It was hard to leave her, made easier because Sebastian knew that tomorrow would bring better days.Already I am lookingforward to spending the day with my wife… and the next… and the one after that. Honestly, what was I even worried about?
He laughed as he left the manor, shaking his head, beaming the whole while. He had hidden from the truth his entire life, and now that it was behind him, he could not wait to see what all the fuss was about where love and happiness were concerned. Hopefully, it would be everything that people said.
Seeing as it is with Margot, I cannot imagine that it won’t be.
Twenty-Two
Margot had never felt so torn. She was pacing the room in a frenzy, wanting to focus on the good while unable to think of anything but the bad.
Maybe it is nothing. A mere coincidence. What if he already knew? That would surely mean that there is no reason to panic. But if he did not know, then I should have told him. But how could I!
She tried to calm herself by thinking about what had just happened, a moment that should have brought her nothing but joy. Finally, Sebastian had opened up to her, told her the truth of it all, and expressed his feelings as she could not have foreseen. And their kiss… still, she felt him on her lips, a taste that she hoped would never die.
It was good news. It was exactly what she wanted to hear. And was it not for that which plagued her, she would have been dancing with joy because starting tomorrow, this marriagewould finally be given a chance to turn into something more than either could have dreamed.It is only the beginning, but that we are both willing to try, that is the most I can hope for.
Sadly, things were not that simple.
She wanted to think only of Sebastian and that kiss. She wanted to picture what tomorrow might bring. She wanted to look into the future, wondering how her life might look. But whenever she did, another face haunted her thoughts, and a cold shudder ran through her spine, so she wanted to scream.
How had this happened? Why had it happened? It couldn’t be a coincidence. It couldn’t be a mere happenstance. Not wherehewas concerned.
It was the man whom her husband was now meeting with, the same one that she had stumbled upon earlier in Sebastian’s study. He called himself Lord Livingston and acted as if he did not know her, but it was all a ruse because he knew her as well as she knew him. And she loathed him with all her being.
That man, one whom she had hoped to never speak with or see again, was none other than Lord Ashcombe.
He is here for me. But to what end? Knowing Lord Ashcombe, it can only be bad.
Margot bit her lip as she tried to figure out what this might mean. Sebastian had said that he was giving the man a loan. Sowas money what he was after? Was he going to take the loan and run? Laughing all the way at once against disrupting her life? That felt too simple and small for a man as repugnant as Lord Ashcombe. There was more to this than she knew, and that thought filled her with fear.
I should have said something. I should have told Sebastian before he left. But how could I! After what he’d just confessed. How happy he was. And what if I am wrong and this is all a misunderstanding…
The question thus became, what was she going to do now?
She knew the answer, even if she spent many hours trying to convince herself otherwise. What she would have liked to have done was nothing, pretending she had not seen him, going into tomorrow with nothing but hope in her heart and an eye toward the future. Alas, she knew that would not do, for surely Sebastian would find out eventually. And then, he would wonder why she did not tell him the truth.
Thus, when Sebastian returned, Margot decided with much pain and worry that she would need to sit him down and tell him the truth. And then pray that it was not too late…
It was late when Sebastian arrived home. Margot did not know the time exactly, just that she had been sitting on her bed as the anticipation built inside of her.
She heard him walk up the steps and down the hall. She saw his shadow pass by her door as he made for his room. She heard the door open and then close, and that was when she finally acted.
Her body was shaking as she exited her room. She could hardly breathe. But she walked to Sebastian’s door and knocked before she lost the nerve.
“Yes?” Sebastian’s voice called from inside.
“Sebastian…” She popped the door open and stepped into the room.
He was sitting on the bed, taking off his boots. When he saw her there, a wicked grin spread across his face. “Well, this is a most unexpected surprise. Margot…” He clicked his tongue, his tone playful. “I thought we agreed to take things slow.”
She remained by the doorway, not daring to walk further into the room. “We… there is something we need to discuss.”
He laughed. “That is one word for it.” Sebastian then kicked off his final boot and stood, quick to start across the room.
“Wait.” She shot up a hand to stop him. He paused mid-step, only just now seeing the worried look on her face. “I am not here for…” She was shaking, her words tripping from her tongue so that she could hardly speak. And whenever she tried to look at him, she felt a stab of guilt. “I am not here for that.”
“You… what is wrong? Did I do something? What happened?”
“It is nothing that you did.”
