Lord Wolfe nodded his agreement. “What shall I tell her? The way you made it seem, she will not go easily.” He scoffed. “Despite your less-than-admirable skills as a husband, you have given her hope, Alaric. What if she refuses?”
That made Alaric smile, if only for a moment. He knew Clara well enough to know that what his uncle said was the truth. Clara would not simply believe that Alaric wished for her to leave him. That he did not love her. That he hated her enough to cut this marriage short. If anything, she would see this for what it was, digging in her heels as she so often did.
She truly did care for him.More than I deserve. And that was why Alaric was left with one option. An option that made him want to retch, but the only one left to him.
“Tell her the truth,” he said, fixing his uncle with a determined stare so he would know this was no joke. “Tell her…” He shuddered. “Tell her what happened with Helena.”
Lord Wolfe leaned back in surprise. “Truly?”
“It is the only way.”
“And what shall I tell her, exactly?”
“Tell her…” he swallowed. “Tell her that Helena is dead because of me. Tell her…” His stomach twisted into knots, and he thought he might be sick. “Tell her that I killed her.”
Lord Wolfe did not speak at first. He studied Alaric with a sense of what might have been sadness, had it been anyone else. No… it was the realization of how desperate Alaric was. That he would go this far meant that he was truly broken.
“It shall be done,” he said finally.
Clara was tending to the garden when she saw they had a visitor. At first, she hoped it would be Alaric, as she had not seen him since he fled the house yesterday. Times were that not seeing Alaric was normal fair, as he spent most of his time in this house avoiding her. Only now, it felt purposeful.
I need to see him again. I need to speak with him. I need him to know that he doesn’t need to run from what this is. Why is he so insistent on running?
It wasn’t Alaric. Her stomach dropped with sadness, and then her hackles rose when she realized who it was.
“Your Grace…” Lord Wolfe walked through the garden toward her. “I thought I might find you here.” He looked about the garden, noting the freshly bloomed flowerbeds and planted tracts of grass. “I must say, this is marvelous. Alaric told me you had been working on the gardens, and all on your own! Truly, a feat deserving of praise.”
“Alaric is not here,” she said. Covered in dirt, Clara did not care how she looked. She cared about little right now, especially the opinion of a man who she sensed was here for a purpose that she would not appreciate.
“Oh, I know.” He came to a stop several feet from her, as if worried to get too close. “It is you I have come to speak with.”
“Oh…” She blinked. “Ah…” She looked back toward the castle. “Shall we head indoors? I can have the staff –”
“That will not be necessary,” he cut her off. “This will not take long.” His eyes flashed, and she felt her stomach drop further as if in warning.
There was a knowing look in those eyes. Also, a sense of excitement, joy taken at whatever it was that he was here for. He knew that Alaric was not home, which told her that the two had spoken recently.Alaric has been to see him. And that must mean…Clara thought she might be sick.
“Wh – what is it that you want?” she stammered, trying her best to appear confident, even if her world was crumbling.
“I am here to inform you that the terms of your marriage to my nephew have been reached, achieved, and exceeded in every measure.” He smiled in a sickly fashion. “You wished to escape scandal, just as you wished to trick the ton into thinking that this marriage was both real and happy –”
“It is,” she cut him off. “I mean…” She swallowed and stood tall. “It was no trick. Alaric and I are… this marriage is… we are happy,” she stumbled.
He smirked. “I am sure you are. However, now that such goals have been reached, it is time that the final commitment be actioned upon.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “That you are to move out of Wolfe Estate at once.”
She had seen it coming, but it did not hit her any less hard because of it. “Wh – what? No. That is not –”
“It is exactly as was agreed,” he said simply, not in the least bit put out by her obvious surprise and despair. “Were you not the one who asked for such a thing? When you came to my nephew and forced him to marry you –”
“I did not force him.”
“Begged then,” he said with bite. “You begged him, and he conceded, so long as you agreed that once the scandal blew over, you would leave. You wanted it, as he tells me.”
“That was…” She shook her head as if doing so might see her wake from a dream. “That was… things have changed. Alaric and I… where is he?”
“He is not here. You said so yourself.”
“You have spoken to him? When? What did he say?”
