling promise of pain, but it's his mother's reaction that Tristan finds most telling and most chastising. Val cradles his jaw in her palm with tender gentleness as she draws her wand against his skin to close the cuts and vanish the blood but her green eyes tell him that this is his own fault, that he shouldn't have tried to chase after something that he knew Isobel couldn't ever give him.
"Your open heart is a great joy to those of us blessed enough to be loved by you, my darling boy," she murmurs as Tristan closes his eyes against her sadly knowing gaze. "But sometimes you cause yourself unnecessary pain with how true you are to your Cartier blood. Your uncle is a sentimental fool but I do believe there's some truth in his theory that your first loves will never bring anything but pain."
***
Bethan is as different to Isobel as any two women could possibly be. The only similarity between Isobel and Bethan is the darkness of their hair, which is, Tristan reflects somewhat ruefully, a mark of his own preference that he simply cannot seem to escape.
Quiet and softly-spoken, more a diplomat than a fighter and more a housewife than anything else, Bethan is a mark assigned to Tristan by his cousin and he falls for her without fuss or fanfare, losing yet another fraction of his heart as the steps of his courtship become more sincere. Stephen rolls his eyes, a begrudging witness to this romance as the whole of Hogwarts had been to the explosive relationship with Isobel, but keeps his opinions to himself - at least within his brother's hearing. Tristan knows well that he's likely a hot topic of discussion between his little brother and their godsister but Gen has never been able to keep her nose out of anything she deems potentially interesting. He loves her but sometimes wishes Aunt Flick had given her to Drake and let Dad have Tara, who is infinitely easier to handle in large doses.
Tristan wins her with soft words and gentle charm, enraptured by the honest innocence of the young woman. Bethan is the same age as Stephen and yet she almost seems younger than teenaged Gen at times, with her wide eyes and sweet nature and her utter adoration of everything Tristan is. She's a welcome ego boost after the wreckage that his ex-wife had left behind and he does love her, as genuinely and deeply as he had once loved Isobel.
Bethan smooths the jagged edges of his heart, heals the gaping wounds into ugly scars, but she's repelled by the truth behind his family. Everything about the Cartiers is anathema to her, pushing her away even as Tristan coaxes her back in and loses himself in her. In the end, their marriage lasts nearly twenty one months - an incredible improvement to the ten months he had lasted with Isobel, Tristan acknowledges - and he is left newly divorced for the second time shortly after he turns 23, a baby girl sleeping in a cot next to his bed that he has absolutely no idea how to raise.