Page 55 of A Maid's Fateful Courtship
Chapter 43
Ethan did not have the energy to join in the conversation between his father and Lord Thomas. Not that his input was needed, for the marquess was doing a good enough job of reprimanding the Lord for his deceitful behaviour.
What would happen to Lord Thomas after word spread amongst the ton, he had no idea, nor did he care. Although he did find himself caring for Lady Matilda. She too had been denied being with the person that she truly loved. With luck, she would be allowed to marry her merchant and learn to live a new way of life.
Rather unexpectedly, he felt the warm breath of his brother Cedric as he leaned into whisper in his ear.
"I need to speak with you," Cedric requested, keeping his voice low.
Ethan turned and nodded his agreement. As he went to stand up from his chair, he then followed Cedric over to a window at the far end of the long drawing-room.
“It seems that Father has the situation in hand without our interference,” Cedric remarked as he looked through the glass of the window.
“Yes.” Ethan nodded, looking over at his father. He was facing Cedric's back as he waited to hear what had been so urgent. When Cedric said nothing, he instigated the conversation, “I am curious, brother, why did you not inform me of the truth earlier? It would have saved so much pain and embarrassment.”
“That is why I have taken you aside, Ethan,” Cedric replied, not taking his eyes from whatever he looked at on the outside. “As you know, it was me who had witnessed your closeness with Josephine that night.”
“Yes, I am aware, but I also believe that you know of my true feelings for her?”
“I do.” Cedric nodded and let out a heavy sigh. “At the time I worried for you. If it were the other way around, you too would have concerns if one of your brothers were liaising with a servant.”
“She should not be a servant and well you know it,” Ethan barked, grating his back teeth at hearing those words.
“Do you know why I never liked her as a child, Ethan?” Cedric put the question to him quite blatantly.
“I had assumed it was because she was a female who bettered you at tree climbing.” Ethan chuckled. Though he attempting to lighten the mood because his brother showed such seriousness in his eyes.
“Ha... alas no,” Cedric replied, turning to glance at Ethan momentarily, and then returning his gaze through the window again. “Although, as a boy, it was your confidence I envied, not hers.”
“My confidence? I do not understand, I am the eldest and meant to protect my younger siblings,” Ethan remarked.
“Yes, and you did it well, and that is why I have always loved you as my older brother,” Cedric conceded. “Yet, when Mother passed away, it never seemed to affect you. You remained the strong one, whilst I was inconsolable.”
“Of all of us, you took Mother’s death the worse,” Ethan conceded. “I was forced to hide my sadness, as you and Anthony needed my strength.”
“And then to Josephine," Cedric shifted the topic. "I was never happy when Father took in the dirty farm girl. Then, when Mother passed away, I hated her even more.”
“I do not understand this. Why did you hate her so?” Ethan asked, his eyebrows raised in puzzlement.
“Because everyone seemed to love her so much. I was envious of her for that,” Cedric explained, though Ethan could see it was not easy for him to do so. “I had to work so hard for attention, yet she was showered with it from the moment she joined us. But please, brother, remember this, I was very young. I was not able to understand the emotions that conflicted me.”
The marquess’ baritone voice carried down the room, causing Ethan to look over at his father. It seemed that he had not even noticed his sons had taken themselves away from his discussion, so intent was he in rebuking Lord Thomas.
“You know she loved you as much as she loved everyone else?” Ethan pointed out, returning to look over at Cedric's back.
“I was almost obsessed with the bond that she had with everyone,” Cedric said. For a moment he turned to give Ethan a look of despair, then he continued gazing through the glass. It was clear that Cedric did not wish to face Ethan as they discussed his weaknesses as a child.
“And now how do you feel? Do you think it right that she should be a servant in the household that educated her?” Ethan pressed as he had recognised remorse in his brother’s face, despite him trying to hide his feelings.
“When we arrived back, I must admit it surprised me,” Cedric admitted as he turned to face Ethan. “But when I witnessed that your fondness for her had grown into the love between a man and a woman, it maddened me. That is when I decided that, yes, she deserved to be a servant.”
“Why did you not come to me, so we could speak of it?”
“I did, but you would not listen to my advice,” Cedric’s voice raised an octave in his reply. “I told myself that you were bewitched by her, and it was time to put in her place.”
“So, what changed your mind?”
“I may be many things that you are not, but I could not bear to see you forced into a marriage with a woman you did not love.” Cedric turned to face Ethan once again, remorse etched across his face. “You could say that I have done some growing up, and I have started to accept that rules can be broken.”
