Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
George no longer had any patience for his grandmother.
He had turned a blind eye to it all for years. She was cruel at times, but he and Philippa had agreed to never say a word about it. She had suffered, they said, and so they would let it pass without any upset.
But she had hurt Lady Cassandra, and that changed everything.
He stormed into the drawing room only to see her looking shocked, but that did not change his feelings.
He was furious, and it would take enough effort to control his temper, leaving very little for consoling her after whatever had happened.
“I am not going to fall for that,” he said coldly. “What did you do?”
“I do not know what you are referring to.”
“Lashton. He is here, and I did not invite him, and I know that Philippa did not, so why is he here?”
“Is it a crime to invite someone to an event?”
“Enough,” he snapped.
At that moment, he thought he truly did see fear in her eyes.
“I have been patient,” he continued, “I have watched you try in vain to force poor Lady Sylvia into my path. I have let you do so, knowing that I could simply marry Lady Cassandra and have the matter end there, but you have refused to see reason. Bringing a man as dangerous as Lashton here only tells me that you do not care what happens to Lady Cassandra as long as you get your way. Well, it will not. All that will happen is that you are sent away.”
“You would never do that to me. We are family, George. You are angry, but that does not mean–”
“It most certainly does. You have hurt me, and you have hurt my sister, and you have never once apologized for it. I thought it was because you wanted the best for us, but I see now that it is simply the sort of person you are. You are cruel, and I will not stand by and allow it to happen any longer.”
For a moment, there was only silence. George waited for her to be furious, to tell him precisely why he had chosen the wrong lady and to argue with him that he needed to change his mind.
He did not expect her to smile at him. It was shaky at first, but then it settled deeper into place. She laughed softly, and George did not know what to make of that at all. His grandmother did not laugh. She hardly even smiled.
“You seem to like the girl.”
“I do, and I will not accept you treating her the way that you have. Whether you like it or not, tomorrow will come and she will be my wife and I expect you to act accordingly. I will not stand for mistreatment.”
“Very well. You have my word.”
It was difficult to be angry when he was so taken back.
He had expected to argue with her for a long time, and to not come to a conclusion at all.
What he had not thought would happen was his grandmother setting everything aside and seemingly accepting what was to come.
He raised an eyebrow at her, and she cleared her throat, looking at the ground.
“I know that I have not acted well. I know that you must be ashamed to have a grandmother like me. In truth, I had not considered the girl’s feelings, and I have nobody to blame for that but myself.
I should have known better. I should have been better, and it is not fair for any of you that I thought I could take control of everything. ”
“Grandmother, I do not want you to say this only to appease me. I would rather you spoke your mind so that we could discuss this in its entirety and never have to do so again.”
“I am being honest with you, George. I was not convinced that she was the right lady for you, but after the way she spoke to me today I cannot help but see precisely why you like her so much.”
“She is nothing like Lady Sylvia, you do know that, yes?”
“Yes,” she replied softly. “Yes, and that is why she is right for you. I thought that you would do best with a girl that would never disagree with you, nor disobey you. I thought that a wife who knew her sole duty was to her husband would please you, but I see now that I was wrong.”
George had to think about that for a moment.
He had never taken a moment to consider just what drew him to Lady Cassandra, but his grandmother was exactly right.
He did not want a simpering girl that was barely out of her leading strings.
What he wanted, what he needed, was a woman, and that was what he had found in Lady Cassandra.
His grandmother had made mistakes, too many to count, but so had he. It had all been avoidable, but it was also possible to mend it all, as long as that was what they all wanted. His grandmother seemed willing.
He simply had to hope that Lady Cassandra would be.
“I will speak with Lady Sylvia,” she continued. “It was unfair of me to let her believe that you would choose her, and so it is for me to explain.”
“Why did you do it? You know perfectly well that I have never loved her, and that I never will.”
“Because I was foolish and assumed that I knew best. I have done that for years, and now I must sit and consider all of the mistakes that I have made with you, and your sister. You both must loathe me entirely.”
“Not entirely,” he half-joked, and she laughed softly. “I shall speak with Lady Sylvia. It is only fair. You have done the difficult thing and admitted your wrongdoing, now let me fix what I can.”
And, for the first time in his life, he swore that he could see her genuinely begin to cry. She had always been a hard woman, almost made of stone, but in that moment she was simply an elderly lady that had made mistakes and wished to atone for them.
“Very well,” she nodded, “she is in the dining hall. I told her that I would send for her once I had finished with Lady Cassandra, so she will not be expecting you.”
With that in mind, he made his way to the dining room.
As expected, there she stood, in a gown that was perhaps too intricate for the occasion.
She looked at him with a sadness in her features, which was quickly replaced by a bright smile.
Even then, it was one that did not quite meet her eyes.
It was practiced, and he knew precisely where she had learned it from.
“I did not think that you would be the one to bring the news,” she said, laughing shakily. “I expected a maid.”
“Lady Sylvia, might we sit for a moment?”
She did so without another word. They sat with a distance between them, and George took a moment to decide how he was going to approach it. This was a young lady that had been promised the world, and she was about to learn that she would not have it. He did not know what she would do.
“May I ask you something?”
“Of course,” she replied, shifting in her seat.
“Why do you want to marry me?”
“I do not believe that I have ever said so many words.”
“But you have thought them, have you not? I will not spend time finding ways to draw a confession from you. My grandmother has admitted to telling you that she could convince me to marry you.”
She flushed at that, and it confirmed everything even further. They had been planning it all along, as he knew, and at last he was going to know why.
“Do you honestly want me to tell you?” she asked.
“Very much so.”
“Well, the truth is that I never wanted to marry you at all.”
He laughed at that, as he thought that she had said it in jest, but then he saw the serious look in her eyes.
“I mean it,” she continued. “I remember when we were children, and our fathers came to that agreement. The son and the daughter of two respected dukes. It was only right and proper that we would be promised to one another. As a girl, I did not question it. I thought that it was an arrangement that would serve us both, but the more I came to know you the more I realized that it was foolish.”
“Foolish?”
“Yes, for I do not love you, and if there is one thing that had been proven to me during this party it is that you do not love me. You love her.”
Love felt like too strong a word, but then George had never considered it.
It was the first time that he had truly thought about it, and it began to take shape in his mind.
He protected Lady Cassandra on instinct, he wanted her to be happy, and when he entered a room, she was the one he looked for.
He was to marry her, and he had fought to do so, and he was only just understanding why that was.
He felt like a fool.
“And it is more than that,” Lady Sylvia continued.
“When your grandmother invited me, she told me that there was a horrid girl trying to steal you away, and that her heart could not take it. Now, I may not care to be your wife, but your grandmother has always thought the world of me, and I could not bear the thought of her being hurt. I was so cruel to Lady Cassandra, and to Philippa.”
“You have never liked Philippa.”
“No,” she laughed. “No, I have not. It is no fault of hers, we simply do not see eye to eye on many things. It is another reason why we should not marry, I suppose. Well, that and the fact that you hate me.”
“I do not hate you.”
And it was true; he did not. He did not particularly like her, but he understood why she had acted as she had.
Everything that she had done was either because she was expected to or it was out of loyalty to his grandmother, as well as their fathers.
She had been misguided, but George was not going to pretend that he had never done the same.
“Nor do I hate you,” she replied, her voice almost a whisper. “And for what it is worth, I hope that your marriage is wonderful. I shall not be present tomorrow, but I am wishing you both well. Lady Cassandra may never believe me, but it is true.”
“I believe you. I also hope that you find love for yourself one day, for you deserve it. Anyone willing to do all that you have done deserves to find someone that would do the same for them.”
To his surprise, they parted as friends.
Once he was married, he doubted that they would see one another again with the exception of balls and other society events, but it soothed him immensely to know that she would not be looming over them for the rest of their lives.
He could go on to have his marriage in peace, and that made him happier than he ever would have thought.
As long as, he reasoned, his wife would actually walk down the aisle.
He watched Lady Sylvia leave the household, and when she did so she boarded the carriage without looking back.
He wondered how often she had seen the household as one that she would run one day, and if the thought pleased or terrified her.
Regardless, it would not be hers, and she seemed pleased with that.
Every difficulty was falling away, and that meant that there was no reason why he could not have an easy wedding and a blissful marriage.
But of course, it would not be that easy, not when his wife did not even want to marry him. Lady Cassandra had gone out of her way to fight the match at every turn, and she had almost succeeded. All that she had to do was run, and knowing her she would not be wholly against it.
With a sigh, he turned to go to her room and speak with her, only to meet Philippa leaving it as he arrived.
“How is she?” he asked in a low voice.
“Not best pleased,” she replied with a half-smile. “You shall have to fight for her if she is who you want, George.”
“I am prepared to. She may not believe me, but it is true. Whether she sees it or not, I am convinced that she is all that I need.”
“You need not tell me that, for I already know. That is what I have been trying to convince her of, but she does not want to hear it from me. She wishes, my dear brother, to hear it from you.”
And she would, George knew, as long as she was willing to listen. He simply hoped that she would be. Taking a breath, he knocked on her door.
She called for him to enter.