Page 42 of A Lady's Passion Knows No Distance
“You’d think she’d be in Lord Canton’s arms, being comforted by her fiancé,” said another.
“Grief can do terrible things to one so young,” said the first.
“Or do you think that something else is going on?”
It was the one thing that Caroline hated most about the Ton. Gossip seemed to run rampant, and not even at a funeral was one willing to hold their tongue. But this time, it did not bother Caroline at all. She was already too upset to care about any matters of gossip. And when it came to her current engagement, she did not think much about it, either. It was the very least of her concerns.
When it came time for her parents to be buried, Caroline stood slowly, wishing she had some sort of cane to support herself with. She felt awfully weak as a result of all the sorrow and grief that was coursing through her body. Lord Canton came near, offering his arm to her, but she shooed him away. Mustering up the last of her strength, Caroline straightened her posture before leading the procession from the church to the cemetery.
The priest walked ahead of her, swinging the ball of incense before him as she was shown where the graves had been dug. There, Caroline stared down into the two empty pits, thinking it was all rather morbid and dark.
Once more, Lord Canton came to stand beside her. How she wished she could just be alone and have solace with her parents before they were put down into their resting places. He stood rather close to her, even daring to place an arm around her shoulders in comfort.
“Please remove your hand from me,” she said quickly, her voice broken and cracking as she spoke.
“People are going to start speculating if I don’t show you my affection in your time of grief,” he whispered.
“Do you honestly think I care?” Caroline asked, looking up at him with cold eyes through her veil. He seemed to finally understand her perspective as he lowered his arm and created a bit of space between them. However, as the crowd surrounded them with the Murphys close by, Lord Canton never stepped away.
Eventually, gentlemen brought forth the caskets and lowered them slowly into the ground while the priest said their final rites. It was a sickening feeling for Caroline to see them being deposited below. She wanted to do something, to turn back time and prevent this horrible event from happening. But she felt utterly helpless as she simply stood and watched, holding the handkerchief to her mouth and inhaling the peppermint scent to hopefully settle her nerves.
As the dirt was piled onto the caskets, covering the flowers and the pine boxes, people started to turn away and finally leave the cemetery. Caroline realized that the funeral was over, and all that was left was for the graves to be filled in by the cemetery caretakers.
The priest came and gave Caroline a blessing before moving back inside the church. It took a while, but eventually Caroline turned from the graves, expecting to leave the cemetery with the Murphys.
However, as she turned, she spotted William standing towards the back of the cemetery, making way for the crowd to leave. He was watching her closely, and she realized how much she wanted to be comforted by him.
Since the Murphys had made their way from the cemetery and back through the church to the carriage, Caroline knew she had a little bit of time. No one would expect her to leave any time soon, and it seemed all but Lord Canton was giving her the space she needed.
Not caring if her fiancé followed her, Caroline slowly made her way over to William. She saw that his eyes never left her as she walked over to him, and as she neared, she could tell that he had also shed tears that day.
“My deepest condolences, Miss Caroline,” William said as he bowed lowly.
“Thank you, Sir Roberts. It was kind of you to attend the funeral as well,” Caroline replied. She looked at William and thought how handsome he looked in his fine suit. Wealth suited him and she was truly happy for him and all that he was able to accomplish.
“Thank you for attending, Sir Roberts. But you should really be going now,” Lord Canton spoke up. It caught Caroline off-guard that he would be so forward and rude to William. She looked up at him, clearly offended by his words.
“I should say the same for you, Lord Canton. Be gone with you and leave me in peace,” Caroline was quick to say.
“You have no right to talk to me in such a manner,” Lord Canton said, his face turning a bright shade of red.
“And you have no right to remain so close to me when I am grieving,” she retorted.
“Please, Lord Canton. Perhaps it is best that you let Miss Caroline be for a time,” William spoke up.
“This is none of your business,” Lord Canton snapped at William, his voice raising in volume. Caroline began to fear that he would cause some sort of scene if he continued on in such a manner. After all, there were plenty of people still remaining in the cemetery and nearby in the church.
“It is my business when I see a young lady in distress,” William countered, speaking slowly and calmly.
“Of course, she’s distressed. It’s a funeral, after all,” Lord Canton said in mockery. “But I am the one who should be comforting her. Not you.”
“You are causing more grief than good,” Caroline said then. “I plead with you to please leave me alone.”
“Not while he’s still here,” Lord Canton said, pointing a finger at William. Caroline’s eyes darted past Lord Canton, seeing how others had stopped to see what all the commotion was about.
“Lord Canton, I hereby release you from our engagement. If you can’t respect my wishes, then I cannot respect you as a husband,” Caroline said, raising her chin and trying to straighten her posture to appear more opposing. Lord Canton was clearly shocked as his eyes widened.
“You can’t be serious. Surely you speak only because you are so grieved,” he said, stepping up to Caroline and trying to take her hands in his. But she moved away from him, refusing to allow him to touch her.
