Roses of Stone

William returned to their room late that evening, carrying several documents with him that Katherine had left unfinished so that he could look over them to see exactly what she had been up to before finishing them. The room was dark, and as soon as he entered he was a little wary. There was a sound of giggling, humming, and claps in intervals that matched the tune. Walking over to the table he set down the documents and lit the lamp before blowing out the match and picking it up from the table.

When he lit the light, it sounded like the giggling was muffled much like two little girls having a sleep over who were about to get caught awake after they were supposed to be asleep. William raised a brow and walked over to the bed, finding that whoever it was, they couldn’t stop laughing even though they tried to stay quiet. The sheet was pulled up as the giggles started to come again.

Tavington reached up and pulled the blanket back to find Katherine laying there, grinning from here to ear frozen for a moment biting her lip. After a moment, she burst into hysterical laughter unable to control herself. She covered her mouth and looked up at William, trying to stop but she simply couldn’t.

“What is wrong with you?” William said suspiciously, not knowing what in the world could have been so incredibly funny to her that it would pull her completely out of her melancholy state.

“Nothing’s wrong with me.” She said giggling again. “Everything is absolutely wonderful.” There was something amuck with this, and he sat down next to her leaning close to her face to see if she had been drinking. Yet there was no sign or the slightest smell of spirits on her. Reaching over he looked at her arms, and then at her throat wondering if some sort of infection had taken a hold of her senses. Katherine’s eyes followed his as she actually let him touch her and found it as funny as could be.

“Something is wrong with you. I would think that you would be still cowering away if there wasn’t.” He held the light up closer to her for a moment, still examining her face to make sure that she hadn’t received a harsh blow to the head.

Katherine laughed a little more as she leaned up and put her arms around his neck kissing him softly before she had to stop when she started giggling and fell back to the bed. “I’ve never felt so wonderful before in my life. It’s like . . . it’s like being wrapped up in a warm blanket.” She said with a smile wrapping her arms around herself.

William reached over to the table and put the lamp down and then sat Katherine up making her look him in the eye, “Katherine . . . what the devil going on.” He said hoping to get a straight answer from her somehow. Instead he found her smiling again and leaning forward kissing him as she had done before but a little more passionately. He closed his eyes and started to kiss her back, but quickly stopped himself and held her at arms length. “No, no. Katherine . . . alright, look at me. Look at me.” She started to lean forward again but he kept her at a difference. “No, You must tell me the truth.”

She just looked into his eyes still grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Why are you so suspicious of me, William?” Katherine said giving him a rather seductive look that stunned him beyond all reason. Once again she leaned forward and placed her hands on his chest, dragging them downwards to his hips and over his thighs. Tavington’s eyes closed a moment as his body quivered. Katherine moved closer letting her lips meet his once more. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her body hard against his as he consumed her mouth passionately.

William stopped remembering that it had caused her pain before, but instead of crying or screaming from the pressure on the tender bruises she laughed even more. He pulled back looking deep into her eyes. “You need to rest Katherine, lay down and go to sleep.” She pulled a playful pouting look with the large puppy dog eyes that a child would give a parent who wouldn’t buy her a toy.

When she started to move towards him again he pressed her back by her shoulders to lie down, holding her there to keep her from making another attempt at seducing him. He had a lousy track record for resisting physical temptation, and this was just begging to be taken advantage of. Still she laughed and giggled when there wasn’t anything to laugh about. “Katherine, quiet. Stop laughing this instant.” She pressed her lips tight together but even though she tried to hold it in, she burst into laughter.

“I . . . I can’t!” She said in between gasps for air. “I’m . . . . I . . . I’m trying!” William just looked at her, wondering if she had finally gone over the edge, so to speak. He started to lean over her to look at her once more, when he saw something behind the lamp that was distorted by the oil by which it burned.

Reaching up he pushed it aside and picked up the bottle. Tavington hadn’t seen this before, and turned it about in his hand looking for markings. Then he opened it and leaned close to find it’s scent. Instantly, he knew what was wrong with her now. “This is opium.” Shaking his head he closed the bottle back up so tight that it almost broke from the pressure. “What MORON gave you this!” He shouted throwing it across the room.

Katherine sat up with a very informed look on her face, “She is not a moron. She thought it would make me feel better. And she was right, it made me feel like I could fly.” Reaching over she picked up the glass of liquor that had been left there earlier that she had considered drinking but changed her mind. She held it to her lips, when William took the glass away from her and slammed it down on the table.

“Do you have any idea what opium does to you?” He pushed her down to the pillow, “Now you are going to lay down and go to sleep at once until this wears off. Before you hurt yourself or my baby with this foolishness.” Katherine’s laughing turned into a quiet giggle she couldn’t suppress. The look in her eyes let him know that she felt people who lived in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. “You are suppose to be the responsible one where our child is concerned. Just because I forget myself doesn’t give you the right to do the same.”

“How can you look at me like that?” She said still giggling even though her eyes started to tear up, “How can you . . . even dream of . . .” Now she was starting to panic, feeling two extreme emotions at the same time, laughing and crying whilst fear started to arise within it.

William pulled the covers up over her, again making her lie down. “Now your coming down from the euphoria you were feeling, as if it would last forever.” He looked at her a moment “The only thing you can do is to sleep until the effects subside.”

Katherine looked up at him and found herself grasping his forearms, almost afraid to let him leave. “How do you know all of this . . .?” She said with voice made up of half laughter and half crying.

Tavington just looked at her for several moments before straightening out her blanket, “Personal experience from my fathers habit that ended his life.” He said as he finally looked at her again, “He took to much, and it killed him.”

“Why.” She whispered still trying to calm herself down, even though her body trembled feeling as though it was being pulled in at least 10 different directions. This was her first time taking anything like this and she just wanted it to stop.

William just sighed and obviously didn’t want to speak of it. His father had been an opium addict for so long, that he went through William’s inheritance and destroyed the Tavington name. “Go to sleep Katherine.” He started to get up from the bed, but she still clung tight to his arm. “What is it you want me to do? There is nothing that can be done until it wears off.”

“Stay with me,” Her body was shaking more now, and her laughter had finally stopped. “Please.” Tavington looked at her, she must have been terrified more of what was going on inside of her body then she was of him. Reaching up he touched her face with his fingertips. She was clammy, and her face was almost gray. Who ever had given it to her, apparently didn’t caution her on the effects if a large dose was ingested, and it looked like she had quite a bit.

“You’ll be alright. Just rest.” Katherine nodded a little but still wouldn’t let him go. William sighed and leaned over taking off his boots, before laying down next to her, letting her cling to him. He put an arm around her, and just watched her as she fell into a sort of light sleep. She was an absolute mess, and he was the one who did it to her. It had been a hard time for her since she came from England, and he had done so well convincing her that he was the only one she could really trust and together they would face all odds. Then he turned on her at the drop of a pin, and now she not only suffered, she added to her suffering by trying to stop it.

Tavington’s hand moved over Katherine’s abdomen, and wondered how in the world the baby survived through all of this. It was definitely Katherine’s child, and that was for certain. William laid his head on Katherine’s shoulder holding her tighter then before. In the meantime, he was going to find out who was responsible for this, and put an end to their dealings with his wife.

A few days went by and Katherine sat at her vanity that had been replaced sweeping her hair up into clips, and covering what was left of the marks on her skin with heavy makeup. She never wore this stuff, but it seemed like a good idea for right now. Lady Tavington shook her head looking at herself thinking she looked like a ghost or a banshee or even the post mortem remains of someone who died long ago. She shook her head and picked up a cloth wiping her face clean, she didn’t look to bad without it and she simply wouldn’t go out until the bruises faded a bit more.

William was a little annoyed after having looked over all of Katherine’s book keeping and work. She did an exceptional job, and it seemed she didn’t leave one loose end. It would have helped justify how he treated her if she had managed to make a mess of things. However, he knew that she was intelligent. It just made him cringe to realize just how intelligent she was, when such matters were supposed to be his to deal with.

Still, he couldn’t deny the exceptional precision with which she saw to their affairs. It was a little more disturbing just how well she managed to make his signature look as though it had come from his hand. He raised a brow looking them over; starting to wonder what, besides these, she had signed his name too. Standing from the study, he picked up his papers and made his way up the stairs. When he went into their room he saw that finally it had been cleaned up by the servants and made livable for a lady like Katherine again.

“Katherine.” He said walking over to her and throwing the papers down in front of her onto the vanity. “How long have you been forging my name on documents that should have come to me to be signed by myself?” Katherine finished pulling her hair back and reached for another clip.

“Since the first year when we were married and you never managed to remember your mother on her birthday and other special events.” William raised a brow, feeling as though he had walked himself right in to that one. He glared at her in the mirror, and the smug smile she had faded as she looked down. “I apologize.”

William just took a deep breath before picking up the papers, “My mother is now deceased and I do not want to see your hand disguising itself as mine again.” Then he walked away from her and put the documents away, before he glanced over at her. When he left, he could have sworn that she was caking quite an impressive amount of makeup on her face to hide her skin, but it seemed like it was all washed away now. “Had a change of heart did we?”

“I’ll be a corpse soon enough, I don’t intend to go about predicting how I will look when they put me in the ground.” She put on a light amount of perfume and looked over herself once more to see if there was anything else that could be done to improve her look.

“I doubt you’ll have to worry about that, considering we shall both be laid to rest in the Tavington tomb.” He said nonchalantly. “If we are not going to be permitted to live in our own country we can at least be aloud to be buried there.” Katherine sighed and dropped her brush covering her eyes with her hands before looking into the mirror. “What is the matter?”

“I can’t stand to be in this room any longer. I’ve been in here for what seems like an eternity, even when I go out it feels like I’m imprisoned like some wild animal. At least at home I could travel where I wanted whenever I wanted.”

“Perhaps, the most obvious reason was that there was not a war raging through our England. You of all people should understand the dangers of finding ones self in the wrong place at the very worse time.” Walking over to the window he pulled the curtains aside and opened the shutters to let some fresh air in.

Katherine quivered a little bit at the gust of cold air that filled the room. “William? What on earth are you doing?” She stood and picked up her cloak wrapping it around her shoulders. “It’s freezing and there is still snow on the ground!”

“You have had this room shut up for days, and now it needs to have some fresh air let in. Honestly Katherine, why is it that you took better care of yourself the first time you were with child and feel so incredibly inclined to endanger you both this time.” Katherine sighed and clasped the cloak at her neck wrapping it around her.

“Perhaps the conflicts I have in my life now are no match for the ones that were present before.” William raised a brow and just starred at her. Katherine shook her head, “No William, I will not apologize for that comment.” She moved over to the fireplace and put some more wood in the fire. “There is no need to pretend what happened then and what is happing now do not exist.”

Tavington didn’t say anything and walked over to the large chair by the fire, sitting down and putting his feet up as he looked at her. “It appears that we have had to redefine the nature of our association, Katherine.” She turned and looked at him, “I blame but myself for letting things get so out of hand.”

“All that I could say that chan . . . .” She stopped and picked up the fireplace rod moving the logs around so they would burn better. William just looked at her for a moment waiting for her to say something.

“Finish what you were saying.” He demanded, hating this new habit of not speaking her mind. William never wished for it to go so far as that. Katherine’s stubborn nature was finding it’s way out once more, and she instantly took the chance he gave her.

“The only thing that changed, that you refer to as ‘getting out of hand’, is your attempt to become more human when our sons addition to our family took place. I felt as though I could trust you, and at last our marriage was becoming something like a marriage should be, instead of two people living in the same house as strangers.” There. She said it. Now he could do what ever he wanted to punish her for it, but she had her say.

William motioned with his finger for her to come to him. Katherine wasn’t about to let him think her cowardly and she stood firm on her own two feet and walked towards him. Reaching up he grasped her wrist and pulled her to sit in his lap. She just looked at him wondering what he was up to now. Tavington looked into the fire resting his hand on her lap quietly. “This is the last thing I am going to say in this matter Katherine, since I would rather not have the events that took place come about again.”

Katherine just listened, feeling a little strange. He wasn’t being the harsh master he seemed to be trying to teach her to believe he was. His voice was just a normal one, and his hand just held hers for a few moments as he spoke. “It has become clear in these years we have spent in the Colonies, that we both find ourselves . . . quite fond of each other.” He paused looking down at her hand for a moment, “We’ve found ourselves in love with each other.” He said rephrasing his first comment. “Yet at the same time, we have moments when we can’t stand one another. We must lay a foundation down before we can start to have a stable life, unlike the one we had before.”

“You intend to break me, don’t you.” Katherine said quietly. It seemed that they had both grown up quite a bit since they left England. Perhaps not in the physical sense, yet it seemed as though they were not children anymore.

“Not even the whole of the Colonial militia and the dogs that run wild in the colonies have been able to break you. I would not be so presumptuous to try my hand at such a task, nor would I want to.” William looked up at her pulling her closer to him, “You stay exactly how you are, Katherine. The only thing that must change, is that I am to have the final word in matters.” Katherine just looked at him for several moments and he sighed. “Obviously it is going to be much harder then either of us could imagine.” Katherine started to say something but he placed his hand over her abdomen, “Shhhhh” he whispered to her. William laid his head against her chest and closed his eyes, just rubbing over her body where his child grew. “Perhaps this time, we will both have a chance at being the parents that our own were not.”

Katherine sighed a little and laid her head against his. “We’re never going to be completely happy, are we.” She said softly.

“No. It’s not in our nature to be I suppose. Something will always come up and get in the way of our plans. The Tavington name seems to have developed a curse over the years. There is no guarantee that we will not pass it on to our children.”

“There can not be to many who know of the Tavington’s in Spain. They may have a chance to escape it, being away from England. My family there knows very little about us, so perhaps the prejudices will not follow there.” She said softly.

“There are plenty of other places besides Spain.” He growled. Katherine looked at him, wondering if his stubborn pride was going to ruin the work she had done providing a safe haven for them to go to if the war was not decided in their favor. He looked up at her a moment, “But . . .” he began, “I suppose that it will do. For now.” Tavington wrapped his arms around her still leaning against her and holding her firmly. “Exactly who are these relatives of yours that are so eager to see that we start a new life in Spain.”

“My Aunt. She was my mother’s older sister and we’ve kept in small contact through the years. Yet she is anxious to meet us, and apparently, unlike my mother, she had more then one child, so her family has grown.”

“What do you mean, ‘more then one child’?” He inquired looking at her. How many children could the woman have possibly had?

“14.” William was a bit stunned and his eyes grew wide. 14 children!?!?! Good Lord.

“I beg your pardon? 14 children?” William wanted a great deal of children, but even 14 were an astounding number that he could not imagine having to raise and care for. “Is she trying to repopulate Spain entirely by herself?”

“My mothers family . . .” She began, but she didn’t know quite how to explain it. “Of course they were Catholic, even though my mother became a protestant when she married my father. There family always seemed to have couples that managed a large number of children.”

“Just how many Uncles and Aunts do you have? And why was I not informed of this before now?”

“I have 7 uncles and 4 aunts. It seems like there isn’t a country in Europe that doesn’t have a relative of my mothers residing there.” It was difficult to explain the extent of her family in just a short time. “William, you wouldn’t allow us to except invitations from hardly anyone, much less my extended family. You were never interested in them before this moment, and preferred that I did not try to speak of them otherwise you left my presence completely.” Unfortunately, she was correct. Now he wished that he had listened a bit more closely.

“Somehow I know of your entire family. Yet, your mother and I had a great deal of conversations, and I suppose that there were only so many topics one could speak of before finding that they were repeating themselves.”

“Yes well, my family didn’t breed like rabbits.” Tavington’s expression didn’t change one bit, but he instantly regretted saying that. After all, he should be quite grateful that they would have somewhere to go. All of his family lived in England, and they despised them as much as everyone else did. Perhaps even more so since they also bore the Tavington name. “So of what country are you? Hmmm?”

“I am as British as you are William. Just because my mothers sister chose to live in Spain, does not make us any less English.” Katherine looked towards the window seeing that it was growing dark as the sun was beginning to set. “We should close the window, before the chill gets unbearable.”

William just held onto her for a few more moments before he even considered letting her slip away. “Perhaps we might retire early this evening.” He mentioned looking up at her, “To get some extra rest, of course.” Katherine knew what was on his mind, and frankly, she was not ready to allow him near her again so soon.

“Some extra rest would be wonderful. I haven’t slept very well these past days, perhaps I will have better luck tonight.” When Katherine decided that her point was sufficiently made to Tavington, she got up and walked over to the window closing it up tight. William just watched after her. It wasn’t as though he was truly expecting anything from her. Yet when she was so inviting to him during her experience with opium . . . he couldn’t stop thinking about her.

“STOP, stop you little scamp! Someone stop that child!” A loud voice said from outside in the hallway. There was the sound of running footsteps of more then one boot, and who knew what they were chasing. William rose from his chair and went to the door starting to open it to see what the commotion was about, only to find himself nearly knocked over.

“Kate! Kate!” Katherine turned to see Maddy who nearly leaped into her arms. Lady Tavington fell into her the chair as the little girl clung to her for dear life. It looked like she had been crying and Katherine held her close gently patting her back.

“Where did she go?” A voice came from outside the hallway once more. It was a woman’s voice. When Maddy heard her, she buried her face in Katherine’s shoulder almost as if trying to make herself invisible. A rather weathered looking woman burst in through the door with an angry look on her face. “There you are you little worm!” Tavington had no idea what was going on and was a bit confused.

“What the devil is going on? Who are you, and what do you mean by bursting in here like this!!” He roared at the woman. She looked startled but she turned looking at Maddy again as her temper rose and her fear was forgotten.

“This little hellion has been telling wild stories just to get attention. I have spanked her on countless occasions only to find that she continues on. Pretending that she has nightmares, trying to sneak away, saying horrible things about my boys! So help me, I am going to teach her better then this!”

Katherine stood from her chair as Maddy quickly hid behind her skirts terrified and shaking from head to toe. Lady Tavington was quiet, but it was obvious that it was taking all of her strength to keep her composure. “Tell me, what makes you such an expert on wild stories? Such a excellent judge of character in little children, and the worlds most redound parent?”

“Who are you to tell me how to raise my children? She is my daughter, and I will teach her better then to lie and accuse my innocent sons of such filth.” She crossed her arms across her chest, “Just how many children do you have? I have seven, seven strapping boys. I know when a child is lying and when they are not.” She said proudly.

“She is not your daughter” Katherine began walking towards the woman, “She is my ward, and she was placed with you so that she could have a safe place to live and be cared for by ‘loving’ individuals.” The woman’s hands dropped to her sides, as she looked a little worried. “This little girl has been through HELL and back, and seen more horrors then anyone should see in their lifetime, much less a young child!!!” Katherine’s voice was starting to rise as the woman started to back away. “How dare you treat her like nothing more then a second class citizen! She was not placed with you to be your slave, or to be resented because of her heritage!” Katherine reached out and snatched the switch that the woman was carrying with her as if it was a sword to be wielded. “You will go home immediately, without Madeline, where you will pack up all of her things and whatever money you have withheld that was meant specifically for her, and return them to her NOW.”

“Lady . . . Lady Tavington . . . I’m sorry, I apologize I had no idea who you were . . . and your husband . . .” She said wide-eyed as she looked towards William still backing away.

“My husband is the least of your worries.” Katherine started smacking the woman with the switch as hard as she good. “NOW GET OUT!” She roared following the woman to the door of their room still hitting her with all her strength. Then she threw the switch after her slamming the door closed. Turning she held her arms out, “Maddy.” The small girl ran for her and threw her arms around Katherine’s neck as she picked her up. “Are you alright?”

Maddy was still in tears, scared that she was going to be hurt again and Katherine just patted her back walking over to the sofa and sitting down with her just rocking her and holding her close. William just watched in silence, saying nothing.

The next morning , Katherine quietly walked out of her room slowly and carefully closing the door so as not to wake the little one. William saw her walking down the hallway passing the doorway of the room he was sitting in and called out from the study he was sitting in, “Katherine.” She stopped and walked into the room with him. “Close the door.” Lady Tavington sighed and did as he said. “Don’t you think you should explain to me what that was all about?”

“I didn’t plan it William. She was scared and every right to be. Maddy came looking for me, since it seems that I am the only one that she feels is safe to be with.” Katherine rubbed her eyes feeling a little exhausted. “I have never been so disappointed in my own countrymen then I am right now. Treating a little girl, a baby, like an animal just because she was born in the colonies. As if she had a choice.”

“What on earth are you going on about Katherine? A child that does not want to do her chores and pleads for attention does not have a life-threatening situation. Small children lie all of the time.”

“Why is it that no one can even imagine that she might be telling the truth? Everyone else is innocent that is much older then she is, but she is a little liar who spends most of her time crying? Perhaps the reason she cries so much is because no one will help her.” Katherine walked over and sat down next to William sliding her skirts up a ways. Tavington looked towards the door and about him feeling rather uncomfortable and odd about her displaying herself in such a public room. She showed him the way her legs were bruised and the marks that he had left on her in his fit of madness. “Do you remember how I got these?” She said bluntly. Before he could say anything or scold her for brining it up, she let her skirts fall and looked at him, “She has similar ones on her thighs. Now can you imagine why the woman screamed that her sons were being falsely accused of horrid stories?”

William felt a bit sick to his stomach as well once he realized what exactly had been taking place. “Besides the marks on her legs, she has others were she was hit repeatedly to be ‘corrected’ for what that woman perceived as misbehavior.” Katherine shook her head and looked away from him, still so up set she could make her way to that woman’s house and strangle her. “I thought I was helping her. Finding her a family that would care for her like she was their own. Loving her and supporting her to make sure she had everything she needed, as I would.” Katherine sighed, “And now I find that perhaps most of the aid I have given for her, had never even gone towards her care.”

“Shouldn’t you be wearing undergarments of some sort under your clothing?” He growled, just thankful that someone did not come in seeing her acting in such an improper manner. “Rather accessible at the moment, aren’t you?”

That was incredibly rude and vulgar. Why did it seem that he didn’t hear a word she said when she showed the smallest amount of skin? “I should. But if you really must know, my body is still rather tender and painful so I pick and choose what I wear, as to what I can stand that day.”

Katherine had developed a gift to pushing him back on the track that she wanted him on whilst wounding him deeply, even if it was only for a short amount of time. William just took a moment as he finally responded to her concerns.” You cannot always foresee the future, and even if you do, very rarely can you change it if at all.” He sighed closing his book, “Katherine, how is it that you became such a philanthropist? God knows you were not born of one, and have never been obligated to lift your smallest finger. You even managed to secure a life for a common camp whore, who carries your husband’s child, which was completely irregular.” Katherine was growing tired of his brining that up. Honestly, the girl was gone and out of their lives why did he have to continue to throw it in her face.

“Just because people have wronged me, sometimes unintentionally . . .” She said starring at him, making it clear that he was one of the people she was speaking about, “Is no reason that they should have to suffer a lifetime for one mistake. It’s simply unjust for one to be condemned for a moments stupidity.” The look in Tavington’s eye was letting her know he found her words somewhat hypocritical. Katherine hated to have to clarify this to him. “Yet when on mistake is followed one right after the other on countless occasions, it changes into an entirely new genre of belief. Just because they wounded me deeply with their actions, not everyone intends to do so.”

Tavington just starred at her for a few moments. “What is it you plan to do with the child now? Hmm?” He inquired. He was baiting her somewhat, almost as if testing her to see if he had sufficiently made his point about how things were going to be from now on.

“I don’t know.” She said looking down a moment. Still she had that deep sense of wanting to look after Maddy for the rest of her life, and protect her from all the bad things in the world. It seemed when she had tried the last time, she failed miserably and the girl was even worse off then before. How could she trust anyone else to care for her like she would herself?

“I know that look in your eyes, Katherine. Cast the thought out of your head before you even utter it under your breath.” She looked up at him astounded at how callous he was being. Doesn’t he know what that girl had gone through? That baby who had never caused anyone harm in her entire life. “Putting aside for the briefest of moments the fact that I refuse to let you adopt her as your own,” he was making it clear that he wanted nothing to do with the child just by the words he chose, “What sort of life will you be condemning her to? It will be sometime before our reputation fades enough that we can attempt a decent life somewhere other then England. Do you really want to put her through all that at such a young age?” Katherine absolutely did not want to make her life harder then it already had been. Yet how will she find a safe place for her to life where she would not be punished for merely being born?

“I don’t want her to suffer anymore.” She said quietly. The room grew deathly silent and she looked around as a chill went up her back only to find a look in William’s eyes that instantly made her face change into a glare that reflected her fury. “Do not even dare to whisper it, William. How can you even sit there and dream of such a horrid thing!!”

“It would certainly insure that she would never suffer again.” Katherine started to say something else but stood up and stomped her foot storming out of the room slamming the door behind.