Page 61 of The Curious Story of the Missing Lady
She departed, leaving Madeline to contemplate her situation once more. Pure gratitude was upon her. She would not let one more moment on this earth pass without giving thanks for it.
Papa entered the room presently. Without a word, she stretched out her arms to him, and he came to her. The embrace was wonderful and lasted not a moment too short. When he pulled away from her, he uttered but one word: her name. No music ever sounded sweeter.
“Papa,” she said after savouring the moment, “thank you so much for delivering me from that awful place.”
He pulled a chair up to the bed and sat. “If I were a dishonest man, I would take all the credit. However, such is not the case, and I cannot take it. The good Lord Peter was the brave soul who not only orchestrated the event but took the lead in its undertaking. I am in debt to him, and told him as much, though he refused it. He is a man I would like to have in my family.”
Papa lowered his head and gave a soft smile. Madeline lowered her head as well.
“And what of Lord Oliver?” she said. “Is he to be cast to the winds?”
A grave look came over his face.
“What is it, Papa?”
“I should be more tactful than to tease you about your engagement. I’m afraid Lord Oliver has suffered an accident. He is at this moment suffering from a fever.”
Madeline began to rise. “I must see him immediately!” A wash of dizziness came over her, and she fell back onto the pillow.
“Child, you must rest and keep still. Lord Oliver is a strong man and will pull through. I know he will.”
He stroked her cheek. But that grave look was still there.
“What is it, Papa?”
“Hmm? What is what, child?”
“Papa,” she said, tilting her head, “you cannot fool me. Something is weighing on your soul. I see it in your eyes.”
He took a deep breath and rose from the chair. “Alas, there is, but you shall not hear of it now. Not in your condition.”
“If not now, then when? Like I said, I know you. When I am well, you’ll find some other excuse to avoid telling me. I believe you think me to be that child still reaching for the stars. It is not so, Papa. I am a woman now. And yes, I’ve been through an ordeal, but I believe it has strengthened me to some of the world’s terrors.” She reached out her arm to him. “Sit, Papa. Talk to me, please.”
Papa took another deep breath, a smile playing on his lips. He nodded slowly and sat, closing his eyes for a moment in apparent thought.
“Child, while you were in that miserable house, I’m sure the thought must have crossed your mind – more than once – about why it was you came to find yourself there.”
“It did, Papa. Why? Do you know something?”
He nodded again with a slow blink. “Yes. It is no accident that this abominable wretch of a woman chose you, amongst all the women she could have put to her awful purpose, to abduct. You see, before your mother and I were married, before we even met, I courted Lady Elizabeth for a short while.”
Madeline was thankful to be lying down, for she certainly would have swooned at this revelation.
“Papa, it can’t be,” she said.
“I’m afraid so, my child. Please allow me to continue. I thought I was in love with her. I was ready to propose. But something always nagged at me. There was something about the situation that I couldn’t put my finger on but was gnawing at me day and night. ’Tis a sad fact about life and one of God’s mysteries that we mortals can only see with true clarity when we are well-distanced from a situation. I know now why Lady Elizabeth was not the one for me.”
“What was wrong with her, Papa?”
“Nothing outright. Oh, she was beautiful, and she had tenderness about her that I’d not seen in any woman up to that point.”
Madeline watched the faraway look in her father’s eye as he spoke and felt a tinge of jealousy on her mother’s behalf.
“She was,” he continued, “a lady with some familial prospects for our family. Not much, but I had no care for any of that either way. I was young and had not the wisdom that was to come to me later on in life. All I knew was that I was in love and wanted to be with her forever. And I told her as much.”
He shook his head and laughed softly to himself. “A pity indeed that we’re not able to see through our own purpose when that purpose is so flawed.”
“What happened, Papa?” she heard herself ask. The voice did not feel like hers at all. She felt exhausted. She was being pulled to sleep and fighting against it. It was as if her body did not want her to hear what he was saying to her.
