Earl of Atropine, Viscount of Solanaceae William Alexander Desmond (a.k.a. Will, Willy, Bill)
Physical Description
In his early life, he was undernourished and sickly. In adulthood he became relatively healthy, handsome, and well-bred. Suffered from an unknown heart condition leading to his death.
Aristocratically pale, tall, rather slender.
By adulthood, William was pleasantly handsome, even if he never considered himself as such.
His nose has been broken several times, and has an odd shape as a result.
Left handed. Pinches the bridge of his nose when stressed.
William initially dressed in whatever had been selected for him, and then as a very somber beloved. After his marriage, Belladonna began selecting clothes that were more flattering, and by the end of his life he was quite well dressed. He was frequently seen in a dark blue suit and hat, with the Desmonda crest worn on a pin at his throat.
Carried an ash-wood sword-cane, as was custom to the family.
Mental characteristics
William's birth was an unfortunate necessity, and he was immediately thrust into the care of nannies and tutors where he would be out of the way. The family's butler, Edgar, took a shine to the boy and his unfortunate position, and did his best to care for him in his own quiet and very reserved way. When William was four, he gave him a hand-sewed stuff bat, which William named 'Bat', and would go onto be his most cherished acquaintance throughout his childhood. Bat came to a tragic end when William's elder brother, Henry, tossed him into the fireplace out of malice. It was hardly the first terrible thing he'd done to William, and was hardly the last. Over the years he broke William's nose several times, resulting in its permanent disfigurement, broke his arm, and list of other afflictions and torments too numerous to name. Combined with the limited sense of self-worth that Catholicism engrained in him, it was no wonder he thought himself less than worthless.
At the age of seven he met his brother's arranged fiancee, Miss Charlotte Burrows, whom he immediately loved as an older sister. Charlotte, or 'Bunny' as he called her, loved and cared for him whenever she was around. Unfortunately, that wasn't very often. He didn't see her at all after Henry was sent off to boarding school, and while he was grateful for the temporary end of Henry's torment, he missed her very much. He had no way to know that Bunny felt the same, as he was too afraid of reprisal to write to her.
At age twelve, he was sent to Raynard Steele's School for Gentlemen, where he was once again reunited with Henry. He didn't have the opportunity to make many friends while there, or any. He did, however, acquire a love of Shakespeare, and a secret passion for acting that he had no one to share with. In truth, William only made his first friend at sixteen when he met Miss Rosette Amour, the daughter of his mother's French socialite acquaintance. Miss Rosette was beautiful, well-spoken, bold, and one of the only other people who realized just how awful Henry was. She invited him to spend a summer with her in France, which he declined until he was twenty years old. While no one is sure exactly what prompted him to flee to France, one might hypothesize that his elder brother's marriage to Bunny likely had something to do with it.
In Marseille, he attended a party Rosette was throwing with many of her artist friends. There were debauched painters, dancers, singers, and other patrons of the scandalous. Taking a moment to himself, William stepped into a side room and found his friend had displayed a life-size clockwork automaton of a ballerina. Like Pygmalion, William found himself entranced by the beautiful statue, and impressed by its construction. It wasn't until he had lifted the skirt to look for the gears when the statue screamed and William realized all too late that he had mortally offended a living woman. The woman -- Rosette's childhood friend, Belladonna Beaulieu -- fled the room to fetch her friend. Rosette however knew William would never have knowingly done such a thing, which she assured her friend of. However the damage was done, and Belladonna swore she'd never speak to the man again.
Luckily, Rosette was not so easily swayed. She poked and prodded at William to make his apologies, and over the next few months he did everything he could to earn Belladonna's forgiveness. It was over these months he noticed that Miss Beaulieu was a ballerina and a harpist, and didn't seem to have many friends of her own outside of Rosette. The town called her frigid and icy, and despite her beauty she was unmarried, as she had scorned every man in town. William became her friend quite without realizing it, and within the year realized he was desperately in love with the woman.
At age twenty-two the couple, desperately and disgustingly in love, married. William elected to continue to live in France with his wife instead of returning to his English estate, because neither of them had a desire to live in England. They were remarkably happy for the first three years of their marriage. Then, in a tearful apology, Belladonna confessed she was pregnant. Do to his still-held belief that he was worthless and his wife would eventually realize this and leave him, William took this to mean that her child was not, in fact, his. Rather than falling into a depression as he might have done earlier, this enraged William, who felt his unending devotion to the woman didn't deserve such betrayal. The couple didn't speak for a full month before finally, after Belladonna begged him to understand, William yelled that he would never understand how she could expect him to forgive her for bearing someone else's child. She slapped him, understandably, since it was his son and Belladonna was actually under the impression that her husband was furious at her for having a baby at all. After many, many, many apologies, their eldest son, Anthony, was born three months later. They had another son, Edward, four years later on Belladonna's insistence.
William tried his best to be a good father, and he did love his son very much, but his dislike of children and natural awkwardness made him come off distant and unavailable to his sons, who were mostly raised by the same butler and maid who had raised Belladonna. He continued to be very in love with his wife, and very fond of his friend, Rosette, who had her own daughter. He kept his children busy with fencing, tutors, boarding school, and other pastimes in the hopes they would make more friends than he had.
On his parents insistence, William brought his family back to England for a visit, at the age of thirty-five. There he was reunited with Bunny, now with her own son, and his brother. During this stay, he came to realize that the abuse he'd suffered under his brother had only transferred to Bunny, and likely her son. The sweet, caring woman he remembered was cowering somewhere inside a terrified, bruised shell. It was sometime during the end of the month that Henry was murdered. He had been decapitated with an axe, and his head was never found. Bunny and William were distraught but composed, and had the funeral arrangements well in hand. Shortly after William and his family returned to the Beaulieu estate in France, and Bunny and her son remained in England. William's younger son, Edward, would go to live with them when he turned twenty.
When William was fifty-three, Anthony's wife gave birth to her son, Patience, William's first grandson. Still not fond of children, William did his best to provide support from a distance. He made it known that, although Patience was not a true Desmonda, he would be raised as such and given all the responsibilities and privileges of any other Desmonda boy.
At age seventy, after nearly a lifetime of battling with melancholia and suicidal thoughts, William died of a heart-attack in his own salon.
While it was never openly acknowledged, even by himself, till much later in his life, William was bisexual.
Raynard Steele's School for Gentlemen, trained in fencing, trained in classical acting
Married Belladonna Beaulieu
William was mentally and physically abused by his elder brother throughout his childhood, and as such suffered from depression and crushingly-low self-esteem. He didn't begin to recover until adolescence, thanks to the intervention of Rosette, and later from the care of his wife.
William didn't think very highly of a word that would allow Henry to exist, and assumed the worst about most situations.
Personality Characteristics
For most of his early life, aspired to die. For his later life, aspired not to die.
Talented with a sword, horrible at physical combat. An incredibly gifted actor with an excellent head for memorization. A decent composer of sonnets.
Likes: Shakespeare, Bunny, Bella, Anthony, Edward.
Dislikes: Henry, life.
Caring, loyal, steadfast, slow to jump to conclusions. Not prone to jealousy.
Low-self worth leads to terrible assumptions about other people, but also tends to put people on pedestals. Not good with children. Absorbed with wife more than prudent.
Takes necessary care of self, but not much else. Wears clove-scented cologne.
Social
Was a patron of the theatre and financier for Lord Atropine's School for Actors (École des Acteurs du Seigneur Atropine).
Arthur Desmonda (father, deceased), Victoria Desmonda (mother, deceased), Henry Desmonda (elder brother, deceased), Charlotte 'Bunny' Burrows (sister-in-law), James Desmonda (nephew)
Claude Beaulieu (father-in-law, deceased), Mirabelle Beaulieu nee Bellerose (mother-in-law, deceased), Belladonna Beaulieu (wife, deceased), Anthony Desmonda (eldest son), Edward Desmonda (youngest son)
Verity Williams (Daughter-in-law, deceased), Patience William's-Desmonda (grandson, adopted)
Dr. Eileithyia Sinclair (Daughter-in-law), Elizabeth Desmonda (Granddaughter, biological), Edward Sinclair (Grandson, biological)
William was a less than devout Catholic, something he often remarked upon. Still, he was known to pray in times of crisis, and attended church at least once a month.
Socially awkward and unconfident, manifesting in a very aloof demeanour. Well-spoken (when rehearsed). Well-mannered. Overly formal in most situations.
Writes romantic sonnets to recite to his wife, acts in local Shakespeare productions under an assumed name.
Tends to start sentences with "I --" before changing his mind and rephrasing, as if he is irrelevant to his own opinion. Calls Belladonna "Bella" or "my love", and his sons 'love'. Other than that he employs no endearments, and barely any informal address. Even Rosette, who he's known since he was sixteen, is still addressed as 'Rosette' rather than 'Rosie' or 'Rose', as others do.
History
Anthony's birth was not something William expected or particularly wanted, and the pregnancy caused him and his wife to have their first and only serious argument, straining their relationship in a way that nothing had before or since. Still, upon his arrival, William found that he did deeply love his son, and wanted to be a far, far better father to him that his own father had. He also worried that Anthony would face the same treatment William had -- or worse, dispense it -- if he had a sibling, and therefore meant to keep him an only child. Once Edward was born, William was on high-alert for any destructive behaviour from either sibling, but neither displayed it.
William grew very proud of his son, and happily let him and his family live with William and Belladonna at their estate. When William died, he left the estate, half the fortune, and most of his personal effects to Anthony.
Nicknames & Petnames
William to Anthony: 'Love'
Anthony to William: 'Papa'
Commonalities & Shared Interests
Mutual love of acting and both finance educational institutions.
Shared Secrets
Anthony is aware that his father and aunt worked together to murder his uncle.
Husband (Vital)
Towards Belladonna Beaulieu
History
On June 14th, 1823, William attended a bacchanalian party amongst other artists, actors, singers, and dancers, hosted by his friend, the heiress Lady Rosette Amour. Belladonna was also in attendance, having lost a bet to Rosette that ended with her spending the party as one of the decorations: a living automaton ballerina. When William took a break from the festivities, he found her displayed on a pedestal, and after absently trying to locate the impressive gear mechanisms under her skirt, realized the automaton was a person when she began to scream. Though Rosette (amidst tears of laughter) explained the whole situation, Belladonna was terribly offended and vowed never to speak to him again.
Shortly after, of course, William spent a considerable amount of time trying to apologize for his conduct. Rosette promptly decided the two were meant for each other, and began orchestrating events that forced the pair to spend time together. Eventually they cultivated a shared circle of friends, and couldn't avoid each other. Once Belladonna finally forgave William for his impropriety, the two warmed up to each other quite quickly, and by the end of the year were engaged to be married.
William knew his parents wouldn't approve of his choice of wife, given that she was a) French, b) nouveau riche, c) the daughter of artistic heathens, and d) not someone they had personally picked out from him. Therefore, instead of returning to England to tell them of his engagement, he married Belladonna in 1825 without telling them.
When Belladonna became pregnant in 1828, the couple weren't aware of it until he was seven months along and kicking. There was a bit of a misunderstanding with the parentage which led to their only serious argument and ended with a horrific row that finally settled that yes, William was the father and yes, he was an idiot for thinking otherwise. While the couple had never intended to have children, they realized in hindsight that it was inevitable, what with the way they carried on. Anthony was born happy and healthy to two ill-prepared, if pleased, parents.
It was barely a few months after Anthony was born when William's parents sent him a letter informing him they had arranged his engagement to another heiress, and he was forced to return to England with his wife and new son, Anthony, to straighten the whole mess out.
A few years later, William and Belladonna had a second son, Edward, and vowed to be more careful in the future.
William and Belladonna lived very happily together for the rest of their lives, surrounded by their two sons, their adoring servants, and all of their mutual artist friends, until William's death. Three days later, Belladonna joined him, and they were buried together on the Beaulieu estate.
Nicknames & Petnames
"Mon amour", "Love", "my darling", "my dearest", "my love", "mon cher", "my dear", "darling husband", "dear wife", and, as standard, "Will" and "Bella".
Commonalities & Shared Interests
Fencing, dancing, poetry, romantic literature, the opera, the theatre, the ballet, fine food, good music, lush fabrics, beautiful art, extravagant gestures, and making love for hours on end.
Shared Acquaintances
Rosette Amour, Richard Love, Marigold 'Goldie' Fynch, and Rose Wood.
Legal Status
Married
Grandfather (Important)
Towards Patience Williams-Desmonda
Extremely wealthy, by birth and marriage. Held ownership of the Beaulieu estate and technical ownership of the Desmonda Estate in England, though he left its care and ownership to his sister-in-law. Financed a school for the performing arts.
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