Chapter 14

"I am so very sorry," Julian repeated, almost as if he believed that if he apologised enough it would make it right. The man who was usually in charge of his actions was fidgeting with his hands, fiddling his neckcloth and looking completely discomfited, but Grace felt no sympathy towards him.

"You nearly killed him, and all you can say is that you are sorry ?" Grace snapped between sobs. "How could you ever think that interfering in something which had nothing to do with you was a good idea? You hardly know us! How could you make decisions on our behalf when you knew nothing of our past?"

"I know, you are perfectly correct; it was arrogant and presumptuous of me, and I am ashamed of how I acted. I thought that all Mr Marsh needed was a little push, and he would act on his feelings towards you. I realise now that it was na?ve of me at best to consider that I knew him well after such a short acquaintance."

"And you do not think there has been an opportunity in the last five and twenty years for him to have had ‘a little push'? That those who knew us best might have decided it was best to leave the situation for us to figure out without interference?" Her tone was mocking, but the tears still flowed unchecked.

"That was something I did not consider. Again, I made assumptions which I now know to have been wrong."

"You just went ahead and behaved in that way when you had no idea how the words you uttered would be received. William would not have interfered with my decision to marry someone else, just as I would not have done that to him. We might have loved and lost each other, but if either of us found someone worthy of our love, we would never stand in the way of the other, no matter how much it hurt. You see, neither of us truly got over the feeling of being let down, so it could never have been fixed between us, no matter what anyone else's opinion of the situation was."

"I did not realise any of this."

"You knew nothing about us. Oh my lord! I have spent days trying to talk myself into marrying you, and the whole offer was a farce! What would you have done if I had accepted your proposal?"

Julian flushed. "We thought… No, it was I who was sure that Mr Marsh would respond how I predicted. I would have stood by you if you had said yes – I am not so much of a cad – but I was convinced it would not come to that."

"We?"

Before Julian could answer, the door opened, and Arabella and Michael entered. "Sullivan said there was some sort of altercation in here but did not wish to intrude," Arabella started before noticing Grace's distress. "What is wrong? Is it Mr Marsh? Has his condition worsened?"

"I suppose in some way, yes, his condition has become worse, but you need to ask your uncle what the matter is. He seems to have all the answers. He also suggests you were all in this scheme together," Grace snapped, wiping her tears as the anger raging inside finally stopped their flow.

"They had nothing to do with the proposal," Julian said quickly. "That was purely my idea."

"But you said we. Do not treat me like a fool, I might have been stupid enough to believe your words before today, but I will not make the same mistake twice."

"Proposal? I do not understand," Arabella looked completely confused at what was being said.

"I offered for Miss Holmes in order to encourage Mr Marsh to act on his feelings, but when I had a quiet word with him on the walk, he stormed off. And, well, we know what happened as a result of that. I had no idea that the situation would turn out so badly, and today is the first time I have been able to explain to Miss Holmes what my part in Mr Marsh's accident was."

"And I was concerned that you might be hurt by my turning you down. I was worried about your feelings. What an utter idiot I was! It was all for a jape, so you could lord it over the others that you had played matchmaker. Your actions were despicable."

"You proposed and did not mean it?" Arabella gasped.

"I am more concerned that his actions nearly killed a man," Michael said sternly.

"Do not forget who I am, Follett," Julian responded, unable to let the younger man assert his authority when he had worked for Julian not so long ago.

"How can I when you nearly cost me my own happiness through similar interference?" Michael demanded, his usual mild manners gone. "Now you tell us you pretended to propose to someone, and as a result, a man nearly died? While you are on our property, I will speak to you as I see fit, and what you have done is completely unacceptable behaviour."

"I know, and I have apologised. I will pay for whatever he requires for the remainder of my days. He will get all the help he needs. I realise that it will not make up for what has happened, but I will make sure that his life is easier in any way I can."

"I am sure your apology will help him learn to walk with one leg and relearn how to do everything we take for granted. How is he going to continue his work? Or his hobby , as you referred to it when you were mocking him a few days ago," Grace said.

"It was not my doing that he stormed off into the woods."

"If you dare to try and start back-tracking in your involvement in this, I will not be responsible for my actions. You did not know how he would react to your taunting, and that is unforgivable."

"Grace…" Arabella started, but Grace interrupted her.

"I have been told that you all were involved in some foolhardy scheme to bring William and I together, so I would be very careful what you say. I am in no mood to indulge anyone after what has been revealed."

Michael and Arabella looked at each other with embarrassment. "It was nothing like Uncle was doing," Arabella said quickly. "It was just things like seating you together at mealtimes, just to force proximity, nothing so onerous or so we thought. It was done with the best of intentions, it really was."

"And yet you knew that there was tension between us," Grace said. She could hardly comprehend that so much had been going on behind her back and she had not noticed. William and then Julian had been filling her thoughts, and she had not considered for a moment that she was being taken for a fool and manipulated by the people she had thought good friends and who purported to have her best interests at heart. It hurt to know that they had made a game of her life, and she was reeling from the ache in her heart.

"Yes, but…"

"There is no but. Did I listen to you when you wanted to heal in your own way, or did I force my opinions on you?"

"It is not the same," Arabella insisted.

"It is exactly the same. I respected what you wanted. I did not agree with it, far from it, but part of being a friend is giving them the benefit of trusting that they know what is best for themselves and supporting them in their decisions. You have all been making assumptions, and as a result William nearly died, and his life will never be the same." Grace's words silenced everyone. She stood and moved to the door. "I would leave this house and all of you behind if not for William being unable to travel and still wishing to care for him; I owe him that. I will keep either to his chamber or my own from this moment on as I do not wish to socialise with any of you, and I am not sure that I ever will."

"Grace, please…" Arabella begged.

"Please do me the honour of accepting that I mean what I say, and do not try to coax me into how you think I should behave. I am not sure I can forgive any of this. It is bad enough to hear how I was manipulated, but what you have done to William, that is unforgivable."

***

Julia walked into the drawing room, frown firmly in place. "What has upset Grace so much?" she asked the room in general. "She came into Uncle William's room in a foul mood like I have never seen before. I do not think I have ever seen her so agitated, but she would not say a word about what had happened to cause her such upset."

"We have all been found out, and she is not happy about it," Arabella said before explaining to everyone what had gone on in the library. "Uncle Julian has gone out, though the weather is terrible. He says he cannot stand to be inside; the guilt about what his actions have caused is too great. We only just managed to persuade him not to leave us and return home. I am worried at how distressed he is."

Fanny let out a gasp, hand flying to cover her mouth and went to rise but sat down again when all eyes turned to her. Flushing, she lowered her head, not meeting anyone's gaze and not explaining her actions.

Julia groaned. "It was I who suggested the scheme in the first place. Grace should be angry at me and me alone."

"We all took part," Florry said.

"So did we," Captain Kelly said. At the surprised looks from the ladies, he smiled ruefully. "We thought you were not being successful enough, so determined to take over, only we did not actually do anything. It was easy to say what we were going to do, harder to actually implement it."

"And that is why we should never be trusted with romance," Hamish said. "We are useless."

"Says the man who travelled halfway across the world to follow his sweetheart."

"Hardly that, brother," Hamish mocked James's words.

"Be careful with trying to score points against James," Serena warned her husband. "It might come back to haunt you."

"Duly noted, my darling wife."

"Oh, what an absolute disaster!" Arabella moaned. "I wanted everyone here to give Grace a send-off that would, in a roundabout way, tempt her to remain with us, and now she cannot wait to get away. If she knew that my goal was to try and persuade her to stay, then she would be even angrier that everything was planned with an ulterior motive. She will be all too eager to leave the country now."

"We will have to make it up to her," Julia said.

"Oh no you don't," Hugh, Julia's husband, interjected. "Enough meddling has got us to this point. We do nothing that might cause more distress. They both deserve to be left alone, at least with regards to their personal lives."

Julia huffed. "I was not going to meddle."

"Of course you were; it is what you do best," Hugh responded with a kiss to her hand.

Glaring at him in mock outrage, she turned her attention back to her friends. "I meant no interference apart from doing something that might make up for some of what has been done. I will explain to them both that it was I who started this whole mess and dragged everyone along with me as I am wont to do." Her words caused some smiles, but they soon faded at the remembrance of what had happened.

"Your uncle took a risk by proposing," Matthew said to Arabella.

"I would have never spoken to him again if he had hurt Grace. Thank God she is still in love with Mr Marsh and did not seriously consider what my uncle offered."

"From what she said, she was considering it," Matthew said.

"She would never have accepted, I am sure of that. A pity my uncle did not believe in her a little more," Julia said.

"But they are still apart," Frances chipped in.

"True, but there is real tenderness between them. We have seen it, have we not, Florry?"

"Yes, they are still cursing each other, but it has changed from how it was before. We know there is affection there, and they are no longer hiding it."

"Please excuse me," Fanny said, rising and leaving the room.

"Something is not quite right with Mrs Thompson," Captain Kelly said.

"I agree, but I dread to think what it is with everything else going on," Julia responded.

"It could be that she is disgusted with us all. I would be if I had not willingly embarked on this foolish scheme," Hamish said.

"I do not think it is that; she did not seem upset to hear what has been confessed tonight. In fact, we have tried to keep her out of our plans in case she revealed it to Grace. I wonder how she knew, for there was no surprise from her when we admitted what we were doing," Arabella mused.

"I suppose it does not matter whether she knew or not. She did not reveal anything to Grace, or she would have sent us to the devil days ago," Florry said.

"Florry! Your language!" Hugh groaned at his niece.

Florry shrugged. "If this is not a situation for cursing, I do not know what is." Her words caused her uncle's shoulders to slump.

"I give up," he muttered to Julia, who was smiling at Florry.

"Putting all this to one side for the moment," Arabella said. "It is Christmas Eve tomorrow. How are we going to manage visiting the tenants, taking part in the church services and making our peace with Grace?"

"We do what she asked," Julia responded. "We leave them be. I will explain my part in the scheme, but after that, I think we leave Uncle William's care to Grace. Let them both come to terms with the events that led to his operation."

"It seems unfair to abandon them on Christmas Eve and possibly Christmas Day," Florry said.

"I agree with her ladyship," Captain Kelly said. "We can leave presents outside their chamber door, and if they do not throw them downstairs at any point during the day, we can presume that is progress."

"We really are grasping at straws," Arabella muttered but let the matter rest.