Chapter Fourteen

                                    

                                          
Edmund bit his inner cheek, trying to think of how he would respond to Lord Albey. The last thing he wanted to do was to offend the man, but there was no way he could ever marry Ms. Hart. No matter how much he wished to help his brother in his financial struggles, he could not bring himself to agree to this. 
                          
"Your offer is tempting," Edmund started. "And Ms. Hart is a lovely woman. But I fear I do not equal her affections." Lord Albey raised a bushy eyebrows and frowned. 
                          
"My niece is well-bred, well-educated, beautiful, and part of a lofty inheritance. And somehow she loves you more than you her? You do not see her fit to be your wife?" his accusations slapped Edmund with the same force as his cane, which met the hardwood floor in a loud crash.
                          
"No, no! I am sure Ms. Hart will make an exquisite wife for some lucky gentleman. But I am. . . .well, the truth is. . . . I am attached to another." Edmund confessed. 
                          
"Attached to another?" 
                          
"We are soon to be engaged, in fact." 
                          
"Really?" Lord Albey asked with a calm curiosity, as he leaned across the card table. Edmund nodded and let out a breath. He had not realized how good it would feel to confess this to someone other than himself. He was cautious not to expose Violet's name to Lord Albey, as their relationship still breathed in secrecy. But an unlikely wave of pleasure wafted over him at his little confession. Yes, Edmund was attached to another, and yes, he would ask for her hand.  It became clearer by the second, so much so, that he had a sudden urge to leave the bloody ball right then, and ride home to do the deed that night. But he knew he couldn't do that, and instead, rose from his seat, ending his conversation with Lord Albey. 
                          
"My utmost sincere apologies to you, my lord, and Ms. Hart, for any misunderstandings. But I'm afraid our families cannot unite this way." 
                          
Lord Albey rose as well, all the anger taken out of him. The old man only nodded in his disappointment, more in defeat than offence. 
                          
"I hope this situation will not affect your dealings with my brother." Edmund said. He meant this an assurance that Lord Albey would not be unfairly harsh on Alfred because of Edmund. And yet, having spoken, it came out much differently. 
                          
"Oh I assure you, Mr. Langley, it will not." 
                          
*
                          
The night could not end fast enough for Edmund, who passed the time by indulging in mindless polite chatter with acquaintances. He smiled and avoided direct eye contact with the young ladies around him, lest he feel obligated to ask them to dance. Instead he nodded and passed comments about the weather, waiting impatiently for the ball to come to an end. Any other night, Edmund might have been in a mood to enjoy himself, and indulge in the spirits of a decent ball. But all Edmund could think about Violet. And avoiding Ms. Hart. 
                          
It wasn't until the early hours of the next morning in which he was permitted to leave. Katherine bid her farewells to the hosts and off they piled back into the carriage. His sister-in-law had barely crossed paths with him all night, and it wasn't until he sat across from her in the cozy carriage, that he sensed something was amiss with her. Her lips were pursed shut, much too tightly, and her eyes had darkened and sharpened. 
                          
"Did you enjoy yourself, Katherine?" Edmund asked. Katherine looked out of the carriage window as their carriage surged forward. 
                          
"Well enough," Katherine said, her voice clipped. She didn't even bother glancing at Edmund with her reply. Edmund looked at Albert, who sat beside his wife with an unamused expression. He shook his head and rolled his eyes, clearly disinterested in his wife's vexation. Edmund decided not to press on further, but by the time they arrived back at the Langley estate, her coolness towards him had become too much to bear. 
                          
"Katherine, is something the matter?" Edmund asked, stopping his sister-in-law, and pulling her into the drawing room. 
                          
"What do you very well think?" Katherine spat. She scowled at him and glared at him; her eyes were boiling up with rage, Edmund could see it. Her face seemed to contort into a twisted expression, shadowed and lit by the bright glow of the sunlight, shining through the window. Alfred slumbered past the two in a pointed disinterest. Edmund doubted he would see his brother again until the evening. 
                          
"I don't understand," he said dumbly. Katherine scoffed.
                          
"I cannot believe that you would throw away a perfectly good opportunity to save this family from ruin. Really, Edmund, you will never find yourself a better wife than Ms. Hart, or a better way to mend my husband's debts." 
                          
Edmund stood, open-mouthed, in disbelief. Katherine knew about Alfred's debt? And Lord Albey's proposal? But how?
                          
"You know of Alfred's debts?" 
                          
"Of course I do, I'm not an imbecile. I know my husband, and I know when he is lying to me. I suspected it a long time ago, and waited for Alfred to tell me we were destitute, but he never did." Katherine said, rolling her eyes. She slithered about the room, pretending to admire its trinkets, as if it were the first time seeing them. Something shifted in Katherine's countenance as Edmund watched her, as if a veil had been lifted, and she finally was showing her true face. Her anger seemed to disappear, in its place was a sharp shadow of pride. 
                          
"But, what of the lady's maid, that you let go for stealing? Did you know that it was Alfred who took your jewelry?" Edmund felt a burning in the pit of his stomach, afraid to hear the answer. 
                          
"Of course I knew! I accused the maid in hopes Alfred would finally confess the truth. But my husband is a selfish coward, who only cares of his own well-being."
                          
"So you kicked out a perfectly innocent maid, with no reference, for a crime you knew she did not commit?"  
                          
"I did not say I was entirely innocent. It's a shame really, because it's been dreadful finding a new lady's maid. But we all must make our sacrifices," Katherine said. 
                          
Edmund could not believe what he was hearing. He could not believe that he had actually had sympathy for Katherine in Alfred's folly. He had thought that she was a victim, but she was just as twisted in folly as his brother. 
                          
"What a wretched thing to do!" said Edmund. 
                          
"What a wretched thing to do, was to refuse a proposal to Ms. Hart, who has the power to save us from financial ruin!" Katherine snapped. Her dark eyes shifted back into anger. But so did Edmund's. 
                          
"How am I surprised that you knew about such a thing," Edmund scoffed. 
                          
"Darling, I was the one who put it all into motion," Katherine said. "You know not how diligently I have worked over the summer? I had to discover who Alfred was indebted to, and when I happily discovered his hair was Ms. Hart, I tirelessly strove to bring you and Ms. Hart together! And to convince Lord Albey that such a union would be agreeable in the first place! I had to insinuate and manipulate, all too carefully. It was exhausting, really." 
                          
Edmund knew not who the woman was that stood before him. He certainly had known that Katherine was no angel, but this? This deviance and selfishness was beyond his comprehension. 
                          
"Oh please, Edmund, don't look at me like that. It is not as though marriages of convenience and financial benefit are so unheard of. I reckon they happen more than marriages of love. I know mine certainly was for the latter." 
                          
"But you did it for your own gain. And you convinced a woman to love me that I can never marry." 
                          
"Well perhaps you should. This whole situation could be solved and done with if you marry Ms. Hart," Katherine said. She approached Edmund and stood close to him, staring him down as if trying to read his thoughts. "I'll even rehire that lady's maid that you seem to care so much about." 
                          
"This isn't a negotiation, Katherine," Edmund said. He felt sick. Katherine frowned, clearly displeased. 
                          
"We'll see about that." 
                          
Katherine stormed out of the room, leaving Edmund to process what the entire night's events. His family was quite insane, wasn't it? The Langley fortune seemed to matter less and less the more he thought about it. His family didn't deserve anymore assistance than Edmund had already given them. And he knew now, more than ever, what he needed to do if he wanted to be happy. 
                          
Now where was Violet?