Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

" W here is she?" Diana ordered as she stormed towards the footmen.

"We do not know what you mean, Your Grace," one of them replied, though he seemed quite afraid of her.

"You know exactly what I mean. Now, I have been good enough not to tell the Duke of this, but if you wish for me to tell him of the bribery that you have willingly engaged in, then I can certainly arrange that."

"No—no! That will not be necessary," a second one said quickly. "The Duke need not know about this."

"I should think not, for I would hate for you to be out of work, as given the Duke's opinion of all of this, I can assure you that you would never find employment elsewhere. Now, I will not ask a third time, and so this is your final chance. Where is my sister?"

The footmen glanced towards one another before one of them stepped away.

"I shall take you, Your Grace. It shall be a few days' travel, but we are aware of inns to stay in."

"We will go until we no longer can," Diana instructed as she boarded a carriage. "We must find her at once. Do you understand?"

"Yes, of course."

"And if any harm has come to her, it shall be your necks," she thundered, turning to the others.

"Yes, Your Grace." They nodded in unison.

And with that, the carriage lurched into action. Now that she had gotten what she wanted as far as leaving for her sister, she felt herself relax the smallest amount and instantly felt for the man driving her there. She had only meant to frighten him into telling her what she wanted to know, not threaten him.

She knocked on the wall to get his attention.

"Yes, Your Grace?" he asked.

"I only wish to apologize," she explained. "I know that this was her fault and that she can be quite persuasive. I did not mean to say those things. I only wish to find her."

"Of course, Your Grace. I understand, I would do the same for my own sister if required. You need not apologize."

She was supposed to be the brilliant and kind duchess that the village had needed, and she had thought that she had succeeded, but sitting in the carriage, being driven by the man she had spoken to so unkindly, made her wonder if that were the case.

Perhaps that was why she was following after her sister.

She could not picture Samantha as a nun. She had all of the virtues of one, to be sure, but it simply did not seem to be the correct way for her to live. Diana wondered if that was what she truly desired. Samantha was an intelligent girl, and she was not one to make such a snap decision like that without having a good reason for it, and now here she was on the run.

The journey continued for hours. The sun dipped in the sky, painting it orange, and then eventually the driver knocked for her once more.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I am afraid we shall have to stop soon. The horse requires rest."

"Of course," she sighed. "Very well."

Diana did not wish to stop. She wanted to continue until they reached the monastery so that she could find Samantha and at least listen to her, but she understood that that was impossible. She had to find it in her to be more understanding than she had been of late, as it might have helped her marriage to have been so.

"Your Grace!" the driver called suddenly.

"Is there a problem?" she replied.

"No, but it is urgent. Look!"

The carriage came to a stop, and when Diana looked out the window, she saw another carriage with the Abaddon crest. She dove out of the carriage, knowing all too well what that had to mean. She went directly into the inn and saw an older woman.

"Evening," the old woman said brightly. "What can I do for you?"

"My sister," Diana stammered, "she is here. She must have arrived recently."

"Ah, the young lady? I thought you looked familiar. Yes, she is here. Right this way."

Already, Diana could feel relief washing over her. Samantha was here, and she was safe, and she was not in some monastery alone.

Samantha seemed equally relieved to see her.

"Di!" she exclaimed, pulling Diana into an embrace.

Yet, regardless of how happy Diana was to know that her sister was not in any danger, she could not help but feel irritated with her. Samantha had caused such trouble, and for what? Because their father had tried to marry her off?

"Di?" Samantha repeated.

"Yes." Diana nodded. "Yes, it is good to know that you are here."

"How did you find me here?"

"I must have given my footman the same instruction as you did."

"To continue driving until absolutely necessary?" Samantha giggled. "Well, I suppose I could have been nicer about it."

"You could have refrained from giving them the last of your pin money," Diana sighed. "Truly, Samantha, what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that it is time to take my future into my own hands. I am so tired of it, Diana. I cannot simply sit there and be pretty anymore. I must do more. I must be more."

"You have always done and been more," Diana pointed out. "You have always been able to do everything that a lady is capable of."

"As far as Society is concerned. Diana, I want more than that."

"And should you marry correctly, then you shall be able to. This is not the way to do this."

Samantha fell silent for a moment. Diana hoped that she was listening to her, but given the disappointment on her sister's face, it was quite clear that her hopes were in vain.

"So you are not here to join me?" Samantha asked finally.

Diana could not help but look at her incredulously. "No, of course not!" she gasped. "Why on earth would you think that I would?"

"So that I am not alone, of course. You have always told me that you would be there for me, and now I shall need you more than ever."

"What you need is to go home and accept that you are a lady and you shall need to marry," Diana snapped. "It bewilders me that you truly thought I would leave my husband behind to follow you into this harebrained scheme simply because you have to take your place in Society."

"Is that truly what you believe this to be about?" Samantha laughed, exasperated. "You know perfectly well that I do not belong in Society. You know all too much about my struggles, and how I know I will never find happiness among the ton . I do not want it, and so I will not put myself through it."

"And you expect me to do the same simply because you say so, is that it?"

"You are not happy!"

"I would not be happy as a nun."

"But you would be free," Samantha sighed. "Di, I am not doing this to make your life difficult. I am doing this because we have no other choice. We deserve so much more than to merely simper and nod when a man tells us to."

Diana, tired of arguing, took her sister's wrist.

"Diana, what are you doing?"

"We are going home. We are going right now."

"You cannot. The horses?—"

"Will be fine. You are going to stay in Abaddon Manor with us until this ridiculous and spiteful idea of yours has left your mind."

"What is so ridiculous about it?" Samantha demanded, shaking herself free. "Is it because you did not think of it? Let me remind you that you are the one who married a man whom you did not know simply because he wanted to marry me. If you wish to talk about spite, perhaps look inwards."

"Yes, how cruel of me to save you from a marriage that you wanted no part in. Truly, I am the most terrible sister that one could have."

"That is not fair."

"It never is when you do not benefit from it. Now, come along."

"Why do you expect me to always do as you say?"

"Because I am not the one that storms off whenever I do not get my own way."

"Do you not? Would the Duke agree with that, do you think?"

"That is completely different, and you know it."

"Is it?"

Diana could not think of a retort. Samantha was right after all, and they had both been running from each other.

"The point is," Diana said instead, "is that whether it is a perfect marriage or not, I am indeed married. That means that I have responsibilities now, and cannot simply leave everything behind each and every time you have a foolish idea such as this and I am needed to bring you back."

"And who asked you to do that?" Samantha asked. "I told you I was perfectly content for that letter to be our goodbye."

"Would you truly have been?"

"Yes." Samantha nodded, though she averted her gaze. "It may be good for you, regardless, to learn who you are."

"What is that supposed to mean? Of course, I know who I am!"

"Do you?"

Diana thought she did, but each time she tried to argue her case, she realized that she did not.

She had lived her life for Samantha, and their father to some extent. She had spent her entire life preparing Samantha for marriage, something that her sister did not even want after all of it, and now…

Now all of her work was for nothing.

"And who are you?" Diana scoffed. "You are a young lady of twenty, and now you seem to think that you can run away because the life you were given was not enough for you. You could find a sensible enough husband, one who would allow you to continue your studies, but you seem to think yourself above that, don't you?"

"Is that why you are angry with me? Is it truly because you are trapped in a loveless marriage and I am not?"

"My marriage is not loveless!"

Diana froze. Samantha froze. Diana wondered if she had simply said that to make her sister stop, but the more that she thought about it, the more she realized that it was not necessarily incorrect.

"There is no love in your marriage," Samantha sighed. "You have made that perfectly clear."

"One argument does not mean there is no care for one another. I care a great deal about you, for example, even though I do so wish to throw you into a carriage and drive you to Bedlam right now."

"And why do you care about me? It is not as though anyone else does."

"Because you are my sister. I have given my life to give you the best opportunities, without so much as a thank you."

"And when did I ask you to do that?"

"A sister should not have to ask."

"And what happened when I explicitly told you I had no interest in marrying? You ignored me completely, hoping that I would mature, or at least what you consider maturing, and bend. I have not bent, and you cannot stand that, can you?"

"No, you are right. You did not bend. Instead, it appears that you have broken, and there is nothing that I can do about that."

"Then leave me here."

"Is that what you want?"

"Since when has it mattered what I have wanted? You talk about how much you sacrificed to give me a better life, yet you never once asked if it was what I wanted, and you certainly never listened when I told you that it wasn't. Frankly, what you did was for yourself so that you could feel accomplished in something, and you would do far better if you simply admitted that to yourself."

Diana stepped away from her sister.

"I have only ever done what I thought was right," she whispered. "I have given my all to make sure that somehow you were given more chances than I ever was. You can call that what you wish, but it was not simply so that I could claim your triumphs as my own, and it was not so that I could feel accomplished. It was out of love for you, and hope that you would at least have the life that I never saw for myself. If you want to see that as this great, horrible, selfish thing, then so be it."

They looked at each other for a moment. This had been their first argument in all of their lives, and Diana hated it, but she also could not help but wonder just how long Samantha had been feeling this way.

"I am a terrible sister, aren't I?" Samantha whispered suddenly, and it was as though she was a little girl once more. "You saved me from a marriage that I did not want, gave your life to help me, and now I am calling you selfish. I am evil."

"You are not evil, you are simply confused," Diana replied, laughing shakily. "I do not like having this dispute with you any more than you do, you know."

"Then we should stop." Samantha nodded. "Because this is awful. I am not even angry with you, just angry that—that for all of my supposed intellect, I do not know what to do with myself."

"Flee to a monastery, it appears."

Samantha laughed and then sighed, sinking into a chair.

"It has not been my brightest moment, I must admit. It is only that men have ruined my life, thus far, and so I thought that at least in a nunnery, I would be with women and be able to not see a man again."

"That is not exactly how that works." Diana laughed. "Regardless, I may not agree with it, but if you wish to do this and you truly believe that you have no other choice, then I shall simply have to live with it. It is your life, and so it is time that you make your own decisions."

Samantha was silent for a moment, and then she began to laugh, truly and heartedly.

"Do you know, it is only now that you have said that that I realize that I do not want this at all, I simply wanted to do something that nobody else would like."

"Well, I certainly do not like it."

"Nor do I. You are right, it is time for me to make my own decisions, but I cannot do that alone. I cannot act based on my emotions and nothing more, not when it means I might lose you."

"Even with everything that you feel about me?"

"None of that is your fault."

"We were not given much of a chance, were we?"

"No, but it could always be worse."

"Yes, we could be the man that is soon to arrive with our father under the belief that he has some grand inheritance or other."

Both sisters laughed, and then Samantha jumped up and embraced Diana tightly.

"I love you, Diana," she whispered. "Please do not ever let that be put into question."

"It never shall," Diana promised. "Now, we ought to rest so that we can return home tomorrow."

"Yes, that would be for the best. I do hope that the Duke is not concerned about our disappearance."

"Believe me," a voice said from the shadows, "he shan't be."