Remember Then

XXVIII. Fredericks

This time Nicholas was dumbfounded, utterly so that his mind was not capable of even disbelief. 

He simply looked at Sophia, mind blank, not even confused.

For the many months he had thought she was a conniving liar, he could not even fathom why she would bother to tell lies about a non-existing estate now. Unless she was devastatingly desperate.

But Nicholas knew Sophia was not stupid. Why would she make up this astounding story when she knew it would not be supported by the truth? If she was trying to manipulate him again, Nicholas knew that Sophia would be aware that the way to fail would be to create another big lie.

She was not insane either. There was a sense of calmness in her eyes as he stared at her blankly. There seemed to be relief as well. Relief for finally telling the truth?

"You are not merely saying this because you are aware our family is not chummy with the Trilbys, are you?" he finally asked.

It was the only reasonable thing he could think of.

To use the Trilbys to be free from all of this was a wise move, but to accuse the family of murdering another family was entirely of a different nature.

Sophia shook her head. "No, of course not. Why would I?"

Nicholas brushed his fingers through his hair. "The Trilbys had done horrible things, Sophia. I could easily believe you when you say they murdered Durley's family and yours, but I would need facts to support this story."

Sophia lifted her shoulders in a shrug.

"Have you ever thought that mayhap your brother had been lying to you? That this story was all created by him so he could manipulate you?" he asked gently, knowing how she felt toward Durley.

She did not appear to take offense. She merely took a deep breath and sighed. "You believe that I believe my brother because I am completely dependent on him, because he saved me from that brothel. You are thinking that I believe everything he tells me because I fear that if I do not, I shall find myself back in that horrid place." She slowly shook her head with a wry smile. "You do not know Marcus the way I do, Nick. You merely know him for the man who gains profit from a place filled with whores and selling slaves, even by the businesses he now owns, including the Herald itself." She looked straight at him as if she could see every inch of his face. "You know him not in kind, but in worse. I know him for the man he does not wish for everyone else to see. That is the difference. He is my family as much as your family is yours."

He planted his hands on his hips and stared at Sophia. He thought for a while before saying a word. "Assuming that your story is true—that this Mecklenberg exists—why have the entire Town not heard of that horrible night? Surely your brother and I are around the same age. Such story of what happened to his family must have reached the ears of many people and I would have grown up knowing about it."

"Marcus was merely eight years when it happened, Nicholas. I was seven and you were naught but at the age of fourteen, perhaps having a marvelous time in school." Sophia let out a silent scoff. "And are you hearing yourself, my lord?" she asked. "I just informed you that the Trilbys were responsible for the massacre. We all know them to be amongst the oldest families in the Town. They keep to themselves and had never been involved in great scandals. What they did had never truly been published on the Herald, were they?"

Sophia was correct. The Trilbys always had a way to cover the truth. The only scandal they ever had to face was when Noah Trilby married a woman who turned out to be a murderer. What happened after the woman's eventual arrest and death had never been known.