The Spells of Paradise

Chapter 40: Amore

Chapter 40: Amore

London

"Lydia, come down here this instant!"

Lydia schooled her face to cool indifference and stepped out of her room to face her mother, who was fuming with anger.

"Yes, mother?"

The slap came out of nowhere, but Lydia had been expecting a harsh retaliation. Still, she felt tears sting in her eyes and her hand go to the red mark that was now forming on her face.

"You were looking for something in my rooms, weren't you?"

Lydia rubbed her face and kept her expression neutral. "What of it?"

"I will not have you treat me like a criminal," her mother snarled.

"Then tell me why you wrote to Arthur Denning when he was in prison!"

"I did not, and I resent the accusation!"

"And I resent being lied to!" Lydia snapped back. "You know I can tell when you are not being honest with me, mother. I do not care about how you feel, I care about Lucy! And if have to travel down to Lanfore myself, alone, to get the answers I need, then I will!"

"You will do no such thing!"

"I will do what you are not to see that my sister is safe!"

"I forbid it, you are not going anywhere."

"Oh? And I suppose you will step outside long enough to stop me, will you?"

Her mother's eyes went wide and she raised her hand again. "Don't you dare speak to me like—"

Lydia caught her mother's wrist and looked her right in the eyes, a mirror of her own. "Father would be ashamed of you at this moment."

"Your father was nothing more than an excuse of a man and a thoughtless adulterer!"

Silence feel after that statement and Lydia felt her blood run cold. Upon the look of horror on her mother's face, she realized that she had not meant to say that. But there was no taking back those words now.

"What did you say?" Lydia asked, shocked at how steady her voice was.

Her mother quickly shook her head. "We... We did not have this conversation."

"Mother!" Lydia tried to grab her arm, but her mother was gone, rushing down the hall at an alarming pace, leaving Lydia standing there to wallow in her shock.

My father... An adulterer? Impossible!

Yes, it was. But was it untrue? God, she could not even fathom it! Her parents had always been unhappy in their marriage, it was a think both she and Lucy had noticed, but had it been so bad that it had driven her father to other women? Was it possible?

Perhaps it was time Lydia stepped out of her comfort zone to find out. If her mother was not going to be honest, perhaps Lanfore would.

Lucy had it right the first time; it was time for Lydia to go home.

XXX

Lanfore, Hertfordshire

Mary Boatwright dug through a chest of her old things later that night while her husband, George, lay awake in his bed. He could not speak much, but he still watched her with those loving eyes of his, those eyes that she had fallen so deeply in love with. That he was holding on to life so much tore at her heart, because he wasn't doing it for him.

"James..." George croaked. He did not need to say more.

"He will be home soon, my love," Mary smiled at him over her shoulder. "Sebastian Lucas came today to see you, but you were resting, so I entertained him. He said that James... Well, James will be home when he can."