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Chapter Text

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

Universally acknowledged, that is, in the eyes of those families with daughters of marrying age. So much so that men who meet these criteria have been claimed across the neighborhood before they have even moved in.

“Mr. Irniq, have you heard that Ember Isle has been let?” The elderly lady said to her son, feigning nonchalance.

Her son replied that he had not.

“Well, it is! Mrs. Long has told me all about it; she was here earlier this morning.” When Mrs. Irniq’s son made no response, she grew impatient and snapped at him. “Don’t you want to know who’s taken it?”

“Mother, it is clear that you wish to tell me, so I suggest you do before you hurt yourself.”

That was enough for Mrs. Irniq, and she started off. “Mrs. Long tells me that Ember Isle was let to a gentleman from the east. He came down earlier this week and was so taken with the property that he made an agreement with Mr. Wang immediately! Mrs. Long says that he is to take possession before Michealmas, and some of his servants are already in the house!”

Mr. Irniq stifled a chuckle at his mother’s gossip. “What is this gentleman’s name?”

“Saunik”.

“Is he married or single?” he asked, for he knew that was what the elderly Mrs. Irniq was getting at all along.

“Single, my darling! A single man, rumored to have a fortune of five thousand a year, moving in practically just up the way. How wonderful for our girls!”

“What does the occupation of Ember Isle have to do with our girls?”

“Mr. Irniq, my dear! Of course, I’m thinking of him marrying one of them! How I raised such a tiresome man, I’ll never know.”

“Has Mr. Saunik resolved to move here, to Lapit, for the purpose of marrying one of my daughters?”

“Purpose!” Mrs. Irniq smacks her lips, waving her needlepoint at her son dismissively. “Of course it isn’t. But perhaps he could fall for one of them, and for that reason, you must resolve to visit him at once.”

“I don’t see a reason for that, but of course you and the girls may go. Or better yet, send them by themselves, in case Mr. Saunik finds that he likes you best. You’ve some beauty left, Mother.” Again, Mr. Irniq holds back a chuckle. It was one of his few pleasures in life, teasing his mother.

“Hakoda!” Mrs. Irniq chides her son. “I have had my share of beauty, but when a woman has four grown-up granddaughters, she certainly must resign to being anything more than a homely old woman.”

“Anyway, Hakoda, you must go visit Mr. Saunik. Sir Lao and Lady Beifong are determined to go on account of their daughter. And you know that they don’t visit newcomers, especially when young Miss Toph is in any way involved.”

“I will send along a few lines wit you and the girls, ensuring that Mr. Saunik is aware he has permission to marry any one of my daughters. Though I must throw in a good word for my dear Katara.”

“You absolutely will not! Katara is not a bit better than the others! She is not half as beautiful as Yue, nor half so well mannered as Sesi! Yet you are always giving her the preference.”

“They are all silly and ignorant like other girls”, Mr. Irniq replied. “Katara has something more of quickness to her than her sisters.”

Mr. Irniq’s response has the woman scoffing once again. “You have no compassion on my poor nerves.”

“Ah, and that’s where you’re mistaken, Mother! I have high respect for your nerves; we’ve become very well acquainted the past forty-five years.”

“Ah! You do not know what I suffer!”

“But I hope you will get over it, and live to see many young men of four or five thousand a year come into the neighborhood.”

“It will be no such use to us, for even if there were twenty such men, you would not visit them.”

“Depend on it, Mother, that when there are twenty I will visit every one.”

Mr. Irniq got up and left the room then, finally allowing himself his chuckle. Even knowing him his whole life, Mrs. Irniq had yet to understand his strange character. Her mind, however, was easier to understand. The business of her life was to get her granddaughters married; irs solace was visiting and news.

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Mr. Irniq was, in fact, one of the first to pay a visit to Mr. Saunik, though this was not revealed to his daughters or, more importantly, Mrs. Irniq until the gentlemen returned his call later that week. The ladies were not able to ascertain much about him, except that he was tall and wore a blue coat.

The ladies of the house continued to pester Mr. Irniq about the gentlemen, but he refused, and they were forced to turn to their neighbors, the Beifongs. Sir Lao and Lady Beifong were of the most influential in the neighborhood and having a daughter themselves, it was only natural that Sir Lao call upon Mr. Saunik himself. Lady Beifong was a close friend of Mrs. Irniq’s, and indeed, quite a gossip. Nearly every day for a fortnight, Lady Beifong and her daughter, Toph, sat in the parlor at Winterwood and they discussed Mr. Saunik.

It would be dishonest to say that every lady was present on those days. Yue, the eldest of the Irniq daughters, was always there, politely listening as she managed her sewing. The youngest of the girls, Sesi and Ty Lee, gathered eagerly around Lady Beifong to hear every detail of the second-hand account of the gentleman. Katara, the second of the daughters, however, was just as often there as she was not. At the cost of her grandmother’s nerves, Katara spent most of her time in the garden, or at the lake on the estate. She was easily bored by all the ins and outs of polite society. It was lucky that she found a close friend in Miss Beifong, and that they shared similar boredom.

“I heard most recently that Mr. Saunik has received a rather large party that he will be taking to the ball the Longs’ are holding. As many as twelve ladies!” Lady Beifong told the Irniqs. Katara and Toph sat across the parlor; Katara with her sewing, Toph sitting politely with her servant, Mr. Yu.

“Twelve ladies?” Sesi asked, leaning forward to be closer the older lady. “That’s so many!” The fourth and youngest of the Irniq sisters, Sesi was just fifteen, though she’d been out in society for nearly a year. She and Mrs. Irniq were quite close, as gossip and gentlemen were their favorite topics of discussion.

“Let us hope that he simply has a rather large family, girls,” Mrs. Irniq says, as she smooths her skirts. “And that the door is open for one of you.”

“Of course I must hope specifically for my Toph,” Lady Bifong adds with a smile toward her daughter. “A man of five thousand a year would be just wonderful for her. She would always be taken care of!” The Beifongs thought rather lowly of their daughter; they were of the opinion that, being blind, Toph was as helpless as a babe. They had employed Mr. Yu specifically to assist the girl in all things and to never leave her side. Unfortunately for Mr. Yu, Toph had far more agency than her parents believed and would slip from his sight several times a week.

“And I must hope for my granddaughters! I believe any of them would make him a fine wife. Yue is kind and handsome. Katara is quick-witted. Ty Lee is so accomplished. And Sesi may be the youngest but she is certainly the most amiable. I just worry about the poor soul who must choose between them!”

“Well, I am not afraid; for though I am the youngest, I’m the tallest. I’m sure that Mr. Saunik will dance with me at the ball.” The group had a chuckle at Sesi’s confidence, and the rest of the afternoon was spent discussing the possibilities of the group that will be presented at the ball.

It was a fortnight later that the ball was held, and to the surprise of many present, Mr. Saunik arrived with merely two others; his sister and another gentleman.

Mr. Saunik was good looking and very gentlemanlike. He was tall, with a rich brown skin tone and shockingly blue eyes. He was easily liked, his manner pleasant. His sister was a fine, fashionable woman, with a much paler skin tone and angular amber eyes. However, it was Mr. Suien, Saunik’s friend, that soon captured the attention of the guests. His tall, noble stature and handsome features, as well as the quick circulation of his having ten thousand a year and the large scar that covered one one of his eyes was far more interesting than the small country town of Zhang had seen in a very long time. He was found to be a fine man, much handsomer than Saunik for about half the night, but his manners soon made his general admiration give way to distaste. Mr. Suien revealed himself to be overly proud, and above being pleased. He looked down upon the village and its inhabitants; not all his estate in Caldera could save him from having a most disagreeable countenance and being unworthy to be compared with his friend.

Mr. Saunik, in contrast, became acquainted quickly with near everyone at the ball, he was lively and unreserved and began speaking of holding a ball himself once settled at Ember Isle. He danced with every lady, though he danced with the eldest Miss Irniq far more than any other. It was solidly decided by everyone in the room that Mr. Saunik was a wonderful, amiable man, and Mr. Suien was the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world, and everybody hoped that he would not be staying in the neighborhood long.

Katara Irniq had the unfortunate privilege to hear the pompous man as he made a slight against her and every other lady in the room. She had been sitting with Miss Beifong near Mr. Suien when Mr. Saunik approached him in order to pressure him to dance.

“You must dance, Suien. You’re stupid to not take advantage of the many fine ladies here tonight. I insist upon it.”

“Absolutely not. You know I detest dancing unless I’m particularly acquainted with my partner. As your sister is otherwise engaged it would be a punishment to stand up with any other woman in the room.”

“Oh, don’t be scrupulous! I’ve never met as many pleasant women in my life as I have tonight, and several of them uncommonly pretty.”

“You are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room,” Suien said, gazing across the room at Yue as she took a break from dancing to sit with Sesi and Ty Lee.

“She is the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. But her sister is sitting just over there, and she is very pretty and very agreeable. Let me ask my partner to introduce you, I am sure you will enjoy her company.”

Mr. Suien muttered to his friend before turning to look for Katara. He stared at her for a moment until he caught her eye, at which point he turned away. “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me. Go back to your partner and enjoy her company, I daresay you are wasting your time here with me.”

Mr. Saunik returned to Yue for another dance, and Katara and Toph were left with no particularly kind feelinglings for the other gentleman. Katara would be lying if she said her feelings weren’t a bit wounded, but she resolved to dislike Zuko Suien and have that be the end of things. She told the story in a playful manner and brushed away any bit of hurt. Instead delighting herself in the ridiculousness of it.

By the end of the night, the Ember Isle party, much to Mrs. Irniq’s delight, was quite taken with Yue, though the eldest Miss Irniq showed her pleasure in a much quieter way. Each girl spent most of the night dancing, and Ty Lee had overheard herself be mentioned to Azula Saunik as the most accomplished girl in the neighborhood, and Sesi had not been without a dance partner for the entire night. The whole endeavor was deemed a success and they returned to Winterwood in high spirits, Mrs. Irniq ready to talk her son’s ear off with the gossip of the evening. When the topic of Mr. Suien came up, the matron made sure her distaste for the man was known, and recounted his conversation with Saunik, albeit a bit embellished.

“But I can assure you, Hakoda, that our Katara does not lose a thing by not suiting his fancy; he is a most disagreeable man, and is not worth pleasing. Not worth dancing with, ha! I believe it is him who has missed out on my lovely granddaughter. He truly is a horrid, conceited man.”

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Soon after the ball, the ladies of Winterwood soon visited Miss Saunik, and a friendship was established quickly between the eldest Miss Irniq and the latter. Yue’s gentle and giving nature was very popular at Ember Isle, and it was very clear to Katara that she and the younger two were simply invited by the requirements of society, rather than Azula herself. Though Katara had no issues with Mr. Saunik, she was not a particular fan of his sister or his friend, but she loved watching the gentle flirtation between her sister and the gentleman as the friendship between the two families progressed.

Toph, however, felt there needed to be more urgency in the matter, as she expressed to Katara as they walked in the garden of the Beifong Estate, Mr. Yu trailing behind. “The fact of the matter is, Katara, that while Yue may see Mr. Saunik frequently, society makes it impossible for them to truly know her as you and I do. Her nature is so quiet that it may be impossible to see how she feels for him from his view. She should help him on now so that she does not lose him. A man like that needs to be snapped up!”

“Of course, but Yue desires more than a husband. If that were the case then she would not be unmarried at twenty-two. Mr. Saunik will either discover her character as we have or live his life knowing that my sister is the best woman in the world and he does not have her. I hope for Yue’s sake that it is the former, for she certainly is well on her way to being madly in love with the man.”

“Yes, well, if she should marry him tomorrow I am sure she would be just as happy as if they studied each other’s characters for years. It’s all chance in marriage anyway.”

“Oh, I’m sure. And you’ll be following this advice yourself, to be sure.” The ladies had a laugh, and set out to leave Toph’s guard of a helping servant behind.

As Katara had been focused on Mr. Saunik and her sister’s flirtation, she had failed to notice the focus of that friend she detested so much land on her. Mr. Suien, who had said within earshot of her that he did not think her pretty, was, upon being forced to be in her presence several times a fortnight, was begrudgingly beginning to admire the second eldest Miss Irniq. No sooner had he made it clear to himself that she lacked a single handsome feature, than he began to find the intelligence in her deep blue eyes uncommonly beautiful. A horrifying discovery for Zuko Suien, made even more embarrassing as he noticed her figure to be pleasantly curved, and her manners were playful, though unconventional. Yes, she was perfectly unaware, and to her, he was only the man who made himself agreeable nowhere, and who had not thought her handsome enough to dance with.

In his own painfully awkward fashion, when Mr. Suien decided he longed to know more of Miss Irniq, rather than actually conversing with her, he began simply standing near her when she was conversing with others. It is this odd act of his that finally drew her attention, though she just found it increasingly odd.

It was this act, actually, that wound up obliging the two parties to dance with one another, something neither of them were particularly keen to do, Suien’s interest in her intelligent eyes and all. He had been attending Miss Irniq’s conversation with Sir Beifong, at a rather large party of his hosting, when a song of his liking began playing. “Oh, what a lovely piece. It is so vibrant, an absolute dream to dance to. Miss Katara, dear, you must do me the pleasure of watching you dance!”

“Oh, I do apologize, Sir, but I am not particularly knowledgeable of this dance, and besides, I don’t have a partner to dance it with.”

“Darling, it is so simple that even one with half your talent for dancing would be able to pick it up instantly. I’m sure Mr. Suien would oblige us both to be your partner, won’t you Zuko?” There was some sputtering from both the parties, but their fate was sealed, and they found themselves hand in hand dancing a cotillion with three other couples.

Katara found herself unable to look away from Zuko’s face. The right side, she found, was impossibly smooth, looking almost too perfect when compared to the rough landscape of his scarred left eye. His eyes were a clear golden akin to a sunset, and suddenly, Katara was finding herself in a similar position of being forced to admit to herself she finds the gentleman handsome.

“Do you enjoy dancing, Mr. Suien?”

“I find it tolerable, with a good partner.”

It was meant to be a complement, but Zuko’s dry tone unfortunately conveyed an air of condescension to anyone who did not know his character well, and Katara took it as an implication that she was not a good partner at all. She neglected the conversation as the dance took them through a partner change, only for him to attempt to ignite it once again when they were brought back together.

“I do not often partake in dances, I find myself at a loss of what to say.” He would have much preferred to remark on how radiant he believed her to look in her blue party dress that matches her eyes, but was far too proud to make such a bold statement to a girl he was sure hated him, and to a girl as far below his station as she.

“Perhaps we should say nothing at all, and enjoy our dance in silence. I do believe lack of conversation can make even the most intolerable partner more bearable.”
Zuko did not know what to say to that, and resigned himself to spend the rest of the cotillion avoiding Miss Irniq’s eye, cursing himself in his thoughts. He gave her a small bow when the dance was over, turned, and left her presence as soon as he could, only to be accosted by Miss Saunik.

“When did Miss Irniq catch your eye? I thought you were disappointed with the selection of ladies here in Zhang, both in beauty and station.” Miss Saunik, though she found the elder Miss Irniq perfectly pleasant, thought of the family of Winterwood as more entertainment than acquaintances, and in fact thought rather lowly of them.

“She has lovely eyes,” Zuko muttered, barely believing he said the words aloud, but then he had always been rather close to his friend’s little sister, and she was often a confidant for him.

“Oh, well then it’s settled then. You will have the most entertaining in laws, and I’m sure you will never rid Caldera of that adorable grandmother of hers.” Azula went on in this manner, belittling the Irniq family to tease Zuko about his, in her opinion, unfortunate taste in eyes. He was indifferent to the girl’s chatter, and she continued to entertain herself with it for quite some time.