Neena entered the office and was admiring a model of a bridge, waiting patiently. Jean had told her James would be in shortly, and she was in no particular rush.
"Neena?" James' voice came from behind her, pulling her attention away from the model bridge.
She turned around to face him. "James….I have news for you. Not the good kind, I'm afraid."
She hands him a portfolio, and he seems a little confused. "Is this…?"
"Don't open it here." She instructs.
The warmth of the Darkholme house welcomed its visitors for dinner, the great long table in the dining room adorned with a lace tablecloth and the finest meats and dishes that the kitchen staff had graced them with for the evening.
Anna Marie's face brightened as she saw Wanda and Pietro walk through the door, and Wanda whispers something to Pietro before Pietro gently touches her arm.
"Anna Marie, may I have a word?"
"Just one moment, I'm going to fetch my father for dinner." She smiled and made her way to her father's study.
Pietro is left standing there, nervously holding onto the ruby ring, waiting for her to return so he can ask her an important question.
She knocks on the door to the study, getting James' attention.
"Father, everyone is waiting."
"Thank you, my love, I'll be there shortly."
She turns to leave, and is caught halfway back to the dinner table by Pietro.
"Miss Darkholme, if I may, I must speak with you about something. I realize I have no right to ask-"
"Sir Pietro." James Darkholme's voice came from behind Anna Marie and she turned as he spoke. "If I could have a word with you in my study please. You, and your sister, if you would be so kind as to fetch her." His facial expression was unreadable, and he turned to Anna Marie, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Child, please tell our guests that we will join them presently."
James shut the door to his study, not wanting any prying eyes or ears for this conversation.
"Now, Lady Wanda, Sir Pietro…" He walked towards his desk. "The first time I met you, I imagine it was difficult to accept that I didn't like you."
"You made that quite clear, sir." Pietro spoke. "But I had hoped, that with time-"
"Your time, Sir Pietro, is up." James held a portfolio in his hand.
"Could you speak plainly, Mister Darkholme?" Wanda spoke with a tone that seemed innocent, though James could tell it was artificial.
"Plain I will be, a lot plainer than you would like, I'm sure." He hands her the portfolio. "In the past few days, your brother has deemed it fine enough to mix business with pleasure by repeatedly engaging socially with my daughter."
Wanda pulled the contents of the portfolio out, and her facial expression was unreadable, tense.
"My only daughter." James emphasized as he stood in front of Pietro, a steely expression on his face.
"Sir, I am aware that I have no position to offer, but-"
"You are falling in love with her, is that it?" James' tone was a bit condescending. "You play the part well."
Wanda handed Pietro the portfolio.
"The other day my daughter asked me why I didn't like you. Honestly, at the time, I had no good answer. But now I do." He tapped the document that Wanda had pulled from the portfolio. "That document there gave me my answer."
Pietro recognized the document, and the look he gave James was of irritation, his jaw clenched.
"Ah. That's the first honest reaction I've seen from you since you got here."
"Does she know?" Pietro asked quietly.
"No." James grabbed his checkbook. "But I will tell her if that's what it takes to send you on your way." He wrote out a check and tore it from the perforated line.
"Sir, I know you will find this hard to believe-"
"You love her. I know. You're repeating yourself." He stepped forward, check in hand, towards Wanda. "Now you….you seem to be the more collective one, my dear." He hands her the check. "It's overly generous, I know. But if you want that check to clear, there are two conditions. There is a train leaving for New York City tomorrow morning. You and your brother better be on it. Do we understand each other?"
Wanda lifted her chin and looked him in the eye. "We do." She wraps her hand around her brother's arm. "What is the second condition?"
"That concerns my daughter." James spoke with the tone of a man who would not be refused as he looked at Pietro.
"Tonight, you must thoroughly break her heart."
After dinner had been served, and drinks were being enjoyed, James clinked his fork against his glass as he stood at the head of the table.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have an unexpected announcement. Sir Pietro?" He turned his head, eyeing Pietro. For a moment, it appeared as if the two were mentally sparring one another. Pietro stood up and James backed out of the way as he stood at the head of the table.
"Thank you, Mister Darkholme." He muttered, a touch of bitterness in his tone before it was gone.
He addressed the group sitting at the table.
"Ladies and gentlemen, when I first came to America, my heart was brimming with a sense of adventure. Here, the future actually seemed to mean something." He stole a glance at Anna Marie, who smiled at him.
"I have found warmth and friendship among you all, but for now….farewell."
Anna Marie's smile faded into confusion as her father's hand touched her shoulder, a silent message.
He's leaving.
Kurt wore a concerned expression as he watched this unfold from across the table. He could see Anna Marie's distress at the announcement.
"May we meet again, perhaps on a different shore." Pietro continued. "My sister and I depart for Prussia, just in time for the winter."
He raised his glass in a toast. "To lasting friendship."
The rest of the table joined in on the toast as Anna Marie slipped quietly away, excusing herself from the table.
She was almost to the stairs when Pietro caught up to her.
"Anna Marie…."
"You are leaving us."
He took a breath. "We must return home and attend to our interests, and with nothing to hold us in America…."
She caught his meaning. He did not intend to stay for her. "I see." She began to make her way up the stairs.
"Your novel." He spoke again as he watched her climb the stairs and come to a stop. "I read the new chapters, and I will have them delivered in the morning."
"That's very good of you, thank you." She tried to make her escape, but he kept going.
"Would you still like to know my thoughts?"
She hesitated, and lifted her chin. "If we must."
He took a moment before speaking. "It's absurdly sentimental." He closed the distance between them. "The aches that you described with such earnestness, the pain, the loss. You clearly haven't lived at all. In fact you seem to know only what other writers tell you."
Her facial expression was one of shock and hurt. "That is enough-"
"You insist on describing the torments of love when you clearly know nothing about them." He continued as she tried to get away from him.
"I am not done!" He shouted, and she froze. "What do you dream of? A kind man? A pure soul to be redeemed? A wounded bird you can nourish? Perfection? Perfection has no place in love, Anna Marie. I advise you to return to your ghosts and fancies the sooner the better. You know precious little of the human heart, or love, or the pain that comes with it. You are nothing more than a spoiled child."
He was not prepared for her to slap him across the face, as a small portion of the dinner guests and her father gasped from their position near the stairs, having heard the commotion.
James held Kurt back, who was very concerned, especially after the way Pietro had just spoken to Anna Marie, who was now running up the stairs to her room.
Pietro caught James' eye, almost as if to say 'was that to your satisfaction?'
Looking out over the disapproving crowd, he could see Wanda standing there, an unreadable expression on her face from the shadows.