Loathing Persuasion | (Regency Romance Novella)

══ Chapter Twelve ══

Autumn paused during the bells choir. The arrangements were made for the event to be a renaissance painting replica: enhancement of humans with classical forms. In the scenario of a grandiose wedding, most importantly when it was the wedding of a certain female individual, humanism was reduced to narcissism.

The previous day of the special union, in a desperate attempt, Mr. Allen sent a letter addressed to the eldest Barnes sibling.

Dear Miss Jane,

I write to you in an eager and most distraught attempt to acquire aid.

Words came to him like a wild waterfall. He had arrived at a dead end, no possible solution; but Arthur would not accept his cousin's sentence without trying his last resource, the first thing Thomas made him swear on no account to do. It was time. Lord Hardy's reign downfall had to be forced, someone else had to be aware of who he truthfully was, the utmost control he had always possessed over his children, in spite of his deficient health. Every word uttered felt like daggers for Mr. Hardy. The last one Arthur could not shield.

He is familiar with loss, probably knows it more than anyone in this country. His mother died when he was very young, not long after he was born. His little sisters were part of a second marriage of his father, the woman owned Heaven's gift of kindness, raising him and his siblings with love and care.

Nevertheless, an awful fever and pneumonia claimed her life. Then, his older siblings passed away due to consumption, a type of tuberculosis on the lungs. Miss Helena Hardy was pregnant at that time, and Mr. Benedict Hardy just engaged.

After that, my dear cousin submerged in a horrible estate of darkness, of solitude. We were beginning our adventure in Cambridge University when it happened. He dropped an entire semester, I did not hear from him until two months later, when he allowed me again in his life, and slowly, Tommy was strong enough to raise his head once more.

He is my cousin and best friend, I would die for him. His mind and heart are a mystery, though they were bare for your eyes. You destroyed him to pieces, now as you are aware, it was not the first occasion. I would like to despise and loathe you for eternity. However, I find that impossible, not solely because you have proven yourself a good person more times than a soulless woman, but as well due to your significance in Tommy's soul.

The wedding is his father's idea, in case you imagined something different. My uncle is urging it since he may face Death soon. I do not want to force you to do anything, yet if you cared for Mr. Hardy to some degree in the past, please save him.

The decision is yours.

Sincerely,

Mr. Arthur Allen

━•❃°•°❀°•°❃•━

It was torture, not knowing if time would win over her desire to repay her biggest mistake. Jane did not trust the probabilities, did not dare to hope for an imaginary outcome. Her decision had happened all of a sudden, accompanied by a growing fear and the urgency to run. She was aware her efforts could be in vain and it would be well deserved pain.

On the fateful day, Jane Barnes arrived in London, accompanied by Edmund. The carriage seemed to run at a tormentous speed. They were foreigners in a self-centered consumed land, where nothing functioned in favour of the honest. It persuaded you to surrender and to forget the value of honor. An individual did not matter at all; they could be dead inside, broken, flawed, but if their minds were useful or their hands could still work, the journey to The Afterlife was postponed.

Once Hardy's manor was on sight, her body felt numb. Kronos did not cease its punishment. Jane tried to maintain her poise when asking a servant, who smiled at them in the main door, about where the masters of the house had gone.