Chapter 363: Hurt (3)
"Surely I misheard you because you both couldn’t be so cruel as to ask that I postpone the gathering when I have spoken of it to my peers. My peers will be here," Harper said, waiting for her parents to laugh and say they were only jesting.
Harper noticed the look in her mother’s eyes. She was heartbroken; meanwhile, her father was angry.
Harper knew right there that it couldn’t be her mother who wanted the gathering not to take place, but rather her father.
"Father, is it you who wishes to see me embarrassed? They would think that I am a liar. It couldn’t be that you want me to be laughed at. Please tell me it isn’t so," Harper said, the air around her seeming to vanish.
Robert avoided eye contact with Harper. It pained him to do this, but it was for the best.
"Now isn’t the time for you to be hosting a gathering. You should focus on getting Cassius to propose to you, not sitting around with other ladies who are not yet married. You will survive," Robert promised Harper.
Harper looked away from her parents, her hand clutching her dress. She could already hear Amelia and the others laughing at her.
They already didn’t believe that she had a man courting her.
Harper took deep breaths, trying to calm herself, but the uneasiness in her chest wouldn’t go away.
"Harper, dear!" Beryl ran to her daughter. "What is it? Robert, you must do something."
Robert thought Harper was pulling an act, and her mother was eating it up.
"Beryl, she plays you like a fiddle. We have spoiled her far too much, and that is why she acts this way when she is told no. Her husband will beat her for it," said Robert.
Beryl covered Harper’s ears. "Robert!" She said in a scolding tone.
Why ever would Robert speak of a husband beating his wife to a young lady who was about to find a husband?
Beryl was disappointed with Robert, but she first had to calm her daughter.
"Harper, you must calm yourself and breathe. All will be well," Beryl promised.
Beryl didn’t know how at the moment, but she would find a way to ensure the gathering went as planned.
"Your father and I must speak, so be on your way to look over what the maids are doing. This gathering will continue," Beryl assured Harper. "You must leave us now and calm yourself before you become unwell."
Beryl touched Harper’s face and said, "I need you to trust me. Can you calm yourself for me?"
Harper frantically nodded her head, but despite what she promised, she still found it hard to breathe. She felt a sharpness with each intake of air.
"Now go," Beryl sent Harper off.
Beryl retained a smile as Harper walked away, looking back to sneak glances at her parents.
The smile vanished once Harper was out of sight.
Beryl turned to see her pathetic excuse of a husband.
"If you love her, you will not do this to her," said Beryl.
"You want me to base my love for my daughter on a gathering. You have gone mad," Robert said, shaking his head. "She will be well."
"No, she will not. You will never understand the troubles of a lady, even if you spend a day walking in our shoes. Harper is one mistake away from being an outcast. It is a painful position to be in. Help her," Beryl tried to reason with Robert.
"Most of what we need has been paid for. I can make the most of it so you both get what you need. Harper will not be embarrassed, and you can save money. Please allow me to do this," Beryl pleaded.
"Your focus should be-"
"I know what my focus should be. I am doing mine by preparing my daughter for when she shall be a wife. She will host her own gatherings, but before then, she will need experience," said Beryl.
"It is my duty to make her into a wonderful young lady who shall be a good wife, but it is your duty to keep a roof over our head. One of us isn’t doing what they promised, but we may fix this if we work together," Beryl said, hoping Robert would finally open up.
"Do as you wish, but it will come at the cost of no more new dresses until our finances are back in good order," Robert replied.
"So, it is the money," Beryl said, worried they would find themselves back in the old position. "I won’t be able to face anyone if we don’t have money again. We came so close to having to send away all of the servants."
"If we do it again..." Beryl trailed off as her mind wandered to what would be said.
"No one knows of our hardships-"
"They all know. It is why Harper and I haven’t been invited to many of the gatherings. I look from a distance at where she stands with her peers and notice how they belittle her, but I cannot do anything. We don’t have the money to speak up," Beryl said, angry with herself.
Beryl had to come up with ways to make the dresses they recycle appear new so Harper wouldn’t be questioned about what she wore.
"I cannot do this," Beryl said, shaking her head. "I cannot have my daughter like this. I may push through it, but Harper is young, and this is the time which will define her future."
"I need you to find a solution this time. If you wish well for us and want to see Harper go far, you must find the answer to our problems before she loses the man she has found," said Beryl.
Beryl thought of Cassius hearing of their troubles.
Would Cassius truly want to marry a woman whose family was on the brink of having to work just to get by?
"I will find the solution if you would allow me to leave. After everything I have done for you both, now you speak as though I have not treated you well. Have your gathering," Robert said, needing to get away from them both.
The only reason Robert couldn’t say what was truly on his mind was that Harper brought Cassius to him, and Cassius was only helping him because of Harper.
Beryl didn’t like the state she was in with Robert. It hurt that they couldn’t have a proper conversation since their finances had changed.
Once the money ran out, it seemed that their marriage started to be on thin ice.
"Be safe," Beryl said before Robert reached the door, but she was met by a response.