CHAPTER 25
Lucy was done.
She had tried, and no one could claim differently. While this marriage might have started off on shaky ground, once Lucy had realized her own feelings and what she wanted, she had done everything in her power to try and make this marriage work. She had been patient. She had been forgiving. She had been hopeful…
Marcus was given more chances than anyone deserves. And even though I know in my heart what he really wants, I see no point in fighting for it anymore. To do so will only bring more pain, more misery, and I am quite done being made to look like a fool.
Not to mention… I am done being hurt.
As for what her life might look like now? To that, Lucy had no answer. She would stay married to Marcus, of course. She wouldcontinue to raise James as if he was her own. In time, she hoped that she and Marcus might find some middle ground to tread, a way of being in the same room together so that they did not have to avoid the other for the rest of their days.
It would not be a happy marriage. It would not be love filled. It might, at best, be companionable, and that would have to do.
So it was that she found herself sitting in the back garden the day after her confrontation with Marcus. The sun shone brightly overhead. Birds sang from the trees. The weather was warm without being aggressive. And James crawled about on the grass, giggling to himself as he always did.
She smiled as she watched him, taking joy from little moments like this one. Yes, a large part of her wished that Marcus was here so that he could see with his own eyes how happy and at peace James was…maybe one day he will do, and maybe one day he and James will even form a bond of their own.
For now, that she had James would have to be enough.
Marcus had avoided her since yesterday, just as she avoided him. And she would continue to do so, not wanting to be the one who tried to bridge that gap… for the hundredth time, it felt like. No more.
Alone in her thoughts, Lucy did not notice the valet hurrying through the garden until he was almost right on top of her. She saw him coming and frowned, just as she waved him over.
“Your Grace!” He stopped short and bowed deeply. “I am so sorry to disturb you, but you have a visitor.”
“I do?” Lucy blinked in surprise. “Who?”
“It is Lady Amelia Whitcombe, Your Grace.”
Lucy’s stomach dropped. “And my stepmother, no doubt.”Wonderful, this is just what I needed.
“No, Your Grace,” the valet said. “She has come alone, and she has asked that you see her, although she also made sure to tell me that she will understand if you do not wish such a thing.”
“Truly?” Lucy blinked. “It might sound like a strange question but how did she appear?”
“Your Grace?”
“Did she appear angry? Upset?”
“Oh.” He blinked a few times. “Sad, Your Grace, if I might speak frankly. She looked nervous, as if she did not want to be here at all.”
Lucy considered these words.
She and Amelia had never been close, but they had never been true enemies. In fact, it was always Lucy’s stepmother that wasthe cause of their fighting, and Lucy often wondered how their relationship might be if they were not so often pitted against each other.
A shame that Amelia was so thoroughly under her mother’s influence that such a circumstance was as good as wondering how life might be if one had wings so they could fly.
But she is here alone, something my stepmother would never allow. Is this a trick? Or… perhaps she has come alone for good reason. What if…Lucy’s heart fluttered with hope.What if she has finally seen her mother for what she is?
“I will see her in the morning room,” Lucy said as she came to a decision. “Please, have her wait for me. When she asks, tell her I am putting James to bed and will be with her as soon as I can.”
“Your Grace.” The valet bowed deeply and hurried away.
Were times slightly different, Lucy might not have been so eager to see her stepsister. But with all that had happened of late, she felt alone in this world, without allies, without a path forward to walk. So, if there was even a chance that she and Amelia might put their past behind them, it was a risk worth taking.
As such, Lucy hurried back inside with James. She took some minutes putting him to bed, as it was a touch earlier than his usual nap time. But he fell asleep eventually, at which point she made her way downstairs to the morning room.
And all the while, she tried to puzzle out what her earth her stepsister might want…
