Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31

“ A letter has arrived for you, Your Grace.”

Juliet collected the letter from the butler, thanking him absentmindedly as she inspected the envelope. It was suspiciously nondescript with nothing more than her name written in a hasty scrawl.

“Do you have any idea who it might be from?” she asked Worthington, staring at the letter with an odd feeling of unease.

“I was told by the postman that it came from St. Catherine’s, Your Grace.”

Juliet’s heart sank so fast it left her feeling dizzy.

Quickly, she opened the letter, and the first sentence brought tears to her eyes.

To our dearest Juliet (now Duchess),

We were delighted and relieved to receive your letter. We had gotten word of your wedding and prayed that God would bless your union greatly. We hope that your marriage is flourishing under the great, abundant love of Christ.

We wish we could write back to you with happier news rather than one of despair, but things are currently rather dire. Our supplies are entirely depleted, and we can barely afford to eat once daily. Mary did send us what she could, and we were able to procure some food, but with so many mouths to feed, so many of whom are still gravely ill, her offering did not last.

We are in desperate need of help, Your Grace. The abbey crumbles a bit more each day, and it is getting dangerous to remain within these walls. The lives of the girls are at risk, and we are not sure that we can survive for much longer. Little Sonya grows weaker by the day, and we fear that she might pass any day now.

Please, Your Grace, whatever you can offer us shall go a long way. We are sorry for placing such a great imposition upon you.

We hope and pray that you and your husband are well.

Sincerely,

Sister Beatrice of St. Catherine’s.

Juliet sat there for a moment, letting the words she had read sink deep into her mind.

Things had worsened far beyond her imagination. The girls were now suffering even more, condemned and abandoned to slowly die, all alone, without any form of support.

No. She could not simply sit still and do nothing.

Quickly, she rose to her feet and left the drawing room, heading straight for her husband’s study.

Hector was in the same position she had left him when she’d slipped out of his study nearly an hour ago, his head bent over some documents on his desk, scribbling occasionally. She almost did not wish to bother him, but the urgency of the matter led her to call out to him.

“Hector.”

He raised his head immediately, frowning when he saw her expression.

“Juliet, what is wrong? Are you all right?” he asked, quickly standing and rushing over to her side.

She shook her head and wiped her face with the back of her hands, inhaling deeply before she started.

“About the discussion we had before… concerning my return to St. Catherine’s… have you given it any more thought? I received a letter from them and…oh, Hector, they are struggling so much. I do not…I cannot simply sit still here and do nothing. Please, husband, I asked that you let me go back and help.”

Hector sighed, trying to calm her down by running his hands up and down her arms.

“Juliet, I am deeply sorry for what they are going through, but I cannot let you return there. I already explained to you that I took you out to save your life. It would be foolish of me to send you back to the place where you nearly met your demise.”

Juliet clung to him, hoping he could hear the desperation in her voice.

“You do not understand, Hector. The nunnery is not merely a place. There are people there, innocent girls and young women who have done nothing to earn such cruelty. When I first arrived there, I was just a young girl, lost and broken because I had watched my own mother jump to her death. My own father did not know what to do with me, so he abandoned me there in hopes that whatever ailed my mother would not affect the rest of his life. Those girls were the ones who taught me to want to live a life of my own after all of that.

“I had so many fears and concerns, but they helped me heal from many of them. We supported each other like family, and nearly all of them had nowhere else to go. I cannot simply abandon them, Hector. I will not. Surely, there must be something we can do.”

Hector pulled her into his arms just as she started to sob, gently stroking her back to calm her down, whispering sweet words into her ear.

When she was calmer, Hector pulled back just enough to hold onto her hands and speak as their gazes locked.

“I am sorry, Juliet. I truly am. However, we cannot provide any financial assistance to the nunnery now. Not in light of the recent issues that have arisen in my businesses. I want to help, and I understand how much those girls mean to you. We will find a way, sooner or later. I promise.”

Juliet nodded in understanding. The troubles sparked by the rumors about their marriage and her past had been weighing Hector down recently, taking up much of his free time and forcing him to devise a plan to deal with it all. She trusted him—trusted in how much he cared for her and believed that if and when the means were available, he would certainly help.

“All right,” she breathed, calming down considerably. “I shall try to be patient and wait until we have figured it out together.”

Hector smiled at her, leaning forward to kiss her forehead.

“Thank you,” he whispered softly.

They were still close together when Worthington came to announce the arrival of a guest.

“Lord Campton is here to see the Duchess,” he said.

Juliet exchanged confused looks with her husband before she asked, “My father? Whatever could he here for?”

“I supposed we’ll find out soon enough,” Hector mused then to Worthington, he instructed. “Have him wait in the parlor. We will be there shortly.”

As the butler left, Juliet faced her husband. “ We ?”

Hector nodded, gently stroking her hair with a soft, fond expression.

“You are clearly in no mood to entertain visitors, much less one whom we barely tolerate. The least I can do is provide you with some support. Or would you rather I send him home? Whatever you wish, I will do it.”

Oh, so this is what it is like to have someone who cares.

Juliet shook her head wordlessly, stepping closer to him and standing on her toes to kiss him.

“He is here already thus I should meet with him, but thank you,” she told him sincerely.

He offered his arm to her, and she was more than happy to hold onto him as they walked to the parlor.

Juliet had been hoping that the butler had somehow been misinformed, but when they arrived, it was indeed her father who was standing in the room wearing an anxious expression on his face.

“Ah, Your Grace!” Algernon smiled. “Good afternoon.”

Hector nodded in acknowledgment, and Juliet tried not to bristle over the fact that her father had addressed the Duke before he did his own daughter. She became even more irritated when he shifted his attention to her, and his voice took on an odd tone.

“Juliet. You look well.”

“Yes, father. I am,” she stated blankly.

He smiled a little more. “That is good, Juliet. I am glad. We…I was a little concerned for your well-being. I am thankful to see that you are faring well here.”

A stifling awkwardness in the air made Juliet even more tired than she already was. Juliet felt her patience ebb more rapidly than it usually did.

“Why are you here, Father?” she asked curtly.

Lord Campton looked caught off guard, but he tried to explain himself, wringing his hands like a man who had committed an offense and was begging for a chance to repent.

“I was in attendance at Lord Gainsbury’s ball and saw you there. I wanted to speak with you then, but the crowds made it difficult to approach you. Each time I tried, someone would cover my path, and you were gone by the time it was cleared. It was…”

“Why? What did you need to speak to me about? What is so urgent that you could not simply send a letter and felt it necessary to come all the way here?” Juliet interrupted him.

Lord Campton’s face turned crimson, and he sputtered with indignation.

“I am your father, Juliet, and you are my daughter. My first child. I have every right to speak to you whenever I wish.”

“Oh, is that so? Now that I am a duchess, you finally remembered that I am your daughter? Because you did not seem too interested in remembering me much after you left me in the nunnery to wither away,” Juliet shot at him with a glare.

Algernon did not expect such an outburst from her, and for a moment, he was at a loss for words.

“You are being unkind and unfair, Juliet. I have apologized on multiple occasions. Why must you insist on bringing this up any chance you get?” he retorted.

Juliet scoffed, “I apologize that I cannot be as willfully ignorant as you are. Your apologies do not mean a thing because you have done nothing that proves to me just how sorry you are. Instead, you keep making demands as though I owe you rather than the other way around.”

“That is because…”

“I was a small child! You never stopped to look at me and realize that fact. You never worried about me or tried to help me. I watched my own mother leap to her death, but you never looked at me in concern or asked me if I was all right. You only saw me as a problem you did not want to deal with and worried I would suffer from the same illness she did. So, you locked me away and told yourself that you were the one who had been hurt the most by what happened.

“ Your truths were all lies, the same lies you allow your new wife to spread about my mother while she holds the belief that I might pass my mother’s illness to one of your new, more preferred offspring.”

Juliet stopped for a moment, inhaling shakily.

“I do not care for what you want or what you feel you are owed. I have stopped caring. I want nothing to do with you or your new family. All I ask is that you let me live my life in peace. I deserve that much,” she finished stiffly.

Lord Campton looked distraught, and he tried to step closer to Juliet.

“Juliet, wait, please…”

“It is time to leave, Lord Campton,” Hector stated, stepping between Juliet and her father.

“Your Grace, please just let me…”

“Do not make me repeat myself. There is nothing for you here, and if Juliet does not want you in her presence, then there is no reason for you to be here. Leave and do not look back. If I catch wind of you causing my wife any further form of discomfort, there will be consequences. It would be light work to ruin your life and your reputation beyond repair until you are reduced to nothing but the pathetic, small man that you truly are. All that you would wish for in the aftermath of my complete annihilation of your family would be the peaceful embrace of death. Do you understand? ”

Algernon gulped and nodded nervously, looking like he wished he could disappear. He cast one more look at Juliet, and when he was met with her cold stare, he wisely decided to retreat.

“Of course. My apologies, Your Grace…”

“Save your pointless apologies. Leave my house this instant.”

Lord Campton left with a lingering look of sadness at Juliet. Once he was gone, Hector embraced her, and she let herself lose the ache in her chest in favor of soaking up his warm comfort.

“I am sorry. That was horrible,” she muttered into his neck.

“Never apologize for standing up for yourself, darling. You were brave, and nothing you said was false. If anything, you are the one owed an apology, not the other way around,” Hector told her gently, the warmth of his embrace already easing some of the tension and grief within her body.

She wanted to stay like that in his arms forever and soak up his very essence until she felt comfortable in her own skin again.

“Thank you for being here,” she told him gratefully.

“You are very welcome, darling. I will always be here to support you,” he promised her.

Juliet smiled tiredly but was altogether relieved and thankful that it was over.

She had wanted to say as much when a knock at the parlor door disturbed the gentleness between them.

“Worthington, you have been a harbinger of shocking news today. What is it this time?” Hector questioned, exasperated.

The butler looked apologetic and sighed deeply as he announced, “Lord Somerton is here to see you, Your Grace.”