Haunted Hearts

10

Rufus sat in indecision for a few moments. There was no denying the stakes were incredibly high. He had to admit it may be one of the cruelest things he'd ever willfully considered doing to another human being—all to prove to Elphi that a known fraud was wrong.

But high stakes held the best rewards, didn't they?

Hoping he wasn't dooming her to more heartache and death, he grabbed the folder of notes on her case from the pile on his desk, flipped it open, reread the details on the three failed engagements, then leaned forward in his chair and rested his elbows on the desktop.

"Have you ever considered it isn't you who is cursed?"

"Of course not," Elphi scoffed. "Who else would it be?"

"Not who... but what," Rufus said with a shake of his head. "In this instance, I think the blame may lie with your engagements."

Roderick arched a brow and straightened in his chair.

"You can't be serious," she laughed.

Rufus frowned as he nodded, "I admit it's a developing theory, but yes, I am quite serious. Suppose there is a curse involved... and it isn't a hex or something similar—your brother assures me you've no enemies or the like who might have placed such a thing upon you. In examining the past century of Matson family history, I believe you may be suffering more from a familial malediction."

"A family curse?" Elphi gasped, flicking a surprised glance to Roderick before staring at Rufus, "Is there proof?"

Rufus scrunched up his nose and sighed. "I'd hesitate to call it proof... more of a pattern." He paused, withdrew a piece of paper from the folder with a list of names, handed it to Roderick, and then carefully chose his next words.

"It took a little digging and sifting through the names and dates, but... to me, it looks as though tragedy befell the fiancé of any Matson who attempted to marry under traditional circumstances, much the same way as what your Bradford, Fitz, and Percy experienced."

Roderick's brow lowered in a deep frown as he studied the page. "I knew you would discover the cause, but I never imagined it would be something like this."

The room fell silent for several minutes while Roderick perused the paper. Elphi glanced between Rufus and her brother but refused to take the page herself when Roderick offered it.

"There's a chance I may be completely wrong and grasping at straws," Rufus said, breaking the silence. "The only thing I know for certain is if there is a curse at fault here, it didn't will itself into existence, and this is a plausible explanation."

Roderick nodded and pursed his lips, then looked at Elphi. "There are both male and female names on this list."

Elphi turned to her brother with an anxious look on her face.

Rufus nodded, his gut clenching. "Yes, I noticed that too."

Roderick lowered the page to his lap. "So if this is the source of Elphi's problem... it's safe to assume that should I wish to wed and my bride desires the traditional proceedings...."

"Your fiancé would suffer a similar fate to the countless others before her."

Roderick muttered an expletive and sunk into his chair, his skin taking on an ashen pallor. "So much for thinking there would be an easy way out of this."

"I believe there is," Rufus said with a frown. He sat forward and stared at his friend intently. "That's what I was trying to say. The issue isn't with the weddings but with the engagements."

"And how exactly is it," Elphi asked, her gentle tone at odds with the fire burning in her eyes, "you propose we put this theory of yours to the test?"

Rufus pursed his lips and gritted his teeth. She would hate what he was about to say, but he couldn't help it. "Marry someone—an elopement—absolutely no chance of an engagement period, and I believe there is a strong chance he'll survive."