The Grand Opening

At first, the other women seemed too shocked to speak, whether from hearing about Vincent's disfiguration and reaction to seeing Delaney or from Delaney's announcement that she wanted to break her marriage contract.

"Well," Selina broke the silence first, "I think it's fair you don't want to be stuck with him now. You're a beautiful young woman who wants a family and a full life. Surely he can't give that to you now."

Delaney was relieved to hear her friend agree with her. The other two did not seem as convinced.

"Do you really think that will work? I remember Violet Adair well. I don't think she'll just let you out of the contract," Olive said nervously.

"Maybe you shouldn't even be talking about this until you see what happens to him," Constance suggested, "Surely none of us want him to die."

A chorus of agreement came from the other women.

"Then why don't we not discuss the future for now," Olive sighed, "Let's just pray he recovers."

"I don't see why she can't at least start planning for her future," Selina countered, "She has a lot to figure out. She's lived her whole life with the idea that Vincent would marry her and take care of her forever. She has a lot she needs to work out now."

"We don't even know that she'll be able to break the contract," Olive laid her hand over her belly.

"Honestly Delaney," Constance frowned now, "You really think you couldn't marry him and make a happy life all because he's not as handsome as he used to be?"

Delaney was surprised to hear this from Constance, "You're the one who always criticized all the men for not being handsome enough for us!"

"Not handsome enough for all of YOU," Constance argued, "I'm sure you can guess that a lot of that is because I was so jealous all of you had someone to have a happy future with and I was alone."

They were all quiet after that revelation. Constance rarely ever mentioned that all of the rest of them had something she didn't.

"I think," she continued after a while, "That you should still marry him. He would never break the contract if it were you something happened to."

"How do you know that?" Delaney demanded, "He wouldn't want some grotesque wife either."

"There's nothing wrong with a spouse who isn't perfect," Olive said seriously then and Delaney fell silent. She hadn't considered how Olive might feel about their conversation.

"Of course there isn't," Constance agreed wholeheartedly, "It's much more important to have someone you care for, get along with, and who will treat you well."

"You heard Delaney," Selina frowned, "Vincent was shouting and threw something at Miles and asking to be killed! Does that sound like someone you would want to be married to and stuck with forever?"

"Bernard was in pain when he returned home too," Constance argued, "Don't you think he begged for them to do anything to help him? Should we all just try to be perfect princesses marrying perfect princes like you? Not that your ginger headed Duncan is near perfect. Maybe you should consider breaking your contract since he's so strange looking!"

Selina's mouth fell open in shock as she stared at the woman but then it morphed into a look of anger, "Well at least I have someone who wants to marry me, Constance. Who wants to marry you?"

"Selina," Olive hissed, defending her closest friend.

Constance's eyes flashed, "Do you really think Duncan wants to marry you? You may be beautiful outside but inside you're quite ugly. And as you age your outside will grow more and more to match your inside... it's already starting to."

The other women stared in shock as Constance stood and turned her attention back to Delaney, "I do believe you're a smarter and better person that this shallow brat. Please prove me right."

With that she held out a hand to Olive who stood and joined her in walking out, leaving their other friends to stare after them, stupefied.

"Don't worry about her Delaney, she's just jealous because even without Vincent, you have options and she doesn't. Without your charity in helping her with that card club, she'd have nothing."

Delaney swallowed and looked down at her hands. She knew she was being a bit selfish for wanting out of her marriage to Vincent. But they didn't understand. They didn't know what she had gone through. She didn't want her life to ever be like that again.

Selina knew about everything that had happened. She was one of the only people that did. Her opinion was one that knew the whole story. The other women just didn't.

"Really," Selina took her hand and smiled encouragingly, "I don't blame you at all for not wanting to be married to a man who would scare you to death if you came upon him at night. Besides I can't imagine he'll be able to go back to normal after such an ordeal. You want a full life so I think this is the right choice."

The right choice. Delaney thought of the haunting words of the witch. Surely the right choice would be choosing things that would make her happy. Why would she choose to do something hard and miserable and think that was her best future?

"Let's look over your contract and see if there's anything we might be able to work out to a reason to break the contract," Selina stood and retrieved it from its sacred spot on Delaney's bookshelf.

The young women poured over the meticulously written contract for hours, looking for any loophole they could find. Meanwhile, Constance and Olive remained on their own in Constance's room. Delaney wanted to give the other women a chance to cool down but she wished they were all on the same side.

When dinner was called, they all went down together, ice in the air between Constance and Selina. The girls laughed and chatted with Delaney's Aunt and Uncle but were mostly ignoring one another.

After dinner, it was Selina to leave first and Delaney was thankful for it. She sat in the parlor with Olive and Constance getting a chance to soothe things between them before Olive left.

"Delaney if you really don't want to marry Vincent then I will support you," Olive sighed, "But you need to make sure it's for the right reasons."

"Not finding him the most handsome man is not the right reason," Constance rolled her eyes.

Delaney smiled but neither of them had seen Vincent yet. That might change their minds on that comment.

Delaney gave her contract to her Uncle the next day and pushed thoughts of it or Vincent from her mind. She hadn't found anything with Selina but that didn't mean her Unce's lawyer couldn't come up with a plan. She just had to wait.

In the meantime, days past as Constance and Delaney put the finishing touches on the club. At last, their opening night came and they were both about to burst with excitement.

The women had had themselves matching black gowns sewn with blood-red ribbons accenting it here and there. Delaney's Aunt loaned them each a ruby necklace and once their hair was done they both looked stunning.

They rode together in a carriage to the club an hour before it was to open and found the people they had hired, already there and setting up. There were dealers and women to work the bar. Different from Win's club, Delaney and Constance would welcome women in theirs.

Everything was perfect when the hour struck for them to throw open the doors and let in their waiting guests.

There was an unusual mixture of upper-class and servants waiting to get into this club. Since Delaney and Cora had held their games in the stables, there were many of the usual servants there.

Because the women were high born there were also Lords and Ladies including Olive, Bernand, Duncan, Selina, Miles, and Cora.

Delaney hesitated when Cora came her way but when the girl gave her a small smile and hugged her, Delaney relaxed and hugged her as well. Miles nodded at her but there was barely any hint of a smile across his lips. He was not pleased with the situation.

Delaney ignored him as she worked the room, saying hello to everyone and thanking them for coming. Soon to her excitement, cards were being played at every table, drinks and snacks were being bought and served, people were enjoying themselves.

Constance came to her side and squeezed her hand. "We did it!" she squeaked into Delaney's ear.

As the night went on, Delaney found herself sitting on a stool at her bar, sipping wine as she looked out over the room. She had a pleasant smile on her lips and turned it on Miles when the man walked up and joined her.

"I didn't understand at first why Vince was fine with you spending so much time at Win's club. Then after being with Cora so much I realized it was trust. He was never bothered because he trusted you."

Delaney's smile vanished and she looked down at her wine for a moment. She could tell Miles had had plenty to drink already.

His next words were cold and stung her, "I suppose you were right though... he just didn't really know you."