When Masks Fall Off

Chapter 5.45: And Misunderstandings Go Haywire

As it happened, Duke Harcourt caught Francis before he and Nadja could leave. Francis was ordered to attend the party—there was an important announcement to be made, the Duke explained. Francis and Nadja exchanged a blank look, but Nadja decided that a few hours' delay couldn't hurt, and so they decided to stay.

The announcement, the Duke explained, would take place only some time into the party, when most of the guests had arrived. So Nadja and Francis danced together to pass the time. Maybe it had turned out that dancing wasn't the romantic tie that bound them together, but it was still "their thing." The fact remained that they danced incredibly well together, and that they enjoyed dancing together.

The first song they danced in silence; the second they joked quietly together about the way people were looking at them ("Oops, I think that dip just lost you about a hundred potential wives." "Delightful! Why not dance another song, sister dear?" "I would be honored, brother dear!"); the third they tried to conceal their laughter as the disappointment of the girls became complete: dancing with the same partner too many times in a row was a sign of intimacy between the partners, and in this world of nobility and tiles and money, no one would even imagine that they had the wrong sort of intimacy in mind.

After the third song, a rather angry Duke—who had misread his son's relationship with the dancing girl just as everyone else in the room had—called his son to his side, and promptly made his announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to announce to you the betrothal of my son, Francis, and Maryann Hamilton, daughter to Earl Hamilton!"

Francis looked thrown, to say the least, and Nadja wasn't sure if she wanted to cheer for him or pity him. Why was Maryann doing this? Nadja looked to the woman in question, and saw a single triumphant glance thrown her way by the older woman.

And then the truth struck Nadja like a bolt of lightning. Maryann had misunderstood their relationship, just as had everyone else. This was going to be a hard mess to fix, Nadja noted wryly—particularly without letting the baffled Francis realize what was going on.

Following the announcement, Nadja saw Francis whisper something angrily to his father, and felt her stomach sink. He thinks they're forcing this on Maryann—but if he protests, Maryann'll take it the wrong way! Nadja bit her lip as Duke Harcourt, Emma, Francis and Maryann all retired upstairs. She couldn't very well eavesdrop...but she could wait for them somewhere upstairs, she realized.

She was about to follow them when a voice caught her attention: "Nadja!"

Nadja turned. There was Leonardo—and with a familiar plain, gentle looking young woman on his arm. "Leonardo—Miss Julietta!" Nadja smiled. "What are you doing here?" Her eyes were taking in Leonardo and Julietta's joined arms in bewilderment. Julietta was on Leonardo's arm, and Leonardo wasn't even paying any attention to the girls around the room making eyes at him, so focused was he on Julietta. When had that happened?

Julietta noticed her focus and chuckled. "I know, it's quite surprising that Leonardo would ever notice his bride-to-be, isn't it?"

"Hey!" protested Leonardo amiably while Nadja blushed and Julietta chuckled.

"Would you believe that it took me almost falling for Antonio for Leonardo to realize that I was a woman?" Julietta went on. Nadja had to stifle a laugh at that, though she did manage a surprised, "Antonio?" in a tone that added the unspoken, "Of all the people in the world?"

"Oh yes. It was quite a decision, having to choose between them."

"You offend me, darling," said Leonardo at the same time as Nadja said, wryly, "I know what that feels like."

"Really?" asked Julietta curiously, patting her companion on the arm as though to acknowledge that she had heard him. "Leonardo, would you kindly get us some drinks?" she asked. Leonardo gracefully took his leave, and Julietta turned to Nadja. "Would you mind my asking about that?"

Nadja blinked. Julietta smiled. "I'm not the gossiping type," Julietta explained gently. "I don't like to pry. But you don't look too happy, to be honest. If you want to talk about it..."

Nadja looked up at Julietta and sighed. "Until a few hours ago, I loved two men, and just couldn't figure out which was...for me, really, but one of them made me really angry, and I shouted at him and...and, well, kicked him..." Julietta raised her fan to hide a smile, and Nadja blushed. "But among all that, I realized that I was really, truly in love with him. And at the same time, I realized I loved the other man too, just...as a brother, not like a lover. But now everyone thinks I'm romantically involved with the man who's like my brother, including the woman he loves and probably the man I love, and everything's so messed up..." Nadja buried her head in her hands, and Julietta smiled softly.

"Why don't we go somewhere more private?"

"I can't marry Maryann!" Francis snapped. "I don't care about our financial status!"

"Our loss of money also means that you can't make any more charity donations," snapped the Duke. "Did you want to marry that dancing girl and forget all about your noblesse oblige?"

"That's not—don't bring Nadja into this! I love her, certainly, but not-"

"It's love or noblesse oblige. I'm not telling you to marry a stranger: I'm offering the opportunity for you to marry someone you know well, who knows you. It could be far worse!"

"But..." He couldn't bring himself to say that he loved Maryann, and the problem was that she didn't love him back, so he decided to change the topic. "But I promised Nadja I'd take her to the House of Preminger!"

The Duke choked. "Preminger? What would a dancing girl want with the House of Preminger?"

"She's been searching for her mother for months," Francis explained. "Recently, we've realized that her mother comes from the House of Preminger—the daughter of the Duke, as it happens, and currently the Countess of Waltmular."

The Duke collapsed into his chair. Preminger. If the House of Harcourt could create an alliance with the House of Preminger...let alone a marriage between the families... Why, they'd never have to worry about this sort of thing again!

"What proof do you have of her identity?" interjected Emma. "I read about this girl in the paper—she's in Vienna right now, according to them."

"That girl is a fake," Francis stated. "Nadja's already met the girl, and knows her story; I can present evidence that will turn their story upside down. The fact that Nadja was wearing her brooch the night we met won't factor into the imposter's story."

Emma thought back. "Now you mention it, she was wearing it, wasn't she? It's rather hard to miss, a beautiful article of jewelry like that among those tattered clothes..."

"Very well." The Duke had made his decision. "You may take her to the House of Preminger."

"Thank you, Father!" And Francis had rushed out of the room, and was gone.

"My, the things love can do to people," Emma commented lightly.

"It can cloud a person's eyes, too," Maryann added from the doorway.

"You heard," said the Duke. "I'm sorry, Maryann, but-"

"I understand. A marriage alliance with the House of Preminger would be far more beneficial than one with the House of Hamilton. But you can't be sure that a common girl like that is really telling the truth." She was right, the Duke and Emma thought at once. "So I shall go along with them; don't worry. If it turns out that that girl is, indeed, Nadja Preminger, I'll step aside."

So it was settled. Though no one thought to inform Nadja or Francis of the arrangements, so the pair was rather shocked to find Maryann waiting for them at the docks the following morning.

"Maryann? What are you doing here?" asked Francis.

"Your father and Aunt Emma said that they would be satisfied with this arrangement so long as I went along. I've been to the Preminger Manor a number of times for parties. You never went, Francis, did you?"

"N- no," Francis replied.

"I'll help you as well, Nadja," smiled Maryann. Assuming that she had heard of the situation from Francis, Nadja thanked her, but somehow wished that things were simpler. She couldn't tell Francis that Maryann loved him, or Maryann that Francis loved her: to do either would betray one of the pair, and it was best if they figured things out on their own anyway.

But that wasn't going to be easy when she was caught in the middle. What to do?

As it turned out, there wasn't much she could do. Even half way through their ship ride across the English Channel, Maryann remained smiling and kind, and Nadja found nothing amiss with her presence.

"The newspaper article said that the Black Rose stole the brooch from Nadja." Maryann's comment had the desired effect: Francis's mind was suddenly racing a mile a minute. Was that what Keith did to get himself hurt and make Nadja that angry? "So I don't think that will be nearly enough to prove your identity. Do you have anything else that could prove your identity?"

"Yes," Nadja admitted, leading Maryann across the cabin to her little suitcase. "My mother's diary and music box, and her dress, though it looks different now." As Nadja moved the dress aside to reveal the diary and music box, Maryann caught sight of the kaleidoscope, placed carefully between the diary and music box.

"My...a kaleidoscope," commented Maryann. Nadja stared at her. Hadn't they already been over this? "I remember this—it's Keith's, is it not?" As Nadja replied with the affirmative, she looked at Maryann questioningly. What was she trying to do? "Really? So Keith gave it to you? I can't believe that Keith would give his only remaining piece of his mother to anyone. He never even let me touch it when I begged him when we were children, you know. Right, Francis?"

"Yeah," Francis replied shortly, rather preoccupied with his attempts to figure out what Maryann meant by all this interrogation. Keith was coming up alarmingly often. Almost as if...but no, that couldn't be.

"I- I see," Nadja replied. Now she was really weirded out. They had definitely been over this before...

"You're certainly taking good care of it," Maryann commented. A pause, and then, "Wasn't Keith a bother?"

"Pardon?" Nadja couldn't believe her ears.

"Keith's always been nothing but a bother. Hasn't he been bothering you?"

"What are you-"

"Ever since we were children he's been that way, never thinking of how his actions affect others. He's selfish, always complaining, with a heart cold as ice-"

"No he's not!" Nadja finally snapped. Francis looked around at her. Well, that was a quick recovery from that angry display last night. But why did Maryann... "Sure, he's a little forceful, and he can be picky and rough, but Keith is a kind person at heart! Keith was always helping people who needed help. He helped me, too—you have no idea how grateful I am for that!"

Maryann could have commented that that seemed to contradict the anger from the previous night. But she didn't. "I see. Keith helped you, did he? I'm sorry. It's never pleasant to hear a person you care about insulted. My apologies, Nadja."

"No problem..." replied a very, very confused Nadja. Francis left the room quietly: he was finally understanding what Maryann was trying to do. All the insults directed at Keith, all the references to Keith...

Maryann was in love with Keith, Francis realized. And she was trying to turn Nadja away from him. Just my luck... Francis thought to himself with a sigh, leaning on the railing.

The web of confusion was finalized not three hours later on the train from France to Austria, when Francis announced to Maryann that he sincerely loved Nadja, Maryann announced to Nadja that she was never going to give up Francis, and Nadja finally realized what was going on and developed a splitting headache.