“Will you not stop acting like you are blind to the horror you have bound yourself to?” Margaret’s voice cut through the room like a knife, her tone laced with a brow-raising bitterness.
Her eyes blazed as she continued, “You may try to pretend this marriage is a solution, but you and I know well it’s nothing but a curse in disguise.”
Evelina, taken aback by her sister’s sudden hostility, furrowed her brow in confusion. “I thought you understood my decision?” she questioned, trying to mask the hurt that tinged her voice. “I’d believed everyone understood my decision.”
Margaret’s eyes blazed with anger as she retorted, “Understood? How could I understand any of this? Genuinely, what is there for me to understand, sister?”
The room fell deathly silent, the weight of the intensity in her words hanging in the air. Unable to bear the tension any longer, Evelina drew in a deep breath as she spoke.
“Maggie, please tell me what’s truly bothering you. I cannot bear this distance between us. You’ve been upset for a while, despite that there is no need for you to be. Could you please let me know why?”
Margaret, her facade cracking under the strain of her suppressed emotions, unleashed it all at last. “I’m not just upset, Evelina. I’m furious!”
“Why? And for heavens’s sake can you just let me know why?” Evelina’s voice raised as well, feeling for own frustrations mounting. She shook her head, sighing as she tried to find calm. “Are you upset that I am marrying the earl in your stead? I do not understand why that would upset you. I’m too tired to play guessing games.”
She took a step forward to her sister, reaching a gentle hand out, “I am the eldest, I’ve always bore the brunt for us all, it is my responsibility as we know it. I told you I would fix things, so you would not have to suffer with that man, and that is what I am doing. Margaret-”
“This is not what I wanted, Evelina! I never wished for you to become a martyr for my sake!”
Margaret’s response was swift and cutting, her eyes bulging as she leapt to her feet to face her sister, “I cannot stand how you’ve been moping around the house, basically lifeless, hardly a genuine smile crossing your face for days!”
Her voice quivered slightly as she went on, “I have begged father countless times to reconsider, but he refuses to listen. Why is no one listening? The earl has always favored and wanted for you, and now, you’ve played right into the man’s hands!”
“Margaret…” Evelina gasped, her eyes wide with realization of her sister’s guilt. “Sister, I did not mean to cause you this pain. I only felt I am doing what was best for us all. This was inevitable, you know this.”
She sighed softly, feeling a now familiar overwhelming sadness overtake her, “I will admit I haven’t been in the best spirits. However, most brides aren’t before their wedding. Eventually happiness would come, it happens that way-”
“No,” Margaret’s gaze hardened as she spoke, her words sharp with conviction, “No man like that should ever triumph in getting what he desires. Heknowsyou’re willingly sacrificing yourself for his pleasure, for his gain. He knows you have no interest in him. How could you expect happiness from such a twisted arrangement?”
She laughed, scoffing loudly, “More so, how can you expect happiness from me, knowing I played a role in making this happen? Perhaps if I’d kept silent,” her voice quivered, forcing her to a halt, “p-perhaps…”
Evelina’s gaze shifted to her three sisters, their silence echoing loudly in the tense air. Each face bore a mask of solemnity, their eyes mirroring the sadness of the scene.
For the first time, clear for all to see, their sister had tears threatening to spill from the corners of her eyes, and she was not searching for an escape to fully let them flow.
The weight of the moment settled heavily on Evelina’s shoulders as she observed the turmoil within her family. Guilt gnawed at her conscience as she contemplated the extent of her sister’s inner turmoil.
Her heart ached with the realization that her own preoccupation with her emotions had blinded her to the silent suffering of her younger sisters. Tears welled up in her eyes as she struggled to find the right words.
“I never wanted to cause you pain, Maggie. I believed I was making things right for us, for our family,” she confessed, her voice now tinged with regret. “Perhaps, I could have gone about it in a better way, but this is all I can do.”
Margaret’s voice softened as she sniffled, a glimmer of sisterly love breaking through her anger. “Evelina, I know your intentions were good, but you can’t sacrifice yourself for me, aglimmer of sisterly affection breaking through her anger. I won’t allow it.” She shook her head firmly. “We must find a way out of this before it’s too late.”
“Maggie…”
“No,” Her voice quivered with a mix of concern and sorrow as she evaded Evelina’s touch. “I never demanded this sacrifice from you. If the earl had chosen me, perhaps he wouldn’t be as fixated on me as he will be on you. I could have lived in solitude after producing heirs.”
She laughed emptily, “That has never been such a bad life. Many ladies yearn for it actually.”
“No, Maggie, you’ve never wanted that, we both know this, how could you-”
“And you have, Evie? Hm?” Evelina shook her head in rebuttal, attempting to interject, but Margaret continued, her words laden with worry, “Do you truly comprehend what you’re relinquishing, sister? Even if so, then are you prepared to be the center of his attention, could you imagine what your daily life would be these starting years?”
Of course I have.
Yet, if it means you wouldn’t have to suffer, I’d gladly take it.
With a calm demeanor that belied the storm within her, she met her sister’s gaze. “This was my decision, Maggie. As a spinster, I have nothing to lose, I can only be thankful,” she confessed, her voice tinged with resignation.
