Legends From The Highlands: Unwilling Devotion

Part 14

The entire spectacle seemed to last only a few minutes. It had me captivated the entire time and I yearned to see it all again soon. After bidding my farewell to the King and Queen, Prince Edward escorted me back to my carriage.

"I trust you had a good evening?"

"Good? It was one of the best evenings of my life! I really have no words..." I claimed. I could not help the huge smile that took over my face. "My favourite part has to be the duet from Act I. It brought tears to my eyes."

"It is one of my favourites too. And the adagio close to the end is a masterpiece."

We continued walking out of the theatre until we arrived at the carriage that had been sent for me.

"Allow me." the Prince insisted before he opened the door for me. Then he turned to me and gently kissed my hand.

"I had a wonderful time." I said as he helped me up inside.

"I hope we can have more wonderful moments together in the future. Good night Juliana." he said before the carriage door was closed and I was off. I looked behind me through the back window to see his dark silhouette still watching me. I gave him a little wave, knowing he probably would not see it, before turning back in my seat and watching as the carriage rode off into the night.

Arriving back at the house, I was not at all expecting the entire family to be up. It was quite late but nobody seemed tired enough to go to bed. Most of the maids were still roaming the halls of the house and the light streaming out of the parlour indicated that my aunts and cousins had not yet retired either.

"Allow me miss." one of the maids said as she helped me out of my coat. Once she had left me, I walked to the parlour. However, apart from my aunts and mother, I was met by my two uncles and my father who was leaning onto the fireplace with a cigar at the corner of his mouth.

"Papa?" I asked feeling surprised.

"Oh, you have returned my dear!" he said before dumping his cigar in the ash tray on the table.

"Tell us, how was your evening with the prince?" Venetia insisted as she got up from her seat and approached me, with an eager smile on her face.

"It was... lovely."

"Ah, I knew it!" Venetia clapped, her smile widening.

"What happened dear? Tell us everything." Mother asked, as she carefully placed the porcelain cup and saucer back on the table gently.

"We saw the opera as he promised in the letter..." I began but was abruptly cut off by aunt Heather. She was standing tall in the darkest corner of the room, staring disapprovingly out the window as she often did.

"Were the King and Queen present?"

"Aye, they were."

"And do you think they saw you in the Prince's company?"

"I... I am quite sure of it. We sat with them in the royal box during the show." I said cautiously.

The reactions of everyone in the room were a sight to behold. Venetia and my mother were in a state of surprise and happiness, Aunt Lily and my two uncles in a state of unexpected overwhelm, my father seemingly in a state of worry and Aunt Heather had an unfathomable look on her face, one I had never seen her wear before.

Silence reigned over the room, except for the crackling sound coming from the fireplace.

"This is good Juliana." Aunt Heather began, breaking the silence. "No, this is perfect."

"What does it mean then, sister?" mama asked Aunt Heather.

"It means the man is trying to court her." Father boomed, with a scowl on his face.

"It means she holds his favour. This is absolutely perfect." Aunt Heather claimed.

"Absolutely perfect... for you!" Father growled.

"For me? She is your daughter!" Aunt Heather argued.

"Yes, which is exactly why I will not let you use her as your pawn in your plan to salvage your own daughter's reputation!"

"I would never!"

"Of course you would!"

"I cannot believe you would dare accuse my wife of such a thing." Uncle Benjamin, Titania's father, pounced ready to defend his wife.

"You stay out of this!"

"You cannot tell him what to do!"

"Watch how you speak to my husband!"

"You watch your tongue woman!"

By now, I could barely keep track of what was being said with all the noise of people talking simultaneously. Aunt Lily, who was the only one not involved in the argument quickly walked towards me and Venetia abd escorted us out of the room.

"What is the matter Aunt Lily? Did I do something wrong?"

"No dear." she assured me as she placed a hand on my shoulder. "They are just stressed.  Titania's situation is much more grave than they initially thought. "

"Am I allowed to know?"

"I suppose you shall hear the talk of it soon anyway... your father and uncles came down here as soon as they could and while you were at the opera,  they sought out the lord that supposedly slept with Titania. He is a Lord Kilburn, good fortune, but married and expecting his first child from his wife. Even after your father and Uncle Benjamin exerted pressure on him to provide some means of conservation in order to preserve your cousin's honour, the man refused to admit the child was his."

"So there is nothing we can do?" Venetia asked as she huddled closer to me.

"I am afraid our options are very limited. No offer has reached Titania thus far and once news of her pregnancy is out, I highly doubt any one of you will receive one either."Aunt Lily explained.

"What did papa mean by Aunt Heather using me as her pawn?" My question clearly surprised the woman as she pressed a hand to her forehead before saying, "No need to worry about that. Your father would never permit it."