The official announcement of the engagement between the Duke of Ashford and the Duke of Montaigne was met with a predictable frenzy. The gazettes ran screaming headlines, society matrons clutched their pearls in either genuine shock or thinly veiled envy, and political commentators debated the ramifications with the fervor usually reserved for declarations of war. Lord Ashford, observing the swirling chaos from the relative sanctuary of his study, felt a weariness settle upon him, heavier even than the exhaustion after a long day of Parliament debates.