"Knee him in the balls, that should put a damper on his ardour." The woman declares snidely.

"Nay, Not him. He pads his codpiece too much to feel it. Best to just laugh at him until he goes away." The other ladies tittered their amusement and continued their embroidery.

"Madame. A word." The deep voice disturbed the ladies enough to look up from their task. She grimaced and got up from her seat, laying her piece on the small table next to her.

"What do you want?" She says to him shortly as they stand in the hall out of ears reach.

"First off, please refrain from insulting my guests in public." He replies. She snorts at him.

"Keep your guests from molesting mine and I will stop insulting them." She retorts. He sighs and looks away.

"I need you to arrange a dinner for next week. I will have the guest list sent to you later this afternoon." He says resigned. She purses her lips but nods.

"Fine. Make note if there is anything you want during the meal." She turns away to rejoin her friends and he stops her with his last words.

"Could you at least pretend to like me?" He is watching her stiff form as she freezes.

"Why? We don't have to like each other to be married. Besides, I don't insult you like I do them. I tolerate you. That's the best I can do right now." She sniffs and goes back into the room full of women. He stands a moment longer, processing her words. He sighs again to the empty corridor and goes back to the great room.

*

"Stop flirting with him. If you know what's good for you then you'll keep to your lady's company, understand?" He was angry and crowded her to the wall. She glared at him and sniffed.

"Fine. Then keep to your gentleman's company. Just because you are a man doesn't mean I will stand for you fucking any woman in my house. The moment you married me it became MY house." She growled at him.

"Wrong. It is my house that you have the privilege of living in. Until you act like these people are yours and this place actually matters, it will not be yours." He rejoins. She turns her head away and shakes her head.

"Who do you think had a choice in this? You think it was easy to be forced into this?" She huffs. He laughs, a tired and insulting sound hardly from amusement.

"You think I had a choice either? You are living in a dream world Catherine. Your father didn't leave either of us a choice. I am trying to make the best of it. I can't do that if you won't try too. I don't care why we married, I just want to keep living my life as best as I know how." He stroked her cheek and she closed her eyes.

"I was in love." She looked at him now with so much pain and he pulled her into his arms.

"I didn't know. I'm sorry. I can't help that right now." He kisses her head and hugs her tightly as she sobs. Her strong frame seems suddenly fragile. Her strong front crumbled before him. He feels her misery but truly knows they are trapped.

"I don't hate you." She finally mutters against his chest. He nods.

"I'm glad. I don't hate you either." He smiles as she huffs a laugh into his chest. She snuggles in to him and he just spends this moment hugging her, comforting her.

"I'll try. I can't promise I will be perfect, but I will do my best." She says as she pulls away minutes later.

"Thank you." He bows to her and leaves her to stare after him.

*

"What's the matter?" He leans towards the distraught face of his wife.

"He is here. Gods I wasn't prepared to see him. I'm sorry." She covers her face with her hands and he motions for a maid.

"Take milady up to her room, she has a sudden headache." He whispers discretely to the girl. The girl steers the woman through the room to a side door and he turns back to the room full of company.

"Is she alright?" His friend asks quietly. He nods and uses the headache excuse to put off the man's worries. His gaze scans the crowd, wondering who the mystery man is that affected her so. It must be someone that has come with the new guests, someone he has not met before now.

His in-laws approach all smiles and he plays the delicate dance of a lesser relation. He may have married their daughter, but he is just a wealthy caregiver to their property. Maybe if he had more influence, more money... but that is besides the issue now. He is stuck just as she is, and society will not let any of them out.

"Good evening nephew. How is life treating you?" He shakes hands with the burly man and smiles.

"Well enough thank you. A good evening to you too." He likes this man, despite being the reason the two families had met in the first place.

"May I present my friends? This is Mr. John Lindsay, his wife Mary, and their son Adam." He waves to the small group behind him, who all turn to meet him cordially. Well, all except the son. He gives him a rather interesting stare down and look over.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am afraid Lady Catherine has taken with a headache, or she would have been pleased to greet you." He says in apology, his words striking the lad as they glance in acknowledgement of each other. They look away quickly, the boy now confused at his conciliatory words.

"The pleasure is all ours Sir Fredrick. You have a beautiful home." John says to him. The group has been staring about them in awe and he waves it off.

"Thank you. Lady Catherine has been very diligent in keeping the place at the best of standards. I will tell her your compliments." He speaks highly of her and the group is all smiles, the lad looking at him with some amount of mistrust. The group goes to move on, and he does something rash. "Adam, a moment."

"Yes, Sir Fredrick?" His brow is raised and he stands a good distance away. It is not fit for what he wants to say to the boy. He motions to him to walk with him and reluctantly the lad falls into step as he makes for the hallway.

"Are you the one?" He asks gently when they make the empty hall. The words are cryptic on purpose. The lad looks back into the crowded room, thinking of escape surely.

"What if I am?" He finally says defiantly. Sir Fredrick bites his lip, turning away to pace further down the hall. What should he do? They are both so young, so innocent in this world. It is no wonder the parents chose him over this youngster.

"Then I am sorry." He replies finally. The lad's shoulders drop in defeat and he nods.

"Aye. So am I. If I was a little older...." He muses as they stand awkwardly in the hall.

"No sense 'iffing' it to death. If I was richer or rather poorer. If you were older and I was younger. We all are who we are." Sir Fredrick says as he leans against the wall.

"I suppose. What now?" Adam replies, joining him on the wall.

"Do you want to see her?" Sir Fredrick asks. Adam hesitates. What would it accomplish? They had said goodbye already. He shakes his head no, but his heart is screaming yes. Of course he wants to see her again, but as both of them being free. She is not. She is with this man who stands next to him. This surprisingly gentle man.

"I can't. I still love her. It wouldn't be fair to any of us." He says bravely.

"Life isn't fair. I'm not asking if you should see her. I'm asking if you want to." The man says in a deeper voice. The boy looks over to see penetrating eyes looking back at him. He nods. A tear runs down his cheek and a rough hand wipes it away.

"Stop being so nice. I need to hate you." He mutters. The man laughs and takes him in hand, leading him away from the great hall full of people and laughter. They go up a winding staircase, down a hall, and though many archways deep in the house. They stop at a large double door with gold filigree around the edges.

"Catherine, it's me." He taps on the door gently and a murmur from inside gives him entrance. The door opens to a candlelit form hunched over dressing table in misery. Her face is ruined from tears, yet the boy thinks she is the most exquisite thing he has ever seen. The man doesn't move, waiting for the moment she looks up and meets the two sets of eyes at the door.

"Cath." The boy breaths in misery. His voice snaps her head up and she turns in shock to see him rushing across the room. She rises from her seat and he crashes into her arms, kissing her face and holding her in his strong arms. She is sobbing and the man at the door turns away.

He closes the door softly behind him with a click. Was it the cruelest or kindest thing he could have done? He knows not. He looks up and down the empty passageway, reluctant to leave and dreading to go back to the party that awaits his presence. His heart is full, aching with the knowledge that she is with him.

"That was..." the voice trails off undecidedly and his head jerks to where the sound emerged. The shadows. A small figure slips into the dim candlelight and his eyes flicker with recognition. He moves slowly towards the form, trying not to scare it away. It would run at a moments' notice, he knows this.

"I know. She deserves a moment of happiness after all that she has been through." He breathes. Closer and closer he creeps as the figure watches. The large blue eyes are heavy with judgement, and with their own sadness. He wishes he could banish the look, but can he? At the last second the figure turns away, but it is too late.

He reaches out to grab the thin wrist in his hand and pulls back. The figure is no match for him and comes spinning back around to crash into his chest with the momentum. The slight gasps as their bodies connect tells them both that they cannot hide what they cannot help. Not from each other.

"We can't." The small figure cries out softly. Sir Fredrick shakes his head.

"Why not!" His breath moves the hair across the pale forehead and he leans in to breath the subtle scent of soap and sweat.

"You know why not, milord." Those pain filled eyes look up at him with so much want. He ignores the words and bends down to put his lips against the tightly pressed ones before him.

"Then it never happened. Just like that never happened." He nods behind him at his wife's door. The eyes flicker to the door, then stare up at him. He can see the resolve crumbling.

"It never happened." The footman breathes, clutching the front of his shirt.

"Be cruel to me." Sir Fredrick coaxes as he leads the boy to his door and they slip inside. "Be kind."