“Absolutely amazing!”
“Where have you been hiding?”
“Your work is incredible!”
The compliments washed over her as she slowly made her way through the crowd.
With tears of wonder and joy, Adriana looked over at her portrait of Morgan and wished with all of her heart he was here to share this moment with her.
She was empty without him.
<><><>
Tatiana sat and watched her niece sleep. The draught she had given her that evening at dinner had worked exactly as it should have, naturally. Kat was in a very light sleep, one where she was awake enough to hear everything Tatiana would tell her, but deep enough so that she wouldn’t fight her.
It was perfect.
“Katrina, I have some sad news which I need you to convey for me.”
The girl stirred a little restlessly.
“You can hear me, Katrina, can’t you?”
She nodded, but didn’t open her eyes.
“Good. Katrina, something terrible has happened. One of the footmen saw Morgan with another woman.”
Kat frowned, her brow wrinkling with concern.
“She is Vallen. A rather powerful one, so naturally, he was attracted to her. And, of course, she is very beautiful.”
“But Morgan...” the girl’s words were slurred as though she were very drunk. “Morgan loves Adriana,” she managed to get out.
“Not any longer. His head has been turned by this other woman. He doesn’t want to be with Adriana any more. He was heard telling this other woman that he wanted to be with her.”
Kat shifted again.
“You must tell Adriana. She will be devastated, but you must tell her. Tell her to forget Morgan. She should marry Vallentyn. He is a good match for her, and he will never stray.”
Kat nodded her head. “Good match,” she agreed, “but Morgan loves Adriana.”
“No, he doesn’t love her any more. And Vallentyn is a good match.” Tatiana sat back for a moment, giving the girl a few moments to digest her instructions. Kat lay there quietly, but with a frown wrinkling her brow.
Tatiana then moved forward once more. “You must also speak to Morgan, Kat.”
“Morgan.”
This time, just to be sure, Tatiana added magic to her voice. This was the truly important point, and she would put it into Kat’s mind as a suggestion above and beyond the power of the potion.
“Yes, you must speak to Morgan. No matter what Adriana says when you talk to her, you must tell Morgan that Adriana was happy to hear of it. You must tell him she wants nothing more to do with him. She is happy he is lavishing his attentions on someone else because she isn’t interested in him anymore. She is through with him, for good.”
The girl seemed to have slipped into a deeper sleep, for she was completely silent and still.
“Did you hear me, Kat? Do you know what to tell Morgan?”
The girl nodded, and then turned over on to her side. “Adriana’s happy he’s with someone else,” she slurred.
“Yes,” Tatiana hissed quietly. “She wants nothing more to do with him. She’s going to marry Vallentyn.”
Kat’s heavy breathing was the only sound in the room as Tatiana quietly closed the door behind her.
Thirty One
Kat! How wonderful to see you!” Adriana said, coming into the drawing room. She had been so thrilled to hear her good friend was calling—it was so rare now that she was allowed visitors.
She had so much to tell Kat—she had to share her news about her art exhibition. She just knew Kat would be thrilled.
Her friend was standing by the window looking out. But, oddly enough, she wasn’t wearing her usual bright, cheerful smile.
There was something wrong.
Adriana stopped. “What is it? What’s happened?” Fears rushed through her mind and body as she rushed to her friend’s side and took her hands. “Is it Morgan? Is he hurt? Did his mother do something to him?” Adriana thought her heart might stop beating all together if Kat didn’t answer her questions immediately.
But Kat just stood there with tears brimming in her eyes. One finally slipped down her cheek, and she hastily wiped it away. Shaking her head, she said, “Morgan is well. His mother hasn’t done anything. It, it is him who has...”
She tore her hands away from Adriana’s, turned and walked away.
Adriana swallowed the lump that suddenly had formed in her throat. “What has he done?” she asked quietly.
“He has been with... he is interested in another woman.” She turned back, “Oh, Adriana, I am so sorry. I know that you and Morgan... well, I thought that maybe... I mean, I was sure he cared for you. He told me he did, but perhaps being here in London, and meeting other Vallen has turned his head.”
Adriana began breathing again. She wasn’t sure when she had stopped. She opened her mouth, but wasn’t certain what she should say, or what she could say. She grasped her hands together, and found that they were cold and shaking.
Morgan had been with another woman? He wanted to be with someone else?
She shook her head. “Perhaps she is just a friend. Do you know who she is?”
“No. I just know she is a Vallen. A rather powerful one.”
“Oh, well, then, he must have just been gathering some information from her. You know, trying to learn more about his own powers,” Adriana said, trying hard to believe her own words.
But Kat just shook her head. “He was heard telling her that he cared for her, and... and, he kissed her.”
Adriana just stared at Kat for a full minute trying to accept what she was being told. Morgan had been seen kissing someone else. He didn’t want to be with her any more. The words kept going through Adriana’s mind, but somehow they weren’t registering.
Oddly enough, she didn’t feel anything. She didn’t feel anything— it was as if her whole mind and body had gone numb.
Morgan had been with another woman. He wanted to be with another woman.
“Well, I suppose it is no more than I should have expected,” she finally whispered. “I did tell him to go away and leave me alone.”
“You didn’t!”
Adriana gave a laugh, that hiccoughed into a sob as her numbness disappeared in a rush of anguishing pain. “Yes, I did.”
“Why?”
Adriana shrugged and held her breath, hoping the spasms of her tears would go away. She pressed a shaking hand to her mouth as she tried to regain control. She wouldn’t cry in front of Kat.
Blinking rapidly, Adriana looked at Kat, who was looking so lost and upset standing in the middle of the drawing room. “I was upset.” She paused to take a deep shuddering breath. “It’s all right,” Adriana managed to whisper, ignoring the grief that was still boring a hole in her chest. She shook her head trying to dispel the pain, and cleared her throat. “It’s all right. I had no right to expect anything else.”
Kat moved forward and took her hands. Heat and good feelings moved from Kat’s hands to her own. It was very calming. Adriana took a another deep breath.
“Perhaps it would be better if you married Vallentyn after all,” Kat said quietly. “You know he would never do anything like...”
Adriana looked at Kat. Did she really believe that. Did Lady Vallentyn tell her to say that? Adriana pulled her hands away. “Are you... have you spoken with your aunt about this?”
“No! Oh no! Adriana, I would never speak with Aunt Vallentyn about you. I promise!”
Adriana wanted to believe her friend. She would believe her. Kat wouldn’t lie to her, she wanted Morgan to be happy, and hopefully she wanted to same for Adriana.
But Adriana could never marry Vallentyn, even if Morgan... tears blurred Adriana’s vision once more as the pain clamped down hard on her heart.
<><><>
“Morgan, I can’t believe you,” Kat said, rounding on him the minute he walked into the drawing room.
“You can’t believe what?” Morgan asked, completely
confused.
“I can’t believe, after all you’ve done, after all you’ve said, that you would go and be with another woman. I thought you cared for Adriana.”
Morgan stopped. “Be with another woman? How...?”
“The footman saw you,” she said, lowering her voice. “He saw you kissing some woman last evening,” she hissed. Kat was truly angry.
But then, so was he. Had he been followed? Spied upon? He hadn’t told anyone he was going to visit Sarah, but he hadn’t hid it either.
“And what business is it of yours if I did pay a call to another woman?” he asked, trying hard to contain his own growing anger.
“It is my business when you are clearly trying to both destroy your own life, and the happiness of one of my good friends. Adriana, by the way, wishes you well. But I could tell she was very upset.”
“Wait a minute! You told her?” Anger exploded in Morgan’s head as if he had just been struck by lightning. He had never felt anything like this toward anyone, aside from his mother. Suddenly, he felt as if he was suffocating, and yet a fire sparked to life in the pit of his stomach.
“Yes, of course I told her. She’s my friend,” Kat said, taking a step away from him. She glanced nervously at the fireplace where the coal there mimicked the burning within him.
“What did you tell her, exactly?” Morgan asked, his voice low, as he pressed down his anger. She wouldn’t have, couldn’t have...
“I told her exactly what the footman told me,” Kat whispered.
“You told her I had kissed another woman?” Flames burst to life both within him and the fireplace.
Kat looked at the fire again. “That’s what you did, so that’s what I told her.”
The fire began to rage within him. “You had no right to tell her that!”
“Morgan! You’re going to set the house on fire.”
He looked toward the fireplace, but his eyes were caught by the flames that were leaping from his own fingertips. He suppressed the fire, but needed to dispel his anger somehow. With a lift of his arms, all the furniture in the room rose a foot into the air. In one swoop it all flew against the far wall. China smashed and wood cracked.
Kat screamed and ran toward the door as a chair nearly hit her.
“Morgan, calm down!”
“Calm down? How do you expect me to calm down when you have just destroyed my last hope of ever being with Adriana? I love her, Kat! I love her and you told her that I kissed another woman!”
Kat covered her ears and backed away from him. “Please, Morgan, I’m sorry, but...”
“But? But what? What am I supposed to do? I was planning on going over this afternoon to tell her that I loved her, but now...” The chair that had nearly hit Kat rose up in the air and hovered threateningly above the ground.
Kat looked at it with fear in her eyes. “Morgan, put the chair down. Please, I’m sorry I told her, but destroying the house won’t help anything.”
Morgan looked over at the chair. He wanted to break it. He wanted to burn it, and everything else until there was nothing left but ashes. He flexed his muscles, curling his hands into fists and opening them again. It took all of his control not to set everything on fire.
Just before the chair hit the wall next to him, he stopped it and set it gently down on the floor.
With a moan, he closed his eyes and sat down on the chair—swinging it under himself just in time. His head dropped into his hands. “What am I going to do? Adriana must hate me,” he groaned. He had to ask, he had to know, “What did she say?”
Kat was slowly rearranging the furniture, putting it back where it belonged. She stopped what she was doing and turned back to him. “She said she was happy for you.”
Morgan looked up. “Happy for me?” Morgan looked down at his chest fully expecting the blade of a knife to be protruding from it.
“Yes, because now you won’t be lavishing your unwanted attentions on her anymore.”
Morgan winced. There was no knife, but he was certain he could feel his hot blood trickling down to his stomach.
<><><>
The sobs continued to rack Adriana’s body despite her exhaustion. For how long she had lain there crying, she did not know. All she knew was that Henrietta—dear, Henrietta—had sat by her the entire time, softly stroking her back and murmuring words of support mixed with cruel words for Morgan.
But Adriana couldn’t stop crying. She didn’t think she would ever be able to stop. The pain was too much.
She loved him. He was a part of her life. He meant more to her than even her painting—she hadn’t cried this long after all of her art materials had been taken away.
But now, her heart was truly broken. Her dreams were gone. Any hope of freedom destroyed. She would live a very lonely life without Morgan.
How could he? “How could he?” she said aloud, sitting up.
“He is not worth your time, Adriana,” Henrietta said, sitting back.
“He is worth more than my time, he is worth everything. But he needn’t have been so cruel,” she said, wiping her tears.
“You are better off without him, my love. He has encouraged you to...”
“He has encouraged me to live. He has encouraged me to not just sit back and accept the life that Lord Devaux has laid out for me, but to fight for my freedom,” Adriana said emphatically.
“But dearest, you are a woman, you have no choice but to do what your guardian...”
“No! I am a woman who has the right to live her life as she chooses. Everyone should have that right!”
“In a perfect world, my dear, but not in this one,” Henrietta said sadly.
“I thought he cared about me,” Adriana said, sitting back against her pillows. “I thought he... well, I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore, does it?”
Thirty Two
The rain started that afternoon. Adriana just stared out the window, her mind and heart empty. The tears had stopped, but only because there was nothing left. The world was gray and colorless.
“I’m terribly sorry, Miss,” a maid said after briefly knocking on her door, “but Lord Byron is here and he says it is extremely important that he speak to you.”
“Lord Byron?” That jolted her. “Tell him I’ll be with him in just a moment,” she said, swinging her legs off the chair she had been curled up on. What could be so important to bring Lord Byron out on a day like today? And at this time too—it was past normal visiting hours.
After very quickly tidying her hair and trying to smooth the wrinkles from her gown, she rushed down to the drawing room. Henrietta was standing just outside of the room waiting for her as she came down the stairs.
“It is Lord Byron!” she whispered excitedly.
Adriana managed a small smile at Henrietta’s excitement. Her dear friend still hadn’t gotten over the thrill of meeting her favorite author. “Yes, let’s see what it is he wants,” Adriana whispered back, as she opened the door to the drawing room.
It could have been a warm sunny day the way Lord Byron looked. He was dry and dressed as immaculately as always. And quite a change from his usual demeanor of ennui, there was the closest thing Adriana had ever seen to a smile on his face. His eyes were virtually twinkling with glee.
“Ah, Miss Hayden, I am sorry to intrude on your evening. I hope I didn’t disturb your toilet? I know I, myself, was about to begin to get dressed when I received a most welcome caller to my home. I simply had to come immediately to see you.”
As always when she was with Lord Byron, Adriana was suddenly very awake, full of energy and good feelings. It was such a relief from the emptiness she been consumed by for the past few days. She gave him a true smile. “I thank you for doing so. What was it that you needed to share?”
He pulled a leather pouch from out of his pocket. “It is just this,” he said, handing it to her.
It was surprisingly heavy, and made the most delightful chinking noise as he placed it into her hand.
“But what
is it?” Adriana asked, honestly bewildered. “And do, please, sit down,” she said, suddenly remembering her manners. She then perched on the edge of the chair next to the one he had chosen.
“That is half of your share of the monies earned the other night. A total of twelve paintings sold. I left with your footman materials for another painting that has been commissioned. Sir William said that Lady Bertram would like something bright in tones of amber and blue to match her new drawing room. A landscape or, rather, a seascape, I imagine.”
Adriana could hardly breath. Materials? Painting materials? She was going to paint again? Her heart began to flutter within her chest, but then constricted once again as she thought of Lord Devaux. Would he allow her this?
“Sir William has received three more commissions for works from you, including one from a lady who wants a painting of her lover in exactly the same position you painted Mr. Vallentyn.” Lord Byron said, his eyes narrowing in amusement.
Adriana gasped with delighted shock. She didn’t care what her guardian said, she was going to do these paintings!
“The advances for those paintings and the other half of the money owed to you will be coming forthwith,” Lord Byron finished.
Adriana could barely believe it. Her paintings had sold! She had the money in her hand. It was hers to do with whatever she liked. She weighed the bag in her hand—it was very heavy. My goodness, she could... she could leave London, leave her guardian, and move into the country with Henrietta. She could spend the rest of her life painting!
This money was her freedom!
“This is only half?” she asked, the shock beginning descend upon her.
“Yes, certainly. And, of course, there are still many more paintings which Sir William still expects to sell.”
Oh, my goodness! She could hardly believe this! Never again was she going to be stopped from doing what she loved. Never.
“I would suggest you keep the money someplace very safe, Miss Hayden. Perhaps you might even consider investing some of it, or ...”
“Indeed, that money will be kept very safely,” Lord Devaux said, interrupting Lord Byron.
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