London, United Kingdom
May 1852

James spent the next several days avoiding his wife and his father-in-law. He distracted himself with work that he had neglected over the last several weeks in hopes that he wouldn't have to speak with either of them at length. It wasn't that he didn't like the Frenchman, just that he couldn't stand the appraisal his father-in-law was making of him. With all the time Jane had spent with her father since his arrival in London, James was certain that she had spoken with her father of their marriage, and that terrified him. He didn't want to hear what Jane had said about him, nor did he want to face her father's hostility over his behavior during the last several months.

And so James met with lawyers, bankers, investors, and even the occasional friend, leaving his home early in the morning and not returning until well after dinner. He saw Jane in passing, only sharing a few brief words with her in regard to her grandparents and their inevitable intrusion into their lives. Apparently, they were staying away for the time being, but that only made James nervous. They were going to confront her in public; he could feel it.

Meanwhile, Jane took little notice of James's unusually busy week. She had her own tasks to fuss over, which no longer included those of James's that she had taken on. She was glad he was working again, because as a result, she was rewarded with a peace of mind that allowed her to enjoy her time with her father. They spent a great deal of time together, along with Lorraine when she was home, and discussed in great detail the history of the last few months apart from one another. Or at least Thomas did.

Thomas spoke freely of his time in Edinburgh, carefully avoiding Harry's name when he could. He saw the look of restrained sadness in his daughter's eyes when he mentioned him, but still she asked questions that demanded that repetition of their mutual friend's name. She loved him still, that much was plain, but that love only seemed to be a thorn in her already aching side. Furthermore, it was clear to Thomas that Jane was not happy as she was now. He had a fairly accurate idea as to why, but for some reason, she would not reveal the truth to him.

Jane remained silent on the topic of her husband. She didn't see what good it would do for Thomas to know the extent of her marital hardships, nor did she feel comfortable speaking of them anyway. A large part of her issue with James was his treatment of her in the bedroom, and though she would confide in her father with most anything, sexual intimacy was one thing she preferred to leave undisclosed. Thomas needn't know, and besides, it had been months since James had tried to touch her, so maybe it wouldn't be an issue for the future.

Nonetheless, there were some questions Thomas could not shake, and so after a week of his being in London, he determined to press Jane for answers. He found her in the library before dinner, as he often did, and took the seat across from her by the window. She had started reading Paradise Lost a few days before he had arrived, and now, she looked to be nearly finished with it.

"And how is Milton today?" he asked her, smiling as she looked up from the page.

Grinning brightly at him, Jane glaced down to the book, then shut it with a sigh. "Wonderful," she answered him. "I've just read my favorite part."

"And what part is that?"

"When Adam learns that Eve has eaten the Forbidden Fruit and he decides to eat it with her rather than letting her fall on her own." Jane reopened her book to the page she had been reading and eagerly scanned the page, aching to hear Adam's romantic words spoken aloud. "I just love what he says to her– hold on, I'm trying to find it."

Thomas watched in admiration as he watched Jane scouring the lines of Milton's epic, proud that she should find joy in such complex literature. It seemed that everyday, he was learning more about her that spoke to her cleverness, and this was just another instance to add to the list. Milton was no easy read, but Jane loved it.

"Here it is," she said at last, looking up to Thomas as if to gain his permission to read. He encouraged her with a nod, which prompted yet another smile and then the reading of a small passage of writing that Jane evidently adored.

"So forcible within my heart I feel
The Bond of Nature draw me to my owne,
My own in thee, for what thou art is mine;
Our state cannot be severed, we are one,
One Flesh, to loose thee were to loose my self."

Jane shook her head with a sigh, eyes alight with wonder. "Isn't that beautiful?" Wistfully, she repeated Adam's words, "'To loose thee were to loose my self.'"

Thomas hummed, struck by his daughter's words. It was clear that she felt them as deeply as Milton's Adam did when he said them. When faced with the prospect of having to face life without love, he had chosen fallenness over Paradise. He didn't have to wonder whether Jane would have made the same decision if she had been given the chance to make it.

"Is that how you feel?" Thomas asked her quietly, watching her face carefully for any hint of reaction, but she only glanced up and shrugged, keeping her emotions hidden behind a veil that only she could remove. This trait was new in her, he observed. She had never been so guarded as she was now, and Thomas wanted to understand why.

"Jane, please," he said. "Talk to me."

Jane lowered her eyes and stared at the book in her hands, remaining silent for several moments before replying. "I don't know what you want me to say," she said impatiently. "There's no point in talking about it now. It's too late to change anything."

The dejection in his daughter's voice made Thomas's heart ache in his chest. This was all his doing. If only he hadn't sent Harry to her, he might have spared her immeasurable pain. But even if he could take it back, Thomas knew he wouldn't for the opportunity he had been given to know his daughter. He also knew he was selfish in this, and so he hoped to make it up to Jane by doing what he could to help her.

"I know you think that all hope for happiness is lost," Thomas replied softly. "But it's not. You'll see."

"It's not that. It's that I'll never have what I did with him again."

At this, Thomas did not know how to reply, for he knew that she was entirely right in her words. James was not Harry, and as long as Jane expected him to be, she would never find happiness or even contentment in her life with him.

Cautiously, Thomas said, "You mustn't put that on James. It's not his fault Harry was taken from you."

Jane scoffed and straightened her back, eyes rolling with disdain. He had apparently misspoken.

"Do not defend him to me," Jane answered, for the first time showing true bitterness towards her husband. "We may tolerate one another now, but there are things he has done that I could never forgive."

"Jane..."

"No," she said decidedly, "If you knew what he has done, you wouldn't be taking his side."

At this, Thomas drew back and reconsidered his stance. It was clear to him now that Jane had been hiding far more from him than he originally guessed, and in this case, what she had to hide was not at all a good thing. As much as he tried to resist the rapid acceleration of his imagination, Thomas suddenly began to assume the worst, and that was that Jane's marriage was not only an unhappy one, but one in which she was victim to a man whose cruelty had yet to be revealed. It made him furious.

"What has he done, Jane?" Thomas asked evenly, resisting the urge he felt to leave Jane then and there to go beat James himself. He didn't even need to know the reason for Jane's grudge against him; the knowledge of its existence alone was enough to convince him to defend her as she needed him to.

But Jane evidently had no intentions of sharing that information with him. Sighing, she waved him off, "It's of no matter now. You needn't know his past."

Thomas disagreed. "You're my daughter, Jane. I need to know. I need to protect you."

"Yes, well, it's a little late for that," Jane answered sardonically.

"Jane, please," he begged. "Let me help you now at least."

Aggravated, Jane shut her book and straightened her back. She was preparing to leave. "I don't need help. Everything is fine, and you don't need to bother James. He'll just get mad at me for saying anything to you."

Thomas fell silent. Was this the life that Jane had been living for the last five months? Was she to live in silence for fear that her husband would retaliate against her? Thomas's face ran hot at the thought of it; Jane deserved more than that, and he couldn't possibly be expected to do nothing about it.

"If he's treating you poorly, I'm not going to stand by and let him; and if he gets mad, he'll have me to deal with," Thomas said, his tone even but nonetheless very irate. He was trying to keep his cool for Jane's sake, but the more he thought about the possibilities of what James might have done to her, Tomas found himself struggling to remain calm. Jane, however, evidently did not agree with him. Standing from her seat, Jane clutched her book to her chest and looked down at Thomas with a pointed glare.

"I'm telling you, you will not confront him about anything," Jane said decidedly. "It is not your place." Huffing in annoyance, Jane shook her head. "I'm going to lie down before dinner, so if anyone needs me, I'll be in my room."

And with that, Jane left her father in the library, despite his attempts to get her to stay. She couldn't stand to be in the same room as him any longer, nor could she stand for him to continue to pry into her marriage in the way he seemed to hope to do. Jane was well-aware that Thomas felt protective over her, but that didn't excuse him from deliberately ignoring her wishes to leave it alone. She and James were civil now—perhaps even more than civil since they were working together to trick her grandparents—and she didn't want her father's medling to ruin what she had only so recently managed to achieve. And the fact that Thomas couldn't understand that made her angrier than she could express.

Thus, Jane shut herself in her room while Thomas began to make plans of his own. He knew that Jane didn't wish for him to do anything on her behalf, but he knew that he could at least try to influence James to be a better man—the only thing was, Thomas would have to actually get him alone. Since James seemed to make it a point to avoid spending any time at the house, Thomas would have to plan his next move carefully. And so, in hopes of enjoying the warming weather and developing a plan of action, Thomas left the library and prepared himself for a walk. However, he hadn't yet stepped a foot outside the house before he was stopped by a footman, who, to Thomas's surprise, had a letter addressed to him.

Thomas recognized the handwriting immediately; it was from Harry.

Thanking the footman and proceeding swiftly outside, Thomas tore open the letter and found that Harry wished to see him at "his soonest convenience." The address and the name of the tavern in which Harry was staying was included in the postscript at the bottom of the page, but other than that, there was not much of a message there at all. It was just enough to momentarily distract Thomas from the matter of his daughter's unhappy marriage, because in that moment, Thomas decided he would find Harry and see what he had to say. After all, this letter could mean that Harry was ready to move on to Calais, and if that were the case, Thomas wanted to be there to encourage him towards his future.

Memorizing the address and refolding the letter, Thomas set off in the direction of Harry's inn, which he knew was not too far from there. It was a bold choice of location, Thomas thought, because if he didn't know any better, he would have said that the inn was a place that James might frequent due to the bar occupying the first level. Additionally, it worried Thomas that Harry might have taken advantage of the bar as James might, since after their time in Edinburgh, Thomas was eager to see Harry and alcohol as far away from one another as possible.

The walk to Harry's inn was short, and to his relief, Thomas did not find Harry downstairs amongst the other men drinking at the pub. Instead, he heard from the innkeeper that Harry was upstairs in his room like usual, and that someone would send for him shortly. And so Thomas sat down at a table near the wall, ordered himself a pint, and waited for Harry to come down and meet him.

"I didn't expect you to come so soon," Harry said when he arrived, draping his coat over the chair back and sitting down across from Thomas. "I only just wrote to you."

Thomas shrugged and set down his glass, "I had some free time. Jane was just resting before dinner." Thomas was purposeful in being vague about Jane. Harry didn't need to know the state of her married life, though having known James his whole life, Harry likely had some accurate ideas already. Regardless, Thomas did not want to speak of it, lest he give Harry another reason to delay his journey to Calais.

Harry lowered his eyes at the mention of Jane's name, unwilling to reveal to Thomas just how much he longed to hear of her. Nonetheless, he cleared his throat and asked, "How... um, how is she?"

It was Thomas's turn to lower his eyes. He hadn't thought about what he would say to Harry when he might ask this question, but now that he needed an answer, Thomas was conflicted over whether he should share the news of Jane's pregnancy with him. It would hurt Harry to know that she was carrying James's child, but perhaps it might help him in the long run. If he knew the extent to which Jane was settled in her new life, maybe he might be willing to move on to his own new life elsewhere.

"She's well," Thomas said, cautiously fixing his attention on Harry's face. He looked relieved, maybe even a little hopeful too, but that only made what Thomas had to say that much more difficult. This new would crush him. With a sigh, Thomas went on, "But Harry, I need to tell you something, and you're not going to like it."

Eyes widening with anticipation, Harry put more of his weight on the tabletop as he leant forward. "What is it?"

Thomas sighed, "She and James are having a baby."

"No," Harry whispered, leaning back in his chair and dropping his arms down by his side. His eyes were glassy and unfocused, indicating that whatever spirit he might have had before was now crushed by the weight of Jane's reality.

"I'm sorry, son," Thomas said quietly. "I thought you should know."

Shutting his eyes, Harry shook his head, "It's alright; you were right to tell me." Harry cleared just throat and looked at Thomas, evidently fighting whatever emotions that were brewing behind his eyes. "What, uh, when will it come?"

"She thinks some time in November," Thomas answered, surprised that Harry should be able to conduct himself so evenly. Only, that didn't last long, because moments after Thomas answered, Harry rose from his seat and nearly knocked the table over. "Harry, sit down," Thomas urged him, looking around the room and seeing that several people were now staring. "Now. You can't be making a scene here. You need to keep a low profile."

"I don't care," Harry said menacingly. "If he finds me, I'll kill him." When his eyes fell on the doorway, Thomas knew Harry was thinking of leaving, and so just as Harry took a step towards the exit, Thomas stood and grasped his arm. He didn't know what Harry meant to do, but he did know that it was not at all a good idea.

"You'll stay here," Thomas told him firmly, "and you'll leave them both alone."

Harry scoffed and ripped his arm away. "And why should I listen to you?"

"I've seen her, Harry. She's strong, but I don't think she could take much more than what she is already dealing with. You showing up would... it wouldn't be good for her." Thomas sighed and shook his head when Harry only began to gather his coat to leave. "Look, son, you knew this would happen. Now, use your head and get a hold of yourself; it's not the time for acting rashly."

Harry flashed Thomas a hateful glare as he thrust his arm roughly through the sleeve of his coat and slung it over his back. "You don't understand; do you? I knew it would happen eventually, but you can't honestly tell me she was ready when she married him. He forced himself on her, and you're asking me to be merciful?" Harry rolled his eyes. "You may forgive him for that, but I can't. If I saw him, I wouldn't– I don't think I could stop myself."

When Harry finished, Thomas stared at him and immediately understood that Harry was not at all speaking blindly out of anger. He meant every word he said, and Thomas couldn't blame him. He had his suspicions about James's treatment of his wife, and he knew that what Harry was suggesting was entirely plausible; however, despite his own justified anger over it, Thomas knew he had to prevent Harry from doing something he would regret. Or at least, he knew he had to prevent him from doing something that would further distress Jane. Thomas feared that if Harry really did encounter James, there just might be an altercation that could not be prevented.

Thomas sighed. He would have to keep Harry as far away from James as he could, and that would have to start by sending him to France like originally planned. Harry wouldn't like it, but seeing Jane really wasn't an option anymore, especially not when his emotions made him so volatile.

"I think it's time you went to Calais," Thomas said quietly, holding his breath in hopes that Harry wouldn't fight him on this one. Of course, he knew he would, but it was worth a shot.

Harry stiffened and fixed the collar of his coat. "I'm not leaving until I see her. That was what we agreed upon."

"I can't let you do that."

"Well, it's a good thing you don't control me then," Harry said bitterly. "I will see her, and if her husband gets in my way, that's his problem."

Thomas now felt more helpless than ever; Harry was never going to listen to him, no matter how kindly-meant or logical his words were. He supposed that there was really only one thing that would stop Harry now, but if that didn't work, all hope was lost.

"You know you can't speak with her," Thomas reminded him. "I may have said you can see her, but don't forget the deal you made with Henry."

Harry fell silent for several moments, his gaze never faltering for a second. He appeared to be contemplating something, and that gave Thomas hope. Maybe Harry would decide to do the right thing. But instead of seeing a softening of his features as he had hoped, Thomas saw his brows furrow and his jaw clench. The verdict was here.

"Fuck the deal. I'll see her one way or another, and I don't care what happens to me or to anyone who gets in my way."

With not so much as an acknowledgement of his presence, Harry pushed past Thomas and stormed out of the tavern. He knew Thomas disapproved of his actions, but he didn't care. When it came to Jane, he never did. He would do anything for her, even if it meant forfeiting his own freedom, and if that was what it took to protect her from her monster of a husband, then by God, he was going to do it.

Harry decided he would start with the Prince's ball. He had heard that Jane was going to be there, and so he began to plan how he might get her alone. Maybe then he could convince her that he could take care of her like he promised he would so long ago. Harry just prayed that she would let him. 

•••

We get some lowkey interaction between Jane and Harry next chapter so stay tuned :)

Thanks for reading!!
-kate💖