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The words made Ophelia reach for the nearest seat. She grasped at an armchair, yet somehow slumped into the stool in front of the chair, instead of the larger seat.
“Now you understand why I have come to you, Your Grace. He intimated that someday, you two might not be wed anymore.”
“An annulment,” Ophelia whispered, horrified at the idea. She loved Elliot. She had been so happily married to him that she didn’t want it to end, but this changed everything. He plainly did not love her to father a child with another woman, did he?
“If you were gone, then he would acknowledge my child.” Celeste was now serious in manner. “I hope you will consider what I have said carefully, Your Grace. I come here not for my sake, but for my child’s. If your marriage were over, then the child would be acknowledged for who they are. They will have a good upbringing, rather than one in the lodgings behind the back of a theatre.”
“Please, no more,” Ophelia begged, lifting a hand. “I understand what you are asking of me.” She waved the hand at Celeste, pleading with her to go. “Leave me be. Allow me to think on what you have said.”
Celeste curtsied. Then she left the room, so swiftly that she was gone in just one blink.
Ophelia felt something curdle in her stomach, so distraught at the news that she was in danger of being sick. Lifting a hand to her lips, she ran from the room, pushing past Mrs Mouser in the hallway even as the older woman called after her, asking if she was well. She ignored her as she ran to her chamber, stunned she managed to get there in time to find a chamber pot where she emptied the contents of her stomach.
Elliot is to be a father. There will be a child in his world, but it will not be my own.
Her mind ran mad with imaginings. She thought of a poor child being raised in a lodging house, the child of a duke that could be better cared for. The child deserved that care, deserved that love.
If I leave, then Elliot has said he will acknowledge the child.
It was prompting Ophelia to think of a new future, one where she did not stay in this house but lived apart from Elliot. It would hurt, beyond what she thought she could bear, but her pain was surely worth the happiness of a child out there.
Yet there was another worry in her mind, one that made her fearful to face Elliot again.
“Could I stay with him now?” she whispered aloud, lifting her head from the chamber pot. “When he has fathered a child with another woman, could I bear to stay?”
She knew the answer instantly.
***
“Elliot, I do not understand what is going on. Please, please tell me what Ophelia said is a lie.”
Grace’s question left Elliot flummoxed. He was standing in the hall of his house to find his sister in tears, clutching a letter in her hands.
“What is going on, Grace?” Elliot asked, reaching for her. “What has happened? Is everything well?”
“No, everything is not well.” Grace shrugged his hands off her, angrily. “A woman came to see Ophelia today. A woman who called herself Celeste.”
Curses escaped Elliot in an instant. He turned on the spot and thrust his hands into his hair. All day he had been at Harrison’s, pleading for his help and advice in what to do about Celeste. He didn’t think for one minute that Celeste would be conniving enough to come see Ophelia herself.
“You should read her letter. Ophelia’s letter. She left this for you.” Grace was sniffing through her tears as she passed a letter to Elliot. He snatched it from her, breaking open the red wax seal, finding the words were not only written in a rush, but tear-stained, with the ink blurring in places.
My dearest Elliot,
Celeste came to see me today. By now, I do not doubt Grace has told you this. You should know that Celeste has told me the secret you hold close. She carries your child.
She also made it plain that whilst you are married to me, you would not acknowledge the child as your own. How can I stay in your home when I know you would be discarding a helpless child because of me? I cannot bear it!
I have gone. Pray, do not try to find me. This is hard enough to endure as it is. Seeing you would only hurt me more.
I cannot describe the pain I have felt today discovering this news. I have become so devoted to you, Elliot. To know that it was not a feeling that could ever be returned hurts more than I can say. Yet I must accept that my departure is for the best. I cannot stay to suffer such heartbreak repeatedly as I watch you with your mistress, nor will I see you neglect a child.
Goodbye, Elliot. I will miss you.
Ophelia.
“No. No!” Elliot crumpled the letter a little as he looked up. “Grace, tell me it is not true. Tell me Ophelia has not left.”
“She has gone,” Grace said through her tears. “Now you tell me the truth. Did you really father a child with another woman?”
