Chapter 25
Meanwhile at the Wayne Manor Clark Kent was currently engaging in a conversation with Alfred Pennyworth.
"So what was it that you wanted to discuss with me?" Alfred asked.
"Well…Alfred have you ever been love?" Clark asked.
"Once or twice," Alfred responded. "Why?"
"Did…did you ever have disagreements?" Clark asked.
"Well of course," Alfred answered. "Arguments and disagreements are normal. What makes or breaks a relationship is how we choose to handle them. I take it you had one with your love."
"It was more a misunderstanding but yes," Clark admitted. "And now I don't know how to fix it."
"Mr. Kent, if I may be so bold, what are your affections towards this young lady?" Alfred inquired.
"What do you mean, Alfred?" Clark questioned.
"What I mean is, what does this woman mean to you?" Alfred asked. "Because the answer to that question will determine your next course of action." Clark contemplated Alfred's question as he paced the floor. What did Lois mean to him? Before he could answer the question, Bruce stormed into the room with a rage in his eyes neither had ever seen before.
"Master Bruce, are you alright?" Alfred asked sincerely. "What's going…"
"I'm fine, but I'm leaving for London and won't be back for some time," Bruce explained.
"Why? What's wrong?" Clark asked.
"I don't have time to explain," Bruce told him. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
The Gardeners dropped Diana off at her home where she was greeted by her older sister. They embraced each other as if to hug out all the sadness which had recently occurred. Afterward Lois led Diana into the living room and Diana immediately noticed the change in mood. Shayera was sketching instead of taking her usual seat at the piano and Cassie, to Diana's surprise, was reading a book. Lois turned to Diana.
"Father's in his office," Lois informed her.
"Thank you, Lois," Diana responded. She gave another quick hug before going to her father's office. She knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Hades asked.
"Diana," she informed him.
"Come in," Hades answered.
Diana opened the door and found her father seated behind his desk with his glasses halfway down his nose. She sat down in the chair in front of the desk.
"Father…is there any hope for Harley?" Diana asked.
"I want to believe there is but at the same time the facts are too overwhelming to be ignored," Hades told her. "He must know I have nothing to offer him. This is all my fault."
"There is nothing you could have done, Father," Diana responded.
"Well if I had set aside some dowry for you girls, we might not be in this situation," Hades stated. "But sadly, I lacked foresight, and put all my efforts in producing a male heir."
"You couldn't have foreseen this Father," Diana replied.
"While that may be true, I cannot shake the fact that I failed Harley," Hades told her. "You warned me against sending her to Brighton, but I refused to listen. And what's worse we suspect Selina Kyle may have brought Harley to Brighton for that very reason."
"Are you certain?" Diana asked.
"Without a doubt," Hades responded. "She came clean about it to Colonel Foster once he discovered the pair had eloped."
"How's Miss Persephone?" Diana asked.
"She's been in our room since the start of this," Hades informed her. "I fear she blames herself for this whole mess."
"Neither of you is to blame for this," Diana responded. "If it's anyone's to blame it's me. I knew of his character but said nothing. If I had said something maybe we might have been able to avoid this current predicament."
"Well, there's no point musing over what-ifs right now," Hades told her. "We need to focus on finding the pair of them and hoping we can find a way to persuade him to marry her. Did your uncle…"
"He said his next stop after dropping off Aunt Alexa is London," Diana informed him. "He also said he will try to reach out to some of his friends in London to see if they could find them."
"Good," Hades responded. "We'll need all the help we can get."
"And what will we do once we find them?" Diana asked. "How can we hope to convince him to marry her?"
"I don't know," Hades admitted. "Especially considering his many debts. He'd be a fool to take her for any less than ten thousand pounds." Diana's jaw dropped.
"Ten thousand pounds?" Diana repeated in shock. Hades nodded before sighing.
"Well, all things considered, I am glad you are back," Hades told her. "We all missed you, myself especially." Diana gave a sad smile.
"I miss you too," Diana responded. "I just wish we could be reuniting under better circumstances."
"As do I," Hades admitted. "Well…I've kept you long enough. Why don't you go see how your sisters are doing? I'm sure Lois and Shayera have been dying to talk with you since you came home. And I should probably check on Persephone and see how she's doing."
"Can you believe it?" Shayera exclaimed. The elder three were currently in their bedroom sitting on the bed talking about the current situation. "I mean, we knew Harley wasn't the brightest, but THIS. This is crazy."
"I know," Lois responded. "And I can't believe Selina would do this. Though I guess we should have seen this coming considering the rumors."
"Rumors?" Diana questioned.
"Well Colonel Foster believes that Mr. Napier and Selina have been in correspondence for quite some time," Lois explained. "And we also believe that they planned this in order to get back at our family."
"The only question I have is why?" Shayera said. "What did we do?"
"This is all my fault," Diana stated. Her sisters looked at her with shock.
"Di, you're kidding," Shayera responded. "This isn't your fault."
"I knew his character and what kind of man he is and yet I said nothing," Diana said. "This all could have been avoided if I had only warned her."
"What do you mean you knew his character?" Shayera asked.
"Well, remember when I went to visit Mercy and we ended up meeting Lord Al Ghul as well?" Diana responded. Shayera nodded. "Well, Mr. Wayne and his younger brothers were there as well, and…. I found about why there's bad blood between them. Apparently, he DID offer Mr. Napier the church but he turned it down and wanted money instead. They parted ways and didn't see each other for quite some time. That is…until last summer. Mr. Wayne's younger sister, Barbara, was visiting a now-former friend with Napier who came for a "surprise" visit. He convinced her into eloping with him, but before it could happen the other Waynes visited Barbara unexpectantly. She told them everything, and they threw Mr. Napier out and didn't see him again…"
"Until he came to town the militia," Shayera finished. "I take it back. He is a dirty, rotten, scoundrel and he deserves to burn in hel…"
"Diana, you couldn't have known he'd tried to do the same thing with Harley," Lois insisted. "This Napier's fault only."
"Honestly for Harley's sake, I hope he dies a slow, painful death," Shayera stated. "That way she doesn't have to marry the scumbag."
"As nice and convenient as that would be, I don't it'll happen," Lois responded.
"I know, but you can't stop a girl from hoping," Shayera said.
Selina Kyle was currently in her London home enjoying a good meal. She was very pleased with how things had turned out. The Princetons were ruined all thanks to the naivety of their youngest, Napier's smooth-talking, and her cunning. All was going well. Then she heard a knock on the door.
"Coming," she called. She made her way to the door, opened it, and saw a familiar face standing outside. Her cheer left her, and anger replaced it. For standing in the doorway was her former flame, Mister Bruce Wayne.