Gregory spent two days drinking himself into oblivion, avoiding people and attending only to Apollo.
On the third morning, he woke with a cold splash of water to his face.
Spluttering, he pushed himself up, not sure who he should be expecting to see.
“What the devil is wrong with you?” Margaret bellowed.
Recognizing it was just his sister, he started to lay back down on the settee in the study. He thought he could still smell Mary’s faint cinnamon blend. Tortured, he closed his eyes and tried to inhale shallower breaths. Idiot.
“Don’t make me get another glass of water, Gregory!” Margaret swatted at this shoulder. “I mean it.”
Groaning, he pushed himself up for a second time, this time propping himself up against the back of the settee to prove he intended to stay upright. He rubbed his thumb and index finger outward across his eyes, and leaned back waiting for another female in his family to rant at him.
“Well?”
“You came to me,” he rejoined.
“Well, what do you have to say for yourself?” She violently crossed her arms in front of her chest. Ever since you came back, no one knows what to expect. Mary and I had a fight? Inconceivable! Now she’s back at her house for an indefinite amount of time? It’s unthinkable!”
“Sister, let us talk, but please stop yelling.” He rubbed his head.
“I’m not yelling!”
He rolled his eyes. “What do you want, Margaret?”
“I want Mary back.”
He shrugged.
“Don’t you?”
“No.” Yes.
“Really Gregory? It used to be the four of us having such fun together.”
“It’s not the four of us anymore,” Gregory answered dryly.
“We know that. Mary and I have both learned to live with that fact. You have no idea how difficult that has been for m–us.”
Gregory cocked an eyebrow. Margaret refused to acknowledge it. “In fact, we have learned to live as just the two of us.”
“That’s the way it should be. It was abnormal for the four of us to have such camaraderie. Women are friends with women. Men are friends with men.”
“Well, I want to be friends with my husband.” Margaret rushed on before Gregory could dig into that statement. “Don’t you want to be friends with Mary and I? I realize I’m your sister, but don’t you?”
“We’re not the same.” We’re not the same as we used to be. We’re not the same people. I’m not the same as you. I don’t need to be friends with my wife. I just want to do my duty and then take care of myself and this estate. He almost didn’t give voice to his thoughts, but then he did.
“There’s more to life than taking care of yourself. There’s having a family, a wife, and children. Didn’t you enjoy our family?”
Gregory couldn’t lie, “Yes.”
Margaret smiled. “Good. And yes, there’s pain. But it’s worth it.”
“I don’t know if it is.”
Dismayed, Margaret sighed, “Just fix this.”
“Have you spoken with mother, perchance?”
