Lies and Weddings(117)

Rufus looked at him, confused. “How would I have heard?”

“Well…uh…Luis Felipe’s solicitor informed me that he’d be willing to accept the loan repayment scheme proposed by Martha Dung and drop all claims over Greshamsbury Hall—”

“Oh thank god! He finally came to his senses!” Rufus cheered, taking a swig of his scotch.

Francis gave his son an uneasy look. “Um…he does have one condition: Eden must agree to marry him.”

Rufus almost choked on his drink.

“I’m guessing Eden hasn’t discussed this with you?”

Rufus sighed. “Eden tried making an appeal on our behalf to Luis Felipe last night and yes, he did propose marriage, but she didn’t think he was serious. He was high as a kite, apparently. That man’s a sadist…he’s doing this to torture me, to torture all of us!”

Francis sighed. “Obviously, I don’t expect Eden to give a moment’s thought to such an outrageous proposition.”

Suddenly Arabella burst into the room, her eyes ablaze. “What are you talking about? Of course Eden must marry him!” Rufus glared at his eavesdropping mother as Arabella gleefully continued, “For once in her life that girl can do something useful for us, and I know she will do it! She’s a good girl!”

“Oh, so now she’s a good girl?” Rufus snorted contemptuously.

“Silly boy, don’t you see? Let her marry Luis Felipe, and in a few years when we’re able to retain control of everything again she can divorce him if she wants. But she’d be stupid to if she thinks she’ll ever do better than him.”

Rufus took a deep breath, struggling to contain his anger. “I’m going to try to forget you ever said that.”

“No, you must convince her to marry that man!”

“In case you’ve forgotten, Mother, I intend to marry Eden, not talk her into marrying someone else!”

“You will marry Eden Tong over my dead body! It’s time to let go of your childish fantasies and fulfill your duty to this family. We are days away from living in the gutter and it’s all your fault!”

Rufus let out a mordant laugh. “You’re not going to pin this on me. If you hadn’t run Eden out of Greshamsbury, she would never have gone to LA and met Luis Felipe in the first place! None of this would have ever occurred! Don’t you see that all roads lead back to you?”

Arabella groaned in frustration. “Francis! Stop sitting there like a damn dummy! Talk some sense into this useless boy!”

Francis rose from his armchair and—one of the few times he had ever done so—shouted at his wife. “Don’t call our son useless! He’s the kindest, loveliest, most wildly talented man I’ve ever known! There’s only one person to blame for this whole mess and that’s me. I was too much of a coward to tell you the truth about our finances! I let you spend like there was no tomorrow! I’m responsible for every penny we owe and now we just have to pay the piper, that’s all. Rufus, my darling boy, I hope you can forgive your damned fool of a father for losing everything you were meant to inherit under my watch.”

“There’s nothing to forgive,” Rufus said softly. “I’ve watched you shoulder the burdens of being the Earl of Greshamsbury all my life, and quite honestly, it’s not something I’m cut out for. I see how hard you’ve fought to restore the house and keep up the Boxall Hunt, the way you try to improve the estate and worry over the lives of every single family in the county. I know how much you love this land, but I’ve never felt the same connection to it as you have. Maybe it’s because I’m part Chinese or maybe it’s because I’ve spent so much time in Asia, but I feel so much more at home in Hawaii. I could live in a shack in Waimea for the rest of my life and be happy with my surfboard and my Leica.”

“Son, you’ll do better than that. Eden’s a brilliant doctor, and if you’re lucky enough to marry her, I know you’ll always be taken care of,” Francis said.

The men hugged tightly as Arabella sat there seething.

“Come, Rufus, let’s go to Venice. I want to be at Bea’s wedding. She needs her father there to walk her down the aisle!”

“Super! I think Eden will want to come,” Rufus said with a grin.

“Of course she must come!”

“How dare the two of you…ooh! Ooooh! I think I’m having a stroke…,” Arabella whimpered as she began giving little slaps to the side of her face.

“You always think you’re having a stroke, but unfortunately you never actually do!” Francis roared, storming out of the room.




Skip Notes

*1 Just like airline website terminology, “direct” doesn’t mean “nonstop.” Rufus made a slight detour for lunch at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons on the way to Greshamsbury, because who in their right mind would ever pass up the opportunity to wander along their lavender-scented footpaths and partake in Le Café Crème—Raymond Blanc’s signature dessert of coffee parfait and kirsch sabayon, coffee caramel, chocolate ganache, and chocolate sauce all served in a chocolate cup with a handle?



*2 “Socials” are Radley-speak for the boardinghouses on campus that students live in.



*3 “Horny old man” in Cantonese (and it even sounds pervy when you say the words).