Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
The manor felt empty as Margot walked its halls. In truth, it has always felt empty. Only today… that same sense of emptiness feels different, somehow. Exacerbated. More pronounced. Or perhaps I am finally starting to accept its permanence.
She had woken this morning to the same sadness that had rocked her to sleep the night before.
She had bathed and dressed with the same crushing sense of dread.
And when she had finally found the courage to break her fast, a small part of her hoping that Sebastian would be there waiting for her, she had very nearly fallen to her knees as the hollow pit in her stomach enveloped and suffocated her.
He was not at the breakfast table. Worse, he was not in the manor at all.
Margot had asked the butler waiting on her where the duke had gone, and his only answer was that Sebastian had been seen leaving with the rising sun, no word spoken concerning his destination.
He is likely at a tavern somewhere. Or maybe he’s just gone for a ride? It doesn’t matter where he went, for the reason is the same. He left because he doesn’t want to see me. And that hurts most of all.
Were things different, Margot might have risen to anger.
That Sebastian was blaming her for what had happened was the height of hypocrisy – it was not her fault that Lord Ashcombe had tricked him.
It was not her fault that Sebastian had not realized who the man was.
His anger should have been directed at him, not her, and that he was acting this way was further proof that he had not changed. And that he never would.
Sadly, Margot simply didn’t have it in herself to find this anger.
She was too depressed for that. Too broken.
After all she had been through these past few weeks, and having come so close to it finally being over, that the worst had arrived on her doorstep and smashed to pieces the final chance her marriage had…
I am past the point of passing blame or finding anger.
In her mind, this was a sign that she could not ignore. Her marriage to the duke was never supposed to be one of happiness. It was never supposed to be more than a marriage of convenience. And to try and fight it was a fool’s errand. Best to give in and accept reality.
And so, she stalked the halls of the manor, letting her sadness take her fully. As she walked, she found herself closing doors, ushering the manor back to the same state as when she had first arrived. No sense pretending that anything has changed.
It was as she started down the stairs and into the foyer that she heard a knock on the front door. She thought to leave it for the staff, but a second knock had her sighing to herself and going to answer it. Whatever it was, it could not make things worse. And besides, she needed the distraction.
But she opened the door, she saw who was standing on the other side, and Margot realized then that as bad as things were, they could always get worse. This was her life, after all.
“You!” she gasped.
“Me,” Lord Ashcombe tittered with glee. “I would ask if you are surprised, but you never were very good at concealing your emotions, were you?”
“Wh – what are you doing here?” Margot took a step back as if she meant to flee. This can’t be happening. This can’t be… “My – my husband! Do not make me call for him. He knows who you are.”
“I suspect he does,” Lord Ashcombe said with sincerity. “Thank you, by the way, for not telling him until after we managed to finish our business together. That was rather kind of you.”
“I did not do it for you!” she hissed. “I… leave, now!” She tried to steal herself. “Do not make me call for my husband.”
“Call all you like,” he said with a shrug. “I know he is not here. He is in London, sitting patiently, waiting for me to arrive at a little meeting his solicitor thought to organize.” He laughed and shook his head. “That they think I am that stupid, why, I almost feel insulted.”
Her face paled, and her stomach sank. “Wh-- what do you want?”
He frowned. “Have you not guessed? My little flower, I thought that might be obvious by now. I want you.”
She gasped and then, finally coming into herself, hurried to slam the door closed in Lord Ashcombe’s face. But she was too slow, and he stepped through the door quickly, blocking it with his foot. “No, no…” He threw the door back open. “That won’t be happening.”
“Please…”
“I have waited so long for this, Margot. You have no idea…” His eyes flashed with wickedness, his hands came up for her, and before she had a chance to think or run or scream, he was on her.
“Why are you doing this?” Margot asked.
“What was that?” Lord Ashcombe was looking through the window of the carriage, his expression hardened with concern. But at the sound of her voice, he closed the curtain and turned back to face her, a crooked smile crossing his thin lips.
“Why are you doing this?” Margot asked again.
The two of them were sitting in the back of a carriage, which itself moved at a steady trot away from Eastmoor Estate. Margot’s hands were bound together, and her ankles were tied. But she sat comfortably on the cushions of the chair, with Lord Ashcombe across from her.
Oh, how I loathe him. His face… his smile…
those beady eyes that are devoid of emotion.
How I ever thought that he and I might marry.
How I had allowed myself to be fooled into thinking he cared for me…
a cold shudder ran down her spine, sickened by the memories.
Disgusted by how gullible she had once been,
Margot knew Lord Ashcombe to be as conniving an individual as there was, but she did not think that he was a truly evil man.
Not so much that she worried he would hurt her.
Even as he’d bound her hands and tied her feet, he had apologized and assured her it was merely a precaution.
It made this situation confusing, and still she could not puzzle through what was going on – where this might end.
“Would you believe that I am doing this for us?” Lord Ashcombe said, fluttering his eyelashes as if trying to seduce her. “Would that be so hard to fathom?”
She sneered at him. “There is no us. There never was an us.”
“There almost was,” he said with a smirk. “Oh, you might hate to be reminded, but there was a time not so long ago when you were besotted by me. Remember?”
“I never was,” she said, her tone dripping with venom. “I did not love you. I hardly liked you. You were nothing more than a means to an end for me. And the day you left me was the happiest in my life.”
He touched his chest as if stung. “Cruel, Margot. I do not remember you being so petty.”
“Having one’s life ruined will do that.”
“Yes…” He clicked his tongue as if annoyed.
“That was… regrettable, to say the least. I know it might not make a difference now, but it was never my intent to ruin you as I did. You have no reason to believe me, Margot, but…” He shuffled forward and rested his hands on her knees.
She flinched backwards, trying to butt him off, but he ignored her.
“I truly did care for you. As I know you did me.”
“I told you, I did not –”
“Lies,” he sighed over her. “Told to mask the pain. I know it, for I have told many myself. You would not believe the regret I have lived with these past years, what I did to you – what I was forced to do. How many sleepless nights I was made to suffer.”
“You!” she cried. “What of me? I am the one who has suffered. I am the one who you…” She sneered. “Who you abandoned and whose life you ruined!”
“Ah, how we like to twist the truth to suit our own needs.” He clicked his tongue playfully at her.
“If you recall, you are the one who lied to me.” He raised a knowing eyebrow at her.
“When we met, you had me believe that your family was one of great wealth, that if we were to marry, I would be taken care of. You lured me in with your…” He licked his lips, and his hands slid up her thighs.
“… beauty. A seductress is what you were, and I your victim.”
“And you did not lie?” she scoffed. “You talk of twisting the truth, but you are its greatest manipulator.”
He sighed as if with regret. “I admit it. I was a most naughty boy. But you must know, I did it out of love – when I first met you, I knew I could never have you. Not if you knew my destitute state of affairs. My hope was that once we fell in love and you learned the truth, you would be too taken with me to care. Alas, it was not meant to be.”
He's insane! Margot played over her so-called romance with Lord Ashcombe in her head, remembering none of what he said. To her, it had always felt like a business transaction, a contract between two individuals who might have cared for one another but never once dreamed that love would bind them.
“I did not want to leave you as I did,” Lord Ashcombe continued. “Sadly, you left with me no choice. But I knew…” His eyes flashed. “I knew that fate would conspire to bring us together again, and so it has. And not a moment too soon.” His hand squeezed her thighs.
She shifted and leaned back, letting him see the outright disgust on her face. “That does not answer my question. What do you want?”
“I told you.” He looked at her blankly. “You, Margot. I want you.”
“No…” She shook her head. “You cannot have me. I am married! My husband –”
“Oh, do not speak of him as if he is anything more than a name on a piece of paper.” He laughed.
“I know all about your marriage, my dear. I know the terms. I know the details. He does not love you as I do. Nor does he care for you.” He raised an eyebrow as if daring her to deny it.
And where she wanted to, Margot found her confidence waning. “As I thought,” he chuckled.
“Regardless…” Her stomach twisted with shame. That I cannot even say for certain that my own husband wants me. That he would do anything for me. Is that the state of this marriage? Even worse than I thought. “Sebastian will not give me up. Even you must know that.”
He snatched his hands back, and his lip curled. “He is rather proud, isn’t he. But I accounted for that.” He laughed manically. “That is the reason for this little loan I took from him, although little is not the word I would use. You see, I plan on presenting your husband with a choice.”
Margot’s stomach dropped as the realization set in.
He laughed to see her face. “Tell me, what does your husband care for more? His wealth or yours? When the time comes, I will present him with an offer. If he wants his money back, he can have it, so long as he annuls your marriage. If so, wonderful, and you and I can live together as we were meant to. And if he denies me…” He sighed, and a look of forlornness took his face. “Hopefully it will not come to that.”
Margot thought she was going to be sick.
Sebastian would never give in to this lunatic’s demands. No matter the cost, he will deny him and save me. I know it…
She did not know it. She tried to convince herself of the fact. She tried to reason that this was not the end. Despite everything, she knew too that her marriage was not as strong as she might have liked, and that Sebastian, for all his words and promises, might not be the man she needed him to be.
And after all that had happened, was there a chance he would simply cut his losses and give her over? If only I could say otherwise….