THE GREAT WAR || T. SHELBY (3)

SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: a Woman of High Standing

TABITHA AND THOMAS HAD BEEN INVITED TO A PARTY OSWALD MOSELEY WAS HOSTING.

A couple days had passed since Thomas came home from Canada. After what happened in the bathroom, things went back to the way they're were. He was busy in his politics while Tabitha distracted herself with work. The only time they saw each other was at dinner and bedtime. Or when it had to do with Maggie and Charlie.

Thomas stopped working alongside Moseley after the failed assassination attempt four years prior. Mainly because Tabitha put her foot down over the situation. Moseley was a man she most despised and with good reason

The night of the party, Tabitha wore a beautiful gold-colored dress. She wore her hair up, clipped together by an gold comb. When Tabitha and Thomas entered the foyer, all eyes were on her. Who couldn't look at her? 38 years old and on looked like a woman who had it all. But under the surface, she was falling apart.

As the walked up the steps, a commotion came from the mansion doors. Thomas heard his name being called.

"Mr Shelby! Mr Shelby! Daily Mirror," a reporter said, being held back by guards in black.

"Fuck off!" Thomas told the guard who grabbed his arm.

Tabitha snatched her arm out of the other guards grip. The couple made eye contact with the reporter.

"May I ask why a socialist MP would attend a Fascist rally, sir?" The reporter asked.

"Let him in, let me answer the question," Thomas told the guards. "Mr Mosley's constituency borders my own," he continued. "We have worked together in the past. He was once a socialist himself. My wife and I's role here tonight is to...to act as a bridge between ideologies. We are in the middle."

"Mr Shelby, you once shared a platform with Mr Mosley. Will you be sharing the stage with him tonight?"

"No. I am simply here to remind my friend Mr Mosley that the way of the British people is compromise. And you can print that, pal."

Thomas and Tabitha turned around, walking into the ballroom with their arms linked. He whispered into his wife's ear.

"Tab, you should know Mosely's wife died six months ago. Give him your condolences, will you?" Thomas asked Tabitha. "Tonight, he will be with his mistress. Who is apparently a Lady of some standing... and has given him great comfort in his time of grief."

"If it means we get leave early, the fine," Tabitha answered.

"Fuck off, you dozy bastard! Move out of my fսck¡ng way."

Tabitha looked back down the stairs to see Johnny Dogs holding a drunk Arthur Shelby.

"What is Arthur doing here?" Tabitha asked Thomas.

"Mosley invited him. I agreed. Arthur made me a promise, which he appears to have broken," Thomas answered.

"Move. I said fսcking move," Arthur yelled as the Thomas met Johnny on the stairs.

"I tried my best. He hid some junk in his sock," Johnny told Thomas, pointing down at Arthur.

"OK. Move along," Arthur grumbled.