"Oh? What do you mean? Are you surprised or have you heard something?"

"I have heard rumors and talks downstairs but who knows if they are true or not?"

"Mrs. Trudor will know, she has worked decades for this family."

"Right..." Edna complied with my rationalization.

"Then tell me these rumors, these talks you have heard."

"Sit down," she asked me as if it were to be painful for her to admit what she knew.

"So..."

"The first time I heard Mrs. Trudor talking of Lady Walker was when we came back from the Spring Dinner at the Earl's country home."

"Um hm..."

"Mrs. Miller was talking of Mr. Henry and then Mrs. Trudor asked if she was talking about Mr. Henry Walker and when Mrs. Miller confirmed it she well seemed very displeased. She said that you milady ought not have accepted to be within at least ten meters away from the Walkers at all times."

"Why? What did the Walkers do? What is this all about?"

"Apparently Lady Walker is an old family friend of the Stewarts."

"Yes I noticed some kind of connection when she visited us in the country but what else do they say about her?"

"They say that Mr. Henry's mother has always been a frightful girl from a very young age."

"Some things never do change then."

"In fact Lady Walker is not even British, she is from somewhere else originally but no one knows where but she was raised most of her life here kind of like Brielle."

"Right I see where her soft spot for Brielle comes in."

"Yes and..." Edna stopped moved her fingers and giving me lines between my eyebrows.

"And?"

"This is a rumor but Mrs. Trudor overheard Lady Walker saying to Mr. Lawdon that she was back to finish the job."

"Finish the job? What job?" Then suddenly the attack upon my life haunted my memory and I wondered if Lady Walker was the attacker.

"I have no idea what it means milady."

"Edna you must find more, I need to know what Lady Walker was talking about." I could not believe how unfortunate it was Edna was missing exactly the part that mattered but someone knocked on the door to let us know Martha was downstairs waiting for me.

"Milady Miss Campbell awaits you."

"Thank you I will be right down," I smiled.

"Yes milady."

"And you must go talk to Mrs. Trudor, I need the truth," though I had no idea what I would do with the truth once it was in my possession.

"I will milady," she nodded and I went out down to meet Martha for tea, it had been a while since our last talk and I was sure she was anxious with the wedding being a month away.

Before I reached Martha in the hall way the maid opened the door to receive a bouquet of flowers and a square box since I knew who they were from I went anxiously and grabbed the card for no one else to see.

"Thank you," I said to the maid opening the plush black square box, it was a necklace made of black onyx and diamonds, it was the type that went around the neck like a noose and I shivered to think back on the intentions of Sir Holloway.

"How beautiful," the maid looked on with admiration.

"Yes Mr. Henry has great taste," I lied as to not have the staff talking about maliciously.

"Where shall I put them milady?"

"In my room please," I stayed in the hall before going to see Martha and read the note with Sir Holloway's seal on it.

My Valentina,

Accept this as a token of my affections and I look forward to our next meeting sweet one. Wear this for me next time we meet, it will bring me great joy to know you may yet be close to me like this jewel to your soft skin.

Your Dionysus.

Not another soul could see this card so I hid inside my dress beside my breast, I had to put a stop to Sir Holloway but how could anyone stop such a powerful man? So I momentarily put it out of my mind, relaxed my posture and went inside the drawing room to talk to my friend.

"My dear friend, good afternoon."

"Good afternoon, how are you?" We hugged and she was lively as ever, "and your mother? I have been praying you know."

"Oh thank you, although I should schedule a confession it has been too long since I have had one," my life had me so tied up in knots I had almost forgotten my duties with God.

"Oh and what would you need to confess? To eating sugar in the middle of the night?" Martha mocked me.

"No I do it in the plain of day now."

"Is that a smile? Oh you used to smile so much out in the country."

"Yes those days of learning how to properly sit seem so long ago."

"Indeed."

"And what about your wedding is it coming along according to your wishes?"

"Oh yes did you know Arthur and I will be traveling to Paris for our honeymoon?"

"Paris how luxurious."

"I know and when we get there I will make sure to come back with the latest fashions."

"Of course you will and how is our friend Lady Cynthia?"

"Oh well she is fine," she held on to the tea avoiding eye contact.

"And her engagement?"

"You know? Oh good, that is good, so good to not have to keep it a secret anymore!" Martha relieved her nerves and took a sip of tea.

"Yes Lord Joseph told me about the news."

"Good it has been the worst trying to keep it from you."

"Then why did you?"

"Lady Cynthia forbade me from telling you, she says she does not want you anywhere near her."

"Did she give you an explanation as to why?"

"No I was going to ask you why the sudden animosity."

"She believes I used her to get to Mr. Henry, that I inflicted intentional pain upon her by encouraging you and Sir Arthur and by exposing myself to the center of the universe."

"Oh that is so silly, if anything it was your friendship with Lord Stanley that brought us all into an engagement with better men that we hoped for."

"Tell her that please, I do not know what else to do to recuperate our friendship, even if I am wrong tell her I am so very sorry for the way things happened and if I could do it over again everything would be different."

"Surely not everything, finally things are adjusting to their proper place, think about it Mr. Henry whom we thought would never settle down fell in love with you. The mad Earl rejoined society and decided to get a proper wife after decades of loneliness, he fell in love like the rest of us did surely we shouldn't change a thing."

"You seem quite happy that our friend is set to marry a man whom I thought you despised, remember when you all but threw yourself between the Earl and his friendship with my mother?"

"Oh but that was years ago, since then a lot of things have changed, I have changed."

"And what kind of change is this? Have you changed your mind about the Earl or other subjects?"

"Both I think for one I have found it in me to be more forgiving of people."

"Forgiving?"

"Yes I dare say it may come with age as my mother always told me."

"Forgiveness?"

"No patience."

"Right and why has patience changed your mind about the Earl?"

"Because I found out the real tale of the mad Earl."

"The real tale?"

"Oh yes the entire truth of his past, which is why I have so passionately supported our friend's engagement, they both must be allowed to be happy at last. I would have told you sooner but your poor mother could no longer make him a match so I thought it was best to keep the story to myself..."

"You have kept a story to yourself? You are changed."

"Laugh now before I tell you the story because it is not a happy one."

"Martha you're frightening me."

"Well I got it straight from Lady Scott's mouth and I was frightened by the story too when she confided in my mother about her sister."

"Who's her sister?"

"Lady Lydia."

"As in Joseph's mother?"

"Yes she's Lady Scott's younger sister."

"Wait, so Lady Scott is the Earl's sister in law?"

"Not quite."

"Why not?"

"The Earl and Lady Lydia never made it to the altar, I heard her tell the story as clear as day from the other side of the room."

"They never married?"

"Exactly, the Earl was always a free man, for he was never married to Lady Lydia."

"So it is as we feared right? He abandoned her after impregnating her?"

"Also not quite the truth."

"No?" I was starting to feel like this story was going to end up worse than I imagined it all these years.

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No part, character, names, plot, setting, conflict or resolution, point of view, theme or symbolism of this story may be replicated.

Copyright: All Rights Reserved to A. Sena Gomes.