St George's Hanover Square, Mayfair
The late morning sun blazed down onto the grand, somewhat imposing church; the clock faces on the high tower above it a few minutes away from striking eleven. 'A perfect day for a wedding,' was the general consensus from the crowd who buzzed gaily through the stone pillars and into the building, dressed in their Sunday finest; for the dashing future Earl of Clyvedon was marrying the pretty daughter of Lord Peter Pryor, what a marvellous match indeed!
Ivy's engagement ring felt like a weight on her finger, the sparkling clear diamond heavy, and crushing. How had it come to this? How had this become her life? She turned her head towards the tiny window of the bridal chambers in the back of the church, wondering if she could fit through it. Her thoughts were soon interrupted by Margot, Lady Pryor, and her sisters, who burst through the large wooden doors in a flurry of cherry blossom pink.
"Not the shade I'd have chosen for myself, sister, but I rather like it," Annette, Ivy's older sister of a year mused, turning in front of the mirror to view it from the back.
"Ivy did not choose it, idiot," Edith, the eldest Pryor sister at twenty four retorted, moving Annette out of the way to fix her hair, "It was obviously Lady Cleaver, the woman is forever in pink! By the looks of it, she has chosen everything down to the flowers!" She turned to Ivy, who had carefully sat herself on the creaky lumpy bed in the middle of the room, being mindful not to crinkle the material of her dress. "Did you have any say at all, Ives?"
"Do not be facetious, Edith," Eleanor scolded, "Lady Cleaver has been an enormous help to us, dropping her busy schedule to ease the burden of planning this wedding, therefore we will show our gratitude."
"Yes," Judith interrupted sarcastically; Ivy's second eldest sister who had not long turned twenty two, "how grateful Ives must be to have Lady Cleaver for a mother in law, and I thought mine was bad enough!" The girls burst into a fit of giggles, even Ivy herself joined in for a brief moment before their mother shut them down.
"Girls, please! Stop your jeers and japes this instant! Today is a very, very important day for our family, most of all for Ivy, so it must go perfectly. It is also exceedingly rare to have all of my children and grandchildren together under one roof which I am truly delighted by, so I want you all on your best behaviour! Best feet forward now please ladies, do you hear me?"
"Yes, mother," all five girls chimed in unison, even Margot felt compelled to answer her.
"Beatrice, darling," Eleanor said to her third daughter, of twenty one years, "will you go and tell the groom's party that we are ready now?" Beatrice nodded and headed towards the door, as Eleanor turned back to the others with an excited grin and a deep breath. "Here we go, ladies!"
"So," Edward smiled, fixing Adam's cravat over in the groom's chambers, "the day has finally come, brother! Are you ready?" Adam beamed, turning to get a look at his impossibly handsome reflection in the mirror, smoothing down the sleeves of his black velvet coat and tails.
"Indeed, brother! Now all I have to do is endure the mind numbing next few hours before I have my shiny new bride all to myself."
"Here, here!" Edward called out, pouring them both a glass of Armagnac and handing Adam one, raising his in the air before lifting it to his lips and taking a large gulp. "Well, we best get out there, it's almost time."
"I will be out in a moment," Adam replied, "I'm going to have another one of these first." He raised his empty glass and shook it, reaching over for the bottle. Edward bowed his head, and left him in the room alone.
"Cleaver," a voice said a minute or two later as Jack let himself into the room, closing the heavy door behind him.
"Pryor!" Adam called out cheerfully, standing up to pour him a glass. "Join me for a quick one! We will have to be bloody quick though, the ceremony is about to start in a few minutes!"
Jack smiled feebly, nodding and accepting the drink, taking a sip as he pressed his back against the wall. He took a tiny brown leather pouch from his inner jacket pocket, removing a green mint leaf, and held out his hand to Adam.
"Here, have this after. I won't have my little sister's first kiss tasting of bad Armagnac." Adam chuckled and took it, placing the leaf in his inside pocket.
"What can I do for you, anyway?" He asked, if not a little impatiently. "I do have a wedding to get to, you know."
"Well I suppose what I really want to know is, what are you doing?" Jack said, calmly, pushing himself from the wall with his shoulder before walking towards him. "You could have any girl in London, so why Ivy?" He paced in front of Adam back and forth, searching his eyes for any hint of feeling, for a reason why he had targeted his sister. "Do you love her? Do you even know her? Do you know what she likes? Doesn't like? What makes her happy? What makes her sad? Surely these are things you must want to know about her before you take the leap into marriage, Cleaver."
Adam raised his eyebrows in surprise, his eyes slowing looking back into Jack's. He did not see this coming, but he decided to see what he had to say.
"Well," he retorted, "you insult your sister if you think there is apparently someone else more deserving of me. Not that our relationship is any of your business, Pryor, but I happen to be immensely fond of Ivy."
Jack looked over at the large grandfather clock that stood in the corner of the room, five minutes to eleven, only five minutes left.
"Relationship? What relationship? She doesn't want to marry you, does that not bother you at all? Would you rather not have a girl that actually wants you? For all you have to do is step outside and you will find a dozen of them, desperate to be Adam Cleaver's wife." Jack put his barely touched drink down on the table, now standing mere paces away from Adam.
"Something about this does not sit right with me, because I'm not entirely convinced that your intentions with my sister are good. Just say the word, I will go out there myself and tell everyone that the wedding is not happening. Call it off and leave her be."
"I'm sorry, what?" Adam scoffed, "and spoil the entire day for everyone? Bring about scandal and embarrassment to your family after I jilt poor Ivy at the altar? What would everyone say?" Jack was getting angry, he could feel his face growing red, while Adam seemed to be finding the whole thing amusing if anything; watching the corners of his mouth twitching, threatening to turn into a smile was enough to make Jack want to rip out his throat.
"We would deal with it," Jack replied through gritted teeth, "just leave Ivy out of whatever game it is you are playing. She doesn't deserve this." Adam stood up, putting his empty glass down next to Jack's and leaned in close to him, his blue eyes growing menacingly dark.
"Well I'm not sure who else would have her now, for she's damaged goods," he said flatly. "Your little Ivy is no virgin, Jack, and should I agree to call the wedding off, I would have to of course divulge that information to ensure that her potential suitors were aware. Not many upstanding gentlemen around here would be willing to take on another man's spoils, I'm afraid." Jack's heart thudded violently in his chest; he was lying, he had to be!
"What the hell do you mean?"
Adam laughed at him, shrugging his shoulders as he walked back over to the brandy bottle, pouring a third glass.
"Funny story actually, but do you remember that ball at Lord and Lady Trent's last year, the one where they announced their twin daughter's engagement to the Bronwyn twins? Incestuous fucking affair. Anyway, you and I left after about an hour didn't we? We ended up at your house and drank all your father's Cognac, made a few wagers over Piquet if I remember correctly? Well after you'd had enough and passed out in the drawing room, I went out into the kitchen to look for someone to rustle up some supper to line your stomach with, and I'd missed dinner myself so I was famished. It was then when I first stumbled upon her, all alone in her little nightgown, looking good enough to eat. I then found myself hungry for something else entirely." Adam tilted his head slightly to reach Jack's ear; Jack now trembling with rage.
"What, are you saying, Cleaver?" Jack said, slowly, his breath becoming heavier. He was outraged, but at the same time frozen to the spot; the shock, the guilt, the fear for his little sister all working together to root him to the floor. He did not want to hear what Adam was about to tell him, but also he knew he had to. How did he not know? Why hadn't Ivy told him that she knew Cleaver? She'd always told him everything! His pulse raced as he anxiously waited for Adam to continue.
"I am saying, that's when I broke her in," he whispered, so non chalantly it sent chills down Jack's spine. "It was too easy in fact, with you out for the count, your house staff nowhere to be found. She was a delectable little treat for me to find, begging me to take her."
Jack's eyes widened in horror, his mind taking him back to that night last year. He remembered waking up from his drunken stupor alone, then stumbling through the kitchen for some water before tripping on something on the floor; a thick, dusky rose coloured ribbon. He cast his mind back to another memory from later that morning, Ivy coming out of her room in a robe of the very same colour. He hadn't thought anything of it at the time, but it was all becoming clear. He swallowed down the bile that was rising up in his throat.
