“The doctor is in the hallway since it is time for your bloodletting,” Fredrick revealed.
Her mother reached for Fredrick’s hand. “Will you stay with me?” she asked in a hopeful tone. “I hate bloodletting.”
“I would be happy to,” Fredrick replied as he went to sit down.
Octavia wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to Harred so she asked, “Would you care to have a tour of the gardens?”
“I would enjoy that greatly but are you not worried that Freddy will torment you?” Harred asked. “I have heard the stories.”
“Yes, but I am hopeful Freddy will leave me alone when I am with you,” Octavia said.
Harred offered his arm. “I will gladly be your protector from a ferocious peacock,” he responded with a teasing lilt in his voice.
While they walked to the door, Fredrick’s voice brokethrough the silence. “I will be down shortly to join you on the tour.”
“Wonderful,” Octavia said, unsure of how she felt about that. She always welcomed spending time with Fredrick, but she was rather eager to speak to Harred alone. It didn’t happen very often, and she cherished those moments.
Once they walked down the corridor, Harred acknowledged, “Your poor mother. I do believe she is trying her best to remember.”
“I believe so, as well,” Octavia responded. “I just wish I could snap my fingers and bring my old mother back to life.”
“If only life worked that way.”
With a curious glance, she asked, “How did you handle losing both parents at once?”
“Not well,” he admitted. “It is a daily struggle and I don’t always come out the victor. I just wish I could have told them how much they meant to me before the carriage accident.”
“I am sure they knew,” she attempted.
Harred didn’t look convinced, despite her best effort. “I am not sure if that is true or not,” he said. “Even then, I was so busy trying to live up to my father’s expectations of me.”
“What did he expect of you?”
“Perfection,” Harred quickly replied.
Octavia cocked her head. “Was that his expectation for you or your expectation for yourself?” she asked.
Harred shrugged his shoulders. “Does it matter?” he asked. “My father was a force to be reckoned with and I am…” His voice trailed off. “I am nothing like him.”
“That can’t be true,” Octavia said. “I find you to be exemplary.”
He grinned, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I see that I have you fooled.”
Octavia acknowledged the footman that held the door open with a tip of her head before they stepped out onto the veranda. Once they were outside, she stopped and turned toface Harred. “Why is it that you do not see yourself for who you truly are?”
“And who is that?” Harred asked, the grin slipping from his face.
“You may not be your father, but there was already one of him. You are your own person, and you can make a difference in your own way,” Octavia said.
Harred’s shoulders drooped, burdened by the weight of his troubles, as if the accumulated load had become too much for him to carry. “I am responsible for so many livelihoods and I’m afraid to let them down.”
“Then don’t,” she encouraged.
“It isn’t that simple,” he said.
She nodded. “I may not know everything about you, but I know you are capable of great things. You just have to convince yourself of that.”
Harred’s gaze left hers and she could see the doubt in his eyes. It was the same doubt that she recognized in herself.
