Page 65 of A Lady's Beloved Novelist
Now that she knew he was filled to the brim with lies, she could not help but see straight through his act. He was smiling, but even that appeared too fake, and Andrea was not sure how much longer she could bear to entertain it all.
“What is it?”
“I wish to ask you to move the wedding forward, I do not wish to badger you with this question, but—”
“But that is exactly what you are doing, Sir Cecil,” Andrea cut him off. She was no longer scared of him, not now that she knew exactly what kind of man he was. Part of her had always known. She had just been too scared to say anything. Cecil clearly had not been expecting her to stand up for herself so boldly, for he blinked a few times before frowning in confusion.
“I do not wish to upset you, my lady, I just wish to have a conversation about it. You see, weddings are not cheap affairs, and I know that your dowry is yet to be paid and so…”
Andrea stopped listening as soon as the conversation turned to talks of money. She knew that he was only saying such things to angle for the chance to get at her family’s money sooner than she had promised him.
It sickened her as she realised that he was no better than a leach. He had attached himself to their family, and she was scared that he was not going to leave until he had sucked them dry of everything.
“What about your royalties?” she cut in quickly. Andrea revelled for a moment as she watched his face contort with confusion.
“Royalties?”
“For the many books that you have claimed to have written, Dean Morris,” she said, shooting him a sly wink. She liked to think that it made them appear as though they were in on some big secret. The only difference was that she already knew the truth and was simply testing him to see how far he would go before he stumbled.
“Ah…yes, yes. Well, royalties do tend to dry up you see…” he bumbled along with more lies. “They are not consisted, like wages. Sometimes there are more, sometimes there are less than I would like.”
“How have the sales been doing recently?” Andrea pressed. She made sure that her gaze was unwavering, drawing on the memory of how her aunt had been so ruthless in her questioning too.
“They have been…steady, but still not as much as I would have been hoping for.”
Andrea could not believe that this was the act she had fallen for. He was like a child trying to lie to get his own way.
“I suppose they will pick up soon though? What with the new book being published in the coming months?”
She registered the confusion on his face and then reflected in her own expression that she was beginning to doubt him.
“O-of course!” he exclaimed.
“You do know about the publication of your own book…do you not?”
“Yes,” Cecil said. But he was nodding too quickly, and his words were too frantic for there to have been any truth to them.
“It was so good of you to send me an advance copy, I suppose I should look at it as an early wedding gift,” Andrea smiled. “Oh, Mother! You will be pleased to hear what Sir Cecil has gifted me as my first wedding gift!”
Her mother looked up as Andrea quickly made her way over to where they were sitting. She glanced back to see that Cecil was sheepishly following her. Andrea could feel a plan forming in her mind as she plastered a wide smile onto her face. This was her moment of defiance, and this was the moment she was waiting for.
“Cecil has gifted me an advance copy of the newest book in my favourite series!”
Instantly, she could see her mother’s disapproval at the way she was talking about the adventure novels. They were something that her mother had never encouraged. There had even been a time when her parents had refused to let her purchase any more books by Dean Morris. It had been her aunt who had taken her into town to buy the latest book. Bella had always been there for her, and now Andrea was incredibly pleased to see that she was present once more.
“Oh, you would not believe how interesting this book is, Mother. I think it will be my favourite gift even though it is the first. There is so much more than just adventure going on.”
“Andrea, that is enough.” Her mother sighed.
“But you do not understand. Aunt Bella, you understand that this gift of a book really does mean a lot to me, do you not?”
“Of course!” Bella exclaimed. “What a generous gift, he must know you so well.”
She turned to see the red in Cecil’s cheeks. Andrea wished that he would just come clean then and there. It would have been much easier than having to pry the truth out of him.
“Tell them what you wrote in the letter on top of the manuscript,” Andrea urged him. She made sure that her expression was light, her eyes filled with wonder and happiness. “Go on, it truly was beautiful. You have such a way with words.”
Andrea glanced over to see her aunt nodding with approval. They were the only two to know the truth, but Andrea was hoping that would soon change.
