Entrelazado

Lies, glamour, mystery, passion. Welcome to the United Kingdom in 1873; What would high society be without the lineage that supported it? Lineage for which everyone died, and many would die trying. Of course, that was not the case with Victoria Browning, the young brunette who stood at the end of the room, in her ruby ​​red dress, waiting, perhaps, for one of the gentlemen who were looking at her carefully there to ask her to dance. Today was a special day, since it was celebrated that the eldest of the Hamilton sisters returned to the city, and it was rumored, through the mouths of some of the servants, that the trip had such a sudden return that it was due to the approach of a important event. A wedding, perhaps? —Can I have this piece? —young Woodgate approached, saying. —I don't know if it would be wise for a young man who is about to get engaged. —Miss Browning distilled as she received the gesture and they walked to the center of the room. Carlisle begins the first steps, and following these, some couples took their place in the room and began to dance. —How did you find out? —Carlisle asks in Victoria's ear. She smiles stupidly as she looks to her sides, hoping that someone would stop at that gesture and realize that the only couple that should be announced that night was theirs. But it didn't happen. People only understood that Carlisle and Victoria were well known since they were children, since their families were always very close, of course, they would not have imagined what happened between the sheets. "Maids can't be trusted, Carlisle." —he responded. —Perhaps you could even answer me why we slept together yesterday, and today you are about to announce your engagement. "My father has considered that Miss Hamilton would make a good wife for me." —he managed to say. —Of course, because a person like me, the daughter of a widow, was not a good wife for a Woodgate. —Victoria urged. Carlisle gives the young lady one last spin around the room and begins to return her to her place. —You should understand, Victoria. —he whispered to her finally. Victoria smiles quickly, and casts a charming look around her, as if in the last five minutes she hadn't been rejected in the middle of the room. But of course she wouldn't give up, there was nothing worse than a hardened Browning. Meanwhile, going up the stairs, above the living room, were the Hamilton sisters preparing to make their first appearance in front of high society, after almost four years had passed since Gladys Hamilton left for America to study, after her father was exiled due to illness and terminally dead, leaving all his wealth to his wife and his only two daughters. Of course Gladys had returned, and although her heart still did not feel empathy for young Woodgate, she knew that it was her duty as the eldest daughter of the Hamiltons. Her mother had taught her to be an exemplary young lady, and pride of the family. And as such, his responsibilities came first. —Is this Carlisle what they say he is? —Esme, the youngest of the Hamiltons, sighed. Her sister, Gladys, was being combed by the maid Erin, who couldn't help but jump with happiness, as she felt deep inside the news that was coming. Erin was quite the romantic, and of course, she has always wanted the best for the Hamilton family, who had treated her family so well by giving her a job in the service. —From what you hear, he is very handsome. —Erin managed to say as she finished the final touches on Gladys's hairstyle. —I haven't had the pleasure of meeting him. My mother told me that on Friday we will attend an engagement dinner and perhaps talk to the Woodgates a little. Right now I don't think I'll be able to talk much with him because of the engagement announcement. —Gladys said. —That said sister, you are going to marry a Woodgate. —Esme congratulated. Gladys gets up and begins to adjust her dress. —Yes sister, you will too one day. —he says as he extends a hand to her and helps her up. —Come on, we have a dance to attend. Everything seemed to be a normal evening, full of commitments and promises for the future, unions and blessings for the Hamilton and Woodgate families. But something was coming, and it was not revenge on the part of Victoria Browning, what was coming was beyond the understanding of the high aristocracy. What was coming was none other than Howard Collingwood. "Cedric, if you just tell me the last name I need, you could even save your misery that you call existence," suggested young Howard while his butler, a little younger than his age, Heather, brought the edge of a knife to his jugular. blade. "Haven't I told you everything you wanted to know?" I have children, a family! —begged the man tied to the chair, with the blade at his throat, while he watched that executioner with blue eyes and golden hair who was looking for answers. It almost seemed that praying to all the gods he had never believed existed before would save him from the executioner and his butler. —The faster you answer my questions, the faster you will be with your family. Does my butler need more pressure? —he says while giving his butler Heather a knowing look. He presses the knife against the man's jugular, and he begins to sweat. —The Hamiltons! —the man manages to say, almost in the last outbursts of desperation. Heather moves the knife away from her jugular a little, to give her room to continue talking. —That's the name, that's the name you're looking for. —Why are you lying? Hamilton is dead. Or do you perhaps want to blame some women? Is your cowardice and your need to live so great that you have chosen to dirty the hands of three defenseless women? —The knife is pressed again, the pressure returns to the man's body, he, undaunted, feeling that his life was going to go away in a few seconds in the hands of two young men half his age, manages to stammer. —He's not dead. He fled! His family is not aware! —he managed to say. “Heather, let it go,” orders young Howard. Heather moves away a little and puts the knife away. “Do you see that the more you cooperate, the faster you will leave?” Now explain to me why someone would flee, leaving his wife and daughters helpless here. —I was bankrupt. He looked for a much more effective method to avoid being left on the street, to disappear. If he disappeared, the debts he had would disappear. And if he didn't disappear, they would kill him—explained the man, trusting that young Collingwood would not kill him once he had what he was looking for. —And how do I get the count to appear? —Howard asked, sitting cross-legged in front of the tied man. —Do you know how to make the dead man appear? -No. "He's not going to appear," the man managed to say. —Wrong answer. "I'll make him appear." With that, Howard gets up from his chair and begins to head towards the only obvious destination that would solve his problems; To the Hamilton mansion "Kill him, Heather," he finally ordered. Meanwhile, at the Hamilton mansion, the event was beginning to become more interesting, the beautiful Hamilton sisters had come down to the living room, and all eyes were on them. All the young girls wanted to be themselves, blonde, young, and fresh. Far from any vulgar rumor that would then compromise anyone. But not to them. Because the Hamiltons were worthy of being newspaper and front-page headlines. Always so refined, just as they had been raised by their father, the honorable Hamilton, who disappeared at the end of 1869 and was presumed dead in 1870. —But it's my friend Gladys! —Victoria approached saying. Of course she also knew the Hamiltons, in fact, they had been friends before Gladys left to study in America. —But you have become the most beautiful in America. What will the counts be like there? "Victoria, please," she gave a half smile to her old friend while bowing to the other guests. "I don't want you to know what the servants say, but it's rumored that you've only returned to get married..." Victoria whispered through her teeth. "I would like to be able to give you more details, Victoria, but I have to greet the guests," he said finally and vanished into the crowd of dresses that were then surrounding the newly arrived Gladys. Victoria knew she couldn't make Carlisle choose her over Gladys, but she knew she could exert some kind of power, as a friend, over Gladys. The slightest feeling of remorse, so that he would clear the way for his former childhood friend with her lover. Or at least that was what I was looking for. From the crowd, Carlisle is forced to ask what would become his fiancée, Gladys, to dance. "May I have this piece, my lady?" —He extends his hand in an inviting gesture. She responds to the gesture with a bow and they head to the center of the room. Gladys, meanwhile, looks askance at her mother, the only one she has left, looking at her with pride, perhaps that she had a daughter who followed to the letter what she did at her age. "How has America treated her?" —How has the United Kingdom treated you? —Gladys answers. Carlisle gives him a smile of commitment. Gladys thought that he won't understand the joke. After all, she had been gone a long time, perhaps the mood in the UK was different. Or perhaps, they didn't know the mood. —I have heard nothing but wonderful things about you. —Carlisle comments. -I'm wondering the same. —she answered. "I hope we have the opportunity to get to know each other better, Miss Gladys." "We will have it," she answered. "That's what the commitment is for, right?" —he thought to himself. But he couldn't say. They stopped dancing and young Carlisle disappeared into the crowd again. Gladys returned to take her place next to her sister, and to tell the rest of the girls present what American fashion was like. Carlisle needed air, he convinced himself that he deserved a moment of solitude at the party, after having pretended so much. He was wondering many things. Why would he have to get married, why would he have to marry Gladys. Deep down, he never thought about having a partner for life. He just wanted to enjoy his riches, ride, and if he had the chance, maintain his secret relationship with Victoria. Of course I wouldn't admit it. Victoria rambled on about the day and time they would get married. And perhaps that was never going to happen, because of course a Browning was not as well regarded as a Hamilton, even if they were both rich. Carlisle rejected the idea of ​​marrying Victoria, but their relationship had always been that way, and deep down, he enjoyed sleeping on her bare chest while she stroked his hair. No strings attached, that's how Carlisle wanted to live. And right now, Carlisle was going to marry a normal girl, nothing dazzling, for him, the mere image of what everyone wants to be. Carlisle never liked those types of girls, and today he would get engaged to one of them. —Why are you here alone on the balcony, instead of being inside announcing your engagement? —Victoria asks arriving at the scene. He smiles when he hears her. Inside him, Victoria's jealousy gives him tenderness and even grace. —What are you still doing at the party? Doesn't this mean the worst day of your life? —Asks Carlisle, interested in why Victoria, despite the fact that the engagement was inevitable, was still present at the ball. —Dear, you are not the only reason I am here. I also belong to high society. And it's a good party without my presence, right? —Victoria suits you. -You're right. —he smiles —I want to get out of here. Just a moment,” Carlisle manages to say. Victoria understands what it means, and she is happy, because for her there was nothing that made her feel better than the fact of knowing that her man was getting engaged that same night and he was suggesting he disappear with her, even if it was just for a moment. —Let's disappear. "They won't notice us," she says. —They always notice it, Victoria. “You know what this is like,” he replies. Victoria gives him a kiss on the cheek and heads inside. She knows what she's doing. He knows that even if he is Carlisle Woodgate, he would never resist Victoria. Carlisle follows her through the halls of the mansion, looking for a room that would witness a fit of passion before the end. On the other side of the room, surrounded by the interested crowd who only wanted to get information from her, Gladys is stunned by so many faces she doesn't know asking her about her life. She wonders to herself if this is really the right thing to do, but then finds hope as she sees her mother smiling proudly at her. "Wash your face, it's obvious that you're not having a good time," his mother whispers. "In a moment we'll announce your engagement." Find Woodgate, and tell him that his father is looking for him too. But while Gladys searches for Woodgate in the hallways of the mansion, Carlisle finds himself with Victoria on the other side of the mansion, showing their love for each other in the only way they could find in a cleaning room. Gladys sniffs and searches the rooms above the living room but there seems to be nothing. Until suddenly he finds the light on in the bathroom in his room. —Esme? —he asks, approaching the door frame. —It's a nice name, but I'd prefer you call me Howard. —answers a young man with golden hair on the other side of the door. She takes steps back, wanting to return to the living room, because the fact that an unknown man was in the bathroom of her room should not mean anything good to her. But he got nothing, a young dark-haired man with green eyes, the age of his sister Esme, puts a knife around his neck and brings him a knife.