Finding Him

25l Marriage

The tapping of shoes on the wooden surface was the only sound Daniel could hear past the loud drumming of his heart. He knew there were people in the room, perhaps even having a conversation. Yet, he couldn't hear them.

Releasing a silent puff of air, he leaned back against his seat and tried to think past the continuous tapping sound. Only, his mind was blank and seemingly incapable of producing any thoughts or images, all he saw was darkness. It was a darkness unlike his blindness. In the past, he had his imaginations, in the past, he could escape the darkness for a while. Right now, he was trapped by the darkness.

"Daniel." Something rested on his arm, tugging on it as the voice broke through the sound of the tapping foot. "Do not let any of it bother you, I will take care of it, we'll find her, we'll find Hadassah."

He turned to the side, in the direction of his mother as her words settled into him at the same time bringing his attention to the dull pain in his chest. For a while, he had forgotten the pain, he had forgotten the incredible feeling of loss. His mother's words however, were powerful enough to remind him.

"It is for the best."Julius. Daniel turned his attention from his mother, to where he assumed his brother was, a frown tugging on the edges of his brows as he did so.

"Julius?!" His mother sounded upset.

"We mustn't pretend it isn't, Mother. It was stupid to bring Lady Hadley..."

"Talbot." The word flowed out of his lips before he could even think about it. "Lady Talbot." His fingers curled around the wooden arm rest.

"The marriage wasn't real, Daniel, even you must understand this. It is a blessing she has gone missing..."

Daniel felt a headache coming on as he listened to the words of his brother.

"You must pack your bags and return to Birmingham. I'm sure Father will forgive your foolishness once all of this is over and Lord Hadley's silly lawsuit will be dismissed. No harm will come to the family's name and everything will go back to normal."

Return...

The singular word sounded silly to Daniel. But for the nearly crippling sadness he felt, he would have laughed out loud. He couldn't return, there was nothing to return to. He already lost everything; his sight, his title, his birthright. Still, those things seemed irrelevant next to the loss he experienced a week ago.

Something warm touched his face, slipping slowly down his cheek. An entire week without Hadassah felt like an eternity of nothing but darkness. He knew, as he laid in bed alone every night since she disappeared, that she had become his light and he had been satisfied having her. He had been so satisfied, he had been foolish enough to think she was satisfied with him as well, to think that somewhere along the line, she had fallen in love with him until the day he woke up to an empty bed.

It didn't matter that Leah was convinced Hadassah would never run away, he knew she did, he knew she left him.

Still, he couldn't return to Birmingham, he couldn't leave Hadassah's memories behind him. He couldn't leave the memory of the house they lived in together, the bed they shared, the love they had, behind but...

"I'm not leaving." He heard himself say to his mother and brother, the two people who had bothered to travel all the way after receiving his letter. He had written with the hope that his parents would have a solution to the problem of his missing wife.

"Don't be silly!" Julius scoffed.

"Daniel," His mother's hand maintained its position on his arm. "perhaps it is best if we do go home, perhaps then we can sort things out and try to find her."