Author's note: Forgive me if the timeline in the previous chapter was not clear; Gabrielle only spent two days at George Eliot's (Mary Ann's) home before hiding in Hastings at Scalands cottage. She has been there for three weeks now. Why has the letter taken this long to get to her? Mail by way of snail, plus the letter had to pass through Mary Ann's hands first as you'll see.

Enjoy! -Leesainthesky

Ch 67 Revelations

"Please Mary Ann, do be seated." I leaned forward with my hands clasped together. "It's nice to see you. I was feeling rather dull today; I guess it's the gray weather. Tea?" I gestured to the tray on the serving cart to my right.

"Oh yes, please. I fear the winter chill has seeped into fall already." She removed her cloak and scarf, folding them over the back of a comfortable chair covered with yellow and red paisley print.

I smiled inwardly at the thought of how Erik would have immediately hung up his outer garments before even thinking of sitting down for a chat.

Bastion always set out two tea cups should I wish to sample more than one flavor from the selection of fine teas provided, therefore I had no need to ring for an extra cup. I scooped loose tea leaves into the infuser and poured steaming water into her china cup. Mary Ann preferred Earl Gray.

I handed her the tea cup. "Now then Madame, what brings you to the woods besides my sparkling company?"

"What else is there?" Her bright smile was quick to fade.

"This letter arrived for you yesterday morning, Gabrielle. I figured that bringing it to you by rail would be much quicker than forwarding it via the post."

She held out the letter for me to take. I eyed the postmarks more closely. Just as I suspected from the color of one of the stamps, the correspondence's origin was France.

The seal bore a nondescript "R" within the wax circle. I popped open the seal and withdrew drew the letter from its envelope. Madame Roux's sturdy penmanship faced me from the page. I scanned it quickly and expelled a slow stream of air.

"Well, shall I guess who it is from or go ahead with my prying and ask you?"

"You're not prying we're writers; curiosity is only natural."

"I have only your interest at heart, my dear,"

"Then let me read it to you. Madame Roux, Marie, was distraught when she and her husband arrived back from holiday to discover the note detailing my hasty departure.

"No surprise there eh?" Having just taken a sip of hot tea, Mary Ann agreed with a quick nod.

"Naturally, the woman is most concerned for the unborn child and for me. She begs me to contact her as soon as I possibly can.

Here she claims that I've made a terrible mistake in the matter of Monsieur DuPuis,"

I smirked and rolled my eyes heavenward.

"Do tell!" replied Mary Ann.

"Marie's says, and I quote,"

"When Monsieur DuPuis arrived back from Venice…"

Mary Ann raised a blond eyebrow at me.

" …and I ran to ask him of this with Christine, he had absolutely no answer but to admit that he had gone to speak with her and that he did indeed travel to Venice for two days at the sudden request of his new client, and did Gabrielle not receive his message saying so? He stomped off to his music room to replace his violin which he nearly always takes along when he travels. Upon entering the room, I heard him cry out, cursing loudly and throwing all sorts of furniture about as if he were a wild man. He then barreled from the room, scaring me to near death shouting 'Madame Roux, tell me what is the meaning of such insane rubbish? She believes me to have run off to marry Christine!' Child, all I could do was to look at the poor man dumbstruck and listen to his raving.

I sat him down to tell him that I knew of no such plan as we had only returned from holiday and blah, blah, blah…"

"Oh my Lord! The woman told him of my condition, as she calls it."

"I was indeed afraid of such." Mary Ann furrowed her brow at me.

"…Monsieur galloped up the main staircase to his room where, once more, I heard him howling and thrashing about. I bade Henri to go and attempt to calm the poor man. Henri did so, but came back down within moments, shaking his head. He told me that presently there was nothing we could do for Monsieur other than to be mindful that the man did not harm himself. Henri made mention of a hand too, an oddly lifelike rendering of a woman's wrist and hand. It wore what appeared to be your engagement ring. Monsieur was holding the thing and asking Henri 'Why?' over and over again. He'd torn his mask from his face. Henri said he'd never seen a more frightening sight, not so much due to the disfigurement but of the grief mingled with great tears of pain and rage on the man's face.

Oh Gabrielle, you simply must return this instant! Monsieur DuPuis did not spend the night in this house and when he resurfaced late in the afternoon, he was devoid of any emotion. Frankly dear, I fear what he may do. Why, he even threatened Henri and me that if we do know of your plans and choose not to divulge them, we shall be at the mercy of his considerable wrath.

I felt it best to hand over to him the note you left for us. Monsieur knows of your condition and that you entertain thoughts of sailing for America.

Monsieur Dupuis is on the warpath and of this correspondence is preparing to go to London in search of you.

Please Gabrielle, I implore you to return to the manor or forward a letter to let us know of your whereabouts and of your health.

Your obedient servant and dear friend,

Madame Marie Roux"

I looked up from the letter to Mary Ann's ashen face. "Well now, what do you think of that? Of all the nerve! He's coming after me for the child, no doubt."

"Madame Roux made no mention of the Comtess; do you think it is possible that they were not wed after all?"

"According to his dear Jane letter to me, they were going to Venice. Erik went to Venice; Christine went to Venice too, so I can only assume that they are married."

"Perhaps they are not. Arrangements often do not come to their planned culmination, Gabrielle"

"Well, were that true, it would be because the Comtess got another look at his face and changed her mind. Erik once told me how she could not deal with it. Oh, in the end, she didn't wince and run from him, but even as she kissed him, she kept her eyes closed and shivered in fear. I don't know much of Christine; she doesn't seem like a dragon woman, but she still, even after years of marriage, strikes me as naïve and fragile. Believe me, life with Erik is no day at the spa. He's a dervish of complexities. Often times, I would just throw up my hands in acceptance that I would not ever be able to figure out all of his reasoning."

"But then aren't all of us that way? Your Monsieur DuPuis' oddities are simply more numerous and evident than most."

I got up from the sofa, the letter clenched in my right hand and walked aimlessly around the parlour before coming to rest at the front window.

"Christine or no Christine, if your theory is correct and she's left, he's got another thing coming if Erik believes he can come for me and I'll melt into his arms and forgive him for his infractions of the heart. I love Erik, but I will not be his second choice, his consolation bride. There's no way in hell, Mary Ann."

I looked over at her, my eyes hard with determination. My hands fisted so tight that when I opened my palms, I saw red half moons indented into the flesh from my fingernails.

Mary Anne rose from her chair and crossed over to the window. She laid a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Gabrielle, you know that you have the support of many should you chose to stay here and forge your own life. Where many women succumb to the need for a man's support to survive, you will not have that burden."

I smiled at her kindness and took hold of her hands. "Thank you. I am so fortunate to have you, Barbara, George, and everyone's support. I do think it wise for you and George to stay away from Scalands cottage for a while, at least a month."

She tilted her head and started to speak, but I held up a hand to stop her.

"No, listen to me. Erik will come looking for me at your doorstep. When he inquires of my whereabouts, I want you to be able to say that yes, I stayed with you, but you have not seen me in weeks and last you heard I was talking about going to America. This way you won't have to lie for my sake."

Mary Ann pursed her lips. She was thinking about what I'd proposed.

"Very well, Gabrielle, if you believe it is best. I shall send George to check on you one day past a month from today. And you must agree to allow Dr. Garret to pay you weekly visits as well."

"Makes sense to me. If you receive more letters for me, place them in a separate envelope and forward them to Monsieur D. Harry; agreed?"

"Agreed dear."

Mary Ann spent the night with me. We talked of men, art, writing, of our childhoods (mine a very loose variation of the truth), and the ridiculous laws banning a woman's right to vote. I felt bad that I knew it would be another forty years before women would have the right to choose the government of the very country in which they lived. Mary Ann and many of her sisters in the suffragette movement would not live to take advantage of this basic right.

In bed that evening, I fought to push away Erik's ghost and all of the what-if's brought about by Madame Roux's letter.

Something didn't measure up. Why hadn't Marie made mention of the Wedding; was she sparing my feelings by tip-toeing around the issue? Marie rarely minced words with anyone. Maybe Erik hadn't married Christine after all, maybe he changed his mind, maybe…oh hell no Gab, if he loved you above the Comtess, he would have destroyed that stupid shrine to the goddess of feminine mediocrity.

I ran my hand over the swell of my new baby-bump. Tears pooled in my eyes when I whispered in the dark to my baby; Right here beneath my hand, within me you live, a life created in love. Oh little one I love you already and I will always love your father--and now, you're all that I have left of him.

What a cruel arrangement for our child to be born of a broken home. This was something more akin to my former life in 2006, not 1877. Not that I would keep Erik from his very own flesh. How could I be so callous? I would wait until the child was old enough to comprehend that life isn't always perfect and sometimes mother's and father's must live apart.

Fear was another reason I harbored caution over allowing Erik access to our child. Suppose he and Christine made an attempt to take the child from me to raise? Society would accept them over me, after all, they were a properly wed couple and I was well, a single woman!

No, Erik had mishandled my heart, he'd taken it and crushed it—I would not allow him to take my child too!

- 0 -

Do we smell and Erik alert? : )

Thank you immensely for your reviews. It's cool to hear from new readers and you sneaky lurkers too (don't kill me for the cliffies!) Your reviews have helped me in so many ways since this is my first piece of fiction. Read on!

-Leesa