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“Yes,” Joseph replied, breathing heavily. That rage was still inside of him, like a bull seeing red, and it was hard trying to control it. “I’ll be fine.”
It was Oliver’s turn to speak. “You will tell me what happened,” he ordered Seth, who was inhaling deeply, his body refusing to forget how he had almost been strangled, “and you will tell me now.”
“All… right…” Seth nodded, coughing a little, then clearing his throat which he was still pressing with his open palm. “I… I waited until I was sure you were on the staircase, coming up. I planned on kissing her just in time for you to see us but still allowing me time to run away. You saw me from the back and assumed it was Joseph.”
Joseph snarled at his cousin again. This time, he was the wildebeest who refused to remain locked up in its cage. This man kissed Bridget. He wanted to harm her. To ruin her. That alone was enough for Joseph to force him to eat all of his teeth. Oliver’s hand was the only thing keeping him grounded, preventing him from doing something he might regret later on.
“Why did you do this?” Oliver demanded in a strict tone. Seth knew he had to tell the truth, otherwise he would not leave this room in one piece. That much was obvious to all the parties present.
“I…” He coughed again. When he removed his hand, Joseph could see the imprints of his own hands on Seth’s throat. The force with which he grabbed his cousin was far greater than he himself thought. He had completely lost control.
“If you thought that Joseph had compromised your sister, you would never let him see her again,” Seth admitted the real reason behind his plan. “I knew that was the only way to prevent the marriage from happening.”
“What if either me or Joseph died during a duel for my sister’s honour?” Oliver asked, incredulous.
“That did not matter,” Seth shrugged. “All that mattered was for me to inherit the title. Joseph’s death would even expedite the process, and your sister was a mere casualty in the process.”
“You were ready to ruin my sister over the dukedom?” Oliver was incredulous. “I ought to make you eat those words, but men like you learn nothing through violence. It would be merely wasted on you, for it could never change a selfish rat like yourself.”
“Oliver is right,” Joseph nodded, feeling his characteristic calm return to his blood flow. The wildebeest was gone, back in its cage, but still ready to emerge if need be. “My family and I have been helping you financially for years. And this is how you repay me? By stabbing me in the back?”
Seth looked down, robbed of the ability to speak. It was for the better. Joseph could not possibly imagine his cousin saying anything that might excuse him. Apologies served no purpose. Only true punishment.
“From this day on, we are no longer family,” Joseph announced, meaning every single word that passed through his lips. “I never want to see any of you again. If you pass me on the street, make sure to cross it. If you see me at a ball, do not dare even nod at me. But in all honesty, I doubt that you and your family would even be invited to any social events after I spread the word of what you have done to me.”
He walked over to the writing desk, but he made sure to remain on the other end this time. His lowered his hands to it, leaning only a bit forward, hanging like the sword of Damocles over Seth’s head.
“You will become pariahs. You have sentenced your family to this. You and you alone. Your father is a coward. We all know he would never have acted upon this, even if he did feel resentment. But you… you have proven yourself worthy of scorn.”
With those words, he turned around and left the room. He strode back to his carriage, listening to the sound of Oliver’s steps behind him. Once the door of the carriage closed behind them, he could finally exhale with relief.
“I wanted to punch his teeth in,” Oliver frowned, as the carriage started to rock comfortably.
“Would it have made you feel better?” Joseph wondered.
Oliver shrugged. “I suppose not.”
“We got him to confess. That was what we came for. You have my solemn word that his family shall become outcasts in the entire city of London. No one shall invite them; no one shall have them for tea. Their reputation is ruined as of this moment.”
“What about Bridget’s?” Oliver sounded worried, not a single trace of that wild beast left in him. He was now just what he had always been: a loving brother.
“That is exactly what I wish to discuss with you,” Joseph replied, reclining back in his seat comfortably. The moment had finally come, and he would not squander it.
“You do?” Oliver wondered, confused.
“Invite me for tea, old chap,” Joseph grinned. “I do not remember the last time I visited your family.”
Chapter 26
The moment Oliver opened the door to the drawing room where Bridget and Sarah sat reading a book, Bridget could tell something was about to happen, something monumental. She could sense it in the way he did not speak at first. He was silent, just standing there in the doorway as if he hesitated to come inside. At first, she thought he was alone. She had no reason to believe otherwise.
She got up instantly, leaving Sarah’s side, walking over to him, her stride confident and assured. This was her home where she felt comfortable being herself. Every inch of this place was known. A part of her yearned to remain here forever, yet another part kept telling her that she belonged somewhere else, that venturing into the unknown was not such a scary endeavor, not as long as one had a good companion.
“How did it go?” she inquired, her hand reaching out for him, but the moment she touched an arm, she could tell it was not her brother’s. She pulled away instantly as if burned.
“I purposefully refrained from wearing my cologne today,” she heard Joseph say. Was he testing her? She could tell there was something different upon her brother’s arrival, yet she could not pinpoint exactly what. Now she knew. He was smiling. She was smiling, too. “I think that is one way how you can always tell it is me.”
“You finally figured it out, I see,” she chuckled a little nervously, remembering his words that they would talk soon. Had the time come finally? How she yearned to hear what he had to tell her, for she had many things to tellhim.Only, she feared saying them first.
