Wilting Roses (Formerly known as Arranged)

Heart Warming Farewell

Chapter Twenty Three

Everything turned into chaos once news of the incident had reached her family. He was not sure if it had been merely a few relatives or a hundred that had come to see to her. Faces he did not recognize passed through Heart Manors' threshold. It was the scorns they threw in his direction that had finally forced Dathan to close the doors to his home. No more visitors would be allowed into his home unless it was Sir Worthington and his wife.

It was on the third day that Dr. Montgomery had allowed that they finally take her home. Sir Worthington looked worn and tired. The few strands of hair that still held the color brown had now begun to fade.

Camille's family was pushing to seek justice, pleading that their daughter suffered from a sickness that made her forget whom she was. Dathan was positive that the judge would not buy into their filthy lies. It was but a day ago that her father had come barging trough Heart Manor to seek to fight and argue with Dathan about his daughters' incarceration. He had sent the man out without a word and only a bruised ego to take back to the family.

There was so much he needed to fix yet he was losing the hold he had on the reigns to regain himself. His father had refused to speak with him and only came for Scarlett. His mother had pleaded that Dathan drop the charges on Camille and simply let everything be. He had snapped. In his anger, he had shook his mother shouting and pleading with her to stop viewing things in such a terrible manner. It had only made matter worse and his mother had fled the mansion in fear.

Now he sat in the solitude of her garden. He listened to the wind whistle and the smell of roses caress the air. The fountain trickled as its clear fresh water sprung from the small angels jar down to the rest of the layers adorning it. The air was fresh and the sun spilled through the hedges above, feeding her garden life. He could think clearer here, he could feel a small feeling of peace. Dathan understood now why she had often sought this large gardens' company.

It brought tranquility and a sense of sanity he could not explain. Although his world was erupting in chaos, Dathan could not help but feel slightly better when he was there. Today the Worthington's sought to take their daughter home. Scarlett had not yet spoke, she had fallen into a state of depression that worried Dathan.

She would leave him forever without a single word, yet he somehow didn't mind it. For if she did speak he could only imagine what she would say. Reaching for the back of his neck, Dathan rubbed at the knotted spot there. He was gaining a bit of a headache simply thinking about her departure. He had not seen her since the incident occurred, her father had refused. The only thing he knew was that she was reluctant to speak.

It was the faint footfalls that drew his gaze from the roses to the entrance of the garden. He felt his body tense the instant he witness Scarlett enter. His heart knotted as he gazed at her worn and pale complexions. He expected someone to follow, anyone to accompany her here. Yet she was alone. She hunched a bit, no doubt the pain still evident in her body.

Startled she stopped a few feet in front of him the instant she noticed him sitting there by the fountains edge. Her eyes lowered and a blush reached her cheeks as she turned her face away. Dathan stood, his chest tightened to the point of pain. His palms grew sweaty as he walked the small distance to where she stood.

"Scarlett, forgive me," he whispered. He did not dare touch her for fear that she would reject the gesture. Her hand shot up to stop him and tears pooled in her eyes when she dared to look at him.

"Scarlett, if you want me to leave just say so," he tried again.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, a small scorn covering her lips and he understood her anger.