Until Forever (Complete)

Chapter Seventeen

A stranger stared back at her.

There was no reconciling the image of the sad, battered and bitter woman with dark circles under her eyes, red nose and a flushed skin, with the once vibrant woman. And to think that all these changes happened within a space of one week.

It had taken only a week for the world that had taken eighteen years to build, to come crashing down.

The revelation of the fact that Gretchen wasn't her real mother, had not only drained Elizabeth psychologically, it had taken a physical toll on her. Her once vibrant skin tone was replaced with a white- ashen tone. Her hair, once black and lush, now fell to her shoulders in a limp mess. Her eyes seemed haunted and devoid of life.

The longer Elizabeth stood staring at the horrendous stranger, the more furious she became. It was all Gretchen's fault! Elizabeth was where she was, a shadow of herself and stuck in a marriage to a man who physically assaulted her, because of Gretchen's deceit.

Elizabeth had every right to be angry with Gretchen! Not only had Gretchen withheld the truth from her all these years, she had lied to her as well! The story of coming to London, being Ethan's maid, falling in love, birthing Elizabeth and finally Samuel, had all been a lie. Both her parents had connived to lie to her and the worst part was, Gretchen hadn't even been willing to tell the truth! It took a stranger to reveal to Elizabeth her true identity.

Who was Elizabeth's real mother and how could she find her?!

Elizabeth knew that the only two people who held the answers to these questions were Ethan and Gretchen and she knew neither of them would be willing to point her in the right direction. If Gretchen had been cruel enough to break a marriage, kidnap a child from her mother and deceive that child her entire life, then Elizabeth knew Gretchen was capable of much worse.

For a brief second, she allowed her gaze to travel the unfamiliar room. This was Frederick's room. Elizabeth didn't want to dwell too much on Frederick's physical abuse the night before but when she did allow herself think about it, she couldn't help but blame it on herself.

Perhaps she pushed Frederick to the wall. She couldn't blame him, it was she who had been so engrossed in her grief, she had failed to realize she was a wife now and there were things expected of her. Her marriage to Frederick might have been born out of her grief, but she needed to pull herself together and be the wife he deserved. If anything, Frederick was now her family and perhaps one day, they would have a family of their own; one built on the truth rather than lies.

When the sun finally came out that morning, Elizabeth had changed from her nightgown into a more comfortable purple gown she assumed was bought by Frederick. She pulled her hair into a braid behind her, dabbed some powder on her face and smeared lipstick on her lips. Her eyelids still bore tired lines but the image that stared back at her was almost an entire world apart from the image she had been a few hours ago.

Straightening, she plastered a smile on her face and made her way out of the room. 

Breakfast that morning was silent. Elizabeth found herself seated in an empty dining room with both the Wellingtons missing. Because this was her first breakfast in the Wellington estate since she arrived- her meals had been taken up to her in her bed chamber for the first few days- she didn't know if missing breakfast was a typical practice.

After breakfast, she decided to give herself a tour of the building.

The Wellington mansion stood worlds apart from the Williams' castle. Unlike the castle which had three floors, the mansion consisted of only two floors. The first floor was alive with servants- however few- working to keep it clean. It possessed two parlors, a study, a library, kitchen and dining area. The second floor was quiet, perhaps extremely quiet with no servant in sight. Elizabeth didn't bother to look into the rooms but she counted the doors that stood shut and they were eight.