The Ruby in the Storm

Chapter 34: A Town of Ghosts

Chapter 34: A Town of Ghosts

Beatrice stormed into her uncle's home and held back a scream. It was a mistake to approach Eliza Quincy that way; she should have not been so foolish. She usually wasn't, but she had to blame someone, and since she could not find John, it seemed clear at the time that it had to be his wife.

It didn't matter now, did it? She was going to marry Stephen Franklin. She was going to be forced into a life she did not want, and it was all his fault.

Or was it her fault?

Beatrice often thought of what she did that day, to Lucy. After reading the note and putting all the pieces together, the first reaction she had was to rage at Lucy's betrayal. But then after she had left and made it back to London, she started to wonder if Lucy had known, if she had not been keeping the secret from anyone, if the letter was just as much a shock to her.

Beatrice wouldn't know, of course. She had left before she could see if Lucy had read it or not. Was this her punishment? She had thought so a year ago in London, when she had seen Lydia and the woman all but accused her of abandoning Lucy.

John Brandon Quincy... What are the odds?

Could it be that he knew Lucy? Could it be that destiny placed him in her path to punish her? To make her fancy him, only to have him slip out of her hands? Was that possible?

There was no way it was a coincidence but, then again, Quincy was a common surname, wasn't it? But how common? Common enough for this not to be a very viable situation? Beatrice wasn't sure if she was paranoid or intuitive but, either way, it was also very likely that she would never know Lucy's whole story. She would never figure out the woman her friend really was, or where she came from.

The logical mentality was that neither Lucy nor John were responsible for the situation she was in, only her. Beatrice knew that her choices had brought her here, and her circumstance.

The fact of the matter was that she shouldn't have left her that day.

But then John Brandon Quincy... Damn that man! Low of circumstance and birth, but still the most dashing, kind hearted, intelligent, and charming man she had ever met. He was like a white knight, if only he could have had the means to afford a stallion. She never thought she would meet a man such as him in her life, and yet here he was and, just like that, he was gone.

Perhaps it was for the best. He was married after all, with a child no less! Beatrice wondered if he would have been keen on taking her as his mistress, but then would she degrade herself like that for a man? Beatrice came from a good and noble family, and she was marrying into a better one come the days. She didn't need to be any man's mistress to make her own way, she was a Thornton!

But, even so... Would she have?

"What does it matter now, Beatrice?" She whispered to herself. "It's over, he's gone. And so shall you be very soon."

Just like she was the day she betrayed the woman she had once known as friend.

XXX

Lanfore, Hertfordshire

"I must admit that I was shocked when you asked to accompany me to the Lucas's dinner."

Charlotte smiled and shrugged. "I'm new here after all, I should get the lay of the land. What better way than a dinner party?"

Mary Boatwright chuckled and shook her head, looking out the carriage window. "You never did say how you met Lucy."

"Did I not?" Charlotte laughed. "Silly me. I just figured it was obvious that we were lovers."