“Yes, Your Grace,” Will bowed, and gestured to the door, “My lady, please.”
As the door closed behind them, Cedric allowed himself to sag into the back of his seat and reached back to slide his fingers behind his neck and down his collar.
He touched the tip of the ridged scar that ran to his waist; thankfully, it was hidden by his clothes, but the memory of the morning after the night sprung to his mind.
“You were very fortunate, my lord,” Doctor Hamilton said while washing his hands.
Numb from the heavy sedatives, Cedric clenched his eyes tight, unable to speak as the smoke and his screaming from the night had left his throat sore.
The injuries from the fire had been too much for him, so his physician had kept him vacillating between being numb and sleeping for nearly a week. He had come to only once, just long enough to ask someone, though he could no longer recall who, about his father.
“Fortunate,” he mumbled as the doctor exited his room.
Carefully, he pried the edge of the bandages on his side to peek at the skin underneath. His skin was gone, just patches of scorched, stinging flesh. Cedric sighed, clenching his teeth together to fight back tears of both pain and anger.
“Cedric,” Leander stepped into the room, his face rigid with distaste. “The breakfast is starting.”
His brother looked presentable, peacock blue waistcoat and dark jacket, white day breeches and perfectly tied cravat—but Leander was undeniably soused.
“Good god, man,” Cedric felt another headache coming on. “How did you get foxed in three hours?”
“I am not drunk,” Leander defended himself. “And even if I were, can you blame me? You condemned me to a life I certainly did not want with a woman who is as attractive as the wallpaper in the ballroom.”
Oddly insulted for the poor girl, Cedric snapped, “This is partially your fault. Do not drag the lady’s looks into this.”
“Assuming I had privacy in my own rooms was too much to ask then?” Leander scowled.
“No, but knowing you are from a very influential family and that you are a target for many schemes should and knowing how to avoid them should be one of the most important things on your mind,” Cedric said firmly. “You grew complacent, Leander, and this is your punishment.”
“Girls,” Ophelia gestured to the door of Ariadne’s proper guest room. “Please, go ahead of us to the dining room, please. Ariadne and I need to speak privately.”
Staring blankly at her reflection in the brass-rimmed floor-length mirror, Ariadne wondered if this gown, a square-necked blue one with puff sleeves, was the best choice for her engagement announcement.
My engagement announcement.
“Aria—”
“Did you do it on purpose?” the troubled young lady snapped while clenching her hands at her sides. “Do you put me in that man’s room by design, mother?”
A long sigh left Ophelia, an act that made Ariadne want to spin around and run far, far away. It was telling more than the matron could have ever voiced.
Instantly, her body began to wash hot and cold, a strange vibration running up her spine, and she felt a slicing sensation under her ribs, as if her mother had stuck a serrated knife directly into her heart.
“Yes, I did,” the dowager admitted. “But it's not for a whim, Ariadne. I had to do something to get our family the help we need, or else, soon we will be begging on the streets.”
“W-what could ever force you to make me the sacrifice?” Ariadne choked with tears brimming in the back of her eyes. “Why—why did you rip away any chance of happiness I could have ever had?!”
Looking tortured, Ophelia said, “Your uncle Thaddeus is giving us pennies to live on, while using the remains of your father’s fortune on himself. You know he is a dandy, and they have a very luxurious and lascivious image to maintain. This was the last hurrah for us, Ariadne, and I—I had to do something drastic.”
The words came from her lips, but they seemed to come from some place far away, a hollow void, coated in ice and sharp knives. It did nothing to numb the pain that was spreading through her like the first crack in a vase, threatening to splinter her into pieces.
“But now, you are to wed a duke’s brother,” her mother pushed. “It’s the best match, and because of you, your sisters will have the platform to meet the ones they will love.”
The betrayal was too raw.
“But what about the one I was supposed to love?” Ariadne said bitterly, “What about that? You stole that from me.”
“It’s only a?—”
