A Scandal By Any Other Name-Chapter 93 - Ninety Three

Ines took her turn. She bent her knees, focused her sharp eyes on the target, and released her bowl with a smooth, elegant roll. It curved beautifully across the green, coming to rest a mere six inches from the white jack.

"Oh, well done, Your Grace!" Celine clapped her gloved hands together.

"Your turn, Lady Celine," Ines encouraged. "Just mirror my stance. We must not let them win."

Celine stepped up. She was nervous, but she focused on the task. She rolled her bowl. It bumped gently against Ines’s bowl, settling right next to the target. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"A brilliant shot!" Ines cheered.

The game continued in this disastrous fashion for nearly an hour.

Rowan could not focus. Every time Delaney stepped up to roll, he found his eyes drawn to the delicate curve of her neck, the stray wisps of dark hair escaping her bun, and the graceful way she moved. He was so distracted by his own painful yearning that he played terribly.

Delaney, for her part, played safely. She did not try to win. She simply rolled her bowls with quiet efficiency, trying to remain invisible. She wanted the game to end so she could escape the heavy, suffocating weight of Rowan’s silent presence.

Finally, the footman measured the distance of the final bowls.

"The Duchess of Carleton and Lady Celine are the victors," the footman announced.

Ines did not simply accept her victory with grace. She shoved her victory down Rowan’s throat.

She walked over to her brother, a smug, radiant smile spreading across her face. She poked him firmly in the center of his chest with her index finger.

"I believe that is a total defeat, Your Grace," Ines boasted, her voice dripping with sweet poison. "You were completely crushed. Destroyed. Humiliated on your own lawn."

Rowan looked down at her finger. He slowly raised his eyes to meet hers. He looked deeply unamused.

"You are a menace to polite society, Ines," Rowan said dryly. "You cheat."

"I do not cheat," Ines laughed, crossing her arms. "I simply possess superior skill. And a much better partner. You played like a distracted paperboy. It is a good thing you are a Duke, Rowan, because you would starve as a sportsman."

Rowan rolled his eyes, letting out a breath that was half-sigh, half-laugh. Despite his misery, he could never stay truly angry at his sister.

A few yards away, standing near the shade of an old elm tree, Celine and Delaney watched the siblings interact.

They stood side-by-side. The excitement of the game had faded, leaving a quiet, thoughtful atmosphere in its wake. They were both outsiders looking in on a private family dynamic.

Celine watched as Ines playfully nudged Rowan’s shoulder, and Rowan finally cracked a small, reluctant smile, pushing his sister away gently.

Celine kept her bright blue eyes fixed on them. She felt a strange ache in her chest.

"Sometimes," Celine said, her voice barely louder than a whisper, "I wonder what it is like to have a sibling."

Delaney turned her head slightly to look at the younger girl. Celine looked very pale in the sunlight, the thick powder on her cheek catching the light in a way that made Delaney looked at her with a softer gaze.

"Do you?" Delaney asked softly.

Celine nodded. She did not look away from Rowan and Ines.

"I do," Celine continued, her tone filled with a deep, wistful longing. "To have the one person who you want to kill at every given chance, because they are so annoying and they know exactly how to ruin your pride."

Celine paused, a sad smile touching her lips.

"But," Celine added, "when they are away, you miss them terribly. To have someone who knows you. Truly knows you, without the polite manners and the perfect dresses. Someone who will fight with you, but who will also stand in front of you when the world is cruel."

Delaney followed Celine’s gaze. She watched Ines laughing at something Rowan said. It was true. Ines agitated Rowan endlessly, but Delaney knew that Ines would also walk through fire for her brother, same with Rowan.

"Indeed," Delaney replied softly. Her voice was thick with emotion.

She also watched Ines and Rowan’s relationship, and a wave of profound loneliness washed over her. She thought of her father, of the carriage accident, of the terrible silence that had followed.

"I never experienced it," Delaney confessed, looking down at her plain black boots. "Because I was the only child. It was always just me."

Celine turned to look at the matchmaker. Her blue eyes were wide, filled with a sudden, unexpected spark of shared understanding.

For a moment, she did not see a servant or an employee. She saw another young woman standing in the shadows.

"I feel the same way, Miss Kingsley," Celine replied, her voice remarkably sincere.

Celine reached out and gently touched the rough bark of the elm tree. She traced a deep groove in the wood with her gloved finger.

"Sometimes," Celine whispered, looking down at the ground, "I am happy I am the only child."

Delaney looked at her in surprise. "Happy?"

"Yes," Celine nodded slowly. A dark, heavy shadow crossed her beautiful face. She thought of her mother’s slap. She thought of the terrible threats her father made. She thought of Edward’s grave, hidden somewhere in the cold ground.

"I am happy," Celine continued, her voice trembling slightly with the weight of her secret, "because at least I am the only one with the burden. If I had a younger sister, she would have to suffer this life too. She would have to obey. She would have to marry a man..."

Celine stopped herself. She swallowed hard, realizing she was speaking too freely.

She took a deep breath, forcing her voice to steady.

"At least I bear the burden alone," Celine finished quietly. "I protect the family name. I take the punishment. But..."

Celine looked back up at Delaney. A single, shiny tear threatened to spill over her lower lash line, but she blinked it away fiercely.

"But sometimes," Celine whispered, her voice breaking just a little, "it gets so incredibly lonely. To carry it all by yourself. To have no one to share the weight with."

Delaney felt a sharp, painful lump form in her own throat.

She looked at the girl in the yellow dress. Celine Farrington was supposed to be the enemy. She was supposed to be the spoiled, empty-headed debutante who was taking Rowan away.

But as Delaney looked at her, she realized they were exactly the same.

Delaney carried a crushing debt in her heart. She carried the secret of Lord Hawksley’s involvement in the murder of her father. She carried it all alone, fighting a monster in the dark to protect her family’s honor, just as Celine was fighting her own unseen monsters.

They were both only children. They were both trapped by the sins of the men in their families. They were both desperately lonely.

Delaney did not think about proper social boundaries. She did not think about her role as a matchmaker.

She reached out her hand.

Delaney gently took Celine’s gloved hand in her own. She did not squeeze it tight. She simply held it, offering a silent, physical connection.

"I know exactly what you mean, Lady Celine," Delaney said. Her voice was steady, filled with a deep, genuine empathy. "The burden is heavy. And the silence is the heaviest part of all."

Celine looked down at their joined hands. A look of profound relief washed over her pale, powdered face. For the first time since she had arrived at Hamilton House, someone had truly seen her without her mask. Someone understood the pain hidden beneath the silk and the smiles.

"Thank you, Miss Kingsley," Celine whispered, squeezing Delaney’s hand back gently.

They both spoke on the topic of siblings relationships for a few minutes more while the Duke and Duchess continued their loud, joyful argument on the bright green lawn.