A Broken Promise

Chapter 24

Georgia had enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with Moria and Collin, despite her troubled thoughts, before saying her goodbyes with a promise to come and see them as soon as the baby was born. It had hurt her to know that it was probably a promise that she wouldn't keep, but she hadn't been able or willing to upset Moria. Once she was back home the distance would, hopefully, make a reasonable excuse for her not visiting.

She had packed her stuff and Mr. Charles had already carried her bags down to the car. She was set to take the train to the house in the country and she was looking forward to the solitude so that she could think. She hadn't slept at all the night before as she kept replaying Aunt Prsicilla's words over and over again. None of it seemed real and even if it was, which it must be, it didn't change anything. Perhaps, if she and Ewan had grown up together then things would have been different.

The fact of the matter was that Georgia would always be recognized as one of Ewan's employees before anything else, and if Isobel had her way Ewan's business and his employees would take a hit because of her. She thought of what Cameron had told her. She had laughed at the thought of being a modern day boogie woman, but if she hadn't of laughed she would have cried.

The kitchen was empty except for Mrs. Charles.

"I've come to say goodbye again Mrs. Charles," Georgia said as she peeked around the door. "But it seems everyone else is working."

"Yes, but I'll be sure to let them know." The woman who Georgia once thought of as a bit strict smiled at her.

"Thank you." She nodded and quickly turned to leave before the strange numbness that had settled over her wore off and she began to cry again. She had cried too much over the past few weeks and she was done with it. She was done with the whole thing.

When she reached the hall Diana was there waiting for her and she looked as if she was about to leave as well. "Georgia, is it alright if I come with you? I don't want to be here right now."

Georgia couldn't very well say no so she smiled as sincere of a smile as she could produce and nodded. "What about Carrie?"

"I let her go."

That caught Georgia off guard and she couldn't hide her shock and suspicion. She hoped, after everything that had happened the past few days that Diana didn't want her to come back and work for her again. Georgia bit back a hysterical laugh at the thought. In what kind of weird time loop had she landed. Well, it ended here. She opened her mouth to speak her mind but Diana must have guessed what she was about to say because she stopped her by holding up her hand.

"No, I'm trying to figure things out for myself and perhaps one of the best ways to do that would be to be on my own for awhile. I've decide to leave after the party."

"Leave?"

Diana nodded her head. "Yes, I'm not sure where I'll go yet, but somewhere no one knows me, where I'll be free to figure out who I am without anyone's preconceived ideas."

Georgia thought about it, it might be the only chance she stood to become someone decent. She led the way out of the door, still not saying anything as they loaded into the car. "It's not enough though," She said softly when they were on their way.

Diana looked like she was about to cry at Georgia's words and Georgia couldn't help but reach out for her hand. "No Diana, you can change, I see moments in you. That's not what I mean when I say it's not enough. The money, you have to give that up too. Otherwise you won't learn a damn thing."

"The money?" Diana looked cornered at the idea. "I don't know....I...Ewan never gave up the money," she finally said defensively.

"Money doesn't do you much good when you're a soldier fighting a war. In fact, I bet if the others who served with him knew about his wealth they made his life a living hell for it." She smiled at the thought of anyone giving Ewan hell for anything.