Page 39 of Unseen

My father sat by the window, his hand perched on a walking stick, his attention caught by something outside.

He was so much older now, barely any hair on the top of his head, the rest a thinning white veil.

Round spectacles sat on his nose, and his clothing was not of this decade.

He looked dated, out of place, a relic from another era. Just as my deceased husband had been.

“Father,” I said quietly as Azriel and I stopped by the fireplace. “I am here to see you with my new husband.”

The old, weary man did not stay that way for long. At the sound of my voice, his head whipped around, his venomous gaze landing on us. He shoved the cane against the ground, pushing himself to his feet with a loud huff, and his face was red as he looked over his spectacles at us.

“You have some nerve showing your face here, Caine.” He wagged a finger in Azriel’s direction. “I’ve half a mind to have you charged.”

“Charged with…?” Azriel’s voice was far too self-assured.

“Indecency,” my father snarled. “You had no right to do what you did.”

“And what is it that I have done?” Azriel swept a hand to the chaise, and removed his hat. “Beloved, here, sit. You’ve had a long journey.”

My father wobbled only slightly on his cane as he darted his finger at Azriel’s face. “You watch yourself, boy! This is not your house and-”

“Is it not?” Azriel gave my father a faux frown, looking at me with a shrug.

“I was rather under the impression that I was paying all the bills for this place, was I not, Evie? Does that not rather make me the owner of this house?” He turned back to my father with a languid grin.

“Or at least, the landlord. And you, my lord, the tenant.”

My father slammed his walking stick into the ground, his lips turning purple as he turned to me with an outstretched hand. “This, this is the man you have married? A man who would speak in such a way to his betters? ”

“He is right though, father, is he not?” I perched myself demurely on the chaise, clasping my hands in my lap. “I’ve no doubt Aunt Adelaide informed you of the change in Acton’s will.”

My father grunted, waving his hand through the air.

“Bah, that nonsense. He had no right. He cannot simply change a will when an agreement has been made! I gave him my most precious possession, entrusted him with my only daughter, on the strict agreement that he look after her, and all of us as well. And the blaggard cannot change that, no matter what document he signed!” My father sneered at Azriel, wrinkling his nose as he looked him up and down.

“But there you were, more than willing to sweep in out of the shadows like the damned ghoul you are.”

“That’s enough, father.” I reached up and took Azriel’s hand, and he gazed down at me adoringly. “Had I not accepted Azriel’s hand, we would all be quite destitute. We must be grateful for his generosity, and his willingness to take me on with no dowry, with nothing to offer him.”

Azriel kissed my hand gently. “You give me everything, beloved. I could ask for almost nothing.”

My, my, there we were. Two seasoned actors giving my father the performance of their lives.

Not that it did anything to move him, of course.

He scoffed and sputtered openly, slamming his cane into the ground several times, like a deranged Rumpelstiltskin, furious he’d lost a bet.

“This is an outrage!” He wheezed, coughing into a handkerchief. “You’ve no idea what you’ve done! What this means for our family!”

“I think she knows very well,” Azriel countered, turning back to face my father. “And that once again, she has had to step in and accomplish what you are too feeble to do yourself. ”

“And what is that?”

“Save your family from ruin.” Azriel gave me a side glance, rubbing his thumb over the knuckles of my hand still tightly tucked into his own.

“Such a beauty is truly a blessing for a father that has nothing else to offer. I do wonder that my father was the only fortuitous match she could have made.” Azriel’s head pivoted back towards my father slowly, a serpentine smile on his face.

“Although, that is not quite the truth of it, is it?”

I tensed, watching my father’s expression change from fury to bewilderment, his eyes darting about the room as he spluttered again into the white handkerchief.

“There-there were n-no other options!” He gasped for breath, shaking his head. “None! We were penniless, nothing but a landholding that had fallen into disrepair, nothing but a good name! Acton Caine fell in love, and what good fortune that he did!”

“Fell in love. Hmmm.” Azriel huffed out a breath. “Is that what motivated him to steal my bride? That is the first I’ve heard of it.”

My head snapped up to look at him, panic constricting my lungs. “What did you say?” I looked over at my father, whose chest shook as he continued to cough. “Father, what does he mean? What does he mean, his bride?”

“I-I-” My father broke off, hacking into his fist, and collapsed back into his chair as Azriel crossed the room to pour the old man a glass of water.

“Here, my lord. You mustn’t expire before you’ve told your daughter the very best part of this story.

” He smiled indulgently as my father glared up at him, sipping the water, and spluttering half of it straight back into the cup.

“Easy now, gently.” Azriel held the cup steady in my father’s trembling hands.

“I must have the place inspected for mildew, that may well be making you ill, my lord. ”

My father’s eyes blazed with fury, and he wiped the droplets of water that had dribbled down his chin away with the back of his hand. “My house doesn’t have mildew, I’ll thank you very much.”

“As you say.” Azriel returned to my side, sitting down and resting a hand on his knee. “Now, where were you? Your daughter, my bride, my father falling in love? Please, continue.”

Please say that is a lie. Please. Please.

I repeated the hopeless thought over and over in my head, sure my father was about to tell me that there was no truth to it, that Azriel had simply misunderstood.

My father was about to tell me that he would have never given me over to Acton unless he’d had no choice.

But my father’s eyes landed on me, and his face crumpled into an expression of resignation.

“He would not have made you happy. Look at what he has done now. He is not a scrupulous man.”

“That is true,” Azriel said, gazing at the ceiling.

“But I felt I had no choice,” my father spat in Azriel’s direction, before his expression softened as it passed back to me.

“I had no dowry, nothing to offer a man in order to marry my daughter. I’d been weak, and selfish.

I hadn’t provided for you as I should have, and for that I hope you may forgive me. ”

“So you were willing to marry me off to a man you held in such low esteem?” I scoffed out a small laugh. “How honourable of you, Father.”

“I was desperate.” My father clung to the top of his walking stick with his papery hands, covered in blue veins. “Acton Caine, he was, well, he was exceedingly wealthy, and he wanted desperately to marry off his son. He knew no one would take him willingly.”

Azriel raised a hand with a shrug. “That is less true, but please, carry on. ”

My father inhaled heavily through his nose, huffing out a rasping breath from his lips.

“Acton came up to see us, to make the final arrangements, and I was going to tell you that day, Evangeline. That you were to marry Azriel Caine. But then…” He trailed off, his eyes searching the rug underneath his feet as though a simpler answer lay there waiting for him.

“But then?” I asked after a moment. “What happened then?”

“Then Acton saw you.” My father lifted his eyes back to mine. “He laid eyes on you, and he was besotted, instantly. How could he not have been? He told me that he felt, looking at you, that he was a young man again.”

“But he was not a young man, Father, he was fifteen years your senior.” The words caught in my throat, thick with revulsion. “How could you agree to such a thing?”

“Yes, my lord, how could you agree to such a thing?” Azriel leaned forward, raising his eyebrows. “Why don’t you tell your daughter how much money my father offered you for her hand? To convince you of the depth of his love and devotion.”

My father shifted on his chair, his mouth set in a hard line. “That was immaterial.”

“Five thousand pounds was immaterial, was it?” Azriel laughed lightly. “Yes, I’m sure it was.”

My mouth dropped open as I looked at my father, this withering, feeble old man, who could not even look at me. “Five thousand pounds? To be married to a man older than my father? Old enough to be your father?”

“Five thousand pounds to take away my bride.” Azriel sucked on his teeth. “A handsome sum indeed.”

“You would have ruined her!” My father wagged his finger at Azriel, his eyes wide with indignation.

“Your father told me all about you, about your gambling, and your womanising. Your whores, and your bastards! He told me everything! And I was grateful that he not only spared my daughter from that life of debauchery but ensured her family would not end up penniless in return!”

“Did it ever occur to you that he was lying?” Azriel sounded almost bored as he posed the question, tilting his head and regarding my father through narrowed eyes.

“Did it ever occur to you that all these tales of my depraved behaviour reached your ears after he had laid eyes on your daughter? Or was that sum of money so plentiful that it blinded you to reason?”

“You accuse your father of lying?” My father shook his head. “You would speak ill of the dead?”

“I would speak the truth.” Azriel turned to me, taking my hand in his. “I was robbed of my bride, the woman who would have made me the happiest man alive, and all for greed.”

“How dare you!” My father sputtered, his indignation dissolving in an instant as I scowled at him.

“How dare you .” I clasped Azriel’s hand tightly to try and regain my composure, to try and keep my anger contained. “You had to have known how he treated his wives. You had to have known how he would treat me. And you say I was your most precious possession?”

“You were, my sweetheart, you were.” My father struggled to his feet, crossing the floor to my side, taking my other hand. “I am sorry.”

I wrested my hand from his grasp. “No, you are not. You are a feeble, greedy old man, and have lain the burden of providing for this family squarely on my shoulders.”

My father shook his head adamantly. “No, no, I never did.”

“Well, this is the sum of it.” I rose to my feet, Azriel quickly standing beside me. “Your business partner betrayed you, and now you may either see your holding go to ruin, or you may accept my new marriage, and my new husband, and any children we may have.”

“Children?” My father’s face flushed bright red, and he began to splutter again.

“Yes, my lord, children. One does remember where they come from.” Azriel tucked my hand under his arm, and put his hat back on his head.

“Then we shall bid you good day, my lord. I think my wife is tired, and must rest. We are at The Bell, should you wish to invite us back for dinner.” He smiled down at me. “Shall we?”