Clandestine: A Story of Three Sisters

Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen- Secrets

While Jed and Madison were falling over each other in the basement, Charlotte had opened her bedroom window upstairs and was feeling the rain trickle through and onto her skin. The feeling was cool and refreshing, tingling her senses awake after they'd been so long dulled. It was as if the breath of fresh air set her mind on track again, and thoughts formed clearly in her mind one after another.

She knew Will had been innocent. Absolutely innocent. He hadn't had an obsession with Abby, clearly, because he'd been in love with Charlotte.

Which could only mean he'd taken the blame when someone else had actually done the crime.

Who?

One of the last things Will told Charlotte was to figure out who actually killed Abby. This is the most important thing, he'd said.

But Charlotte didn't have any leads. Who could've done it? Everyone loved Abby. Whoever she met, she touched their hearts instantly. The family, the townsfolk, the neighbors, servants, farm-workers...

Jed. Even Jed had seemed to be captivated by the youngest Clandestine. They used to stare at each other, disappear at the same time. Maybe they thought no one noticed, and maybe no one had at the time, but now that Charlotte thought of it, she was sure something was happening there.

So... so what if Jed had had an affair with Abby? But that would mean he definitely did not have motive to kill her, right? If he liked... even maybe loved... her, then he definitely couldn't kill her. Unless...

He had been in love with Abby, but engaged to Charlotte. Maybe Abby wanted more, kept demanding him to tell Pop and Momma about them so that he could marry her instead. Maybe she demanded too much too quickly and the pressure got to him. He just snapped, and Abby ended up...

Charlotte was pacing in front of the window now, and the rain coming had almost completely drenched her. It all made sense in a way. He was the one who conveniently blamed Will for it all, as well. It all fit.

The door to the bedroom opened slowly and Jed himself stepped through. When he entered, he and Charlotte both stood stock still and just stared at each other for one long, silent moment.

"You should close the window," he finally mumbled out. "You're all wet. And the carpet will start to smell if it doesn't dry soon." Then Jed went to a cupboard where he kept his bags and started looking for some of his father's papers.

Charlotte slowly turned around and closed the window, her heart thumping loudly against her rib cage. If Jed was the one who did it, she was standing in a room with a murderer. All of her senses were heightened, and she felt aware of every little thing around her.

She turned back around and leaned her back against the window, as if she could press herself as far away from him as possible.

Jed rifled through his bags haphazardly. He had known what papers he needed when he first walked in, but now he couldn't remember. His mind was jumbled up, and he felt something pierce through his chest. "Guilt," he whispered to himself.

"What?" Charlotte demanded, her voice too high.

"Nothing, just mumbling to myself." Jed quickly responded, not meeting her eyes. He'd now had two affairs outside of his relation with Charlotte, and both had been with her two sisters. He quickly grabbed a small pile of random pages and closed the cupboard. He couldn't be in the room with her anymore. "I'll see you at supper," he said without looking at her, making his way quickly out of the room.

Charlotte knew he'd said guilt. Why did he say it? He was feeling guilty?

Pieces were slowly falling together, and it began to frighten her to her core.

***

Another week went by in which Charlotte rarely left her room. She couldn't stand to be in the same room as Jed, a man she'd already hated before, and now a man she thought could've killed her sister.

Meanwhile, Jed had indeed felt guilty about what had happened with Madison... but it did not stop them from doing it again.

Every day, she would come down to his office, he would bend her over the desk, and they would become wrapped up in an animalistic passion, pure and raw. For Jed, it was a release of tension. It was also a way he could pretend to be with Abby again. Madison's hair was almost like Abby's, and so when he didn't have to see her face, he could pretend all he liked. For Madison, it was a different need. She had felt utterly guilty after the first time and spent that night crying in her room. But she couldn't help how it had made her feel. Finally, she'd found a safe haven, someone's arms that could make her forget her misery and loneliness. She began to crave being with Jed, because in those passionate moments, she could forget everything that made her feel empty and simply give in to her instincts.

Jed knew she felt that way; he could just tell. Women viewed lovemaking in a more emotional way than men did. He could thrust himself into her and then completely forget about her in a moment. She had felt him inside her, and now could only feel comfort in those moments. He knew it was wrong, almost dangerous, to keep going on with her, because of how it could end up making her feel, but he needed it as well.

And so they found themselves in the same position again for about the sixth time, Jed above Madison, both of them trying with all their might to hold any grunts and groans inside, or at least keep it quiet. They didn't know how well sound traveled from the office to the upper floors, and they didn't want to find out.

Once Jed finished, he did his trousers up again and brushed his hair back from his forehead, wiping sweat away. Madison slowly stood up and patted her skirts, then fixed her sleeves and hair and whatnot. She quietly leaned against the desk, looking down to the floor and sighing almost silently.

"It's a mistake," she said quietly. "And yet we keep repeating it. Why?"

Jed was uncomfortable with the question, but he had to answer it in a way so she knew he only did it to fill his physical needs. "Ever since my wedding night, I hadn't been intimate. Charlotte and I... well, you know we don't get along. So the two of us are just answering our bodies' requests. They are basic needs we must quench."

"But I had never been intimate until our first time," Madison looked up. "So how would I know to... fill a need?"

"It's just instincts... Biological..." Jed mumbled, mostly to himself. In the next second, before he knew it, Madison jumped forward and hugged him.

"I don't know about instincts, but I know one thing," she said, her head tucked under his chin. "I feel safe with you. I haven't felt this way since..."

Of course, Jed understood. He didn't feel "safe" with Madison, perhaps, but like her he hadn't felt right since Abby left. So when she said this, he supposed another "instinct" took over, the one that made him reciprocate her hug. He wrapped his arms around her, and even squeezed a little. By giving her comfort, it made him feel a little better too. At least someone could be happy in a house that was built around misery.