Widow's Peak

Chapter 7:

Chapter 7:
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I didn't know where I was going, but I knew I had to get away. The thought that my father knew where I was, and he didn't come to collect me was too much for me to handle. Irvin and his guests would just have to wait. I'm sure they would carry on normally; I was, again, only an accessory that just happened to be placed on their radar. I stopped walking when even the paint on the walls was unfamiliar to me. I didn't know where I was. More portraits were lined up. All of men they looked painfully similar.

I stopped at one portrait titled William Roux, born 1419, died 1449. He died relatively young even though 30 years was enough time for him to evidently have children unless he had siblings who took the estate. I looked at his face, then the face of the man next to him. It was eery how much alike they looked. It surpassed simple family genetics; this was something much more. I continued to stare, enraptured in the thought of how William could look almost exactly the same as the man on the portrait next to him who died nearly sixty years before William was born.

I finally turned away when I remembered I was lost inside of a castle like home with visitors still waiting for my arrival. I started walking back in the direction that I came, hoping I would stumble across Mrs. Culver, or the dining room. I walked much slower than I did when I walked before. All of the anger and energy had drained out of me, leaving me a sad, sulking shell. I no longer held my shoulders up, all of the light probably left my eyes. I sighed deeply, "how long did I walk? I can't seem to find anything."

Finally, after half an hour, I came back to the dining room. I could hear male voices from the other side of the closed door that I didn't recognize. I breathed in, hoping that I was still the same woman that left Irvin breathless earlier. With another breath, I opened the door and entered. The conversation stopped and every eye turned to look at me. Beside Irvin, there was an older man with forest green eyes and dark brown hair. He had facial hair that was neatly trimmed, his suit hinted at old money, and his eyes showed that he knew the way things worked in this town. But, it wasn't him I was worried about. It was the man next to him.

This man was handsome. More handsome than should be humanely possible. He had smoldering dark eyes that seemed to be endless. They focused on me, and my breath hitched. His hair was dark too, brushed back, so that the ends just brushed his collar. He wore a far more expensive suit than the intellectual looking man. This man was dark, deep, animalistic. Relief washed through Irvin's features when I focused on him again, "I'm glad you came to join us. Gentlemen, this is Valerie Roux. Valerie, this is the mayor Jonathan, and a high placed guard, and Count Lucian." I smiled tightly, "hello. I apologize for my tardiness." I thanked Janine quickly in my head.

I knew how to address people of higher stature of me. Jonathan looked surprised, and I remembered that I was supposed to be on the same level as them. Suddenly, I readjusted myself, "I thought I'd take a walk. Since, no one was here earlier, right Irvin?"
"Yes," Irvin shot me a look as a warning. We would talk about where I went tomorrow. Jonathan moved to guide me to the table, "well, aren't you lovely? You look so much like your mother, but I see your father as well. Here, come take your seat by Lucian." I took his hand with an anxious heart. How could I sit beside a man who stole my breath from across the room? I prayed that Irvin would save me, or come up with an excuse to get me out of this seat. Of course, he didn't notice, and took his seat at the head of the table.

Lucian stood to pull my chair out for me. I didn't miss how his eyes never left me; they followed every movement I made which didn't help my ever beating heart. I sat down with a small, murmured thank you. "So, Valerie, how do you like Widow's Peak so far," Jonathan asked politely. I smiled, "from what I've seen, it's beautiful." "I haven't been able to take Valerie out for a proper tour yet," Irvin jumped in, ringing a small bell, to signal the beginning of dinner. I felt guilty that while I'd been out on a rage, they'd refused to eat. "Well. That's a disgrace. Maybe, instead of you forcing time to make that happen, Lucian can take her out tomorrow. You're not doing anything tomorrow, right Lucian," Jonathan turned to look at my handsome companion.

Lucian looked up, surprise someone had spoken to him, "no. I do not have plans for tomorrow." I had to hold back a shiver from the sound of his voice. It was so deep and slow. Mrs. Holbrook never prepared for a man this perfect. In honesty, I didn't think Mrs. Holbrook ever expected me to get married, or to even have an interest in any man. "Then, you could take Ms. Roux out for her tour," Jonathan asked again. He carefully added that formality to make sure Lucian knew that he was not on the same level of nobility, but I disagreed. Lucian was a highly revered guard and Count. I grew up on in a home for homeless girls. He seemed far more noble than I did in that moment. "Yes. I will. Tomorrow morning at nine. Does that sound okay to you, Ms. Roux," Lucian turned those eyes on me.

I nodded, "yes, of course. And, please call me Valerie." He didn't respond, just returned to his food that was recently brought out. "It's astounding how much you are like your mother," Jonathan commented, "I don't suppose she stayed with you. It's not in her blood. Just like when she fled this place in the dead of night, all alone, and with child at that." "Excuse me," I put down my fork, completely engrossed in this part of my history that no one told me about. Jonathan opened his mouth to say something else, but at Irvin's warning look, he quickly closed it.

I looked over at Irvin who'd gone back to eating like nothing happened. My mother fled Widow's Peak? It wasn't a mutual separating like I'd thought? What happened between my father and my mother that made her leave when he wouldn't notice? I gazed down at my food, disdainfully. I wasn't hungry anymore. The desire to know the full story of my parents lives, and my birth outweighed the small appetite I'd had. So, I sat back, listening to the conversation, hoping to hear another snippet that wasn't meant to be brought up.
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To my sadness, nothing more was said about my mother, or my father. The rest of dinner was dominated by the talk of politics between Irvin and Jonathan. With the lack of vivaciousness, I became acutely aware of Lucian's presence beside me. He made no attempt to say anything else to me, or to anyone else. He collapsed into his own thoughts that overruled the male conversation about the survival of Widow's Peak.

Some gossip was brought up about people I'd never heard of, and surely hadn't met. From the way Irvin spoke of them, I was never to meet them. It became clear to me that not many people married in Widow's Peak, nor did many people have children. How the lines of pure blood families seemed to thrive off of that revelation, I had no idea. Now, I stood beside Irvin as we saw our dinner guests off. "Until tomorrow, Mr. Lucian," I smiled politely at him.

A ghost of something that might've been a smile, flickered across his face, "until tomorrow, Ms. Valerie." The door closed, the sound resonating through the entire front hall. Silence engulfed us, as Irvin and I stood at the window, watching the two carriages rumble down the pathway. "I'm happy you came to dinner," Irvin grumbled, "albeit late, but you came." I sighed, "I was angry. There are secrets being kept from me about my own past. How is that fair?" "There are things I cannot tell you yet," he turned away from the window, "but, be assured you will know them, in time. Whether you want to, or not."

With that, Irvin disappeared down another hallway, leaving me by myself. I didn't know what he meant when he said I may not want to know what was being kept from me. If it would feel in the empty holes in my past, I would always want to know.