“Oh, I believe he has business in town,” she explained. “I did not invite him, though.”
“No?” Alexander wondered.
“No,” she shook her head, without offering an explanation for this. Instead, she continued with her own question. “And your wife… is she here? Will she be joining us?”
“No, she isn’t here, Mother.” It was his turn to respond negatively.
“Where is she then?” his mother asked unapologetically, which almost made him chuckle. His mother was usually not lacking in manners, and this question was quite impolite.
“She is promenading with her sister,” Alexander clarified, and before he could ask why, his mother’s response stunned him with shock.
“Good,” she said, being interrupted by a knock on the door, signaling the arrival of the butler, who entered the study with a polished silver tray, upon which delicate china teacups and a steaming teapot rested. The fragrant aroma of the finest Earl Grey filled the room as he carefully poured the tea, displaying the precision and practiced elegance befitting the grandeur of the Woldaves estate.
Alexander gestured for his mother to take the first cup, a gesture of respect and courtesy. The porcelain clinked softly as she lifted the cup to her lips, her gaze never leaving her son’s face. The warm glow of the fireplace danced in her eyes, casting an ethereal light on the scene.
“Thank you, Milligan,” Alexander addressed the butler. “That will be all.”
“Yes, Your Grace,” Milligan disappeared as noiselessly as he had appeared, leaving them alone once again.
As they sipped the tea, a subtle tension lingered in the air, waiting to be unraveled with each carefully chosen word. The quiet elegance of the moment belied the potential weight of the topics that might soon come to the surface.
“I have come to speak to you about something, Alexander,” she finally spoke, after the usual banter regarding Leonard and their usual daily lives had come to an end. “Something important.”
“I could tell that was the case, Mother,” Alexander decided to be truthful. “I just cannot quite fathom what that something might be.”
“Your wife,” she replied without the slightest hint of hesitation in her voice. The air in the room seemed to grow heavy as his mother broached the delicate subject, her words laced with a mixture of concern and a mother’s protective instincts. The tendrils of fragrant tea lingered in the air, though their comforting scent couldn’t dispel the tension that wrapped around the conversation.
“What about Phyllis?” Alexander inquired, tilting his head as he spoke. She had already expressed her opinion on the subject, and he had told her his. He didn’t see any point in having this conversation over and over again, but his manners did not permit him to say any of that.
“I have urged you not to marry her,” she reminded him. “But you have. And I… I understand why you did this. I truly do, but it was a mistake, Alexander.”
Strangely enough, he did not see it as a mistake. Perhaps in the beginning, when this all commenced, there had been certain doubts and suspicions, but the more he got to know Phyllis, the more he was assured that if they could not be a proper husband and wife in the real sense of the word, they would respect and appreciate each other’s presence. Perhaps that would be enough.
“We already had this discussion, Mother,” he reminded her gently, trying not to sound exasperated, although it did take him quite a lot of effort.
“I know,” she was quick to nod. “And I also know that you have sacrificed everything for our family, even your own happiness.”
He got up and paced about the room in an effort to find the right words to respond. When he finally found them, he focused his attention on her. “Sometimes, life does not go according to plan. You know this as much as I do, Mother. But that doesn’t mean that we just give up.”
She shook her head. “What your father did was not right.”
He frowned. “It was so much worse than describing it as just not right.”
He could see a pang of anguish on her face, and he knew that despite everything, she loved her late husband. She still loved him, even after everything she had found out, all the lies, all the deceit, and all the hardships they had to endure after the man’s death. As for himself, Alexander could not forgive him. Not when the burden had fallen onto his own back.
“Do not allow the actions of other people dictate your destiny, Alexander,” she said in a pleading voice.
“How can I not?” he asked her. “Father has left me no choice. If I had not married Phyllis, we would have had to declare bankruptcy. We would have lost everything, Mother. Everything! And you sit here, telling me about happiness…”
She got up and rushed over to him. “That is exactly what I am saying, Alexander. You have already sacrificed so much for us, there is no need to do more. You could get an annulment.”
He was stunned by her words. He could not have imagined that his own mother would be telling him this, to use someone in such a manner, then discard them like an old rag. He was barely able to speak.
“I will be doing no such thing,” he managed to muster through clenched teeth, still shocked to his very core.
“You already have her dowry,” she reminded him of something he preferred not to remember at all. “There is no reason for you to stay married to her any longer. You could get an annulment… and I will help you do this. You could find another wife, someone who will love you, someone whom you will love and you would be happy, my son.”
“No!” Alexander couldn’t contain his rage at those words. “None of this will happen, Mother. Do you understand?”
