His mother had always presented her marriage as something he should try to attain, and he wondered if the woman would have appreciated the sick satire in that wish. What outcome would have been produced had Laura rejected him outright? He cared not to think.
There had been no love match between his parents, just another fabrication that his mother had constructed under the guise of protecting him. If he were completely honest, he had to admit that his mother had also guarded her one love - Marlbrook. The son also knew that she had sheltered herself.
His family, steeped in tradition, had paid the price for the selfishness of the generations. Their greed had been escorted by the arrogance of the rich. He was a part of that heritage and no better than the rest. The sins of his father could just have easily been his over his want of a woman.
Under the strain of confronting the truth, his posture crumbled and his hands were called upon to cradle his head. He prayed with all his being for his children and their future. The mistakes of two generations past must not be repeated.
With care, Lord Henry removed the precious item from the cloth wrap that cushioned it. His hands were reverent, as he handled the object, packaging the ring that had belonged to Lady Virginia. Lord Henry addressed the parcel to its rightful owner; a small token that he trusted would be taken in the right context.
#
Laura sat alone in her private chamber, cloaked in feelings and surrounded by thought. Lord Henry Marlbrook, her husband and the father of her children, had passed away this day in a dignified fashion. The doctors had diagnosed his ailment and presented it with a name, recording in the history books his death due to pneumonia. However, Laura had recognised the deep wounding his father’s actions had inflicted and had seen it compounded with his own culpability. The damage to Henry’s spirit had been too great to support.
Laura’s journal, faithful to the end, had recorded his final words; this the last entry of Henry in her life.
“Laura. Life with you by my side has made me a rich man. In these my final hours, I must confess that while I make an attempt to repent I also state a contradiction. I have never looked back on my decision to bind your hand to mine and would risk the fires of hell and eternal condemnation if I state otherwise. I know that given the chance over, I would again curse my soul to have you.
I know you will go to him when I am gone, but that I have had to share your love has been no great trial. I have been a willing partner all these years and harbour no regrets.”
Laura cried and thought her heart would break.
As with all things sensational, gossip, in particular, when deprived of food, withers and dies, but the harm accomplished along the way can often be measured in human lives.
CONCLUSION
Laura sat in the bridal chamber awaiting his arrival. Her journal entry had been added in brief - the need for words had long past.
“Today, fate was at its best in the marriage of Lord Thomas Ashley and Lady Laura Marlbrook.”
Lord Thomas Ashley entered the bedchamber, and Laura gently closed the covers of her book. Slowly, she raised herself from her seat. Tonight she needed the arms of the man with whom she had made peace. Thomas would help her face her tomorrows and the decisions she was sure that would bring. She had reached her journey’s end.
Journey's End (Marlbrook) Page 23
