The Lady's Highlands

Part 5

This is because I took so long to update :) Thought I'd update early as a good-will gift :) 

COMMENT!!! :) 

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Scarlette stayed in Lillia’s room all night, shielding her from the world the way she used to when they were younger. She never expected that Lillia be faced with the reality of her situation so soon and she wished she was there for the fall. Apparently Lillia cried enough before Scarlette returned from her adventures in the highlands, for Scarlette had yet to see her younger sister cry. Instead she sat with her head in her hands deep in thought.

“Tell me what happened, Lillia.”

Lillia sighed and finally looked up at her sister, her eyes sad and defeated, “How could I have been such a fool, sister? Why was I not able to see this coming?”

Scarlette deflated and wrapped her arms around herself, “Lillia, please understand that all we ever wanted was ta preserve your purity and innocence. You’re such a happy young lass, and we all just wanted to make sure ya stayed tha’ way for as long as ya could.”

“Did you know?” Lillia’s voice was so soft, so broken, and Scarlette hated it. But she would not lie to her sister.

Scarlette sank to the bed, holding her hands in front of her. Her speech was much more formal, which meant she was not only upset, but trying to tread lightly and diplomatically.

“He propositioned me shortly before your engagement. Since then, I’ve no’ trusted him as far as I can throw him.” At Lillia’s desolate expression Scarlette leaned forward where she sat, “Lillia, ya must understand, I see things differently than ya do. Ya see the good in all ya encounter, but I... I suspect the worst. And tha’s why I saw the bad in the Duke.”

Lillia shook her head, “I do not blame you. It was father who set up the engagement, he must have known. There was nothing you could have done.” She wiped her face with her hands, her expression one of vast lostness, “What do I do? Do I hold him accountable and demand that he never see another woman again? Or should I leave him?” She groaned, “Or perhaps I should just let it go and accept it as an inevitability.”

Scarlette growled and clasped Lillia’s hands in her own, “Whatever ya do is for ya to decide alone. But I’m tellin’ ya Lillia, lettin’ it go is’na gonna help anythin’. You’re worth more than ta be treated like that!”

Lillia’s face crumbled and she began to sob, head bowed over she and her older sister’s clasped hands.

“H-he was with two other women, Scarlette.” Lillia looked up, her deep brown eyes glassy and glistening in the candlelight, “I was not aware that a man could... join with more than one woman at one time.”

Scarlette felt her blood boil. “I am so sorry, Lillia.” Scarlette enunciated every syllable in order to get rid of her low-brow accent. “You deserve a husband who will treat you with the respect you deserve. You deserve a man who will honor and cherish you as the only woman for him, not treat you like you are one of many. If you wish to leave, we will leave the moment the sun rises.”

Lillia nodded and sniffled, then shook her head, “No, I need to speak to him. Perhaps he will change for me. If he does not, we will leave.” She wiped her eyes and stood, making her way over to the window. She wrapped her arms around herself, her shoulders slumped, “But not tonight. I must think.” She placed a fingernail between her teeth, resting her elbow on her other arm which still remained wound around her waist, “So much to think about.”

Scarlette stayed with her. The sun rose and Lillia did not speak. She only cleaned her face and teeth, brushed her hair and changed her clothes before she embraced her elder sister tightly.