The Ruby in the Storm

Chapter 38: Something Wicked

Chapter 38: Something Wicked

Lydia sipped on her tea and sat on the same seat that her mother used to, just by the window. From there, she would watch the world go by, or so she claimed, and she refused to look away unless the house was on fire. Perhaps she fancied the view of the rose gardens in the spring as much as she claimed but knowing what she knew not, Lydia suspected her mother was waiting for something else to come with the seasons.

What secrets their otherwise noble family held! It made Lydia wonder if all families were so corrupt, so stained by their very human mistakes. The fans and masks people wore and cowered behind, the airs the put up in the wake of scrutiny; no one was immune to it, but no one could escape their truths. That's what came with sundown, that even God allowed the night to take over the land, just so mankind could take off their masks in the blackness and become the beasts they really were.

Uncle Robert was, perhaps, the beast to rule them all. Beyond her own father's sins, Uncle Robert had always been keen on grasping as much power as he could. Perhaps it was a means to step out of John Quincy's shadow, or perhaps it was because he felt the world owed him something, but either way the fact that he had gone to such horrid lengths to see his ends done made Lydia realize that perhaps he had never once spoken the entire truth to her or Lucy their entire lives, just the truths they wanted to hear... The truths that suited him best to tell at the time.

Now more than ever she knew what it felt like to be someone's puppet.

Breathing in deeply, Lydia tore her eyes from the window and looked about the drawing room with a blank expression, realizing that she no longer saw this house as a home. It was an empty shell of one at that. She had never felt at home anywhere, not really... Well, that was besides her time in Derbyshire. But that was because Fredrick was there.

Fredrick... That man had stolen her heart in a way none of the bachelors in London Society ever could. She had met and danced with so many handsome, charming, learned, and well spoken men, but it was only a man in Derbyshire that could really and truly take her breath away. Being so far away from him really did hurt, and it was worse knowing that to the rest of the world, they were mere acquaintances. If not for her scheming devil of an uncle and the monster, James Boatwright, she would be Fredrick's wife, and Lucy would be her with love.

Perhaps Ross Beauchamp could very well shoot Uncle Robert dead like he did James and be done with it.

No, then Lucy would truly never see him again. Death was not the answer, and Lydia supposed that that was why she was here. Leave it to the Quincy men to ruin everything, leaving the Quincy women to fix it all up.

Taking another sip of her tea, Lydia stood, and just in time for the study door to open and the footman to lead in the man of the hour: Robert Quincy.

"Lydia?" Uncle Robert frowned and chuckled. "By god, it really is you."

"Were you expecting my ghost?" She asked, eyebrow raised.

"Of course not," he replied, his expression guarded but his eyes wary. "But when the footman told me that Ms. Lydia Quincy was waiting for me in the drawing room, you had to imagine my shock."

Lydia sat back down. "I don't have to imagine anything, uncle. I can go wherever I want to, especially my own home."

"I agree," Uncle Robert replied, sitting down as well. "But I specifically told you and your sister to remain in Grenmar under Mr. Doyle's protection."

"Tea?" Lydia asked. "It's quite fresh."

"No," he shook his head; "I believe I've partaken in enough tonight."