The Only Thing She Could Do

When Rilla walked into Florence's room in the morning, she had not even slept two hours straight. She kept tossing and turning and when she finally did fall asleep, nightmares plagued her dreams.

"Good morning, my lady. It is already a beautiful day, perfect for a wedding." The maid opened the curtains, letting the rising sun fill the room.

Florence sat up against her headboard and stared at her beautiful wedding dress that the mannequin in the corner wore. Her thoughts were scrambled and guilt was drowning her heart. Henry's face, begging her to release him, haunted her all night.

'Gods damn it all.'

She reluctantly left her bed and allowed Rilla to drag her to the bathroom. Her room was soon flooded with maids. Some helped her with the preparations while others packed her things to move to the manor.

It was overwhelming.

The maids did amazing, though. Florence's blond locks were up in beautiful waves, decorated with pearls. The makeup made her face glow, like a saint. She chewed on the inside of her cheek as she glared at her reflection. She was not a saint, she was quite the opposite.

'What a fraud.'

"My lady, do you not like your makeup?" one of the maids asked, worried. "We can change it if you want."

"No, I like it." Florence gave her a weak smile.

After they helped her put her wedding dress on, the maids finally vacated the room. The liveliness and chaos were replaced with silence and stillness.

Florence took a deep breath. It did not help calm her nerves though. Her hands were trembling as she sat on her chair, waiting as she was instructed–for someone to come fetch her.

A knock came a moment later and her heart almost jumped from her chest. It was Sofia.

"Oh my Gods. You look beautiful, dear."

"Thank you," Florence uttered shyly.

"I wanted to give you this." The marquise held a blue velvet jewelry box. "It is an heirloom of House Flock, and I am so happy you will get to be its next owner."

Sofia opened the box and revealed a beautiful amber necklace. A large teardrop gem sat in the middle while dozens of smaller ones ornated the intricately carved gold.

Florence was speechless. She stared at the beautiful jewels as tears pricked the back of her eyes.

"May I?" Sofia asked while holding the necklace in her hands. "I know it does not quite match the dress, but you are a Flock now and I want everyone to know it."

The marquise waited for Florence to nod in acceptance before she laced her neck with the dazzling jewel. Then, she placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Henry should be here shortly," she said with a smile. "I will see you at the temple, dear."

Florence pushed to her feet as soon as the door closed. Her hand was on her neck as she drew breath, but nothing reached her lungs.

"Gods, what am I doing?"

Her chest was tight and her breaths came fast and shallow. She rushed to the window and opened it, hoping that the fresh air would help, but it did not.

'I'm the worst.'

"Florence, are you alright?" Richard turned her to face him. She neither heard him knock nor enter. "What's wrong?" he asked, alarmed.

"I can't breathe." Florence's tears were racing. "I, I lied…I am a liar."

"Calm down, Florence. Breathe through your nose, Sister."

"Rick, I planned it all…I tricked Lord Flock into this marriage." She took a few deep breaths. "Mother gave me no choice–"

Breathes.

"Then, then she wanted me to marry Marquis Galley–"

Breathes.

"She would not listen to anything I had to say–"

"I know." Her brother palmed her face. "You need to calm yourself, Florence."

"You know?" She blinked at him a few times.

"I figured it out," he said. "Especially after Henry kept denying what happened. He is not the type of man who would do that, had the situation been true."

This revelation made Florence feel worse. Henry was a good man, he did not deserve this.

"I am sorry…I have not been present in the last few years." Richard continued. "I am sorry I left you alone for so long. I know how mother can be, I should have made more effort."

Florence was silent for a long time. "Do you hate me for what I have done? For all the rumors I have caused?" Her voice was small, uncertain.

"I could never hate my little sister, silly." He squeezed her in his arms. "I know the circumstances of this marriage are not…ideal."

Florence chuckled at his choice of words. "To say the least."

Richard smiled. "I pray that you and Henry can become friends and get past this, maybe even build a life together. I know he is a good man, and my sister is an amazing person too. I wish you happiness."

Tears were back to Florence's eyes. She did not have the courage to tell her brother that Henry vowed to never love her, nor consider her his wife. She just nodded and hugged him again.

"Thank you, Rick."

"Now, you might want to fix your makeup a bit and stop crying. Your tears are not helping."

"Right." Florence smiled.

She rushed to the mirror and dabbed a handkerchief on the wetness on her face.

"I'll send Rilla to help."

"Thank you, Brother." Her words were loaded with more than one meaning, and they both knew it.

Richard only smiled before he left.

Florence took a deep breath. She knew that what she was doing was not fair to Henry. But it was too late. It was too late the day he implored her to tell the truth in front of their families and she still lied about it.

She wished she could go back to her birthday ball, but oddly enough, she was not sure she would do anything differently, and the thought scared her a bit.

She was going to take responsibility for her actions, though.

'Please Gods, help me atone for my sins and recompense Henry as best as I can. I hope that one day he will forgive me.'

It was the only thing she could do now.