The Broken Daylily

CHAPTER FIVE: For better...

It had been three years since the last Brompton wedding. Three years in which lady Anne had been begging for another wedding. Three years in which she pushed every lady of London toward Thomas in the hope that he would fall in love with one of them and make her his wife.

She did not agree with arranged marriages. No one in the Brompton family did. Every son or daughter had found love on their own and married because they truly wanted it. Thomas would be the first to feel so obligated to take a woman as his wife.

He did not have a choice, though. Lady Madilyn was carrying his child. It was a fact well-known in his family that he had a weak spot for children, and how could he ever send the woman who was carrying his own away? He did not have the strength or power to do that. And even if he could, he would not, for it would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Twas also the kind of secret the ton loved and dug for. If he were to try and hide it, and they would hear it, he would be ruined nevertheless. Twas better to man up and accept his faith – however horrible it might be.

But the child was not the only reason for his decision, he must admit. He had seen his sister, Elizabeth, broken after she had been ruined before her wedding. William had left her – for the second time – after he had taken away her virtue, leaving nothing but the shell of the always happy Elizabeth behind. He hated William for leaving his sister - for pushing that destiny upon her. If not for the knowledge that Elizabeth loved the man and that Andrew was watching, Thomas was certain the man would be dead by his hands.

And although he could not speak for lady Madilyn's family, he did not want to be the cause of such disaster. He would hate himself for ruining a woman like his sister had been ruined. His best choice – and the only choice in his eyes – was accepting this woman he barely knew as his wife, and marrying her as soon as possible. For if her belly started showing, both of them would be ruined.

They had made wedding preparations as fast as possible. Thomas had never expected his life to turn around this drastically in just two weeks. Two weeks of avoiding all people, of avoiding his future wife and his own family. Two weeks of searching for a small church and two cheap rings.

He did not put much thought in any of it. The church was ready and there rings were present. They did not need anything else during an unwanted wedding like this. Now they could only hope that the day ended soon and they could start on the rest of their lives – together.

However he was going to live together with this lady, he did not know. He must admit he did not know her well, but he had heard of the Hayes'. He knew enough about their family to know that they were very different from the Bromptons. They followed the rules of the ton to the letter and would never break it. Why Madilyn did break it, he did not know. Nor did he bother. She had done this to not only herself and her family, but also to Thomas and his family.

He hoped it would be easy to live next to her. Hopefully Lindenberg was big enough for them to avoid each other and not see each other for days. But he already feared every social gathering or ball in which he had to take her – his soon to be wife – along with him.

He also hoped she was not the curious kind of person. Of course, she was a lover of the ton. So she would not break its rules by seeking through his personal things, yet he feared she might discover some things connected to the case he was working on. And if she ever would tell anybody, all his hard work would be for nothing. After all, Colston had eyes and ears everywhere.

"Get that miserable look off your face," his mother brought him back to the present. "You are getting married. You ought to look happy."

"I do not feel happy," he told her. It had been two weeks since he had smiled. And it had been that same amount of time since he had said something nice to his mother – or anyone for that matter.

"I did not say anything about feeling happy," lady Anne commented before she walked to the chair and took his coat. She helped him put it on and looked at him.

"He looks horrific," Andrew commented. Thomas had almost forgotten his brother was in the room. He had been quietly sitting on a chair in the corner, merely observing. He was probably there to make certain Thomas did not kill his mother when she gave him a happy smile or tears – like she was doing now.

Thomas turned to look at his brother. "You are not helping."

He shrugged. "I did not think you would bother."

"You think I would not bother?" he asked angrily. "You think I would not bother being married to a woman I do not know? That I do not bother about that fact that only two weeks ago I heard she was carrying my child and that only two weeks ago my life has been turned upside down?!"

Andrew stood up and pulled on his coat. "I thought you would not be bothered by my honesty. Everything else is on you, and you know it. Which is why I did not repeat it."

Thomas sighed and turned away from his brother. He was correct – like always. But it did not make him any happier.

Yes, he knew he was to blame for this. And yes, he knew this was his choice and he was not forced to actually marry the lady. But he would not be able to live with himself if he let the woman take care of her own and tend to his child. They were to be his responsibility from now on.

"Well, I believe it is time now," lady Anne said optimistic, trying to lighten the dark mood. Thomas nodded and walked out of the room. Twas a short carriage ride to the church – a ride that was silent and cold. A ride to bring him to his new life. They arrived at the church and stepped out, not a word was spoken. Lady Anne and Andrew followed Thomas inside the building where the rest of his family was waiting. They had only invited their own families, for they did not want this to be a big wedding.

But twas hard to miss the emptiness of the building. Truly the only people there were his family. Not even lady Madilyn's parents had decided to come.