THE CROW & THE BUTTERFLY

15. Uninvited visitors

The next day James came back from work quite early. Lorna has taken Robert for a walk in the market to assist her and Brace was returning from the stables, when he saw a carriage stop outside the house. A man came downstairs. He recognized him from James and Mary's wedding. "Hello, sir," the servant greeted him.

"We came to visit my daughter and her husband. Are they home?" Thomas asked, taking off his gloves, while his wife followed.

Brace nodded to the man. "Mary's home and Mr Delaney just arrived from work. Ma'am. Sir. If you please," he showed them in and beckoned them to stay in the sitting room, until he'd go upstairs to inform Mary and James about the visitors.

Thomas and Elizabeth entered the house and looked around with frown. The muddy stains on the floor seemed kind of fresh. The coat covered with mud thrown on the floor next to them. They followed the path Brace showed them and Elizabeth screamed and almost fainted the next moment, once she walked in the sitting room. "What in the god's name are you doing?" Thomas gasped, staring at the sofa. Mary was spreaded there comfortably and James was knelt on her front. Her skirts high on her hips and he looked up at them and wiped his mouth.

"I'm doing my wife," he replied, slowly taking down Mary's skirt to cover her. "What are you doing in my house?"

"Mary!" her mother almost died out of shame. Mary was shocked to see them there truly and embarrassed as well. She quickly threw her skirts on James' head and cleared her throat a bit awkwardly.

James crawled from under her skirt and stood up slowly. "Delaney, what are you doing?" Thomas came to him furious.

"Again... I was doing my wife. Now I'm standing here, wondering..." he hummed and Mary pinched his hand to silence him.

"You turned my daughter into your whore?!"

"Oh, you think, you can do this only to whores? Unfortunate, isn't it?" He gave Elizabeth look, that was sympatethic yet mocking at the same time.

"Mary, how could you?" Elizabeth held her face from shame. "How could you let him do this to you?"

Mary looked at them confused, then back at James and them again. "Is that a joke?" She asked them with a blink. "Didn't you tell me, that I need to be a good wife?" She tilted her head on the side. "I don't understand."

"A good wife. Not to behave like a street whore!" Thomas shouted.

"Stop shouting," James told him. "What do you want? You came to see us? Why didn't you let us know? Where are your manners?"

"You? You will talk about manners?" Thomas snapped, pissed.

"How could you, Mary?!" Her mother was startled. "I raised you well. And you let him do this hideous things to you in the middle of the living room?"

"Well, for a change why not?" Mary shrugged. "Last night he did this hideous thing on the study. And the night before he did it on the kitchen," she pushed her lips together.

James smirked briefly and turned serious, once Thomas looked at him. "What I'm doing with my wife is not your concern. She's my wife. If I decided I want to eat my breakfast from her buttocks, all you can do about it is to cry."

"You turned my daughter into a harlot," Elizabeth snapped. "Is he forcing himself to you?"

Mary took a deep breath and looked at her. "If you're here to act like lunatics, going from - you should be a good wife to how dare you lay with him - I believe you need some fresh air and take your leave."

"Delaney, you're testing my patience," Thomas looked at him seriously.

"What else is new?" James grunted. "You want drink, Mary?"