Maybe it would wash the disgust off my mind.
But as he released his lip’s grip to allow the wine to pour in, he regretted it. The wine that once sent sweet sensation to this mouth down to this throat now tasted like herb. He wanted to spit it out but he refrained from that.
“So when do we start the wedding arrangement?” he asked trying to sound enthusiastic.
“The Duchess will arrive tomorrow to start the wedding arrangement with us,” his mother announced.
Thomas frowned at this, but quickly gave another smile.
This is harder than I thought.
“We best prepare.”
His mother did not wait long after this and as he escorted her out, he became sad. He began to wonder if he put up so much protest because his heart already belonged to someone. Someone no one would want him to marry, but meant the world to him.
Oh, Mary Ann, what have I done?
The dark moonless and starless night was followed by a dull sunless day. The sky darkened with clouds which stifled the sun’s majestic look. Thomas gazed out at the sky from his window with dark eyes. After his mother left, he couldn’t get much sleep. It started as a fitful sleep but at midnight, he had completely lost the will to fall into a deep slumber. Anytime he felt this way there was only one thing he could do to clear his mind – go for a long ride.
He knew James wouldn’t be up until the next few hours if not summoned earlier so he decided to use that as an opportunity to go for a lone ride through the city. He dressed up quickly, cleaning his body before wearing a shirt that clung snugly to his body. As he got to the door, he caught a glimpse of his sword. He hadn’t even remembered taking it from the countryside. He contemplated taking it but as he got out of the door, he flashbacked to the time he had to fight two men only for them to get reinforcements. While he knew such was likely never going to happen in a city where he was known by many, he didn’t want to take any chances.
Hello, old friend, did you miss me? he thought, referring to his sword.
Thomas climbed down the stairs and saw a few of the servants already working; some cleaning the manor, some polishing the furniture. It made him wonder if it would be such a good idea to go to Mary Ann.
That is a bad idea. He smirked disposing of the thought as quickly as it came.
The servants greeted him with a bow and he waved at them as he walked past them. When he got to the door that was the fastest to the stable, he looked back only to see the servants staring at him as if he was crazy. Who could blame them? He was all dressed up very early in the morning carrying a sword around his waist and heading out with a horse. As they all acted as if they were working when he looked back, he smiled and wonder if he would stumble upon Mary Ann. He had sent James to request that Emily check up on her and make her feel comfortable without him raising any suspicion. His meeting with his mother had deterred him from getting feedback but he hoped she was doing well.
He looked at the gloomy sky one more time, how no bird or fly had graced the atmosphere that morning. When he entered the stable, the horses didn’t look very active.
Nature mourns with me he thought as he unlatched the door of a black stallion. Its body was clean and glistening and he was sure the servants had cleaned it recently.
“Good, horse,” he uttered pulling it out with its rein then rubbing its forehead. “Let’s got for a ride, what say you?”
The horse snorted as he climbed on him.
“Your Grace,” a servant greeted and he replied with a nod. He kicked the horse lightly in the side and it reacted by speeding off toward the entrance of his estate. He kicked it twice again and the horse picked up more speed, passing the statue swiftly.
He didn’t stop the horse as he sped through the partly empty street to the park then taking another turn to reach a boulevard. The wind blew leaves from trees that were lining it and the smell of the earth filled the air. He noticed merchants coming down the lane so he took another path that he knew well. The journey took him not more than three minutes before the cold breeze hit him. It was not until then that he slowed down the horse.
“We are here,” he whispered to the horse.
He climbed down not long after before pulling the horse close to the flowing stream. He tied the horse to a tree near the stream so it could drink from it before laying down on the green grass. He was unhappy about Rebecca’s arrival later in the day and the more he tried to find a silver lining in the situation, the more hopeless he became. He stayed there all morning until the first ray of light found its way out of the dark clouds. Thomas smiled at this.
All right, sun, I will keep an open mind.
He climbed back on the horse much later and began his journey back home slowly. He greeted the passersby with a nod and moments later, he was on his estate once more. Just as he had thought, his loyal butler; James was standing outside waiting eagerly for him with a much-younger servant beside him. Thomas recognized him as the boy he saw before taking off. As he got closer to the stairs leading to the front door, the two servants walked closer. The younger servant bowed, holding the horse as he watched Thomas climbed down. It was after he took the horse away that James moved closer to him.
“Good morning, Your Grace,” James greeted.
Thomas greeted him with a bright smile. He moved closer to him and patted his back twice as they walked together toward the door.
“I did not know you would want a ride very early this morning,” James started talking.
“Oh! I did not want to disturb you. Moreover, I needed some time alone to clear my head.”
James nodded at his before speaking again this time faster.
“I bring news, Your Grace,” he announced just as they got to the main sitting room.
“Go ahead,” he ordered calmly, adjusting the sword on his back.
“Emily says Mary Ann is doing good and adapting to the work routine,” he stated pausing to see Thomas’ reaction but nothing came. “She also said she would be taking her around the city today when she’s done with her chores.”
This was what brought smile back to his face.
“Perfect,” he exclaimed.
At least one of us is going to have fun today.
It had been his idea all along for Emily to take extra care of Mary Ann. She was even given a better room compared to some of the other servants. James had also been discreet enough not to alert Emily that James was just a mouthpiece. Thomas didn’t ask how he did it, but was happy no one suspected what was going on. Even if they did, it would all go back to James which wasn’t an problem, whatsoever.
“That is good news, good news I tell you,” Thomas exclaimed again then stopped short to face James.
He could make out the voice of her mother and Emily. But there was another voice with them. He couldn’t place the voice or the laugh which was more of an aggressive snorting.
“James?” he fired in a low voice.
“I was about to tell you about that too,” James pointed out.
“Who are those in there so early?” he asked hastily.
“Your mother—”
“Yes, I know and Emily, who is the third person?” he cut in now becoming impatient.
“That will be Lady Rebecca, daughter the Duchess of—”
“I know who she is,” he cut in again.
“I think I heard Thomas’ arrival being announced not long ago,” Rebecca uttered loudly.
As if on cue, he tried to walk to the opposite room and take the secret tunnel around the manor to get to his room.
“Here you are, man of the hour,” a voice announced with a gentle applaud when he had barely taken more than a few steps.
“Lady Rebecca,” he uttered as he turned to face her. “It is such a pleasure to have you in my abode.” Each word felt like hot coals on his tongue.
Thomas moved toward her, meeting her halfway to take her already raised hand. He raised her hand even higher so he only had to bend his neck to kiss it.
“It is an honor to be welcome here,” the Duchess responded eyeballing James with contempt then turning her gaze back to Thomas with a smile.
Thomas saw this and but quelled his anger immediately so as to not make a scene.
James moved forward past Thomas’ shadow from where he lurked. He didn’t get too close before he bent his torso to greet Rebecca. She grumbled her response before shifting the attention back Thomas. At this point, he was already feeling uneasy with the way things were going.
“Walk with me,” she ordered without waiting for him to respond. She turned and was already walking toward the room from whence she came.
She is certainly not what I had expected. Far more… commanding, than I would like.
“I would love to,” he responded as quickly as he regained his conscious mind. “I just came back from the city and I would love to retire to my chamber now. I will be out shortly,” he told her slowly pulling back.
Rebecca only stared indifferently at him, then at James before speaking.
“I will leave you to it.”
Thomas plastered an awkward smile on his face and it didn’t change until she disappeared into the room. When she was finally out of sight, Thomas let out a deep sigh. It was when he turned that he realized James had also done this same. He stared at James but didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to. Thomas trudged to his room with James behind him. What have I gotten myself into?
He dismissed James immediately as he laid face down on his bed. He had been so engrossed in running from her that he didn’t take much look at her. But lying on the bed alone brought back the memory of not long ago. She had a long face that had been whitened to give prominence to her big red lips that were almost dripping of whatever was used. He rolled on the bed and couldn’t help but wonder how much she had failed at her sad attempt to look younger than she actually was.
His mind began to compare her to Mary Ann who looked better than Rebecca even with all her fancy dressing.
Give her a chance. Keep your mind open, remember?
The sadness that kept him up at night and got him out of bed early was now creeping in and he couldn’t do anything about it. The stress of the ride, couple with that of his sleepless night fused together and in no time, he began to doze off. He held on to the mental image of Mary Ann smiling at him as she tucked her hair behind one of her ears.
“Rest now,” he heard her say and just like witch’s spell he blacked out.
Chapter 20
Thomas felt a cold touch on his legs. It was cooling to him before the pressure from it began to make him feel uncomfortable. He had thought it was a dream but he could feel the chillness of the touch on his skin. He opened his eyes gently to see James glaring at him.
“Wake up, Your Grace,” he rocked him on the bed with his legs.
“Yes, I am awake,” he grumbled as he reluctantly sat on the bed. “What seems to be the matter?”
“You’ve been summoned, Your Grace,”
“By who?” he asked.
“Your mother. The Duke of Ruxbell and his family are also here,” he told him intentionally leaving Rebecca’s name off the list.
“Wonderful,” Thomas grumbled without moving an inch.
Can today get any worse?
“Should I tell them you will be downstairs soon?” James asked to which he nodded.
As James left the room, he rose from his bed grudgingly. He changed to a looser shirt but retained the tight trousers. He brushed his hair in the mirror before stepping out. He stood at the top of the stairs for a couple of seconds.
I can make this work; I know I can.
He lightly slapped himself in the face multiple times before he began to climb down slowly. James met him when he was halfway down. They walked together, James slightly ahead of him. He led him through the manor to the room where he had his last two fights with his mother, the recent being that of his betrothal to Rebecca. His mother was the first to notice his presence at the doorstep. When others did, they trained a smile at him. He returned the favor and greet them as he walked past them to his seat.
Lady Rebecca was a true daughter of her father, Phillip Egertone. Even when she was younger, it was obvious. Now, sitting in the same room with her after all those years made Thomas realize nothing had really changed about her. Her face was devoid of a smile and when something funny was said, she would only give a half-hearted smile. Thomas met them discussing Phillip’s business and how he made more money through Rebecca’s idea of cutting back labor so they would have less people to pay.
“But wouldn’t that slow down the production?” Thomas asked .
“That was what I thought,” he responded, until—” He turned to face his daughter who now looked more like an emaciated woman when her face was bare. Her cheekbones were sharp, yet delicate. She had also changed to a brown dress whose hems were embellished with much more colorful lace and a bright, crystal-like necklace also graced her neck.
“I got it on one of my trips on the sea,” she pointed out as she noticed Thomas was staring at it. “The merchant I got it from told me it was from a crown princess in Africa.”
“Merchant or pirate?” he questioned.
“What difference does it make?” she laughed as her father reminded her of what he wanted her to explain.
She cleared her throat and everyone became attentive, even Thomas who leaned forward to hear her better.
“My father told me he would like to make more money, so I told him to cut down the laborers,” she declared, she paused to see the confused look on everyone’s face.
She loved it no doubt, to have everyone at her fingertips. Thomas could see that in her eyes and the way she giggled knowing everyone was eager to hear her out.
“At first, it didn’t make sense, but then I realized this,” she declared in a loud voice before readjusting her position on the seat one more time.
Irritation pricked him, but kept his expression cheerful. He couldn’t believe that the daughter of a Duke was talking about such things. These were not matters she should concern herself with, but since the Duke said nothing, neither did he.
“If you lay off some of the workers and tell those that are left you will increase their wages, that would make them happy. Who doesn’t like more money, right?” She paused to take a sip from her glass before continuing. “Just when they agree with this, you put a clause on the changed payment.”
“What is that?” Elisa asked. If she was surprised by the direction of the conversation, she didn’t make it show.
“Simple! You just tell them that if they maintain the same quota of production as before some of them were fired, they get to keep the additional money. If not, it is back to their initial payment. They will do their best to meet it, but the odds are stacked against them. Nevertheless, they produce more, for far less than what we pay them as wages before.”
Phillip looked around boastfully when Rebecca was done explaining what sounded more diabolical than business to Thomas.
“That doesn’t seem fair,” Thomas told her with a frown.
“Tell that to the money made through that, Your Grace,” she told him almost in a snarl.
He was stupefied at the heartless tactic but when he need only look at his mother to know it was best not to say anything.
“Can your butler excuse us?” Phillip asked giving James a hard look.
Thomas turned to James with a smile and told him to take a break. The room was silent until after James was long gone. Phillip adjusted his position on the chair as he prepared to speak.
Here we go.
“So, lets discuss our wedding and business arrangement, shall we?”
“As you know,” Phillip started.
He leaned forward as he brought the tone of his voice down as if preventing his words from eavesdroppers “The Lady Rebecca; my lovely daughter, who I wish to be married to a man who can take good care of the empire.”
“And as Thomas is ours,” Elisa also stated as if to reass
ure him.
Thomas looked at everyone in the room, one at a time and caught Rebecca smiling at him as she fiddled with the necklace around her long neck. Neither smiling nor frowning, he returned her gaze indifferently. They stared at each other before, so he looked away trying not to show his displeasure.
Maybe things won’t be that bad, he kept telling himself, half-heartedly hoping his wish came true.
“That pleases us to hear,” Phillip Egertone pointed out now training his smile at her daughter then Thomas.
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