Every Rose needs a Thorn

Revenge

Rose’s POV:

The Cummins household was very quiet the next morning.  Only the staff could be heard from my room, going about their daily duties.  My sister and her husband were also staying with us, they would be returning back to England in a month, and honestly I couldn’t wait for them to leave.

 Lord Ainsworth, Emily’s husband had a small estate in Shrewsbury.  He incessantly spoke about the Ditherington Flax Mill which seems to be the only thing worth conversing about in Shrewsbury.   The man was exceptionally tiresome.

Lord Ainsworth was not Emily’s choice she was forced to marry him because of her delicate condition and our father had to plea to all his friends in England to find out who was desperate enough to take on his little problem. Lord Ainsworth looking for a beauty to adorn his arm and someone to secure his inheritance and keep his secrets, was the first and only one to present himself.  Lord Ainsworth was at least 45 with thinning hair, short stature and a rather fleshy abdomen.

 Emily has never spoken about who the father of her first born baby was, and I didn’t think I wanted to know either.  The fact that Emily could call herself a lady after what she did was the only perk I could see to being married to that pig, if you could call it a perk. Emily hated his Estate and him.  When we were alone she couldn’t help but let some of the bitterness spill over, she was constantly chatting about how utterly tedious and old fashioned the whole district was and that it takes 3 days to get to London, and that is where Emily really wanted to be.  She hated being stuck with Lord Ainsworth in the country

After Emily’s daughter, Lily was born she immediately started working on an heir for Ainsworth which happened exactly 11 months after Lily.  She was not even thinking of providing a spare to Ainsworth, and he didn’t want one either.  Since the birth of Henry, Lord Ainsworth wasn’t really interested in Emily, he largely lets Emily do just what she wants.  The arrangement seems to suit them both perfectly, as neither one was the faithful kind and Ainsworth’s interest resided with young men. 

I rang Betsie for water.  Thorn and the previous evenings incident were still playing profoundly on my mind.    I quickly washed, dressed and went down to breakfast.

MY father and sister was already seated my father with a full plate, had a peculiar look on his face and my sister with a cup of tea, staring at the invitations in front of her.

“Good morning daddy, morning Emily, I trust you both had a good peaceful night”

I took a plate and dished up some eggs and ham for myself and sat down across from Emily

Emily cleared her throat “Oh look we have been invited to the Jameson’s ball, it’s in a week.  It was very fortuitous that I order a new gown.”   Emily went on talking without taking a breath

“Well you can’t really call it a ball it’s more of a Social gathering with a bit of dancing, you can’t even compare these so-called balls to anything back in England.  Just look at last night’s affair it was somewhat of a fiasco with Lady Blake inviting some of the Dutch Farmers and to add insult to our good name they also invited Thorn Alistair.”

My heart immediately skipped a beat I could feel myself going red.

“Why so red Rose, don’t tell me you still have an infatuation with that oaf”

“No off cause not”

My father immediately got up from the table and threw down his linen cloth and walked out.  “I’m going to inspect the horses, I’ll be back for dinner”

I smiled, this was truly a rare gift, as I could now spend the rest of the day reading My beloved new book by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter.  It was very naughty to have the book, I stole the book from my sister, who got the book as a gift from a friend returning from the Americas.  Emily has been in Cape Town now 2 months and still hasn’t noticed that the book was gone.  I loved the courage that was demonstrated in the book by the female lead, and with my father being absent today all I will have to do is read, and with my father out all day I wouldn’t have to listen to his constant criticism of me, and I could finally have some time off to myself – just reading.  I just had to get rid of Emily, which would be easy enough, I was planning on reading in the attic, she would never go up there.

Hours later I went down from my place in the attic.  I dressed for dinner and I was delighted that I was the first one down.  Emily and her husband arrived 10 minutes later.

My father didn’t return for dinner that night.  I only saw him the next night after dinner.  We all knew he was playing cards again, I just hoped he wasn’t losing any more money, he wasn’t a very good card player and we couldn’t afford another big loss.  He came into the drawing room very disheveled and out of sorts.

I instantaneously jumped up from my chair where I was having tea.  Emily and Arthur were also very troubled by his appearance but did not get up or say a word, which wasn’t unusual for them.  

My father reeked of brandy, he sat down on the nearest chair his face was white and clammy and it looked as though he was in severe shock.  All he could say was “what have I done, what have I done, I lost it all, everything, there is nothing left”      

I knew I had to take charge, so immediately called for reinforcements.                                                                                                                                                                                                            

“Emily call for Betsie, and ask her to bring very sweet tea, and maybe the smelling salts to, it looks like daddy is going to pass out any second now”

I walked over to my father, checking for a fever.

“Daddy what’s wrong, what’s happened”

My father looked at me with watery eyes.

“I lost all our money Rose even this house, it all now belongs to Thorn Alistair, the bastard took it all”

I felt a jolt of panic rise up from my stomach and settle across my heart, it felt like a hand was squeezing my heart.  This can’t be.  The only thing I could say was “How”

“The bastard tricked me.  We were playing cards”

“Oh no daddy, you were playing cards again, you promised”

My father stood up abruptly and stared down at me.  “Did I not just say he tricked me”

“He kept on insulting and coaxing me to bet more and play longer.  I couldn’t just sit there and let him win, he is a bastard Rose and after what he did to Emily, I couldn’t let him win”

“But Daddy he did win”

My father just looked at me with disgust.

 I was very upset, I tried to keep tight control over my emotions which was threatening to spill over.  Thorn new how prideful my father was and how bad he was at gambling and he used that and his obsession with cards against him.

“What will we do daddy, Thorn hates us all and he will not be reasoned with, just remember what we all did to him”

Arthur finally chimed in with a “oh what did you do to him”

Emily who chose that moment to make her-self known, just screeched at Arthur “Shut up Arthur, we have a real crisis here, try and be obliging”

Arthur just turned away pouring another Brandy for himself, he obviously was used to my sisters screeching.

Emily came to sit down next to my father “Will he come over to inspect the grounds

My father nodded at her

 “When will he be here daddy to inspect the grounds, daddy”

My father put his head in his hands looking very defeated “Tomorrow”

Emily patted my fathers back

“Let me and Arthur Speak to him tomorrow, I’m sure we can come to an arrangement.

I inhaled deeply “Come now Emily you really think he would want to make arrangements with us, after everything this family has put him through.  Please don’t infuriate him any further.  Father may hap we can speak to Lord Blake, they looked to be good friends, perhaps he can speak with Lord Alistair, they looked to be close friends at the ball.  Perhaps we can work out a way to pay him back over a course of time”

My jumped up from his seat infuriated and all that anger was directed at me

“Just stop Rose, I will never grovel or disgrace myself in front of that man”

By my thinking the disgracing was already done by my father at the card tables.

I left the room and ran upstairs to my bedroom, I fell on the bed and closed my eyes.  “Can this day just end?”

I got undressed, got in bed and tried to sleep, but my dreams were filled with Thorn, kissing me, touching me”.  I woke up with a start, I felt betrayed by my own body.

Lying in bed my mind just drifted to our dilemma, I loved the Estate perfectly named “The Southern Cross”, it was my home.  we have lived here now for 8 years, we moved to the Cape just after my mother died, the Cape was such a balm for my grieving soul as I missed my mother severely.  The Estate wasn’t big at all by any means.  We had a lot of fruit trees and my father was just starting to grow grapes to start making wine.  My father thought that this could turn into a lucrative business, I can still hear the excitement in his voice when he spoke about the wine.

I decided to clear my mind of the past couple of days and just sleep, but sleep was not the be my companion, my mind kept on seeking Thorn’s face, the past and now my father’s predicament.  I couldn’t help but think if I just kept my mouth shut that night 5 years ago all this would not be happening.  But it would have been worse seeing Thorn with Emily forever, I just could never have gone through that.  I know I was selfish, and I made a selfish decision that night, but I wanted him, I still want him, I feel explainable pull to him.  I adored him when I was 15, but now I lusted after him, which was worse, I hated myself for feeling that way.