Chapter Twenty

“You look… happy.”

Violet offered her sister a sidelong glance. “Thank you, Marianne.”

Her sister sniffed. “I do not know why you should be. It is not as though you have anyone interested in you. You are a wallflower and not a very pretty one at that.”

Frowning a little, Violet pulled herself back towards the wall, wondering at Marianne’s snide remarks. She was not close to her sister in any way but there was no reason for her to be saying such a thing as that.

“I do not know why father insists that you return to the Duke of Lancaster’s side,” Marianne continued, still not fully looking at Violet. “There is clearly no interest there. You injured that gentleman a great deal by stepping back from him in the way that you did.”

Violet lifted her chin, a streak of anger burning through her. “It was not my decision, Marianne.”

Her sister blinked rapidly, turning her head to look directly at Violet. “Of course it was.”

Ignoring the conversation which flowed around them both, Violet stood a little taller, keeping her gaze steady. “I beg your pardon? Marianne, I did not choose to stand back from the Duke.”

“Then why did you end your engagement?”

“I… I did not.” Frowning, Violet tilted her head and looked back at her sister. “Surely you cannot believe that I would leave a gentleman I loved standing alone on his wedding day?”

This time, it was Marianne’s expression which altered into one of surprise. “You… loved him?”

“I still do.”

“Then why?” Marianne folded her arms over her chest. “I do not understand why you would do such a thing as that. Father told me that it was because you were discontented with the match and did not want to marry a gentleman who did not have as good a fortune as you believed him to have but –”

“This was all father’s doing!”

Violet had not meant to interrupt her sister nor speak so loudly and, aware that she had garnered the attention of one or two of the other guests present at the soiree, found herself flushing. “Marianne,” she continued, albeit a good deal more quietly, “I must tell you that there is nothing in what happened between the Duke and I which was my doing. I wanted nothing more than to take my place beside him, to become his bride and instead, my father insisted that I end our engagement. He was the one who told me that there was not a good enough fortune – something he had only discovered a little too late apparently – and with many threats and demands, forced me to write that note.” She swallowed hard as the memory came back to her. “I tried to escape the house so I might make my way to the church of my own accord but he still would not let me. It was a painful thing indeed and the sadness which such a thing caused me has been unending… until the last few days, at least.”

Marianne, Violet noticed, had gone a little pale. Violet frowned hard, wondering why her sister appeared so astonished and, in that, slowly began to realize that this was not something that she and her sister had ever discussed.

“I do not understand,” Marianne murmured, softly. “I did not think… Father always said that it was your decision.”

“It was not.” Taking ahold of her sister’s hand, Violet grasped it tightly, looking back into her face. “My dear sister, there was never any desire within me to separate myself from the Duke. I thought you knew that.”

Marianne shook her head but remained silent.

“You know that our father has demanded that we marry gentlemen with great fortunes,” Violet continued, softly, glancing to her right and to her left for fear that her mother or father might come back to fetch Marianne away in order to talk with some specific gentleman. “Do you know why that is?”

“Of course,” Marianne replied, though there was no great confidence in her voice. “It is done so that we might be secure and settled.”

Violet shook her head. “I found out the truth from our father. I demanded it and I was given it, albeit in a rather unwilling manner.” She paused, wondering if her sister would believe her, if it was something that she was willing to even listen to but given the wide eyed look she received, given the paleness of her sister’s features and the clear astonishment in her eyes, Violet found herself hoping she would. “He has told me that he will expect some of our husband’s fortune to be given to him.”

Marianne’s mouth dropped open.

“He expects both you and I to insist that our husbands give some of their coin to our father, because his own fortune, at the present moment, is somewhat depleted. He says that he has worked hard to increase it but I am not certain that I believe that. Instead, I think that he is pinned his hopes on our marrying gentlemen of great fortune so that he might, instead, coerce us to do what he asks, even as married women.”

“Coerce?” Marianne’s voice was a whisper now, her face even paler than before. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that he will threaten us so that we will obey,” Violet told her, plainly. “He has already told me that if I do not do as he asks in terms of pursuing the Duke of Lancaster, that he will remove us all from London and that your chances of a superior match will be ruined.”

Marianne blinked furiously.

“I told him that I did not believe this, for I know that he requires this coin soon,” Violet continued, still holding her sister’s hand. “But thereafter, he threatened that if I did not do as was asked, he would spread a rumour about Lady Caroline.”

“Lady Caroline?” Marianne repeated, a little hoarsely as Violet nodded. “Are you quite sure?”

“Yes, I am sure.” Violet released her sister’s hand, lifting her shoulders and thereafter, letting them fall. “I am sorry to say it, my dear sister, but our father is not a good man. He intends to use us for his own ends. He has threatened me yes, and thus far he has not threatened you but that does not mean that he will not do so.”

Marianne closed her eyes and swayed a little. “It is because I have done as he asks thus far,” she said, quietly. “I see that now. I have always done just as he has asked without complaint and therefore, he has never needed to threaten me as he has you.” Her hand reached out, grabbing Violet’s arm as she opened her eyes. “Tell me the truth, Violet. Did he really say those things to you?”

Violet nodded. “He did.” She looked back steadily into Marianne’s face. “I do not tell you this to try and upset you. It is only because I want you to know the truth. I am afraid that he will do the same to you. I… ” She swallowed hard, a sudden flood of tears coming to her eyes. “I cannot quite believe that he told you such a thing about me. I never once thought about stepping away from the Duke.” Pressing her lips together, she took in a deep breath. “Do you believe me, Marianne?”

Her sister held her gaze steadily, considering. Violet waited, her chest tightening as she looked back into her sister’s face, praying silently that something of what she had said – something, at the very least – would enter into Marianne’s heart and with it, come the truth.

“I do not want to believe you.”

“Then I will take you to the Duke himself,” Violet said, firmly. “Ask him what has been shared between us. Ask him about the pain and the suffering which has been caused by our separation and think, then, of the way that our father encouraged him back towards me – and, in fact, also to you!”

Marianne bit her lip. “I will admit to finding it a little odd that our father thought I might have a connection to the Duke of Lancaster. I was sure that he would not even want to consider me, not when there had been such a disagreement – such as I saw it – between you.”

“There was no disagreement,” Violet answered, quietly. “Our father wants one of us to be connected to the Duke so that he might use that connection for himself. He wants the Duke’s fortune to prop up his own and whoever you marry, he will ask the same from you. It is not about your security, sister. It is not even about your happiness! It is only about what he can gain from it and that, I am afraid, is the truth.”

Much to her relief, Marianne began to nod slowly, though her eyes closed tight at the same time.

“Then you believe me?”

“I – I think that I do,” came the quiet reply. “But there is much for me to consider.”

“The Duke of Lancaster is doing his best to find a way to prevent our father from doing what he has threatened,” Violet told her sister, seeing her eyes flare. “Yes, my dear sister, the Duke and I are eager to be in each other’s arms again but I cannot permit it to be so.”

“Whyever not?” Marianne exclaimed, clearly astonished. “Why would you turn from him now, if he has forgiven you? You would be a Duchess! You would have a great fortune and a vast estate and –”

“And I would have our father’s threats hanging over my head, with clear consequences for me if I did not do what he asked,” Violet interrupted, gently. “I told the Duke of Lancaster everything. I told him that I did not want to be such a person as that. Despite what I might feel, despite what happiness we might share, I would never dare to even think of such a thing for fear of what it would do to him. I could not be happy, knowing that he would be suffering because of our father. I would not risk his reputation nor that of his sister.”

Marianne took in a long breath and, releasing it, then slowly began to nod. “Then I have no doubt that you speak the truth,” she said quietly, surprising Violet. “If you are truly so willing to give up your connection to the Duke, if you are truly desirous to protect him rather than take ahold of what he has offered you for the second time, then there must really be some great threat.”

Relief poured through Violet as she nodded. “It is true, Marianne. And that great threat has come from our father.”

Marianne shook her head, her breath shuddering out of her. “I cannot quite believe it.”

“I will do what I can to protect you also,” Violet added, a wave of sisterly affection suddenly sweeping over her as she saw the tears glistening in her sister’s eyes. “I do not know what it is that the Duke intends to do, nor what he might be able to do as regards your own situation, but I will speak to him and see if we can find a way to protect you also.” She smiled gently as Marianne nodded, hoping to encourage her. “You deserve to find your own happiness also, Marianne. You deserve to pick a gentleman of your own choosing, not someone that father approves of simply because of what he might be able to offer him. Do you not see that?”

“I… I suppose that I do”,” Marianne said, her voice flooded with tears. “Thank you for telling me all of this, Violet. I know that I have not been the very best of sisters to you. I know that I have shown you no consideration and indeed, have not even had a word of sympathy for you.”

Violet spread out her hands. “If you believed that this was all my doing, if you believed that I truly wanted to end the engagement to the Duke of Lancaster in such a hard and cruel way, then why would you have any sort of sympathy for me?” She dropped her hands to her sides. “I understand, Marianne. Truly, I do.”

Much to her surprise, her sister reached out and embraced Violet, even as they stood together at the side of the room. Violet hugged her sister back, aware of the tears in her eyes as she did so. Sniffing, she stepped back but kept her sister’s hands in hers.

“Mayhap we will truly have a sisterly affection for each other from this day on,” she said quietly, as Marianne nodded. “I do care about you, Marianne. I want you to be happy.”

“As I want you to be also,” came the reply. “I am only sorry I did not know of your pain and your sadness until now. I could have been more of a support to you.”

“You did not know,” Violet said, again. “Now go, enjoy the soiree. You need not spend the rest of the evening standing here with me!”

Marianne’s eyes widened. “But what will you do? You cannot be happy standing here alone.”

“Ah, but I have the Duke of Lancaster’s heart,” Violet answered, softly, a warm smile spreading right across her face. “All I need to do is think of him and I find myself more contented and more joyous than I have been in some time. There is nothing more that I need, I assure you.”

Marianne gave her a slightly wobbly smile and thereafter, stepped away from her. Violet watched her sister depart, wondering if there was anything she need worry about when it came to what she had told her sister. Would Marianne make her way to their father and tell him – or question him – over anything that Violet herself had said? As she considered this, Violet found herself doubting that Marianne would say anything. Though she was not close to her sister, though they were not really even friends, Violet realized that she had given her sister a good deal to consider. She had meant what she had said about trying to find a way to protect Marianne from their father’s threats. All she had to do now was hope that the Duke of Lancaster would be able to come up with an idea that would save them all.