Season's Feather

Chapter Fifty-Four

Delilah was walking by herself when she stumbled upon Edwina. She smiled at the youngest Sharma and was going to pass on, but Edwina called out.

"Lady Silvester."

Delilah turned around, "Yes?"

"Would you be mad if I did not marry Lord Aevery?"

Delilah took a breath and looked at the girl in front of her. There were two choices. Marry or do not marry. Each one affected her future brightly. But, Delilah had a good feeling about what she may choose, "No."

Edwina nodded, "When did you know you loved the viscount?"

"Well," Delilah smiled, "I suppose it was when I realized he was more than just a name and a face. When I realized his character was so complex. We connected in drab circumstances, and it wasn't really an effort to come together."

Delilah looked at Edwina as she took in the information. She was about to turn and walk away when Edwina called her again. Delilah looked over her shoulder.

"I have seen love with you and Lord Bridgerton, which is why I know his love belongs to my sister." Edwina said.

Delilah tilted her head, "Lord Aevery?"

"Yes."

Delilah smiled at her, "Then your decision is set, wouldn't you think?"

"It is a distinctly human act to marry. Animals require no contracts or dowries. The hen and the rooster make no vows."

Williamson was waiting in the dressing room alone when a note came for him. He ran to the chapel immediately. There was no one. Then Kate walked in. He looked at her, with hope filling his chest, "You sent word for me?"

"I thought you sent word for me." Kate said.

Then Edwina walked in. She looked between the two and took a breath before speaking, "I have made my decision. I thought it best you both hear it from me."

"Edwina, we should speak in private." Kate urged.

Edwina did not move from her place. But, she looked at Williamson, "I cannot marry you, Lord Aevery. You cannot provide me with what it is that I want. What it is that I deserve. What everyone deserves.

"I may not know exactly what true love feels like but I certainly know what it is not. It is not deception, or wandering eyes, or a role to be fulfilled.I cannot marry you because I cannot betray myself. You will never meet my eyes in the same manner you met my sisters on that altar today. You will never look at me the same way."

Then she turned to Kate, "You say you have spent your life trying to give me everything I lacked, but really, you simply gave me everything you really wanted for yourself as though my life were not my own. I did not ask for any of it, Kate. So, today. I can be sure that what I leave behind is not my loss. It is yours. Your dream, your plan, your feelings that I had merely borrowed. Today, you have lost your power. I have made up my own mind. And that is victory enough for me."

Then she walked out. And Williamson was alone with Kate Sharma. Control was in his hands, because the room felt lighter. Chains removed. He was silently glad he did not marry Miss Edwina Sharma.

"Leave it to people to complicate matters with their ceremonies and their cakes. Is it not a wonder that anyone marries at all?

"Indeed, some may call a wedding the ultimate act of faith. While others would venture that it is the ultimate act of fools. Eagerly awaiting two words, "I do". Bride and groom declare intention alone, with no guarantee of happiness.

Delilah was standing in the courtyard listening to whispers when Anthony walked over, "Lady Silvester, shall we make our home?"

"I believe we shall."

"Marriage amounts to little more than human ritual. We may not force the rooster or hen, yet we continue to collect eggs. Does that make us more complicated , or simply too stubborn to believe that we must orchestrate what nature has already ordained?"

Williamson was still in the chapel with Kate Sharma long past the appropriate amount of time. By then though, he found little in himself that cared.

"I suppose we ought to go," Kate mumbled.

He didn't respond or turn.

"Lord Aevery?"

His head turned, then he looked up, "Your sister is braver and wiser than us both. She had the courage to act on what she sensed between us. And here we are, standing perfectly still, having felt it for months."

Kate looked at him, "I stand here...because the moment we go, the moment we step foot outside those doors. We face the truth."

"Of our situation?" Williamson asked.

"Of our failures," Kate responded, "We have indeed failed, my lord. Of our duties. Of our responsibilities. We have failed it all. So forgive me if it is now my wish to suspend time. To delay the inevitable. For a mere moment. Too not think of what comes next. To wait."

Williamson let himself stand there. He let himself dream. He let himself believe. And then Kate said goodbye. Williamson looked at her with sad eyes, and then control slipped.

He kissed her.