A Daughter's Duty

Chapter Twenty-One:

     "You're awake!" He exclaimed, clutching her hand in his. He kissed the soft skin on the top of her hand, and to his relief, she didn't pull away. "Oh Cordelia, I'm so so so terribly sorry," he said, looking at her with grief in his eyes.

     "You are forgiven, Charles, but only if you forgive me for abandoning you in London, and for accepting William's proposal." Charles' eyes lit up. He grabbed the sides of Cordelia's head and pressed his lips against hers excitedly, "I'm so happy you're awake," he exclaimed.

     "Ow! Charles, my head!" She said loudly. After apologizing clumsily, Charles went to alert Lord Alfred and Elizabeth of the news. They came in excitedly, with lots to catch Cordelia up on. The doctor was called for, and he ordered a day or two more of bed rest, and warned her of headaches. To Charles' dismay, William was eventually called for, and he had to make himself scarce (by Lord Alfred's orders), so that William may call upon his betrothed.

     "My darling, how are you?" He asked, a sincere smile upon his face. Cordelia's face, however, was much more serious. She wasn't sure what to make of William, that is, if he still even wanted to continue their engagement. If it weren't for his blows, she would never have spent the last several days in her bed unconscious, and she didn't appreciate that his first response to her kissing Charles was to throw punches. 

     "The doctor says I am improving greatly," she said, tucking her sheets in around her so as to not meet his eyes. "Considering, of course, the serious head trauma I've been forced to endure," she said, narrowing her eyes towards William. She saw his cheeks become flushed, and she knew that she'd embarrassed him. She was about to open her mouth to continue her teasing, but Lord Alfred, who was seated by the fireplace in a rocking chair, cleared his throat as a warning. 

     "Cordelia," Alfred started, "William is extremely regretful about the events that have occurred. To truly relay the sincerity of his regret, he is thankfully willing to overlook your...transgression." When Cordelia looked confused, Alfred continued. "My dear, he has chosen to maintain your engagement. We owe Lord William our gratitude," he finished, smiling hopefully at his daughter. 

     "Our what?" She questioned, a sour look on her face. "He should have some gratitude that I'm not contacting the authorities." From where he was standing in a sitting area outside of Cordelia's bedroom, Charles had a difficult time stifling his laugh. He heard Lord Alfred asking William to give them a moment, and a second later, William was outside, taking a seat across from Charles. 

     "Tell me, Lord William, how fares your stomach this afternoon?" Charles teased with a sneaky smile on his face. 

     If Cordelia could have stood without her legs becoming wobbly, she would. She hated having an argument with her father while she was confined to the bed. "Cordelia Rose Gardiner," Alfred started, "to say I am disappointed with your behavior and language towards Lord William this afternoon is a grave understatement." 

     "Father, I hadn't said anything that was false. And I'm not taking back my kisses and promises to Charles, either." 

     "You should never have made such promises," her father warned. "Have you no sense of duty? To me? To this family? To this estate?" Cordelia felt as though she'd been punched in the head all over again. How dare her father suggest she lacked a sense of duty to all of those things! 

     "You know as well as I that I possess a sense of duty in spades," she proclaimed, her face reddening. She could feel hot tears starting to form in her eyes. She would be the submissive daughter no longer. "What about your own duty to me? I am your daughter, do you not want me to be happy?"

     "Why can you not simply be happy with Lord William? He's an heir to an immense estate, not to mention the future inheritor of a massive fortune." Alfred ran his hands through his graying hair and faced his daughter. 

     "We have an estate, and we have money to spare too, Father. We have no cause to need more, especially when it is my own happiness that would be sacrificed. I love Charles, do you not see that? I refuse to marry just because it is an advantageous match."

     "I have spent all of my adulthood building a life for you that was insulated from scandal, from the ostracization of society. By making a cuckold of William, you will be bringing everything that I have built and forcing it to come crashing down. Do you know how hard it was to repair this family's reputation after your mother?" Cordelia saw the emotion in his eyes, something she wasn't used to seeing when it came to her father.

     "If you make me marry William, I will leave him just as Mama left you," she said, crossing her arms and staring right into Alfred's eyes, challenging him. 

     Those words seemed to reach him. Alfred took a seat at the edge of Cordelia's bed, deathly silent. "I thought I lost you," he said, his own tears welling up at the corners of his eyes. Cordelia had never seen her father cry before. "First I lose Margaret, and when you were comatose, I had thought I was going to lose you too. Please, Cordelia, I never want to feel that way again..."

     Cordelia repositioned herself so that she may lay her arms over her father's back. "Oh Father, I don't have to go anywhere, not if you let me live my own life." 

     She pulled away and stared at his eyes. His tears were running down his lined face. "Perhaps I've put too much pressure on you. It is unfair of me to force you to put the interests of the estate before your own. I hate to ask you to grant a man forgiveness one more time, but is there room in your big, forgiving heart, to forgive your father?" Cordelia felt the tears really coming down her own cheeks now. 

     She nodded, wiping at the tears that were pooling below her eyes. "Does that mean I may choose Charles?"