Love & Second Chances

Chapter Five - Elizabeth's POV

Throughout the eighteen years I had been alive, there had been so many times when I wanted to retaliate and give my mother what I thought she deserved. Today was one of those times. I was so completely and utterly disgusted with her behavior that I was tempted to do something horrible to her. She was vile and downright selfish. I could not even think of the proper words to describe how horrible she was. She stormed into my room at five in the morning, and even though I had been following her orders to stay in bed until at least seven, she yelled at me and demanded that I get my lazy self out of bed!

Unfortunately, the day only got worse after that. After I had dressed for the day, I went downstairs for breakfast to find that Mother had given the servants strict orders that they were to limit the food they gave me in the morning. You can only imagine how surprised I was to find that the food on my plate consisted of nothing more than a piece of fruit and a handful of nuts. There was no toast, no eggs, no sausages, and no fried potatoes. Being as hungry as I was when I awoke, I insisted that they at least bring me a piece of bread, but they were adamant in their refusal, claiming that my mother would be angry if they did.

Then, after my meager breakfast, she made me try on some new dresses that she had bought me. As much as I liked dressing up for fun with my sister, it was a different story with my mother. Unlike Alice, who was always gentle in helping me dress, Mother was harsh and without mercy. Knowing her as I did, I would not be surprised if she cared more about the dress itself than for her flesh and blood daughter.

However, the absolute worst thing to happen all day occurred just after lunch. Alice and I had been chasing each other about in the garden, and I had accidentally ripped the hem of my dress. When I first saw it, I had thought for certain that Mother was going to kill me. Instead of blaming me as I thought she would, she directed the blame onto poor Alice, whom I had been chasing. She roughly grabbed her by the hair and screamed at her, telling her that she was nothing but a foolish, good-for-nothing brat. Once she was done with her, she threw her back onto the ground like a rag doll, walking off as her youngest cried her heart out. That was when my fury towards her truly caught fire.

Without hesitation, I ran to my little sister and wrapped my arms around her in a comforting embrace. Under normal circumstances, I tried to forgive my mother for what she did and forget about it all, but this was something I could not forgive. She had gone way too far this time! My sister was the embodiment of everything good in life! At least that was the way I saw her. The thought of repaying her for her wicked deeds was extremely tempting, but I fought against it, knowing that it would make me no better than her.

It seemed as though she was getting more and more severe with every week that passed. The reason for such atrocious behavior was most likely because of her growing disapproval of Garrett Blackbourne. She was always at her worst on the days that I accompanied Alice to his estate, and unfortunately for me, her frustration had decided to linger into the following day this time.

I could not see why she hated him so much. Did she have some personal grudge against all who knew the definition of kindness? I was beginning to think it might be so. Despite everything, I still managed to look forward to those days because of the simple fact that they allowed me to spend time with my closest friend.

Five weeks had passed since the first lesson, and Garrett and I seemed to somehow grow closer with each time we visited. Father had even permitted us to stay for luncheon, under the condition that we return before evening. My only regret was always that I had to return home. As improper as it sounded, I truly did wish that I could stay there permanently.

"Elizabeth, would you join me in the drawing-room for a moment?" my father called from the hallway.

Situated comfortably in our small library with a good book in my hand, I was a bit reluctant to leave, seeing as this was the most comfortable and happy I had been all day. After a moment's contemplation, I put my book down, marking the page I had been on to ensure that I did not lose my spot, and walked over to the drawing-room. Motioning for me to take a seat, my father closed the door before taking a seat directly across from me.

Neither of us talked for several minutes. I knew that he had not called me for a casual conversation between father and daughter. Something was wrong. I groaned inwardly as I tried to come up with some idea as to what could be wrong. Had Mother decided that I was no longer allowed to eat at all? Had she been trying to convince Father to forbid me from visiting Garrett again? How I pitied him for having to put up with her for the past twenty-four years.

"I called you here to warn you that your mother has mentioned something that I know you will not be pleased about," he said, adjusting his cravat nervously. "She has mentioned arranging a marriage between you and a nobleman."

Every inch of my body froze solid when I heard this. "Father, I beg that you make her reconsider!"

He quickly raised a hand to silence me. At that moment, I thought that he had taken her side, but what he said next reassured me otherwise. "I know that you hold high standards for the man you marry, and I admire that. You are wise to be specific in what you want."

I felt a small wave of relief wash over me. If my father took my side on this then I was assured that I had nothing to worry about. As frightening as Mother was, she could not make such decisions without Father's approval. Most of the time he let her do as she pleased, not wishing for her to become angry with him. I did not truly blame him. To a certain extent, we all tried to keep the peace in this house, but things were becoming almost unbearable.

"It was not my intention to frighten you," he continued. "I only meant to warn you in case she should attempt anything."

"Thank you for that, Papa," I said appreciatively. "I know that I must marry one day, but I do hope that I will at least have a bit of a say in whom the groom is."

He nodded his head. "When the time comes, I will do all that I can to grant you that wish."

My father was generally a good man, considerate of others, and possessed an incredible amount of patience towards even the most troublesome things. Mother was one of them. That was probably the only reason they had managed to remain together for so many years. It was a shame that he was not strong-willed enough to put her in her proper place more often. There was no doubt in my mind that life would be much easier for all of us if he would.

With that matter resolved, we began to speak on more pleasant topics. He asked about how Alice's lessons were going and whether Garrett was having any issues with teaching her. I told him that they were going extremely well and that neither of them had any problems. Alice was taking to the piano much quicker than she had with the other two instruments she learned to play. Although, I honestly should not have expected any less. Garrett was a musical genius.

"Something must be done about Mother," I said, having told him about her behavior. "Her disapproval of Garrett is getting out of hand."

"She was never overly fond of the boy," he explained. "I fear that he brought that upon himself when he frightened her out of her wits with that spider."

He was correct in that assumption. Mother was dreadfully scared of spiders. As far as any of us could tell, she always had been. Despite how funny we both found it, I had to admit that it was a bit cruel of us to play such a trick on her. However, that did not justify her actions what-so-ever. That was no reason for her to treat us all so horribly. To treat Alice so horribly. What reason could she possibly have for such abuse?

"I doubt that he would willingly apologize to her for that."

"For the time being, I will continue to try to calm her down in whatever ways I can think of," he concluded. "Alice's music lessons will not last forever, especially with the speed she is learning at right now."

That idea saddened me. I did not want our weekly visits to end. Mostly because I knew that spending time together afterword would be scarce. No, that could not be allowed to happen. I would have to find a way to prolong her lessons. Perhaps I could simply tell father that she was starting to have some difficulty. I quickly shook that idea from my mind. It was not fair of me to lie to Father like that. Especially after he had stuck up for us and allowed us to go in the first place. As much as it pained me to accept this inevitable outcome, it seemed that I had no choice.