Goodness, LORD ERNEST PEMBROKE has arrived in London. HE is TWENTY SEVEN, of the SALISBURY PEMBROKES. Though they are NEW to the Season, we can only describe them as OPEN-MINDED and CHARISMATIC, dear reader. Accompanied by THEIR HALF-BROTHER, they have settled in and are accepting social calls. But be warned: they are known for their IMPROPRIETY.Â
TASK 01Â /Â Â TASK 02Â /Â TASK 03Â /Â TASK 04Â /Â Â TASK 05Â /Â TASK 06
Personality & Traits
With the talent for scandal he's known to have, Ernest has settled into his role as a rascal rather comfortably. He enjoys watching a good debacle, the restraint of high society more often a nuisance to him than anything else. He becomes bored far too easily to play the upright gent that knows all of the right things to say, all the correct airs to put on, no, he has a much more enjoyable time letting society deal with him as he comes to it. Charismatic, a tad eccentric, and impulsive without fail, Lord Ernest Pembroke is fast to make himself the heart of any celebration. These too are airs, of course, the face he puts on in public to stir up some amusement. He's known to be somewhat of a skeptic, and though he may speak a very big game he'll step down when he senses fists might be coming his way. Some of his greatest enemies might call him a coward and a scoundrel but Ernest sees himself more as a break in a monotonous routine but with the good sense to avoid whatever trouble may come from that.Â
When he's not putting on this grand performance for his own amusement, Ernest is prone to fits of gloom and impatience. He needs to be doing something, always, boredom is pain which is why he's picked up an incredible number of hobbies. He's well read, always in the know about current events, knows where to find the best of anything, and shockingly has even been found to keep the company of men and women from the lower classes. Perhaps he's lonely or perhaps there's something about himself that he can't stand to be alone with for long but whatever the cause, Ernest is sure to create a great stir.
Biography
A viscount and heir to an earldom, Ernest always was a bit of a scoundrel. It was a trait his poor mother tried incredibly hard to raise out of him but never could quite succeed. How could she? Ernest's best friend as a child was his brother, his fatherâs illegitimate first son. There was a passing attempt to keep his brotherâs origins a secret but their father was known to be a scoundrel, too, and such secrets always come out eventually. For the Pembrokes, it came out as soon as Ernestâs brother came to live with them when they were still very young.
Ernest and his brother had a twin-like charisma with one another, both egging on the other. Ernest was usually the one to be caught red handed when they got up to trouble but there was a thrill in being talked about, good or bad. And it was often bad.Â
Ernest's father was preoccupied, he saw him in passing or for an hour or so a few nights out of the week. They were far from close and his mother, while more present physically, was so very bitter that Ernest found her cruel and sometimes even frightening. How she would yell at the poor boys and smack them around, Ernest never knew what to do in those moments. He tried to stand up for his brother but this only caused its own rush of troubles and so the brothers learned to avoid her. They became each other's closest family and Ernest came to listen more to the housekeeper than to his own mother and father. At least the housekeeper was kind.
Distant as they were, Ernest didn't hate his mother. On the contrary, he loved her and felt incredibly torn up anytime they fought. Some days she was more forgiving and they'd go for walks or into town with one another but others she would regard him coldly with nothing more than an insult on her tongue, like his father. At least, Ernest always knew what to expect from his father. On the worst of days she'd become physically abusive, never enough to injure him seriously but he often nursed a sore cheek.Â
One day when they were vacationing in the north as a family and Ernest was only fourteen, he and his mother went for a long walk near the sea. It was then that they fell into another of their spats, his mother diminishing him as she often did and eventually grabbing onto him, drawing back to strike. Ernest pushed back from her, causing her to lose her balance and fall from the cliff into the sea below. It's a memory he can't stand to think about and that only his brother knows the truth of. It was an accident, he said, nobody needs to know. And nobody did. His brother took Ernest home and it was all called an accident. Ernest barely spoke for weeks.
When he did start to come back into himself, it was clear that something vital had changed in him. He acted as though there were a motor inside of him. He couldn't stay still for long. He couldn't stand boredom or solitude, couldn't stand stillness. Whenever it came he was quick to cause a scene if only to create something to busy his mind with. It started out childish with outbursts and running around, things that could be excused for his age, but as he matured the nature of his impulses did as well. He traded mud pies for laudanum. His father's disappointment in him was absolute.Â
When his brother moved away to London, Ernest found himself quite alone in a big, cold house for the first time. He hated it. He tried a great many things to occupy himself; opiates, buying every frivolous thing that caught his fancy, scandal. It was a welcome break in routine when his distant cousin came to live with them, he finally had some company in the house but that couldnât keep him home long.Â
A year ago, he moved to London to live with his brother and find some excitement away from the disapproving eyes of his father. He fell into a variety of circles, inciting scandal seemingly every week.
It was his brother that finally convinced Ernest to pull himself together. Ernest was becoming lost in his laudanum and drink and someone needed to wake him back up and really, his brother was the only person it could have been, the only person he would have listened to. They had a terrible argument, unkind words were said on both sides, but Ernest gave in. He'd listen. He'd grow up and what better opportunity than the upcoming season? Maybe finding a partner would keep him in check.
Dark Past - Phobia
The image of his motherâs body against the rocks and waves lives fresh in Ernestâs mind, causing him to fall into a deep panic whenever near large bodies of water.
