It was almost midnight, and Mary had no word from Francis, nor had he returned. She was growing impatient and even more worried by the minute. Even worse, she was worried Lola's possibility of not surviving child birth was extremely reasonable, and she hated herself for the slight fear that Lola might live.
If Lord Julien was truely dead, could Lola become Francis' mistress? He did, now, know that Lola's baby was in fact, his, and he also knew Mary kept that as a secret from him. Would he ever forgive her, or would he understand why she did it? She thought that was unlikely because he had already been lied to, and deceived by her too many a time already. For that, could he possibly forgive her?
A new, and even more frightening thought dawned on Mary: What if Lola, and the baby had already passed away by the time he arrived? Francis would've left for nothing, and he surely would've been overcome with the plague. If she were lucky, he would come back to the castle alive, but fatal. He would, however, not be permitted to enter the ground, otherwise the whole castle would be in danger.
Finally, after having her eyes being already brimmed with water, a tear slid down her cheek, and as she wiped it with her finger, a knock sounded at her chamber door.
"Yes, what is it?," she sniffled.
Mary heard the door creek open, and Kenna's soft voice spoke, "Mary?".
"We've been looking for you," Greer explained.
"I'm sorry, I've needed... some time to think," Mary said.
"Are you alright?," Kenna asked cautiously as she approached where Mary was sitting, "We heard Francis left the castle... Do you know why?".
"He went to Lola," Mary replied as she stood and faced her loyal friends.
Kenna's face quickly spread with confusion and just as quickly as it came, it was replaced with a look of understand, and she lowered her eyes. On the other hand, Greer had her face squinted and Mary was reluctant to explain, "The father of Lola's baby i- is Francis."
"What?!," exclaimed Greer. Though, unsurprising though she was at Greer's reaction, Kenna still looked guilty, still staring at the floor. As Mary stared at Kenna, silently, she figured it out, "You knew?"
For the first time since she had come into the room, Kenna looked up at Mary with apologetic eyes, "Yes".
"Did she tell you?," Mary asked.
"No, of course not, but I had my suspicions when she came back with Francis and so..."
"I'm sorry, but when exactly did this happen?," interrupted Greer.
"They met unexpectedly in Paris, and he saved her from debt by her brother, during which... he bedded her," muttered Mary indifferently.
"So Francis knows, now?," Kenna asked.
"Lola isn't well, and she fears for her life, and the child's. She sent word from a nearby house by the mill that she has unexpectedly gone into labor. She released me from my promise that truth a secret... so I told him.
I begged him to go to her and stay by her side, and his childs' side, but then word got out that people are dying from the plague, and I- I tried to stop him but..." She was hysterically crying, and her face glistened. Kenna and Greer glided over to Mary and hugged her close as she sobbed onto the backs of their gowns.