Chapter 13 #2
“Yes, you are the wife of a lord, the daughter-in-law of a duke, and you are in trade.” Her mother’s face scrunched up as if the words in her mouth were foul. “It is disgusting.”
Disgust, another word that was interesting to her at present. Calchas had been afraid of appearing disgusting. Her husband could never be so, but her mother? Oh dear God in heaven, it seemed her mother could at least behave in a disgusting manner.
“Mama, I am sorry you are unhappy.”
Her mother’s already straight spine stiffened. “I beg your pardon?”
Hester ground her teeth as her heart ached. A part of her wanted to shout and rail. The little girl in her cried for justice. But she would never make her mother see or understand, and screaming at her wouldn’t ease her sorrows. They would only bring her down to her mother’s level.
“You are unhappy, Mama,” she began softly.
“And you are determined to spread that unhappiness wherever you go. So I would like you to turn around and leave. If you ever feel differently, you’re more than welcome to come back, have a cup of tea and a slice of cake, and we shall chat.
But until then, I really think you should go. ”
Her mother gasped. “How dare you?”
She tilted her head to the side and squeezed her hands, willing herself to stay in control. “How dare I say how I feel?”
“Feelings don’t matter,” her mother sniffed.
“Yes, they do, Mama, and your feelings rule you.”
“No, they don’t,” her mother snapped.
It was all Hester could do not to laugh. “You think they don’t. You think that you are ruled by duty and decorum, but the truth is your dismay and disappointment make you so ruled by your own emotions that they are visible to everyone.”
A look of fury so intense darkened her mother’s face that, for a moment, Hester feared for her health.
“I don’t know who you are anymore,” her mother bit out.
“Good,” Hester said. “Thank heavens. I am so glad I have grown. You are not quite the same as I remember, but you are very close,” she said tightly.
“I wish it wasn’t true, Mama. I wish that something had happened to help you.
I wish the loss of your daughter would have made it so that you would grow as a person and wonder why your daughter would run away from you. ”
“You ran away because you are ungrateful and foolish.”
“Perhaps,” Hester returned, her own spine straightening as she drew upon her own strength, and the strength Ellen and the Briarwoods gave her. “Or perhaps I simply chose happiness, whereas you could not.”
A muscle tightened in her mother’s cheek. “And were you? Happy?”
“I was, for a little while, and then—”
“And then it all fell apart,” her mother finished.
“It did,” Hester confessed and the weight of it was no longer as terrible as before. Then she frowned, her mother’s words hitting her. “But how did you—?”
Her mother’s mouth tightened into a frown.
“You knew,” Hester gasped.
Her mother looked away, her eyes darting over the walls as guilt transformed her features.
“How did you know?” Hester demanded.
“Your father had you watched,” her mother admitted, whipping back to her, the ribbons on her bonnet shaking. “We knew a great deal, and we kept hoping that you would eventually realize the error of your ways and come back to us.”
“You mean beg your forgiveness?” Hester countered, shocked, though she should not have been, at their continued cruelty and willingness to let her suffer.
“Yes, of course,” her mother spat out. “What else could you expect? You are a failure as a daughter. As a—”
“My lady,” Calchas said cooly from the doorway, “I think it’s time that you left. Unless, of course, you would like to reframe your tone and your words.”
Hester’s heart swelled at the sight of her husband standing in the shadows. She had not even heard the door open.
The countess sniffed. “She’s my daughter. I shall speak to her how I please.”
“She’s my wife,” Calchas countered in a dangerously low tone. “You will speak to her how she pleases, and the way you are speaking is clearly not how she pleases.”
He stepped aside and held the door open for her. “I’m sure your coach is ready for you. And as Hester said, if you ever have a turn of heart, a cup of tea will always be waiting. Though in my opinion, she is too generous in her offer.”
The countess swooped out through the door, leaving a wake of disappointment behind her.
Calchas shut the door, looked to Hester, and rushed to her side. “I’m so very sorry that they keep insisting on behaving—”
“Like themselves,” she rushed, her whole body shaking with relief that her mother was gone and that she had maintained her dignity during the ordeal.
“Yes,” he said softly. “It must be so upsetting.”
“Not as much as you might think,” she replied, holding tightly to him and drinking in his strength.
“No?”
“Not for me. Not any longer,” she managed as she rested her head against his strong shoulder. “But it must be so very upsetting for her. I accepted how she was a long time ago. She’s so miserable, but I refuse to be, and I never will be again.”
He held her close, silent, accepting.
“Was that worthy of a Briarwood?” she asked.
“Better, Hester,” he whispered. “It was worthy of you.”
And full of the love and admiration she always longed for, she put her arms around her husband’s neck and pulled him down for a kiss. At last, she was able to leave the past where it had always belonged.
Only the future awaited them now.