Page 45 of A Maid's Fateful Courtship
"That is not how it happened," Ethan grunted as he struggled to breathe.
“What’s this you say?” Marcus’ baritone voice rumbled again; he stared at them, stunned. “Is this true, Ethan?”
“I have no idea how this mess happened,” Ethan replied, still dazed and confused as he attempted to stop his nose from bleeding.
“Cynthia, take Lady Matilda in your care and see to it that she is given a brandy,” Marcus instructed his daughter. “Lord Thomas, I need privacy to talk with my son, if you please.”
“You have not heard the last of this!” Thomas called over to Ethan before he marched out of the library.
Cynthia led a sobbing Matilda out of the room too, and Marcus went to close the library door behind them so that he could talk with Ethan. Whatever had happened in the room, Ethan would need to put things right.
Chapter 36
“You did not need to put Lady Matilda in such a compromising position to win her hand?” Marcus said to his son, sitting on the sofa opposite him. “I am most certain that she was already enamoured by you, so what was all that about?”
Ethan did not respond as he sat with his head leaning back on the sofa. His sister’s lacy, white handkerchief was covered with his blood and completely ruined. He smirked at the irony because he had ruined Lady Matilda’s reputation and in turn his own future hopes.
“Come on, Ethan, give me some kind of response,” Lord Marcus pleaded. He knew that this behaviour was unusual for Ethan who was always the gentleman.
“The only thing I berate myself for," Ethan mumbled, annoyed with himself and angry at the whole event. "Is that I did not thump Thomas in the face."
“Nay, Ethan, he was only protecting his sister’s honour,” Lord Marcus came back at him, confused over why Ethan was angry with himself. “Were you to announce your love for the lady when I arrived? Was that the reason for our meeting?”
“Yes, Father, I was to announce my love,” Ethan said with a strange laugh in his tone, but he added no more words. It was too late to tell his father of his love for Josephine. That would be one scandal too many.
“I can only assume that Thomas walked on in on you both as you awaited my arrival. We can explain that to him. I am certain he will be more understanding of the circumstances,” Lord Marcus suggested.
“Thomas did what Thomas does all the time,” Ethan spat. “He jumps to whatever conclusion suits him best.”
“This is most confusing, Ethan,” Lord Marcus responded. “I cannot for the life of me work out has gone wrong in this room. I know that the young man is protective of his sister, but we had all assumed that she was to be your choice of bride, was she not?”
Ethan jumped up from his seat and paced towards the large, open fireplace. It stood empty and cold, reflecting how his heart felt inside his chest. He leaned with both hands on the cold stone mantel, wishing he could be anywhere but there.
“And what if my choice of bride was another?” Ethan asked his father, without turning around to see his response.
“Now, you confuse me further.” Lord Marcus sighed, shaking his head at how Ethan was going about things. “Were you or were you not alone with Lady Matilda? If you were, was it because you were both waiting for me? If that is not the case, then none of this makes any sense to me.”
Ethan did not answer, for he knew that he was trapped. There was no point in dragging Lady Matilda down with him, even though this whole drama was her fault. He was too much of a gentleman to disgrace her, so he would have to go along with whatever it was that everyone believed.
He blamed himself, he had wanted her out of the room so that he could profess his love for Josephine to his father. In his eagerness to hurry her along, he had caused chaos.
After a short silence, Ethan answered his father’s question, “Yes, I was alone with Lady Matilda.”
“Then let that be the end of the matter,” Lord Marcus announced. The marquess assumed that his son had bumbled his proposal somehow. No doubt it was because her protective brother had shown up and caught them alone. He would not have realised the truth of the situation.
“In what way is that the end of this mess, Father?” Ethan dared to ask. In truth, he knew the answer.
“You went about it the wrong way, that is all, which I find surprising, to say the least. You are my most reliable of sons, but love can play tricks on the mind. You only need to apologise to Thomas for not seeking his approval first, for his sister’s hand in marriage. Explain to him that in error you sought my permission first. He might still grumble, but that should be the end of this unfortunate incident.”
Ethan knew the reality of what he must do, but his mind denied it. He heard himself muttering the words that he dreaded, “Am I to marry Lady Matilda?” he questioned.
“Yes, my boy," Lord Marcus patted him on the back. "You have won the prize. I must say, I do believe that you are a perfect match for one another. Let us hope that she can make sense of your behaviour after the affray you have caused.”
"We genuinely fell down onto the floor in an accident," Ethan tried.
Marcus smiled at how his most intelligent of sons had bumbled his proposal of marriage.
“Not to worry. Though you must first calm Thomas’ fury, or we will have a scandal on our hands," Lord Marcus suggested. "He seems to be under the impression that your intentions were improper, so you need to put him right on that.”
