Midnight Rain:

Chapter 50: Do Not Know What to Do:

That night, Kate stood on the balcony, listening to the wind and the crackling of the fire on the collars that lit up the areas around Aubry Hall.

"Lady Danbury," Kate acknowledged, wiping the tear that streamed down her cheek when she heard light footsteps walk out to the balcony with her. "Uh, what are you doing still up?" she asked, trying to pretend like she was not upset.

"I could ask you the very same," Lady Danbury said, walking over to the railing next to Kate. "It's cold out here," she added, looking out at the night sky and the quiet lands of Aubry Hall.

"I am merely trying to let my sister sleep. I have been tossing and turning far too much." Kate vaguely explained, keeping most of the truth from Lady Danbury.

"Have you yet told your sister?" She asked Kate, who furrowed her brows, wondering what Lady Danbury was referring to. "About the inheritance scheme..." She added, causing Kate to relax a bit.

"I have not." Kate sighed.

"Mmm..."

"At this point, I fear there is no point in telling her. Lady Danbury, I fear there may be no proposal from the earl. I fear I have ruined it for Edwina." Kate sighed, trying not to cry.

"Because you two cannot get along?" Lady Danbury asked.

"Yes," Kate said softly after a minute.

"And why, when you are so close to getting what you want... what you need for your family's survival, and what Edwina so clearly wants for herself, are you getting in the way?"

"I do not know..." Kate sighed, shaking her head, while Lady Danbury raised her brows. "I do not know what to do." She exclaimed, still holding back tears.

"There is only one thing to do. Be honest with your sister, with yourself. You must tell her how you feel." Lady Danbury continued, hoping that Kate would listen to her sound advice.

"About my dislike for the earl?" 

"About whatever it is you feel." Lady Danbury corrected, knowing there was more that Kate was not saying. "I am going inside." She sighed, turning to leave, but stopped before she could even walk away. "Careful. Or you shall catch a chill." Lady Danbury said, stepping back inside. 

Kate let the tears loose as soon as Lady Danbury entered the room again.

The next morning.

"Colin!" Penelope called, stopping on the staircase when she saw Colin walking down. "We, uh, missed you at the ball last night." Penelope smiled as Colin stopped to talk to her.

"Yes. I fear I was not feeling up to it." Colin sighed, trying not to show his disappointment over his meeting with Mrs. Marina Crane, whom he had courted last season and nearly married if Lady Whistledown did not tell the entirety of London that Marina was pregnant when she arrived in Mayfair.

"After seeing Marina?" Penelope asked as Colin nodded. "How is she, Colin?" she asked since Marina was a distant cousin to the Featheringtons, but Penelope also thought Marina was a good friend for most of last season.

"She is... content," Colin said, pausing to find the words.

"Good," Penelope sighed, smiling in relief. "I am glad. Perhaps seeing her was what you needed—to leave the past behind. To no longer feel the need to forswear women." Penelope smiled at him.

"Lady Crane said she was content, but I cannot help but feel like... Well, we were all so hard on her. Myself included. Perhaps if Lady Whistledown hadn't rushed to print her gossip, things may have turned out differently for her. For all of us, in fact." Colin said as he tried to think about how different his life would be if he married Marina regardless. He would be a husband and a father already. "But, I suppose there is no use dwelling on the past. I am, indeed, thinking of the future." He said, realizing he could have never traveled like he did if he was already married. He would not be free enough to go as he pleases in his family's home as he had been doing since he returned. "Pardon me, Pen." He nodded at her, turning to leave.