As Sarah Jane waited for her ire to extinguish itself, her hands found themselves wringing in tight bounds against her thick skirts.

She was dressed so heavily tonight, so elegantly that it seemed so wrong to have been faced with this situation this evening. She was so out of place, so furious, but her hair was still ethereal. So much in pain, and yet the little flowers embroidered on her dress were dancing in joy.

She wanted to leave that blasted place, she needed to breathe and to get away from him just to avoid the pain of his crushing betrayal.

And his rejection.

Anthony made her feel loved and cherished one day, and then took a married lady shopping, and god knows what else, on the very next. She wanted to cry, her heart was broken and she vowed never to love another man this way. Never in this lifetime, never in the next.

He stole her heart, made it ache with pleasure as it bloomed and enlarged to accept him. But he had tired of her, disposed of her love, and crushed her heart and spirit with his bare hands.

Mr. Collins remained quiet in front of her. He wasn't very good with words of comfort. His profession as a solicitor had made him a straightforward man. He said what he meant, and he said it clearly. Upset females, such as she, had never found comfort with what he had to say. Doesn't matter if it was only his true opinion.

She sniffed, wetness finally pooling around her eyes, blurring her vision. These were the tears she had been waiting for, the tears that would help her reconcile herself to the situation. After the tears, her heart will repair itself, will pick up its pieces and stitch themselves back together.

She feared, however, that her heart will forever bear its holes, never quite becoming fully recovered.

Her dashing Lord Killsworth had been every bit of her hero until today.

He had known that he was not to inherit the Rosenberg title, and yet he kept her, granted her wish of a Season and even arranged for the very best of sponsors who knew exactly where they stood in society.

Anthony gave her a glimpse of what happiness felt like. He made her safe and secure, and finally so un-alone. He shared his secrets with her as she told him about her greatest fears, and still, he didn't want her enough.

That infernal arrangement of their intoxicated fathers should never have been made in the first place.

Anthony found the idea of marrying her so repulsive that he kept her in the dark about the contract. Instead, he distracted her with glittering parties and stolen kisses, which had allowed her to believe and expect and hope.

Anthony had to dispose of her so badly that he made sure to design her marriage prospects himself. It would have been a bloody good plan if she hadn't been so in love with him.

And the fool that she was, she had conveniently provided him the best excuse by asking for a Season herself.

Didn't anyone warn her to be careful of what she wished for?

"My lady," Mr. Collins began as Sarah Jane wiped her tears from her face. "We need to go back. In our haste, we had left your guardians and your baggage."

Seeing that she will not be replying to him anytime soon, he rapped on the roof to tell the coachman to circle back.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

Yes, granted, she was such in a hurry to leave all kinds of baggage that she really hadn't thought about whisking to Yorkshire for good. She just wanted to get away for a while, to have some room to breathe and think.

This trip was looking to be quite permanent.

"Err..." Mr. Collins reached in his pocket and offered her a handkerchief. "If you find the idea of moving to Yorkshire so repulsive, I may offer you a practical alternative."

He cleared his throat as Sarah Jane waited.

Mr. Collins never considered this suggestion up until this moment. Sarah Jane looked so forlorn that he longed to provide a solution. She didn't seem to want to stay with Lord Killsworth, not that she had any choice in the matter, but she looked to be against the idea of moving to Yorkshire as well. What a pity, Lady Martin would have been happy to see her so well and still full of passion.

Mr. Collins cleared his throat again, thinking that maybe his offer wouldn't sound as disagreeable as her other options. Besides, her dowry will be a helpful consolation and compensation of the trouble these dealings have cost him.

"As you know I have my practice, and though it makes me travel quite a bit at times, most of my time is spent at a modest home in Warwickshire. We have a field, and some fruit trees that you might enjoy."

Sarah Jane stared at her booted toes, was he offering that she may choose to live with him? That sounds most unusual.

"What I am trying to say is..." his voice cracked as the carriage rolled to a stop in front of the house. "Soon, I may be in need of a wife to take care of my home and myself. If you are not opposed to it, I can provide for your security and you need not move with every passing of the title."

The door wrenched open.

Her eyes blinking from the sudden light from the house. She looked back at Mr. Collins who sat back in the cushions in a relaxed manner as he waited for Mathilda and Robinson to load their bags and alight. He offered for her with such practical terms that if she was an aging spinster, without a love prospect in sight, she might have accepted.

But tonight, she thought she would rather be alone than kill this man slowly by merely being constantly present in his home.

"I appreciate your concern, Mr. Collins. But I cannot accept."

Fresh tears formed in her eyes. This is what happens to orphan girls with no stable place in the world. She was at the mercy of different men, so many that veritable vain wantons should be envious of her situation.

But no, all she felt was the desire to be in control.

For once in her life, she just wanted to take control of how she was to live and feel less alone.

She wiped her tears with his handkerchief and then blew her nose to comfort her nerves. Her lips wobbled as she addressed him. "This is not my idea of a life. I will gain my freedom, you will see."

Sarah Jane went down and was greeted by the front door wrenching open, revealing a very frantic Mathilda and an equally distressed Robinson.

She walked past them without a word, her footsteps echoing in the empty hall as she spotted a lighted grate in the nearby room that the guests had recently vacated. She spied Anthony inside, standing so tall and resolute, and handsome, and irksome, all at once.

His shoulders braced themselves, his dark evening clothes cloaking him in a very formidable air as he strode away from the fire to claim her.

She frowned and reached for the stairs. "Do not follow me." Struggling to keep the tremor out her voice, keeping it steady and low.

He paused, hearing the cracks and betrayal of emotion in her voice.

She immediately raced up to her room, leaving him at the landing.

Anthony gathered his wits and moved to follow her, but paused upon noticing that Mr. Collins had entered and started to argue with his butler. He ignored them both and ran upstairs, taking two steps at a time, reaching her just at the right moment to hold the door from slamming shut.

He wedged his boot under the frame, wincing as the wood bounced from his fingers, and shoved the door open, rattling its old metal hinges.

With narrowed tired eyes, Sarah Jane sat on the bed wearily as her skin pricked from seeing him again. "What is wrong with you? Leave me alone!"

"No."

Bewildered, she shook her head. "Leave!"

"No." He repeated, so remarkably calm for a man who had a million thoughts and emotions going through him.

He almost lost her, he was not going to spend another minute without her.

"I will never leave you alone."

Sarah Jane was tired of this.

She had been screaming in her head for most of the day, cursing the man who had made her fall in love with him so hard, so deeply she ached for him. And then she had spent the better part of the evening literally screaming at him for his insufferable ways, his betrayal, and his refusal to leave her alone.

She needed to sleep, she just needed to rest her eyes and tomorrow her mind will be able to make a way for her to extricate herself from this mess.

"Please. I can't take this any longer. Leave me alone." She hated that she sounded so weak, begging him to leave her.

Anthony walked an inch closer, stopping only when Sarah Jane held out her palm as she shook her head.

She was crying, she was breaking, and he had done this to her.

Anger rose up to his cheeks as bile crept to his throat from a mixture of nervousness, anxiety, and regret. Anthony wanted to punch himself. He should have just asked her to marry him a fortnight ago.

He moved to come closer once again, but Mathilda materialized in the hallway.

Frowning, he mused ascerbically. What is it with nosey women in this house who kept interrupting his proposal? Had they no sense of self-preservation at all? Anthony was already half-mad and his patience had long since reached its limit.

Mathilda started to open her mouth, but he slammed the door in her face.

"Stay out of this. All of you." He demanded through the door as he turned the bolt.

"My lord!" Mathilda's muffled scream came through, vigorously pounding against the wood.

"Silence!" He banged once, quite heavily that it seemed to rattle the room. Immediately, the matron stopped, and he heard her footsteps scampering away.

His mother would deal with Mrs. Robinson.

"Anthony! What are you doing?"

Alarmed, Sarah Jane moved farther from him, scooting towards the headrest and near the bronze railing that helped her get dressed earlier this evening. "No, no... please leave me be. Please." He couldn't be thinking of seducing her now. Please don't be a monster.

"I won't ravish you." He promised, seeing the fear in her expression. He clenched, taking note of the disappointed desire in his belly. "Unless you ask me to." He added in disgust.

Her eyes widened as she searched for other ways to escape him. The window was too high, she could risk breaking her neck.

"I need you to listen to me." He moved closer, standing before her, hands in his pockets.

"We had not been honest with each other. It is time that we settle this, for my sake. For yours." He was very close to her now and he could see how her knuckles turned pale as snow as they collected her skirt and bed covers to shield herself from him.

"You will hear what I am going to say, because you will not leave this room tonight until you know exactly how I feel." Ending the last word of his sentence with a swallow, a sweat beading on his brow.

——-
A/N: My heart breaks for Anthony, but all events leading up to this makes me believe that he does deserve all the trouble. I do hope it's not too late?

What do you think? Do you think Sarah Jane should still trust him?

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