Chapter 591

Watching from the sidelines, Lily felt the heartache as she saw the torment in Jareth’s fiery eyes, his desperation palpable. Initially, she too had not been in favor of Jareth’s “tough love” approach, fearing it too harsh for Marilla.

But the stark reality of Elspeth’s death sentence could not remain hidden forever. Better to deal with it now and rip off the Band–Aid than let the wound fester.

Yet, she had underestimated Jareth’s control over Marilla and the usually docile Marilla’s explosive strength when cornered.

“Lily, take Marilla back to her room to rest,” ordered Thaddeus, his voice laced with concern as he turned to Jareth. “You look like hell, too. Let Lily stay with Marilla.”

Lily gingerly lifted Marilla from Jareth’s embrace, easily sweeping her into her arms and ascending the staircase with unwavering steps.

The couple was left dumbfounded.

Jareth’s secretary, raised in the household since she was a girl, was proving to be worth her weight in gold.

“I just wanted for Marilla to face reality. I didn’t expect for it to turn out like this,” Jareth confessed, his chest heaving as if a bellows had been shoved inside, his whole being seeming to fry in an invisible frying pan. “Elspeth never truly cared for Marilla. I thought Marilla had come to accept that, that she wouldn’t.”

“You thought, you thought! Have you ever, for once, considered Marilla’s feelings in all of this?” Evadne exploded, closing the gap between them in two strides and grabbing Jareth by the collar. “From the moment you charmed her, brought her into your life, keeping her away from the Abernathy family, then parading her before the scrutinizing eyes of the Fairhaven elite – your grandfather, your mother! And now you impose your will upon her, assuming she’ll just accept and bear it? Where do you get this blind confidence? Have you ever truly considered Marilla? Have you seen things from her perspective? Have you ever cared about her feelings?”

“Evadne.” Thaddeus’s gaze faltered.

He wanted to interject but feared making matters worse, knowing his own words often lacked the necessary tact.

Reminiscing, Jareth felt a sharp pang in his heart, his eyes losing their luster.

Marilla was happy, if

feelings. She agreed to everything he proposed, appreciated every

suddenly realized he might have been

noble, never pondering whether this was the

world, severing her normal social needs, and keeping her caged like a canary! Marilla has a passion

in his chest, pain throbbing raw and real, “I’m not wasting Marilla. I’m not holding her back. In this lifetime, I only want Marilla! You and Thad have known from the start that I

and certainly the most severe. How many more times will there be over the decades to come? Can you endure that? Can you persist? You’re not a patient man by nature. You’re accommodating and tolerant now only because

wouldn’t I be able to?” Jareth’s voice broke, hoarse and choked, as he shouted back at Evadne, “You shouldn’t doubt my love for Marilla! You shouldn’t insult me with your skepticism!”

it like that; she’s just distressed for Marilla. Back in the Abernathy household, none of us, including myself, ever truly cared for Marilla. The only

were tight, and her throat scorched from yelling. She had been harsh, but it was out of fear for

anything but healthy. Marilla’s condition meant she couldn’t steer the course of their emotions, and it was high time she gave Jareth a wakeup call. Otherwise, the unintended hurt was

her keen sensitivity, her stronger–than–average empathy that makes her so vulnerable to

canvas of somber reflection. “Besides, Elspeth is her mother. Even though she’s a murderous fiend, irredeemable, a step back would remind us that Elspeth did raise Marilla when she was just a little girl. Her own mother sentenced to death, the victim her beloved brother’s mother–it’s a double blow that would naturally shatter Marilla. You should have seen it coming.”

want her to, I refused, and that’s how things ended up

a

shoulder. “Jareth, take Marilla to see Elspeth. They’re mother and

heart in turmoil. “But Elspeth

her dues.. That’s enough,” Thaddeus said, a

was it about diminishing the pain his mother had suffered. It was the understanding that clinging too fiercely to hatred could

I know you and Thaddeus are tight, but you have Marilla now. You’re a

and Jareth were

betrayal. Her wish to see Elspeth one last time shows she’s pure–hearted, compassionate. If Marilla were like Glynnis, acting as if she popped out of a rock, then you’d

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