Almost, Completely His

Chapter 25

Arthur

A huge pillow landed on my face and I groaned when it began hitting me.

I looked up and Frank was standing over me looking irritated.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I groaned.

“I’m hungry.” He said. “And you’re not getting up.”

“Then go eat!”

“No!” He said loudly. “How will that look? I’m a nobody who came with you and now I’m prancing around by myself in this mansion like I’m some type of aristocratic?”

“You got all of that from just going to eat breakfast?”

He hit me once more.

I rubbed my eyes finally getting up. I sat on the bed and took deep breaths. My hair fell over my face and I could feel my eyes sore and tired.

“Here.”

Frank handed me a glass of water.

“Crying much?” He asked.

At first I thought he was teasing but the look in his eyes was sincere. I nodded and he frowned.

“I barley got any sleep.” I confessed. “It’s just…too much. How could they do this to me?”

“Did Charles know? That you and Celeste planned to marry?”

“No! But he was my brother..I thought he’d at least suspect or that Celeste would have told him over the years… or that at least she’d reject his proposal!”

He shook his head. “I don’t know Arthur, this all seems…complicated.”

“Oh really?! I hadn’t noticed.”

Frank narrowed his eyes at me. “I’m saying there’s something that’s missing. It was 5 years Arthur…five years with no contact. There has to be more.”

I wished he was right.

I hoped that I was missing something but I couldn’t think of anything.

I got up and made my way over to the bathroom to bathe.

“I don’t care Frank. The only thing that matters is that the woman I loved, and who claimed to love me back, left me for my brother.”

Celeste

Rachel and I were sitting in the library when the door swung open.

The young man who had arrived with Charles entered with a muffin stuffed in his mouth. His eyes landed on us and he smiled.

“Afternoon ladies.”

“Good afternoon.” We both said.

“I haven’t had the pleasure of introducing myself. I’m Frank, a military friend of Arthur’s.”

My heart thudded, he had been with Arthur all these years.. he was living proof that my Arthur hadn’t been all alone.

I wanted to ask him questions but I noticed his eyes were on Rachel, yet her eyes were down on her embroidery.

He gently coughed and she looked up.

“I must say you look beautiful this afternoon miss.” He gave her a dazzling smile. “Would you be so kind as to accompany for a stroll around the gardens?”

Rachel’s eyes widened. She paled and her mouth dropped open.

And then her nostrils flared with anger.

“No. No I will not.” She snapped.

She slowly rose herself from her chair, gripping the arm rest for support, and then turned to me.

“Excuse me Celeste, but I need a moment alone.”

I was extremely confused by her reaction but I nodded.

I had seen a few men try to flatter her before, and she always dismissed them. But she had never gotten angry.

Rachel slowly made her way past Frank and closed the door. He looked at me confused and I just shrugged.

“What was it like?” I blurted out.

“What was what like?”

“The war. How was it?”

“Well, very unpleasant Miss.”

“Well obviously. But you’re not answering my question.”

His eyebrows shot up but then he smiled.

“I’ll answer your question if you answer mine.”

“No.”

“Then I guess you’ll never know.”

I gritted my teeth as I put my book down. “Fine.”

He walked over and took the seat Rachel had been in.

“You must be Celeste.”

“That’s correct.”

He looked at me carefully then spoke . “A nightmare. That’s the best way I can describe it Celeste. A complete nightmare. Losing friends and companions left and right, and seeing the blood of fellow men along with their limbs scattered everywhere is something I wish I could forget.”

I didn’t say anything. I knew war was ugly, terrifying and painful. But hearing it from Frank hurt more because Arthur saw all of this too.

“My turn.” Frank said.

“Alright.”

“Are you marrying Charles for the money?”

I blinked about five times in shock. “Excuse me??”

“I said, are you marrying Charles for the money? He’s soon to be an Earl, that comes with a lot of perks.”

I stood up, the book falling to the ground. Frank bent down to pick it up and handed it to me.

“How dare you ask me such a thing??”

He shrugged. “You can’t blame me for asking when for years I had been convinced that you were in love and devoted to my best friend. And when I first see you, you’re engaged and on the arm of his brother.”

My jaw dropped.

He had known about me?

“Arthur talked about you nonstop.” He said, his eyes narrowing. “You were the only thing he clung onto through it all.”

He took a step towards me, his eyes angry and voice cold.

“He prayed for you. He prayed every night that he’d survive so he could make it back to you. He talked about you like you were the best thing in the whole damn world.” He took another step, his angry face inches from mine as he towered over me. “I saw the joy in his eyes when we were coming back. All he wanted to do was be with you again. And then it turns out you whored yourself off to his brother!”

I slapped him across the face.

I left a red mark on his cheek and he winced.

Tears burned hot in my eyes.

“I did not w***e myself off to Charles!” I pointed a finger at him. “And I will not let you offend him and his honor in front of me.”

“You defend him with such ease. It would seem your affections for Arthur grew dull so you moved on to the older brother.”

Out of anger I slapped him again.

“My love for Arthur NEVER dulled. I loved him everyday! I dreamt of only him, I thought of only him. I prayed every morning and every night that he’d be safe. That he would come home to me.” The tears were falling now. “I rejected every proposal that came my way and found a way out of any engagements my father and brother planned. I only wanted Arthur! I kept my promise!”

“Then what happened?? You could reject every other man but not Charles??” He spat. “You have no right to Arthur’s heart. I should have convinced him to forget about you and dedicate his time and energy to the women who threw themselves at his feet.”

I rose my hand to slap him again but he caught it. He gripped it tight.

“You don’t deserve happiness.” He said through his teeth. “You betrayed the man that loves you. Even now, his heart beats only for you.”

I held back a sob but the tears kept falling.

He still loved me?? Despite all of this??

I pulled my hand back and glared at Frank.

“I never meant to betray him. I dedicated everyday to waiting for him. I love him- more and more everyday.” I took a step back and wiped my tears. “But I had to do this. I tried telling him, I hoped he’d understand. But I can’t be the one to tell him now.”

“Tell him what?”

I wanted to scream it. I wanted to scream at Frank that I did it all to save Charles from the anger, hate and violence that would have come his way.

I wanted to grab Arthur by the shoulders and yell at him that I loved him. Only him.

That the day I agreed to marry Charles was the day my dreams shattered. And that everything I had done was to protect his brother from the hate of others.

I wanted to tell him the truth! That I loved his brother only as a friend! That my heart still belonged to him and that Charles’s heart belonged to another man- a man who was forced to cut all ties with Charles for their safety.

But it wasn’t my truth to tell..

“Tell him what Celeste?!”

I sniffled but held my head up high.

“That I had no choice… that if I hadn’t done what I did… Arthur would hate me for it too.”