1705. Luck had never been on Eleanora Finley's side. After her father died in a tragic fire, she was left at the mercy of her domineering and abusive mother, being deprived of all love and affection.
Truly, who would have thought that the simple red...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
1715, Lovett Household, The Town of Lynchens
As soon as Eleanora arrived home, she bolted into her bedroom and locked the doors, leaning back against the wooden panels and breathing heavily, tears rolling down her cheeks as she struggled to regain control over her emotions.
She tried hard to stop herself crying, but every sob burst past the barricade which she had erected in her heart, causing more pain to her heart and soul. All of the bottled-up grief and anger that she could not repress rushed forth at once, forcing its way through every fibre of her being.
"Open the door, Nora!" she heard Madame Lovett call out as she desperately knocked on the door, banging and pounding as loudly as she could. She knew that her knocking would do little good, but she persisted anyway, hoping that eventually, Eleanora would give in.
"Not now," Eleanora cried hoarsely. She did not want to talk to her mother, she did not even want to be anywhere near her, let alone talk to her. "Just go away, please!"
Madame Lovett sighed deeply, letting her forehead rest against the wood panel of the door. "I know that you are angry, Nora, but you must listen to what your father and I have to say."
"What could you possibly have to say now?" Eleanora spat bitterly.
"Just open the door, Nora. I will tell you everything, I swear," Madame Lovett begged weakly. "All we want is for you to understand..."
Eleanora hesitated, but eventually, she reached for the door handle. She opened the door slowly, allowing Madame Lovett to enter her room. Then, she wordlessly sat down at the edge of her bed, her expression unreadable. Her gaze was fixated downwards towards the floor as she remained silent, ignoring her mother completely.
"Nora, please just listen to me," Madame Lovett pleaded softly. "The Duke... he did not abandon you, Nora. In fact, he loves you very dearly, more than you know."
"Then where was he these past four years? When I was being tortured to death, where was he?" Eleanora cried out. "He deserted me in my darkest hour when I needed him most, Mother!"
"But he returned for you, Nora. And he cared for you. With the money that we had, the only thing that we could afford was to board at the inn for a week. We could've never afforded to buy this home, Nora, let alone the teahouse."
Eleanora frowned at that. "What do you mean?"
"It was him all along, Nora. After you said that you wanted to settle down somewhere, your father wrote to him, and he gave us this lovely home and the teahouse. He wanted you to live comfortably, but he did not want you to know that it was him who paid for all the expenses. He thought that you still hated him, and he was correct. In spite of all that, he missed you, desperately, so he sent you letters under an anonymous guise, pretending that he was another person."
Eleanora's heart sank. "So, he is my patron?"
"Yes, he is," Madame Lovett confirmed, quietly releasing a sigh of relief after hearing Eleanora's softened tone. Perhaps, now she would be able to accept him. Oh, she could not have been more wrong.
