Chapter 390: Harsh reality [2]
Agatha backed away from the gate because she couldn’t convince the guard to help her.
"I must return the dress today, and I don’t have money for it. What should I do?" Agatha wondered anxiously.
It was too difficult to get to Zayne’s home to come again another day without money offered.
"All my efforts can"t be for nothing. I need to get to his mother’s home," Agatha decided, determined to succeed.
Agatha turned around to address the guard again. "Do not tell them that I have visited today. I will come again another day to speak with your employer. Good day."
Agatha walked away from the gate and now thought of a way to make it to Zayne’s parents’ home.
Agatha started walking until she met kind souls who gave her a ride so she could get closer to the home.
Eventually, Agatha reached the home, and just as she arrived, she noticed a carriage was leaving the gates.
Desperate not to miss her chance a second time, Agatha hopped out of the carriage she rode in and ran towards the carriage leaving.
Inside the carriage, Olivia was startled by someone’s calls. She looked to her right and noticed the strange woman running towards her carriage.
It prompted the guards to ready their weapons.
"What an odd day this is," Olivia muttered.
Olivia looked away from the strange woman as the guards would surely get her out of the way, yet the carriage remained still, and her guards seemed to be speaking to the visitor.
"What is it?" Olivia asked when the door opened. "I am going to be late."
"She claims to be the mother of your son’s fiancée."
"Is she? Allow her inside the carriage, but keep the door open," Olivia said, now interested in the stranger.
After speaking to Zayne and hearing the tales about Iris’s family, Olivia didn’t think she would be so fortunate as to meet Iris’s mother.
"You are most kind," Agatha said when she came to the carriage door. "If I had been a second late, I would have missed you."
"You would have. You are lucky since I am a little behind on when I meant to leave home. This is a bit of an unladylike way to meet. Is there trouble?" Olivia asked, though she knew what Agatha’s intentions were. "You must be Agatha Wilkins."
"I am. I am the mother of Iris Wilkins. When I heard of the engagement, I thought that it was only proper that I come to introduce myself to you," said Agatha.
"Well, it is proper for us to meet, but I am surprised that you chose this day to do it. Shouldn’t you be with your daughter today?" Olivia asked, curious if Agatha saw Iris today.
"My daughter does not need me now. In fact, she was quite happy when I spoke about us meeting," Agatha said with a forced smile.
"Oh. Is that so? Silly me. I must have had it all wrong," Olivia said, trying to hold back her laughter. "Since you are here, we should talk. I can be a bit late to my outing. What would you like to speak about?"
"Well, I hope that you have taken a great liking to my daughter," said Agatha.
"Didn’t Iris tell you about how our first meeting went? I expected it would be the first topic that would come up when you spoke to her," Olivia said.
"My daughter likes to withhold things from me at times. Maybe she didn’t want to worry me. I raised her with the utmost care, so I am certain you would enjoy her company. She listens well, so if there is trouble, you only need to speak up, and she can change," Agatha assured Olivia.
"I like your daughter as she is and don’t plan to have her change to my liking. We should stay out of it and let the children do as they want. My son is in love with her, and I don’t plan to meddle. You shouldn’t meddle either," Olivia advised Agatha.
"Oh. I won’t meddle in their courtship. I am happy to hear that you like her as she is. I was starting to worry that my daughter would not be able to wed this season. It would have been unfortunate if she hadn’t, since she was always the best amongst her peers," Agatha gloated, unable to hide her pride.
"I could tell from our conversation that she had spent a lot of time learning how to act like a lady. While this talk is amusing, should we get to the bottom of why you are here? You seem to be in a rush," Olivia said, her gaze falling to Agatha’s dress.
With one look, Olivia knew that Agatha was trying too hard to impress her.
"I thought that we should sit to speak about the wedding."
"We have not gotten that far along yet. There needs to be a ball to introduce Iris to the people of high society, and when it comes time for wedding planning, your daughter should be present. We’ve already had our perfect weddings, so let your daughter plan her own," Olivia said, taking the backseat.
"Forgive me, but it seems that you have a bit of an attitude with me," Agatha noticed, and it troubled her.
"Attitude? I have been polite from the start by allowing you to sit in my carriage on such short notice. I would prefer that you be honest with me about your visit. You are here to see what you can gain. It is not difficult to tell the position you are in," Olivia said, giving Agatha another look over.
"I want what is best for my daughter. I came to you not only to introduce myself and speak about the engagement, but because I worry about the family she is marrying into. Iris doesn’t have the support to back her," said Agatha.
"That is not true. She has the support of Lord and Lady Hawthorne. I would prefer that you don’t lie about having spoken to your daughter. If you do speak to her, you wouldn’t be here sitting before me on today of all days," Olivia said, as today was awful for Iris.
"I assure you that my relationship with my daughter is fine. We talk quite often, but because I am not close to her cousin, she cannot share that we speak. I love my daughter more than you will ever understand," Agatha proclaimed.
"I like to believe that is true, but since you are here before me, I cannot believe it. If you care for her, why aren’t you at her side now that her father, your husband, has passed away?" Olivia asked, watching as Agatha’s eyes opened wide in shock. "It seems you were not aware."