How to Choose

"Men at some time are masters of their fates."

October 18th

When the fashionable noble houses had fled their ancestral lands to build newer and better family seats in the capital, the House of Gloucester had stayed put. Lord Gloucester would forever be merely one of a crowd if the family had followed fashion. On his ancestral lands in the Cirenwade district, he was a king. Numerous generations on, Lord James Gloucester currently reigned over a quasi-court comprised of his extended family and local gentry who had outgrown the inelegance of nearby Port Gale. Though he lacked a throne room, the lord's study, a lonely place with no buffer and no escape, loomed as large as any royal audience chamber ever had.

After twenty-eight years of these command performances, Neve still hated to be summoned. It was so often a waste of patience and time. Her father-in-law liked to assert himself, and one method of doing so was to call for a person and then make them wait in the hall. Exceedingly rare was the occasion when a caller was admitted immediately. How many hours of her life had she spent here, pressing her child's hand - usually her son's - between hers and assuring them that all would be well? Her son was in the study without her today. Fortunately, God had blessed her with a wonderful distraction.

Though thrust unexpectedly into widowhood at only eighteen, Neve had never remarried. Instead, she had directed all her love and care to her two children. A dear wish had been to marry them off early. She had only half-succeeded. By way of personal economy (and the timely death of a maiden aunt possessed of a charming little estate), Neve had inflated her daughter's sufficient dowry to an irresistible sum. A lovely and engaging bride at sixteen, Verina was still a happy woman at twenty-seven in a match made without much influence from Lord Gloucester. 

He was far more interested in his grandson. He had barred any discussion of Thomas marrying until his education was complete. The delay was not born of any great love of learning, only the opinion that it was unmanly to marry young. He didn't care to see that Thomas's quiet, shy nature would negate any benefit derived from mixing with the nobility in the capital. Worse still, the four years away meant many of the suitable young ladies in Cirenwade had been married off before Thomas graduated. Aside from a failed bid for Lady Iden's hand, the situation had looked grim for some time. But then, for once, James Gloucester had done something good for someone else.

Jane Norland was a pretty, well-bred young lady. Although her family was not titled or exceptionally wealthy, she was the presumptive heiress to her father's estate. That estate would be a welcome addition to Thomas's moderate inheritance and strengthen his branch of the family tree; for the Norlands, a titled son-in-law would provide a similar social boost. Neve had longed to meet Miss Norland from the moment of Thomas's first positive report, but he had intimated that Mrs. Norland might be overcome by the honor of a Lady Guinevere Gloucester, née Albion, calling upon her family. Neve restrained her curiosity, but she had pinned great hopes on Miss Norland's suitability. 

And now at last, while the ladies were exiled from the study during the contract negotiation, Neve could take Jane Norland's measure.

"Do you care for archery, Miss Norland?" Neve had been a keen archer since she was a girl. Her prowess with a bow and arrow had made her a great favorite with her fast-growing grandson, Gared.

"I couldn't say, Lady Guinevere. I've never had the occasion to take part."

"Jane has been quite busy applying herself to other worthy pursuits, of course," her mother added instantly. "Her needlework is extraordinary, though I say it myself, and I've never known a young lady to ride half as well!"

Although Mrs. Norland's over-anxious manner was trying, Neve smiled at her as sweetly as she could. The lady's nervous disposition was understandable. She had four more daughters to marry, none of whom had the inheritance of their father's estate to recommend them. A noble brother-in-law would significantly increase the other girls' prospects. What wouldn't have Neve done to ensure Verina married well? "Then perhaps Miss Norland and I can take a ride together soon, while the weather is still cooperative."

"Oh! I'm sure she would be honored!"

"You would be welcome to join us, of course, Mrs. Norland."

"Oh, no, my lady," Mrs. Norland sputtered. "I'm afraid horses and I do not mix. Jane surely inherited her talent from her father. He does love the pleasures of the country so, the dear man. But as for me, nothing makes me more anxious than a horse!"

"A shame," Neve graciously lied. "But I hope, Miss Norland, you will be inclined to join me yourself."

"I would be delighted, my lady, thank you."

The pleasing conversation continued for a while yet, until the ladies were at last requested to join the gentlemen. Neve led Mrs. and Miss Norland in, expecting to show them to seats.

There were but two, and they were pulled up near the desk - clearly, they had been for Mr. Norland and Thomas. The former was shaking hands with Lord Gloucester; the latter tried to look pleasant as he stood in front of a curiously bare desk. There was nothing laid out for Miss Norland to review or sign. Neve correctly assumed that her father-in-law, in his 'wisdom', had arranged for the contract to be casually brought to the Norlands' home one day for a quick, uninformed signature. Perhaps Mr. Norland could be forgiven, if he was of a mind with his wife, but Neve was deeply disappointed in her son. She had gone to great lengths to raise him better, and she would remind him of it when they were alone.

But now was the time for more pleasantries. After a shared look, the mothers urged the young couple to take a turn in the garden. Neve knew it to be too sparse to be romantic, but she held out hope that her handsome boy could make Miss Norland forget the landscaping. As for herself, Neve asked the young lady's parents to accompany her to the music room. By previous arrangement, her eldest brother-in-law, William, and his family were waiting there to greet and charm their prospective relations. William was a genial man (if one considered his bloodline) and Neve hoped he would improve any shortcomings in the Norlands' opinion of their family party.

The major shortcoming, as Neve saw it, put a end to her part in the scheme. "You'll stay, daughter. I want a word with you. Hayden can show them the way."

Although a bit embarrassed to have been ordered to stay put, Neve held tight to her dignity as the others departed. She even managed a smile for her boy. He didn't need anything more to worry about than the lovely young lady beside him. The smile held until the servant pulled the heavy doors shut.

"Well, now that I have secured Thomas's future," James said smugly, "the only question left is what to do with you."

Neve nearly rolled her eyes - just nearly. She knew better. "There is no cause to trouble yourself; I have already found a lovely house that would keep me near Thomas and Miss Norland."

"And how do you propose to pay for this household?"

"Between my savings and my widow's portion, I can well afford it."

"Your portion," he snapped, "has been paid out many times over. You have lazed about as my son's widow for more than twenty-five years."

"I wouldn't call raising his children 'lazing about', and I'll remind you that I would have every right to that money even if I was childless."

"Any respectable woman would have remarried."

 Neve exploded. "You bullied me into staying here!"

"Is that how you choose it remember it, to keep some shred of self-respect?"

"No respectable woman would have risked her children being stolen by the likes of you!"

"You could have had the girl; at least you knew your duty to her. But look what a mess you made of my grandson: weak, withdrawn, passive..."

The litany of her son's supposed faults faded into the background of Neve's fury. The duty she owed her wonderfully spirited daughter was so far above what she had done for her. Verina deserved to finish growing up before she made decisions about the rest of her life. She hadn't. Neve had pushed her baby girl into the world before toxic Gloucester ways could crush her. Angelo Capitano was a wonderful husband to Verina, and Neve thanked God every day for that good fortune when it so easily could have been otherwise. And Thomas... perhaps she had failed Thomas by not providing him a father, and perhaps she had coddled and sheltered him without restraint. But what she had wanted, what Thomas truly needed, she had achieved: he wasn't his grandfather.

"... but at least you're too old for any danger of a repeat performance with Edward."

"What?"

James scoffed. "Do you honestly expect to feast on my son's bones the rest of your days, woman? No... no, you'll earn your keep like any dependent ought. Edward may outlive me, and he'll need someone to look after him. You certainly aren't doing anything else to contribute to the family."

Edward Gloucester - a name curiously close to Lord Gloucester's acknowledged bastard, Edmund - was the son his father deserved, though Edward himself had never done anyone harm. He had been a sickly, stunted, backward creature all his life. He was the son James had tried to shame out of the wife he had bred to death. Amidst a line of daughters who had mostly lived had been a string of miscarriages, stillbirths, and crib deaths crying out on behalf of the exhausted Lady Gloucester. Edward was the last living child she birthed. He was the fruit of James Gloucester's malice, and Neve would not have him on her conscience. "William can look after him, along with everything else he inherits from you. Or hire a nurse. I owe you nothing, and I'll do you no favors."

He tried to move toward her to intimidate her, but James stopped at the chimneypiece. He grabbed it and paused to steady himself, physically and mentally. His bile got the better of him eventually, but he didn't go far. "Ungrateful cow. You idle under my roof for twenty-five years while my son rots and think you owe me nothing? No, you'll do as you're told and marry Edward!"

An argument decades in the making erupted. For twenty-eight years, Neve had kept her head down. Only out of rare necessity did she challenge the petty king who lorded over them all. She hadn't wanted her children to grow up in a fractured family, their own relatives squabbling over them in public and private and terrorizing them with the prospect of separation. She let them, particularly Thomas, have a measure of respect for their grandfather. She didn't let on how unhappy and lonely she was living under the thumb of a man who amused himself with the misery of others. She had focused on getting them out - Verina first, Thomas second, and herself last. This close to the dawn, Neve refused to be re-shackled to the darkness.

But though James Gloucester was cruel and tyrannical, he was not stupid. He was not blind - although, just now, the world looked a bit blurry. "That money you covet comes from my son's estate, which becomes your son's upon his marriage. If you would impoverish him for your own gain, have at it."

"Impoverish? I know what I signed. I know what that estate is worth, and it is quite enough to pay out my portion comfortably."

James smirked; it was cold and uneven. "It was. But now there is a large debt on the estate that has di... diminished its profitability. Unless I find some incentive to clear it from my own pocket," he explained with slow, strangely deliberate words, "most of Thomas's income will go to the debt. He can't afford your portion and his new family, and he won't have much of the girl's money... until Norland dies."

"You wouldn't! You can't!"

"I can, and I did."

"Monster!" A swell of hot tears stung Neve's eyes. "You did this on purpose! You would ruin Thomas's future just to hurt me! How could you be so cruel to him?"

The study door cracked the situation wide open when it gave way to a auburn-haired fury. "He's a heartless old troll, Mother. It's hardly surprising."

"Who let you..." James demanded. "Hayden!" he cried for his manservant. "Hay... Hayden!"

"Hayden," Verina snapped, "is washing baby sick off of himself and your newest great-granddaughter - who you now will not be meeting. Ever."

"You'll not take... take that tone with me!" he croaked. The older Verina grew, the less he liked her. She was too much like her mother, and she had a backbone that made her even more contemptible. To think he had a great-grandson running about with his mother's name instead of his father's made him sick with shame. He could feel it even now, pounding inside his skull.

Verina ignored him entirely. She had only put up with him to make her mother's and brother's lives easier - no more. Her mother looked small and pale, and Verina wondered if this was how she looked behind closed doors all these years.

"Mother, take my arm. You're coming home with Angelo and me right now - Thomas, too. We'll tell him what this monster did, and we'll fix this mess. We'll go to Charlotte if we have to."

James fumed at being spoken of as if he wasn't in the room at all, never mind as if he wasn't the most important person present. "What is some woman-"

"Charlotte Iden," Verina interrupted. "Or should I call her my husband's sister-in-law? I'm sure she would be extremely interested in what you've done, Grandfather."

"... drag me into... into..." The few words he could get out were slurred and labored. His face was uneven, one side visibly wilted, though his hands did their best to obscure it.

The choppy speech tugged at Neve. She and her daughter both turned to see what had so confounded the Devil. The sight spurred Neve's thoughts to fly back deep into her memory. On the final day of her life, Neve's grandmother had shared a last, crooked smile before collapsing in her garden. "Help me sit him down, Verina." When her daughter hesitated, she insisted. "He's unwell."

"I don't... I don't want your help," he snarled just before he fell to the floor.

It was a stunning sight: a menacing giant collapsed on the floor of his cave. The ladies had to remind themselves to breathe before they could even think of wondering whether he was yet alive. And when they did, neither immediately approached him.

"Mother?" In the moment, Verina was inclined to let her grandfather languish. She had held her tongue about her growing dislike for her grandfather for a long time, but she had never yet sincerely wished him dead. Of course, she hadn't heard his hatred for her mother or the full extent of his tyranny until today. He had said he didn't want their help, and Verina's eldest uncle would be a better lord. But the choices she could make in anger and the choices her gentle mother could live with were not necessarily the same.

During the pause, she wondered.

---

The newly-betrothed couple...

... or were they? Jane wasn't entirely sure. In truth, she had not expected so much ambiguity in an arranged marriage. It was natural in the beginning, when she had not yet learned that Lord Thomas was an agreeable, pleasant young man. Once she consented to the drafting of a marriage contract, however, she had thought it would be sealed. It didn't feel so. He hadn't outright asked for her hand. Jane occasionally wondered whether that was one of the exclusive luxuries of a love match, but it did seem as though others still expected a proposal. Further, she had been sent outside with Lord Thomas without being asked to sign the finalized contract as the law demanded. This tête-à-tête would be a natural point to rectify the ambiguity with warmth and feeling.

Instead, silence - the sort of silence that had formed the wall Jane now saw between her parents. Marriage was the base upon which a family was built. If husband and wife were not unified, neither could the family be. Jane thanked God every day that she and her family lived as comfortably and happily as they did. Her mother, if a bit frantic, was full of the best intentions for her children. Jane's father was not so involved with all his children, but he kept roof, clothes, and food where they belonged and grounded all excessive flights of fancy before true harm was done. Yet, husband and wife never intentionally worked in tandem. Her sisters would be much better off if they did, and that better future was what Jane wanted for herself and her children. If Lord Thomas couldn't even propose marr-

"Miss Norland," he blurted, stopping where he stood, "I cannot go any further as we are."

Oh, to be more careful with my wishes! Mother will never recover from this disappointment. And I... "I understand."

Thomas frowned. "But you shouldn't."

"Why shouldn't I? I am not so unreasonable."

"But understanding would be unreasonable. I have done you a wrong today."

She swallowed her disappointments as best she could. "Done at the right time, it is a kindness. This is hardly the first failure of its kind."

"Though it should be," he protested gently. "You ought to have been in that room, and I let my grandfather exclude you all the same. That contract is more for you than anyone else. You should have the greatest say in it, not the least."

Jane laughed; she couldn't help it, even when she saw the terrible confusion on his face. "You are very kind."

"I would not think so, not today."

"Every day of our acquaintance, I assure you, you have shown yourself to be kind. Your grandfather can be an intimidating man, and I confess I would not wish to be in his company when I was not wanted." 

Thomas bit the inside of his cheek. He believed his grandfather must be a good lord because the House of Gloucester still stood proud and rich after decades in his care, but Thomas's future was not with politics and leadership. He was destined for family - wife, children, mother, sister, nieces and nephews. In that area, his grandfather was, regrettably, not a man to be emulated. Yet, Thomas had deferred to his wishes in the moment, for ease and for the idea of duty. But if Jane was his future, than Jane had to take precedence. And though she, like nearly all of his family, seemed ready to indulge his faults, he wanted to be better for her. "Then you never shall be, and neither should you suffer anything else which is in my power to prevent. I only ask that you always be forthcoming with your needs and wishes when I fail to see them. I know that will happen."

She laughed again at his bit of self-depreciation. "I am sure we will both be guilty at times, but I will try if you will."

After Thomas nodded his assent, he added, "Will you allow me to call on you at home with the contract so that you may review and revise it in comfort? I hope it will be of minimal importance for many, many years... but my mother was widowed at eighteen. She has lived by the provisions in her marriage contract longer than I have been alive. No-one has more of a right than you to say how you will live if we should be so unlucky."

Delighted by his thoughtfulness, Jane agreed. She firmly believed that her father had negotiated a very fair contract and would not let her sign anything in ignorance, but it could not hurt to study it herself. "I will look it over quite carefully."

"And when that is done, perhaps you would grant me another audience?" Thomas's stomach flipped and burned at once. It took every ounce of will to keep a pleasant smile on his face and his hand extended. "There is something I would very much like to ask you."

Oh, would that you would ask me now! Don't you know my mother will be spying on us in the garden at home? My sisters, too, all of them, dear as they are. Let one little moment be mine - ours. "I would be delighted by any question you wish to ask." She placed her hand in his.

It did the trick; it was Thomas's turn to laugh with happiness. "Miss Norland... Jane? May I call you Jane?"

"You may."

"Jane..."

"Thomas!"

At once, his gentle hold of Jane's hand tightened up. He could hear the storm coming in his sister's voice, even halfway across the garden. He watched Verina, groomed and gowned to impress, sprint toward them with a sinking feeling in his gut and a single prayer in his heart: please, not Mother...

"Grandfather collapsed," Verina wheezed as she stopped abruptly. "Mother wants you immediately. I'll see to the Norlands," she insisted over his hesitant protests. "Go now, there isn't any time to waste."

After watching Thomas rush off, Jane offered to gather her family and see them out herself. "You must want to be with your family, Lady Verina."

"My grandfather and I have nothing left unsaid," Verina assured her. "My brother will be more wanted. I would get more relief from the ability to tell my brother that you and your parents did not dart off for fear our misfortune is a bad omen."

"I don't believe in omens, Lady Verina. We make our own choices."

Impressed, Verina nodded her agreement. "I think you'll prove to be a good one, Miss Norland."

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