The Earl's Keeper

Twenty-Eight: Confessions of the Heart

That leopard up there is one of my many endeavours I've been itching to complete. Work in progress!

Filler chapter, and a dandy short one at that. But it is much needed if we are to move on.

I hope you enjoy this little love sesh snippet: 

~*~

Jackson met William outside in the hallway. He looked calm and collected as always, bag in one hand, ready to depart.

William was on the verge of dozing off. The past few hours caught up to him in a crashing wave. The exertion and emotional trauma was enough to make him want to crawl into a ball and avoid life for what it was: unpredictable and tumultuous.

"How is she?" He asked, pushing off from the wall he was leaned on.

Jackson smiled reassuringly. "She'll be fine. Youll be glad to know her ribs aren't broken, only superficial fractures covering the left two ribs. Must not have been a direct hit."

"I guess what water resistance had something to do with that." The bitterness crept into his voice as the images of a small, defenceless body was kicked away by the powerful thrust of a horse's kick. It had hurt him to see her hurt, and the images of her drowning before him wouldn't stop replaying in continuous loop of self-inflicted torture.

"-William?"

"Sorry, what was that?"

"Rest, my friend. You are exhausted too. She'll be fine, I advise plenty more relaxation for the next couple of weeks." He departed with a nod of his head and went to find the Higgins.

William stayed outside his bedchamber. He could hear soft murmurs from inside.

*

"Thank you, Mia." Bethany sat gingerly by her side, fidgeting with her fingers.

Mia smiled. "You'd do the same for me, I imagine?"

Bethany tilted her head, as if weighing the question. Blood pounded to her temple in a punishing headache, the bruised bump pulsating as if ready to burst. She ignored it.

Mia gasped in mock surprise. "Why, I never!"

Beth laughed at that. "I doubt I would be the quick thinking heroin you were tonight. Selflessness isn't one of my finer points, you know."

"Neither is acting insufferable, as I am beginning to see."

Bethany let out a small humoured huff of air as a coy smile delighted her features. "But I have been wretched, haven't I?"

"You sound almost proud."

She shrugged. "A lady endeavours to try."

Mia's brows creased with intrigue. "And I am beginning to wonder why? Why paint yourself as a villain?"

Bethany stood from the bedside at that. She smiled warmly and said, "because it is so much easier to hate than to love. To love, is to trust. And I trust no one at all, dear countess. Least of all my husband." Her hand flew to her mouth, as if she had said to much. At the same time, her shoulders sagged, as if a great truth had finally been lifted through her omission.

Sadness flickered in Mia's heart. She had heard rumours of what had occurred between the youngest Berkeley and his wife. But she had never dared to question Charles or probe William on it. As it was not her place. She wondered now, if perhaps Bethany had it just as bad as she for the beginnings of her marriage, or mayhap even worse?