Chapter 26 #2
Shame poured through her as she made her confession, compounding her heartache.
“Why did you not tell us?” Rose asked, reaching for her hand.
“We would have helped immediately,” Seraphina added.
“We will help immediately,” Theo corrected.
“No,” Ophelia said sharply, pulling her hand away from Rose’s grasp. “I am not a charity! That is why I did not want to tell you.”
“This is not charity, darling, this is love,” Amelia countered quickly, “Our sisterhood is sacred! If one of us is need then we all help, that is what we do!”
Ophelia hated how Amelia’s words brought tears to her eyes. This was not her! She never used to cry so easily! She was strong! She was capable! She was…
“I am so tired,” Ophelia whispered, bowing her head.
“I am so sorry I snapped at you all. You did not deserve that. I have just been trying so hard to help my father. It was difficult enough to help with the money, but then when his health started to decline? And then his insistence that I marry? It just has me all out of sorts.”
“We understand,” Rose promised.
“How long have you been struggling in secret?” Seraphina gently asked.
Ophelia drew in a steadying breath.
“For a while now,” she confessed. “However I was starting to make headway. I was hired by a…um…a business, who commissioned a series. It paid very well. It has us nearly caught up on our debts.”
“Well, that is wonderful that you were able to do so,” Amelia praised.
“What sort of business?” Theo asked. “I would love to visit their establishment and see your work.”
Ophelia pressed her lips together for a moment, then decided to make one more confession.
“The Devil’s Masquerade,” she answered quietly.
Her friends stared at her in shock.
“The Devil’s Masquerade?” Theo asked.
Ophelia nodded, blushing.
“You met the owner?” Amelia asked, leaning forward in suspense.
The rest of her friends followed. The mystery of the club’s owner had fascinated every member of the London ton for years. Papers had been trying relentlessly to exploit him.
“No,” Ophelia lied, feeling no need to confess that particular secret. It was not just hers, after all. And she had sworn to Tristan that she would never tell a soul. Even if she despised him more than ever now, she could not betray him like that.
“No, I just spoke with someone from the inner circle,” she went on. “We discussed what they wanted and I provided it for a price. No real introductions were made.”
Disappointment clouded her friends’ faces as they settled back into their seats. An awkward silence settled over the table once more, and for a moment, Ophelia worried that she had gone too far with her truth telling. Then she saw Amelia smirk and perk up.
“Well, I for one can not wait to see them during Dominic and I’s next visit,” she announced.
Ophelia’s brows rose with surprise.
“Certainly,” Theo mused with a wicked grin. “It has been too long since Alistair and I paid a visit to the club. Perhaps we should make one more appearance before I become too round.”
“And, I am definitely insisting on Everett escorting me to another gathering,” Rose spoke up, “I absolutely cannot wait to see what you have created.”
“Hugo and I have not yet attended one, but I am sure Alistair or Dominic or Everett would be happy to help him attain an invitation,” Seraphina mused with an impish smirk.
Ophelia let out an abrupt laugh.
“Are you serious?” She asked. “You…you all support this?”
“We are not hypocrites!” Theo exclaimed with a laugh.
“Certainly not,” Amelia agreed, leaning across the table to take Ophelia’s hand. “Though I do wish you would have told us. We would have sent our husbands with you to guard you. It is a deliciously wicked club but there are some dangers to it. Did you have any trouble?”
Other than falling in love with the mastermind?
“No,” Ophelia answered, unable to stop herself from blushing, “No trouble. I was perfectly protected.”
“And entertained, I hope,” Theo mused, wagging her brows.
All five of them erupted in giggled.
“Actually being there as an observer opened my mind quite a bit,” Ophelia confessed.
“I do understand so much more of that world much better now. It can…well it really does provide a sense of freedom does it not? Being masked, being allowed to hide your face but not your desires? I would even go so far as to say that I am going to miss my visits there.”
“Well, you do not have to miss such a thing. We could escort you,” Rose offered.
“Why not?”Amelia asked. “One last hurrah or two before you are to be married.”
Ophelia felt her heart sink once more. She could not go back. Not after what happened with Tristan.
“I am afraid that would not be possible,” she replied, “Now that my contract with the Masquerade has concluded, I unfortunately need to double down on my effort of finding a husband. The money earned from my paintings will only take my father and I so far.”
The tone of their conversation turned somber once more.
“Take heart, darling,” Amelia said, patting Ophelia’s hand. “I know it seems grim now, but look at Alistair and I. We were practically strangers when we wed and now we are positively obsessed with one another.”
Ophelia smiled sadly, though she appreciated Amelia’s attempt to consolation.
“You are right of course,” she agreed. “Though there is one small difference. You wanted at some point to be married. I never have. I think, even I were to grow some affection for my some-day husband, I would always feel a little resentful that it was not fully my choice to enter into a marriage.”
“Well, perhaps someone will come along that you will wholly want to marry,” Theo offered.
Ophelia offered her best smile as Tristan’s face, for some reason, flashed through her mind.
“Yes,” she murmured, “Perhaps.”