Page 51 of Seducing an Earl under the Mistletoe
All eyes were on Lord Saltdean now. Arthur could notice little trickles of sweat running down the man’s temples.
“I…I will never allow my daughter to marry you,” Lord Saltdean hissed through clenched teeth. “Not given everything I know about you!”
Arthur frowned. “What could you know about me?” he demanded to know. “My reputation speaks for itself, which I could say about yours as well.”
Lord Saltdean turned pale, his eyes wide and watery. “Not your reputation, but what you do when you think no one is looking. Yes…that…I have seen it all, what you do in the darkness, what you do behind everyone’s back!”
At that moment, all the pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place.
“It was you!” Arthur shrieked incredulously. “You have been spying on me!”
Chapter 24
Catherine couldn’t believe her ears. She appeared at the top of the staircase, when Arthur’s words pierced through the house like a dagger.
“Father?” she exclaimed. Her voice was trembling with a mix of anger and desperation. This was the final straw in their family drama. She could not handle anymore. “Is this true? Tell me!” she demanded.
Lord Saltdean watched her descend the staircase. He seemed a mere shadow of himself, a broken man who didn’t have the courage to meet his daughter’s gaze. He nodded with a heavy heart, a confession that shook the foundation of their entire family.
“Cate, I…” he spoke, but his voice betrayed him.
Catherine’s heart was breaking for her father, but she had to know the truth. At that moment, Lord Thornton interfered.
“Seeing that someone needs to tell everyone the truth, and this man here is unable to do so, I suppose the duty is mine then,” Lord Thornton spoke, smirking with satisfaction. “You see, your father has accrued massive gambling debts all over London. I honestly don’t even know the overall sum. But the largest of these sums he owes to me.”
A collective gasp filled the room. Catherine was listening, unable to believe that her father’s gambling problem had reached such lows.
“In order to pay it off, Lord Saltdean here has signed away his daughter’s hand to me. In the dowry, he attached their very house.” Upon those words, Lord Thornton turned around, spreading his arms apart like an eagle, as if this house they were standing in was already his.
“No, no, stop!” Lord Saltdean cried in despair, but Catherine shook her head.
“The truth, Father,” she told him. “It has to come out finally. But not from this man who is threatening to tear our family apart. No. It has to come from you.” She approached him and took him by the hand. Despite everything, he was still her father, and she loved him dearly. Seeing him like this, a broken man, only deepened her sorrow for her family.
Her father wiped away a tear, then nodded. “I will…I will tell you all…” he started, his voice on the verge of breaking, but he wanted to go on. Catherine could see the desire to finally reveal the burden of the entire truth to everyone.
“After my wife’s death, I became a shadow of myself,” he started his confession. “I was filling my days with vice. I didn’t even notice that it was getting out of hand. Little by little, I ruined our finances, and ever since then, I have been trying to restore what was lost, primarily…” he paused here, but he composed himself quickly enough to continue.
“Primarily in the trade of information, which is selling stories to newspapers. You see, I…I spy on everyone, but most importantly, on the Taylor family, Margot and James’ trysts, Graham and Eleanora’s issues and now separation, and finally, Arthur and Margot’s relationship.”
Everyone was watching him with distaste, but Catherine knew that it took a lot of courage to admit all of this. She gazed at Arthur, hoping that he would find it in his heart to forgive this old, lonely and broken man. But, the look in Arthur’s eyes assured her it would be a long journey of forgiveness.
Lord Saltdean turned to Arthur himself now. “I am disgusted with my own actions. I know that I have hurt a lot of people with my reckless behavior. I have seen the error of my ways, and I want you all to know that I will change my ways. I will become a better man, for the sake of my children. They deserve a good father, not the kind of father I’ve been so far.”
Arthur didn’t say anything to that. He merely listened to him, just like the rest of them.
“I have harmed your family the most,” Lord Saltdean told Arthur. “I know it is a lot to ask, but…will you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?”
Catherine walked up to Arthur and took him by the hand. She could only imagine the storm of emotions that was brewing inside of him now. She remembered his fear and anxiety about being followed, about being watched, and never, not in a million years, could she imagine that her own father would be guilty of that crime. It was truly a lot to accept, a lot to forgive. But the long road of forgiveness began with a single step.
She took Arthur by the hand. He turned to her and smiled. Then, he focused on her father.
“You ask for my forgiveness,” Arthur spoke solemnly, “but I’m not sure if I will ever be able to grant it to you. You’ve exposed my family’s most intimate, most painful moments and sold them to the newspapers for others to relish in our pain and anguish. Only a scoundrel does that.”
“I know,” Lord Saltdean nodded, bowing his head in shame.
Catherine’s heart was tearing for these two men, who both meant the world to her. But she knew that this was something they needed to sort out on their own, without her interference.
“I don’t know how long it will take me, if I will ever be able to say those words,” Arthur continued, “but there is something you can do now, which can set us both on that path of forgiveness.”
