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Archie had only managed to rid himself of his hat and gloves and hand them to a footman before he heard determined footsteps coming in his direction. By their softness, he could tell that they were that of a woman. He prayed to God that it was neither his wife nor his mother. Not Cecilia because he had no idea how he should act around her with the news that he had just received, and not his mother because she would be able to sense his distress immediately and not cease harassing him until she had received a satisfactory answer.
He almost sighed with relief when Hester entered the entrance hall as he handed his overcoat to the footman. Even though Hester’s strides were fairly determined, there was no reason that it was him that she was walking towards. Hope was shattered a moment later when she exclaimed:
“There you are! I have been waiting for your return all day.”
Archie thanked the footman and walked the last paces towards her. He had no time to time to speak before she took hold of his upper arm and started dragging him towards the stairs.
This was just what he needed, being dragged on an errand by Hester after the day he had just had. At breakfast, he had received a letter from Lavinia stating that she was staying in the inn in the village and that she needed to speak to him immediately. Out of fear that she would come to Great Farleigh Hall, he had departed immediately, annoyed that he had to tell her in person that their dalliance was over.
“You need to go see Cecilia immediately. She has been in her room since this morning.” Hester had to pause to catch her breath as they were making their way up the stairs. “Mother checked on her and she said that she was fine. But she cannot be.”
Archie willingly let Hester steer him in the direction of his room since it was where he was going anyway. He needed a bath and to change for dinner.
“Is she unwell?” he finally had the sense to ask.
“No, it’s...” Hester halted in her tracks and bit her lip as she looked up and down the deserted hallway. “I accidentally disclosed to her that Flint only chose her because... well, because he would not be devastated if she died.”
Archie looked at his sister incomprehensibly for several heartbeats as his mind was flooded with questions. First of all, why would Hester even say such a thing to Cecilia? It was not something that came up in a normal conversation. Then: How could Flint be so blind, so morosely stupid that he thought Cecilia was a safe choice? Someone that he could have a companionable marriage of convenience with without the risk of having his feelings hurt. Archie knew that Flint loved Hester, and he appreciated that greatly, but the man had to be both dumb and blind if he was not able to see what an incredible person Cecilia was.
“I’m not even going to ask how that came up in a conversation,” Archie drawled and could not hide his anger completely. Hester’s head reared back a little as if she wanted to take a step back but did not allow herself to do so. “I will go see her immediately.”
“Thank you,” Hester exhaled and closed her eyes for a moment. Archie could tell how much she regretted her words in whatever form they had come.
“You owe her an apology,” he began. Hester nodded eagerly, a relieved smile playing on her lips. “I’ll see you at dinner.”
He turned on his heel and walked the rest of the way to his room on his own while trying to think of a way to console Cecilia. He understood that Hester’s words could be unsettling to her, although it was also a mental punch to the gut that Cecilia would hide in her room all day because of a matter that Flint had done. Archie had thought she was not in love with him, but the fact that he had probably been wrong tasted bitter in his mouth.
He entered his own room first and walked a couple of rounds in there while trying to compose himself. What would he say if he was merely Cecilia’s friend and not her husband? After deciding that it was probably best to keep his distance once again, he made his way through their shared dressing room and gently knocked on the door. Cecilia bid him enter a moment later.
For some reason, Archie had assumed that she would be in bed. Probably crying or at least with clear evidence on her face that she had been. He was momentarily stunned when he found her sitting in one of the chairs by the fire. She rose as he entered and seemed to look a little flushed.
“Hester told me what she had said to you,” Archie began, hoping that she would not break down and declare her undying love for Flint to him.
“Yes, well, that was not pleasant,” Cecilia muttered. She hid her hands behind her back and put her weight on one foot as the other drew a little half circle on the carpet in front of her. For a moment she seemed much younger than her one and twenty years.
“I understand why you are upset,” Archie said and tried not to grit his teeth.
“You do?” Cecilia looked up at him now, her eyes wide.
Archie nodded and gulped as he tried to think of a thing to say. He wanted to take her into his arms and promise her that everything was going to be okay, but of course, he could not.
The news Lavinia had shared with him would shock Cecilia and Archie had no idea how to break it to her. But he knew as much as this was certainly not the time.
“I’m very sorry about Flint’s reason to become engaged to you."
Cecilia stared at him for a moment. Her gaze was so intense as if she was a tailor trying to take his measurements simply by looking at him.
“Yes, well, that was unpleasant,” she repeated without looking at him and Archie had the feeling that he had misunderstood something.
“Will you be alright to go down to dinner?” he asked to plant them on safe ground again.
She nodded and even smiled a little. Archie smiled as well and returned to his own room. No, now was definitely not a good time to tell her.
***
That morning Archie had been shown to a private parlor when he arrived at the inn. It was not unlike the parlor he and Cecilia had shared in another inn further away, but this time he held no friendly feelings towards the woman he was going to be sharing it with.
Lavinia was fun and beautiful with dark brown hair and a figure with a generous bottom and bosom. She was adventurous both in life in general and in the bedroom, which Archie had certainly enjoyed in the months their affair had lasted. Her adventurousness was also what had landed them in the theater manager’s office that fateful night.
Even if he had not married Cecilia, he would not have sought her out again after he returned to London, however. There had been a calculation in her eyes as she had led him through the hallways to the theater manager’s office. A calculation he had chosen to ignore but one that he had later thought was her wanting to show off for the theater manager. Archie would not be surprised if he learned that she shared the theater manager’s bed now.
He paced the floor restlessly as he waited for Lavinia to arrive. He had left without telling Cecilia, which did not sit well with him. It felt as if a small, sharp stone had lodged itself under his ribs. Despite what she had told him last night, he could not help but want to convince her that she should give him a chance again. Give them a chance again.
If he could persuade her to share his bed and that would somehow miraculously bring the fun, caring, and charming woman back that he had met before their wedding day, that might very well prove to be as close to the perfect marriage as he had ever thought he could come.
Archie turned from the window as the door was opened behind him. He had expected Lavinia to be clad in a lavish dress with her hair up and jewelry glinting from both her ears and neck. As it was, her dark brown hair was arranged in a non-descript chignon at her nape, she was wearing a modest gown of deep purple, her decolletage hidden by the high neckline, and she wore no jewelry.
“Finally,” she breathed as she closed the door. “How many times do I have to tell you that I need to speak to you?”
Archie assumed that was a rhetorical question and did not answer it.
“What do you want?” he demanded.
Since she had not gone for niceties then neither would he. She pursed her lips and walked to stand beside him by the window without replying. Her heavy perfume which smelled of some kind of hothouse flower wafted towards him, and he took a step back without thinking. If this was her way to lure him back into her bed, she would not succeed.
“I assume you want more money.” He tried to keep his voice neutral and even.
“No, well, in a way I suppose,” Lavinia told him and turned to face him instead of the window. Archie frowned at her mysterious utterance, but he had no time to question it. “I need your help above anything else.”
She turned fully towards him.
“I’m expecting, Archie,” she said and smoothed her dress over her stomach. There was a slight bump that he knew she would never have tolerated otherwise.
Archie felt himself tumble several steps back and when he felt a chair behind him, he blindly swung it around and sat down. A child. Of course, she was expecting. If it had simply been about money, she could have received it from his man of business.
Truth be told it was only dumb luck that he had not fathered a bastard until now. As a youth, he had not been careful about avoiding pregnancies or diseases but left that entirely to the women he was with. When Gregory had started studying medicine and had told him about the many, many different kinds of venereal diseases one could contract (of course in a detailed and fascinated description by a doctor), Archie had begun to protect himself against those by using a sheaf. But nothing was one hundred percent safe.
“How much money do you need?” he muttered, as he rubbed his eyes.
His parents would be thoroughly disappointed with him if this became public knowledge. And Cecilia! The small sharp stone he had felt behind his ribcage earlier seemed to grow to the point where he had trouble breathing. If she learned about this now, nothing would ever be right between them. She would most likely leave him to set up her own household far away from him.
“I told you, it’s not money I’m after. I need your help. I want to place the child in a good family that will take care of it as if it were their own,” Lavinia said.
This made Archie open his eyes and look at her. The astonishment had to be evident on his face because she said with a defiant voice and arms crossed:
“What? Just because I do not wish to keep the child, I still wish for it to be well taken care of.”
Archie supposed that it was right. Although he was surprised that she had kept the child. Some doctors were willing to help women get rid of an unwanted child for the right amount of money. When he asked her, she scoffed at the question.
“One of the other actresses did that last year. The doctor completely ruined everything down there,” she made a gesture to the area between her legs. “Now she can’t be with a man without going through excruciating pain. I’m not doing that.”
Archie could only nod. That did seem a plausible answer.
“How far along are you?” he demanded since they might as well have some facts straight. “How do I even know that this is my child?”
Lavinia sent him a condescending look.
“Between rehearsals and being in your bed practically every night all summer, I have not had time – nor the need – for any other lovers. As far as how far along, I expect about four months. It has to have happened that time backstage.”
Archie felt his lips thin into a line as he clearly remembered the time in question. They had been together backstage after the show had ended, hidden in a dark corner among the set pieces. Since they had been together both before the show and during intermission he had run out of sheaths, and they had taken a chance. Which in hindsight of course was a huge mistake.
His mouth filled with a sour taste at the thought that he had wanted her thrice in one night and even enough to risk both pregnancy and diseases. It seemed unnatural for him now to want anyone but Cecilia.
“Fine, so you will need a family to take the baby in seven months?” he asked as he was already trying to work out where to place the baby.
“No, sooner. I have to leave London as soon as it starts to show. I don’t want anyone to know about the child. I was hoping you could find a family where they would be willing to pretend that the child is theirs. If they live remotely and I go to live close by, they will be able to have the child as soon as it’s born. That way it will appear to be their child and it will not have to be illegitimate.”
Archie looked at her with an open mouth and wide eyes. This was probably the most sensible thing he had ever heard her say. He had not thought of illegitimacy, but of course, if they were able to make it appear as if the child was born to a married couple, that would be ideal. The child. For the first time during this conversation, he thought of the child as someone who would be a living, breathing person.
“It will be more difficult to find such a family. But I will do my best to find one,” Archie mumbled.
He assumed that the family would want money. He should be able to pay enough, otherwise, he would have to ask someone for a loan. Perhaps he could borrow the money from Henry; that way he would not have to ask his father and disappoint him yet again.
“Thank you,” Lavinia breathed, her shoulders slumped, and Archie realized that she had been nervous.
They agreed that he would come back the next day to speak to her. Lavinia was needed back in London in five days, which would give them some time to plan this. From the inn, Archie rode to the vicarage. The vicar, Mr. Ingram, was a friend of his brother-in-law Edmund Winterbottom. He had been granted the vicarage by Archie’s father and was always very friendly towards his family. It was him that had married Archie and Cecilia at Great Farleigh Hall only three weeks ago.
A couple of hours later, he left the vicarage with a better understanding of how these matters worked. Ingram had been sympathetic towards Archie’s “friend” who found himself in this predicament and had not been as judgmental as Archie had feared.
Afterward, he journeyed to Farleigh Cottage to go through the ledgers of his tenants. He would prefer that the child was not living close to the cottage, since it would make it more likely that Cecilia learned about it, but it was an obvious place to start. Payments would be easy as would making sure that the child’s true identity was not known.
He found several tenants with wives of childbearing age and started sorting through them. He wanted one where they did not have too many children of their own. If they had another child, it would only be a burden. He also needed a family that would want to make it seem that the child was their own. That would mean someone who was not too devout. And then a family that would hopefully treat the child as if it was their own. He ended up choosing three families that he would talk to his steward about the next day.