Sweet Escape

Thirty-Two

Elizabeth held her daughter's hand as the approached the house. It had been a while since they had been there. It was much too quaint for her taste, but Archibald seemed to like it even though he rarely stayed there. She was nervous about seeing him after so long. Since he left, she had no contact with him. Not even checking to see how he was. She felt terrible about it. Especially after what she and her daughter discussed the night before. She decided it was time to take heed to Henry's word. She knew that Archibald wouldn't be angry with her or shut her out because it was never in his nature, but she just hoped she wasn't too late to make things better. Arielle gave her hand a squeeze before she knocked on the door. A few moments later, Archibald answered. He had a book in his hand and small wireframed reading glasses perched on his nose. He didn't look surprised to see them. He smiled warmly at them and bowed.

"Madam Covington. Ms. Arielle. It is good to see you." He said.
"Hello Archibald, I hope we are not interrupting?" Elizabeth said.

"Of course not. Please." He stepped aside and allowed them to enter and led them to the sitting room. "May I get you anything? Tea?"

"No thank you." Elizabeth said as she and Arielle took a seat. Archibald occupied the armchair facing them. "We don't want to be too much of a bother."
"It's no bother at all." Archibald said.
"You look well Archibald." Arielle cut in. "It is good to see you after so long."
"You as well Ms. Arielle. How is married life treating you?"
"Lovely." She smiled.
"Glad to hear it." He returned the gesture. "What brings you by?"
"We are here to talk about Charlize." Elizabeth began. Her hands were clasped tightly in her lap but she did her best to not seem nervous. "I need to understand why she left. I need you to tell me what you know."

"With all due respect, this is something you should be discussing with Charlize." Archibald said.
"She isn't here, but you are. And you know her better than anyone. Even me." She admitted. She kept her eyes locked on his as he took a deep breath and slowly nodded.
"Okay. Where shall I begin?"

Elizabeth was uncomfortable. She struggled through the entire conversation to not jump out of her skin. She wanted to argue. She wanted to defend her actions, but she knew she had no grounds to. She was there to listen. She had promised Arielle who was doing her best to hold it together as well. It was hard to hear how they made Charlize feel through the years. If it were anyone else saying it, they would have denied any of it were true. But it was coming from Archibald. The person that Charlize trusted the most. The one any of them trusted the most, even if they didn't admit to it.

"...so in the months following her return, she began to tell me that she needed to leave. She had to get out and I decided to help her because I didn't want her to take matters into her own hands. Who knew what would have happened then?" Archibald explained.
"She seemed fine." Elizabeth finally croaked. She reached her limit.

"You had guards and other staff constantly watching her." Archibald said, keeping his tone even as always.
"Because she disobeyed – she broke our agreement. She tried to send a letter to that boy." She said. "If you hadn't talked me out of it, I would have sent her away for good so I had no other choice."

"But you did." Archibald said. "That should have told you that there was no keeping them apart. And you had to see what that was doing to her. She may have been who you wanted her to be, but that was not Charlize." Elizabeth was quiet. Her gaze drifted out to the window to her left.
"Where did she go?" Arielle asked.

"You'll know when she decides it's time for you to know." He said.
"But you already sent Elliot and Dimitri to see her so I do not understand." Said Arielle.

"Because it was what she needed." The day he asked Charlize if she wanted to come home, he knew that she was badly missing home. Even if he suspected that she did want to return, she needed something to help her make her decision. When Elliot came to him, he knew the exact push that would help her.

"Thank you, Archibald." Elizabeth turned from the window and wiped a tear that had fallen. "And I am deeply sorry for the things I said to you and the way I treated you. I would really like it if you came back, but only if you choose to. We miss you."

"I accept your apology madam." Archibald smiled. "As for returning...I am quite enjoying my time here. But I will think about it."

"Please do." She said standing. Arielle followed her lead. They said their goodbyes and the two women left.

"So, what now?" Arielle asked. Elizabeth ran her tongue over her teeth and took a breath.
"I need to pack." She said.
"Are you going to go look for Charlize again?" Arielle asked. Elizabeth shook her head.

"I need to go speak with my sister."