Marjorie knew her friend’s opinion of him very well. Upon meeting him very briefly, Edith only mentioned that she feels as if something was amiss with him or with his intentions. Having grown up on the streets without a benefactor such as the late earl made Edith far less trusting than Marjorie was. So, she tried to assure her friend that there was nothing wrong with Percival or his plans. He was a perfectly fine gentleman who had proven himself courteous and thoughtful.Perhaps not so much with Annie…A little voice reminded her, but she banished that thought.
Why change anything now when a plan was already set in motion? Why complicate things needlessly? The answer was simple. Because this way, she would never be happy. Not in the true sense of the word.
“Percival is a fine young man, Edith,” Marjorie affirmed, walking over to the window, and glancing out of it at the garden behind the house. Darkness had swallowed it whole, save for a few little lights that were set up along the small, cobbled path that led to the big oak tree and back.
Then, as if she just remembered something, she turned hastily towards Edith. “Besides, Alexander knew what conditions his father had stated. He could have offered to marry me himself.”
Edith grimaced in disbelief. “Would you have accepted his offer?”
“Goodness, no!” Her response was so quick, so natural that both girls immediately burst out laughing. It took them several moments to calm down. Marjorie then continued. “I cannot lie, I would not have accepted his offer then.”
“But you would now?”
Marjorie’s gaze lingered on around the room. It was by no means the wealthy mansion that the late earl brought her to, but it was cozy. It was done according to her taste, with little trinkets that reminded her of who she was and where she had come from. Those trinkets would barely cost a nickel all put together, but in personal value they were priceless. Sometimes, all it took was one glance at them for her to feel better.
“He would never ask now,” Marjorie whispered.
“But if he would?” Edith urged.
“Does it even matter?”
“It most certainly does,” Edith said tenderly, her smile endeavoring to offer solace to a friend in need. “It matters to you.”
Marjorie walked back to the sofa and sat down next to her friend. Edith took her hand into hers and squeezed it. For a few moments, both remained quiet. Marjorie welcomed the sensation, the lack of forcing herself to speak. With Edith, she could always be herself, her quiet, wallflower, broken self. Edith loved her, she accepted her as she was. Marjorie wondered if there was a man out there who could love a person as broken as she was. It was true that Alexander had been spending so much time with her, and his presence felt reassuring. He brought back the hope she lost in humanity.
Talking about all this was more difficult than Marjorie could have predicted. It was talking about something that could never be, yet still, it was something she fervently hoped could still somehow happen.
“If he asked me now… right now… I would say yes,” Marjorie finally admitted, although that confession did not bring her any comfort.
“Then you cannot say yes to Percival.” This time, Edith said his name.
“You are assuming that I could ever possibly have a future with Alexander, when that is never going to happen.”
“Why?” Edith sounded incredulous.
“If he cared about me that way, he would have mentioned it already.”
“You just said that you would not have said yes to him had he asked you right after the meeting with the solicitor.”
Marjorie huffed. This was much to complicated than it ought to be. “All I know is that we have never been on good terms before. Somehow, something changed, and… he is not the man he was before. But that changes nothing between us. We have become friends, but that is all. And it is exactly because we have become friends finally that I do not want to be a burden to him in any way. That is why I think I shall accept Percival’s offer at the ball.”
“Marjorie…”
“No, Edith,” she shook her head. “The time of hoping is gone. I was never born for great things, and yet, I am helping all these children to have a better life. That is more than I could have ever hoped to achieve. It was only possible because of Alexander and his father. For that, I shall always be grateful. Because I am grateful, I will never force him to see me as a burden, as someone he needs to look after when I have a perfectly good opportunity of marrying someone and… starting a family.”
The thought of starting a family with someone who was not Alexander filled her with so many emotions, some of which she would not even be able to describe in mere words. Yet they were all inside of her, amalgamated, rattling the cage of her heart, demanding to be released out into the world, something she would never allow to happen.
“You do not sound even remotely convincing, my dear,” Edith pressed her lips together, as if pouting.
“That is because I know I cannot convince you of something I myself am not convinced either,” Marjorie admitted. “But that still does not change the fact that marrying Percival solves everyone’s problem. Alexander will get exactly what he wants, which is his title and the estate, and he shall also receive his liberty from me.”
“I doubt that is what he wants.”
Marjorie gave her friend a playful evil eye. “You are not being a good best friend. You are supposed to tell me that marrying Percival is the exact right thing to do.”
Edith tilted her head and lifted one eyebrow. Marjorie could not help but chuckle at the way she looked.
“Do you expect me to lie?” Edith wondered.
