Pride and Percabeth

Chapter Thirty-Six

"Her Ladyship asked me to take tea with her, " Phoebe said after she returned to her senses. "Before she went to bed. By the time I'd noticed my tea had a funny taste to it, I was already drifting off into the arms of Morpheus."
The servants who found Phoebe then rushed into Lady Thalia's bedroom. Some cushions were tucked into the bed to make it look like Lady Thalia had slept there. A thick cloak, a traveling valise, and several changes of chemises and stockings had disappeared along with Lady Thalia.

Piper turned Jason.
"Do you know where she could have gone?"
Jason furrowed his brow.
"I have my suspicions."
The Duke stormed into the dining room and swore in such foul language that it shocked even Lieutenant Jackson.
"Where is that worthless jade?"
Jason poured him a cup of coffee.
"I imagine she's on her way to London, Sir."
"London, what do you mean?"
"That's where Captain Castellan's regiment is."
The Duke threw his cup of coffee to the ground, startling Miss Levesque. Shards of porcelain fell at her feet and scalding brown liquid soiled the skirt of her dress.
Annabeth led the frightened girl out of the dining room.
"I'll help her change... Don't worry, my dear. Some hot water and vinegar should get those stains out."
"I suggest you take your anger out on something other than Miss Levesque's good muslin," Jason said.
"Did you know about this?" The Duke replied.
"It doesn't take a genius to figure out why she might have gone."
"Once she's found Captain Castellan,"  Dona Reyna poured hot chocolate into the Duchess's cup. "They'll probably move on to Scotland."
The Duchess had watched with a glazed expression on her face as everything went on around her.
"Could you add some opium to that, my dear?"
Such stories often reached their climax at Gretna Green, a tiny village on the Scottish border famous for elopements and clandestine marriages.
Jason reached over to take a sugar bun.

"Castellan is Lord Kronos's grandson. He's predicted to inherit his grandfather's title and estate. Thalia will be a viscountess."
The Duke let out a thunderous laugh. He roughly clapped his wife on the back.
"She's a clever one, that girl of ours."

Dona Reyna and Piper strolled in the gallery after breakfast. Piper looked out of one of the windows at a fine, frosty December morning.
"Lord Skye says you're to return to Spain soon."
Dona Reyna sat down on a window seat framed by chintz curtains.

"I'm leaving for Dover tomorrow. In a week, I board a ship for Cádiz. I should be home in Valencia by Christmas."
Piper sat down beside her.
"My journey home isn't so long- only about six hours. It's an easy distance. Lord Skye is going to visit the week of Christmas so he can meet my family and stay until New Year's...but enough about me. What are your plans for when you return home?" 
Dona Reyna turned away and looked across the lawn to the marshes.
"There's a convent where I was educated, the Convento de la Trinidad in Valencia. I've written to the Abbess there and informed her of my intention of taking the veil when I return to Spain."
Tears filled Piper's eyes as she took Dona Reyna's hand.
"You're far too young and lovely to throw your life away like this."
Dona Reyna withdrew her hand.
"Men like Lord Skye are as rare as unicorns. Christ is the only other man who's worth my time."
"But that's not true. Keep holding out hope and you'll find the right man when you're meant to."
Dona Reyna's skirts rustled as she rose from her seat.
"You believe life is a fairy tale because it was a fairy tale for you. Don't be naive enough to think everyone else is as lucky."
Annabeth appeared in the doorway, framed by moldings that were a pastiche of Roman and Greek influences.

She stepped aside so Dona Reyna could pass her.
"She looks like a sleep-walking Lady Macbeth."
Piper moved over so Annabeth could sit down next to her.
"She told me that she's going to enter a convent."
"One man she refuses and another man refuses her and now she gives up the whole sex altogether. Seems a bit melodramatic if you ask me."
"Oh Annabeth, I can't help but feel like I've bought my happiness at the expense of someone else's."
Annabeth reached over and stroked her cheek.
"I wouldn't worry about her too much. Ten to one, she'll be Mother Superior before five years have passed."