Authors: Maggie Ryan
“Sit down!” the man ordered, his voice seeming
to thunder in the room, though he spoke softly.
Lucy immediately sank back onto the
settee and lowered her gaze again to the carpet.
She desperately wished a hole would open
in the floor and simply swallow her whole.
She felt the settee shift just a bit as the other woman was pressed down
to sit beside her.
The man strode to the large fireplace to stand
beside the older gentleman and then turned to face the two.
“Lucille, you were put into my care, and
this is how you choose to repay my kindness?
You dare to flagrantly dishonor my name,
and then have the audacity to pull my wife into your disobedience?
I will give you one chance, and one
chance only to explain your actions.”
Lucy opened her mouth to speak, just to close it when words failed
her.
The possibility of the plan
failing had not even occurred to her, and she found she was totally incapable
of making a response.
The room remained silent, the man’s presence
seeming to fill up all the available space.
After several minutes, he continued,
“Very well.
As you seem unable to
speak, I shall summarize:
Though
you knew you had exams this morning and had every opportunity to prepare for
them, you spent the past week in frivolous activities.
Instead of accepting the consequences,
you and Lady Wintercrest regressed to your childhood ploys.
Tell me, whose idea was it for Louisa to
present herself to take the examination in your place?”
Lucy mumbled something too low to be
heard.
“Speak up!”
“Mi… mine, Sir.
I’m so sorry… it was only the
mathematics one, Sir.
I… ” Lucy
said, her voice only rising slightly.
She felt sick to her stomach, as she realized just how ridiculous the
scheme had been.
“Louisa didn’t
want to, but… ”
Her speech was abruptly interrupted by a booming
voice of total authority.
“Nonsense!
It seems that marriage has done nothing
to teach your sister responsibility.
Despite her station as Lady Wintercrest, she remains incapable of making
adult decisions.
Instead of joining
you in this folly, Lady Wintercrest should have immediately informed her
husband of your intentions.
The
fact that you say she didn’t ‘want to’ just reinforces my belief that she
should have remained in this school until she reached her majority despite her
change in status.”
The headmaster spoke harshly, as his finger
pointed accusingly at the two women.
Lord Wintercrest saw both women shrink back against the settee and
couldn’t stop a small smile.
He
wasn’t surprised; after all, he too had attended schools in his youth and been
under the authority of headmasters, himself.
He watched as the women squirmed a bit,
knowing they both had valid reasons for being extremely uncomfortable.
Not only did they have to answer to the
headmaster of the school, both would soon answer to him at home.
He smiled again knowing exactly which
man was capable of causing them the most discomfort.
His mind flew to the possibilities of
their situation for a brief moment, and he then cleared his throat.
In direct contrast to the loud, booming
voice of the headmaster, he spoke very softly, but his every word seemed to thunder
in the small office.
Wanting to
give his wife an opportunity to extract
herself
from
the likely outcome of these proceedings, he softened his voice even more.
“Louisa, my dear, do you have anything to
add?
This isn’t the time to remain
silent if you can defend your actions.
Perhaps you can offer a reasonable explanation.
Tell me, did Lucille force you into this
scheme, little one?”
His wife lifted her eyes to meet his, and saw
that he was indeed offering her a way out of her crime.
She also knew that her sister would take
all the blame, if only Louisa gave her an opportunity.
However, she found herself shaking her
head and lowering her eyes to gaze at the tips of her boots peeking from the
hem of her skirts.
Knowing that
such response telegraphed her guilt, she felt her stomach churn with the sure
knowledge that she wouldn’t remain silent for long.
Suddenly, she felt the need to at least
attempt to mitigate her guilt.
“No… no sir, except that I am so very
sorry.
I… I just wanted to help
Lucy.
She was so frightened and
desperately afraid of failing and….”
“Evidently not frightened enough to study her
lessons,” the headmaster shouted, his finger continuing to stab into the air as
he spoke.
He did not appreciate the
short interruption of his speech, and the offer of leniency from Louisa’s
husband suited him even less.
“This
behavior is unacceptable!
I, as
well as the rest of the faculty, had hoped that your lies and acts of deceit
had ended upon your marriage.
You
would think becoming a…” he paused as he practically snorted, “A ‘Lady,’ under
your husband’s authority would have cured you of this despicable behavior!
You acted like a child, and a very
naughty child at that!”
Edward watched the young woman draw even deeper
into the settee, her face red with her embarrassment at the accusations.
He both knew the truth of the words, as
well as knowing the poor man who spoke them had no real idea of how close to
home his words had been.
Edward
decided to take the situation back into his own hands.
“Sir, though I acknowledge that the
girls have been disobedient, I see no need to cause my wife further
embarrassment.
After all, she is
Lady Wintercrest, and though I do grant you the authority your position dictates,
I propose you remember that fact.”
The headmaster’s face flushed, recognizing the
validity of the man’s words.
He
wasn’t a stupid man after all; without the upper class of society placing their
daughters into his care, his life would not be nearly as lucrative or as
interesting as it was presently.
He
forced himself to rein in his anger and gave Lord Wintercrest a slight bow.
“Forgive me, Lord Wintercrest.
I find myself simply at my wit’s end,
but I do apologize for any slur I might have suggested.
Believe me, it was not my intention in
the slightest.”
He was grateful to
find Lord Wintercrest give him a small nod in return, and chanced to
continue.
“Lady Wintercrest,
perhaps you can explain to your husband why I find this act so heinous.
How do we even know that it has been
your sister attending classes at all?
This isn’t the first time you’ve switched places, now is it?”
Louisa shook her head, her hands twisting in her
lap.
“No sir, but
never
for this reason.
The… the other times were just for…
” Her head hung lower as she dug the hole she and her sister were in a
bit deeper.
“Pray continue, Louisa,” she heard her husband
command.
“Enlighten me of your past
escapades, if you will.”
Louisa felt her sister’s grip on her hand
increase, as if warning her.
Louisa, however, had learned she must respond truthfully to her husband,
or face consequences she couldn’t bear to think about – especially at
this moment.
She swallowed hard and
answered, “We took each other’s place before, but I swear it was only for a
lark.
No one was wiser and, oh
please, Sir, it was only for a bit of fun.”
She dared to raise her eyes to her
husband’s, and saw at once that any mercy he might have been thinking of
extending was quickly disappearing.
Desperate, her voice rose a bit as she pleaded, “Please, Headmaster
Thorne, I swear, this is the first time since I left the school.
You must believe me.
I
ask.…”
“The only thing you should be asking for is
mercy!” Headmaster Thorne shouted, causing both women to start a bit.
The women unconsciously reached for each
other’s remaining free hand, and as Lucy clasped her sister’s, she realized
exactly what had caused their discovery.
Edward Wintercrest saw her mouth drop into a
small ‘O’ and grinned.
He wondered
how they could possibly have missed the glaring detail.
He couldn’t stop himself from pointing
out their mistake.
“Though I’m sure
there will never be another occurrence of this fiasco, you would both be wise
to make sure that every aspect of your appearances match.
I can just imagine the surprise
Professor Lloyds experienced when he saw the evidence of marriage without any
prior announcement or posting of the banns.
Don’t you agree, Lucille?”
Edward watched as his sister-in-law
raised her eyes to his, her face flushing with her embarrassment.
Lucy had immediately seen the small gold band on
her sister’s ring finger and couldn’t believe that neither she nor Louisa had
thought about removing the one obvious adornment that they didn’t share.
She felt Louisa squeeze her fingers as
if trying to give her strength.
“Yes
sir, I’m so sorry Edward.
Please, I
know I deserve to be punished, but I beg you to forgive Louisa.
I swear she wasn’t party to
this.…”
“But she obviously was, Lucille.
After all, you are both sitting there,
as identical as twins can be in your school uniforms.
Identical except for one
small detail that caught you both in your transgression.
I have heard enough.
You are both guilty and both deserve to
be punished.”
Having made his
decision, Lord Wintercrest turned to speak with the headmaster.
“Sir, I thank you for your concern, and
appreciate the quickness with which you informed me of this.
Please, proceed with the normal
discipline, and rest assured, I also will be delivering a much sterner lesson
when we return home.”
Louisa gasped
at her husband’s words.
Though she
had known this was to be the likely outcome once the charade had been
discovered, she had still harbored hope that her husband would find the
escapade foolish but forgivable.
She watched as her husband took a few steps forward to seat
himself
in a large armchair as if he intended to enjoy a
casual conversation with the headmaster.
She wanted to beg him to be merciful, to escort them home and to
administer any punishment in privacy.
It appeared that her desires, however, had no bearing on what would
occur.
“Though I appreciate your confidence in myself,
as well as the rules of this institution, Lord Wintercrest, I must address the
fact that your wife is no longer a student here.
I do not have the authority to
administer her punishment.”
Edward saw his wife relax slightly, and knew she
was desperately glad to hear those words.
He relished the fact that she would discover she had relaxed far too
soon.
“I disagree, Sir.
Though, as you noted, my wife is now Lady
Wintercrest, it has become obvious that she chose to divest herself of her
title with this escapade.
No one
forced my wife; no, she chose to sneak into your school to become your student
once again.
She attended class and
took an exam she knew was meant for Lucille.
Her actions have given validity to my
belief that our little Louisa indeed misses her carefree days as a young girl
with nothing more to deal with than simple studies.”
Louisa’s eyes shut tightly as her husband
continued to speak.
Her face
flushed, and she knew
his words were heard as one thing by
the headmaster
, and yet she also knew his words meant something entirely
different to her.
She was
embarrassed by what Headmaster Thorne must be thinking.
Her husband was telling him that she was
obviously not able to behave as either an adult or a proper wife to the
respected Lord Wintercrest.
She
chanced to glance over at the headmaster, and saw the puzzled look in his eyes,
as well as a smirk upon his lips, as he watched her squirm on the settee.
Louisa dropped her eyes and wished with
all her heart that she had stayed at home, where she belonged.
Edward watched his wife try to steady
herself and knew she was dreading what was to come; both here in this office as
well as when he had her in the privacy of their bedroom at home.