Bittersweet Endeavors (42 page)

“Please, Zachary, don
’
t do this.
” 
Myra
fell to
Zachary’s
feet.
“I implore
you;
do not allow
him
to
hurt Seth.  He’s done you no harm.  I swear to you, I’ll do anything. 
Please,” she
begged.
 

“Anything?”  Zachary’s sinister smile ripped her heart in two when she
understood his price
.

“Anything,” she slowly repeated
in a whisper
.  B
owing her head, unabashed tears stained the carpet.  God help her, but she
’d
rather let
Zachary
mistreat
her than
Seth slayed
.

“Then, my sweet, we shall see how well you keep your promise.
  I
f you uphold your end
,
as you can
rest
assure
d…
I
shall
mine,” he said provocatively
,
and
it
caused
the other man to belt into a p
eel of
boisterous
laughter
.
“
Y
ou may have just bought Seth
his life
.”

Myra
stood and
s
wiped
at
her tears. 
She raised
her chin
and
steadied herself
. 

“For the time being,
Benitez
,
I say
we shall let this matter rest
.  But,” he added cautiously, “I
f young Mister Preston begins to
sneak
around here or seems
even
in the least interested
in
my business
, we
’ll take care of this
matter
posthaste
.”

“I’ll see to it,”
Benitez
added.

“
Shall
you be coming to my room
tonight,” she
stammered and
her
tears choked
her into silence.
  Sobs squeezed at her throat when she tried to hold them in.

“And you’re being such a
good
sport about it,”
Za
chary laughed.  “
Nay
, my dearest
, un
fortunately
,
I have a pressing
business
matter
s
that
requires
my time in
Baltimore
.”

“When
shall
you return?”

“Eager for my
return
and
I’ve not yet left?”
 
Zachary
smiled
.
  “
Dear
est
wife, I’m touched.”

“I’m curious, tis all.” 
Myra
prayed
it’
d
be a long journey.  If God
should be so kind
, it’
d
be
never, but af
ter
the birth of her child
would suffice.

“A few months, perhaps more.  But don
’t get any ideas about clandestine meetings with that Preston boy
,” he warned.  “
Benitez
shall
remain here
and
closely
watch after you whilst I’m away.”

She didn’t understand how
Zachary
could leave
such a vile man as her guardsman
.
  And by the
following day
, Seth wouldn’t be there to protect her.  God help her,
Myra
thought.

*                    *                    *

“It’s quite late to be discussing this, Seth.  I think it’
s
best to
argue
this on the morrow
after we
’ve
both
rested
.
”
Anvil quickly made his way through th
e hall and toward the staircase.

“So you can drum up more lies,
f
ather?” 
Seth
refused to
be fooled by him
, and h
e’
d
not
allow him to
escape his fury.
  Seth
wasn’t able to
remember the last time, if
ever
a
time
,
that
he
felt
so
angry.  Due
to him
, father or not, he
nearly
lost
the woman he love
d
, as well as his child
, a
nd still m
ight
lose.

“What lie do you accuse me of?”
Anvil stopped at the bottom step and bristled.

“I spoke to
Myra
.”  Seth crossed the rich
,
red
rug
to shorten the distance between them.  “I know the truth.”

“Truth,” his f
ather nervously laughed.  “
And y
ou
believe that whore!
”

Seth grabbed his father by
the
lapels
of his waistcoat
.  He had
never been
so brazen
or harsh with his father
, bu
t
paternal loyalty
didn’t matter.
  H
is intention
from the start w
asn’t to have the conversation
as
father
to
son
,
but man
to
man.

“
Do not attempt to blemish her name
again
, do you hear me?”
Anvil stood still
and
slowly raised his head to fa
ce his son.  Anvil’s cheeks reddened
in
either
embarrassment or anger
. 
Seth
didn’t know which
nor did he care.
  By God he
was going to have his
say
before he left for England.

“You’
d
take her word over mine?”  Anvil stared at Seth. 
He narrowed
his eyes
and
attempt
ed
to intimidate him into his usual submission.  It
did
n’t work.  Not th
at
time, and never again. 

“You
will
stand
t
here and lie to me again,
f
ather?”  Seth lowered his head and winced.
   “Have you no shame, father?”
  The pain of knowing the lengths his father
went
in
ruin
ing
his life
ha
d
no limitations, and the hurt
he felt
inside w
as bound to
be long lasting.  How
did
he
ever look
up
to
him and want to be like him
?  The disappointment
came so great that
by the time Seth raised his head, a tear made
an
escape down his cheek.
 
“There have been times I’ve been angry at you,
f
ather, and
oftentimes I
questioned your motives, but I always followed your example
s
and orders, but after t
his day
, I
shan’t listen to you
again.  Today, the man who I thought was the greatest man on God’s
e
arth
proved he is naught but
a fraud, and worst
, a coward.  I’m ashamed. 
S
hamed to call you my father, and
embarrassed
tha
t I
have
allowed you to take control of my life.  Not only have you ruined my life, but
you also destroyed an
innocent woma
n like
Myra
. 
Worse still
, you intentionally allowed my child
, your grandchild,
to take another man’s name.
”  Seth
shrugged his father
away when
he
reached out to lay his hand on his shoulder.  “I need no comfort, least of all by you,” he hissed.  “I’ll say my goodbyes to
m
other and my sisters and
then
I’ll
be on my way.”

“You’
re leaving?” his father croaked out.  “But where
shalt
you go?”  Anvil stepped in front of his son and blocked his path to the steps.  “Please, Seth, let me explain,” he begged.

“Can you explain your actions?  There’s no excuse
to be given
for what you’ve done!  Do you have any idea as to what kind of life you
’ve
sentenced
Myra
to live when you forced her into marrying that
dastardly
man?”
 
His father looked down, and
Seth was surprised by
Anvil
’s open
embar
rassment
.  “
Aye
, I think you do know,” Seth
raged
out.  “That
makes
this all
that
much
more incredulous.”

“I did it for you, Seth,” his father called out as Seth made his way up the steps.  “I did it to protect you!”

Seth whirled around from the top of the steps and yelled. 
“I didn’t need protected!  Do
you not
see that?”

“I’m sorry, Seth.  I truly am sorry.”

“It is too late for apologies,
f
ather!”

“What’s going on here?”  Margaret rushed down the steps
past Seth
and reached for her father.  Wrapping her arms around him, she pierced a daggering stare at Seth.  “What’s this about, Seth?  What have you done?”

Seth shook his head and then nodded toward his father.  “
I’ll let him explain. Perhaps he’ll even be honest and tell the truth
this time, as this has affected you as well
.
  Perhaps then, you can show a bit of compassion for Myra
, as she has done you a great favor by blocking your marriage to Frederickson
.
”

Seth
finished ascending
the steps
two by two
and
glanced
behind him
once he reached the landing
.
  He saw his father’s hand cover his face
and
he wept. 
Seth ha
d
never se
en his father
cry
, nor ever
thought him capable.  Yet
Seth
didn’t feel regret. 
Nay
,
only one issue
mattered
to him
.  R
eturn to England and find Mary.  Then
,
upon his
return
, h
e’d
re
claim Myra as his, whether she remained married or not.

As jailors go,
Rico
Benitez
wasn’t a bad sort. 
He generally stayed away
to partake in gambling, and the times he
stayed
in residence
, he was
surprisingly pleasant
and accommodating.
  In the months that he had been there, Myra would even venture to call him friend. 
As being such,
neither Myra or Lucia felt need to leave Frederickson’s
residence, especially after Zachary had written a couple missives and informed her of his extended stay in Baltimore. 
He had included his words of love and devotion, as well.  Myra scoffed at that, and wondered if
he
was legitimately cracked to believe she’d want to
read
such endearments from him.