The Baroness Misbehaves
Chapter 268: Return To Carmarthen

Chapter 268: Return To Carmarthen

A week after Madeline had recovered enough to travel back, a small ceremony was held to ensure her safe return back to Carmarthen. Although she had politely declined it as she had no interest in such things at the moment, Elaine and Inna had convinced her to do it since it was an important tradition from Whitebridge. After endless persuasion, Madeline was forced to give in, and the small farewell ceremony was held on the day she planned to leave.

It was supposed to be a happy moment, a way to cheer up the despondent Madeline. Napoleon had graced her with a title from Whitebridge, and all the Town council members were in approval of the honorifics bestowed on her. Madeline could only smile with gratitude as it would be considered rude to refuse their own way of saying "thank you"

Most people of the Whitebridge community had come to bid her farewell, but despite the smile on her lips as she listened to all of them, deep down, she was yet to recover from having to accept the fact that Cassian was not with her to see and hear all of this. He deserved more of these praises, more of people’s respect, more of everything this life had to offer, but instead, he left without having to receive even a thank you, not even his body was left behind so he could be buried with probity.

Maybe that’s the reason she refuses to come to terms with his death. She was still holding on to the last string of hope in her heart, the one that told her that her Cassian was still alive, he had to be - he promised her he’d stay alive for her, but first, she needed to wipe out some scums in her home and then focus on finding her husband.

Two carriages had pulled over for Madeline and the rest to begin their journey. Monica had insisted she stayed longer, unable to see her leave as she would miss her so incredibly much, but Madeline made her understand she had unfinished business to deal with in Carmarthen.

"We’ll come visit if we have time." Osvaldo assured Madeline before glancing at Monica. "You had your time in Carmarthen, surely you’ll be able to lead us there when we visit? There’ll be no demon ghosts, Vampire ghosts or anyone to disrupt our plan."

Monica simply thought about it before nodding her head eagerly, "I’ll admit that I have not been to their house before, but we’ll figure it out when we visit. Won’t we?"

Elian shoved Abbot into the seat of one of the Carriages, whilst Orson was delighted to keep him company. Madeline, Inna and Elaine occupied the second carriage, and after bidding a normal farewell to everyone, they left Whitebridge.

It was a two day’s journey back to Carmarthen. They had to stop by an inn to rest for the night before continuing their journey the next day. Some parts of the road had been a smooth ride while a few had little bumps. When they passed the lower East quarters, Madeline took note of the changes in the road, and a faint smile curled her lips to see the magistrate was performing his duties within the quarters.

When they returned to the upper East quarters in Carmarthen, Madeline didn’t announce her presence and quietly allowed the carriage to lead her straight to the house Cassian had bought for them. By the time they made it to Calchester street, it was already night time. The sight of their home filled Madeline and Inna with a sense of familiarity and longing, no one knew how much they had missed to be back until they were gazing at the house in front of them.

Orson and Elian had to take Abbot to the bureau, so they had change route along the way.

"Are you going back to the Mansion, Mother?" Inna asked her mother, who paid the Coachman, and then she shook her head before saying. "How can I leave when my daughters are here? Come, let’s go inside."

Madeline smiled faintly, and together, they stopped into the house. The living room was just as they had left it, with not a single thing out of place. The air still smelt familiar to their nostrils, but gazing at the living room brought back memories of when Cassian would gather all of them in the living room to have a discussion concerning their next plan. They would all fight here, make up here or leave with distress signals ringing in their brains.

Inna’s eyes instinctively moved to the Kitchen where she normally had her banterings with Cassian, and she could feel tears prick her eyes. Her brother had always been a difficult person to put up with, and she had made several comments on how good it would feel if he disappeared from her life, or how she wished he would get married and leave her presence, but who knew it would be more difficult living without him.

"Is there anything you need?" Elaine asked the gloomy Madeline who had been snapped away from reality for a while, but she shook her head in response to Elaine’s question.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes Mother." She finally answered, the tone of her voice sounding anything unlike her usual self. "I’ll be upstairs in my room, but notify me once Orson returns with Elian."

"I will." Inna smiled before watching Madeline disappear from the stairs. Inna exchanged looks with her Mother before receiving her opened arms. She didn’t want to cry out in front of Madeline, but seeing her so depressed when she had accomplished something great, was hurting her feelings even more.

"She’ll be alright." Elaine consoled her daughter whilst holding her tight, her eyes were glazed with tears as she heard Inna whisper.

"It doesn’t feel right without Cassian."

"I know, we miss him too." Elaine was forced to swallow her own tears. Her eyes were already red-rimmed, but she had no other choice but to stay strong for her two daughters, most especially for Madeline who was now carrying her grandchild - Cas’s child.

Up in the corridor, Madeline twisted the doorknob and stepped into the room she shared with Cassian. For a second, she stood at the entrance, unable to take a step forward as if there was a ghost that haunted the place. Her eyes took note of how everything was still in place. She knew it was hopeless, but she wasn’t ready to accept that Cassian was no more, when she twisted the door open, she had hoped to find Cassian sitting at the vanity table and telling her that none of it was true, that he was still alive.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Madeline moved sluggishly to her wardrobe. Opening it up so she could pick out her night dress and take a bath, her eyes caught sight of Cas’s clothes that occupied a small part of her wardrobe - another mischievous trick he had come up with in order to access her wardrobe whenever he felt like it.

Feeling the fabric of his nightshirt with her fingers, Madeline took one out of the hanger and sniffed. It still had his scent on it, and memories of all the time they had bantered, argued, played, made love, being each other’s greatest comfort and support, everything came flooding back into her head that it became too much for her heart to handle, whilst her knees sank to the ground as she couldn’t fight the tears no more.

"Please come back." She whispered as she held on tightly to his shirt, hugging it in her embrace to ward off her loneliness. Tears slipped from her eyes as she could not sit with this heavy loss in her heart. Everything was supposed to go fine, but how did it all go wrong for her?

He had become her everything, she did this for him but now... the only thing that kept her going was the baby growing in her womb. The thought of bearing Cas’s child had warmed her heart to a degree, and now, she hoped it was a boy, so that at least she could see Cas’s face whenever she looked at him.

The next day when everyone had settled in the manor, Orson and Elian visited. Madeline joined them in the living room, and when she took her seat on one of the couches, she asked.

"Did he confess?"

"Yeah, he had no other choice." Orson replied, "Juliana’s been arrested as well. The royal court will see to it first before the final judgment will be made." He briefly explained to Madeline who nodded her head intently.

"What about His Majesty?"

"He showed up at the bureau and we talked things out." Orson explained to her and took a deep breath, "he’ll make a public announcement concerning Cassian’s case, it won’t be long before Cas’s name is cleared."

Madeline felt slightly better after listening to them, and she glanced at Inna who reassured her with a nod of her head.

"How are you feeling?" Elian asked Madeline who smiled faintly before nodding her head. "I’ll feel better once Abbot is finally punished and my husband’s name is cleared. You don’t have to worry about me. What about the both of you?"

"I don’t know what to say." Orson admitted softly, relaxing back on the couch, "it feels so.... Different."

"Well, wherever he is, I’m sure he’s not happy with the current atmosphere." Elian added, glancing at all of them, "he didn’t sacrifice himself for this, and I’m sure we don’t want him to feel his sacrifice was for nothing. It won’t be easy, but I say we keep pushing, for Cas’s sake, and the little Cas coming as well."

He exchanged a knowing smile with Madeline, and Inna immediately remembered the fresh fruits her Mother had asked her to give to Maddie.

"A second please." She got up and left the living room.

"What about Elijah?" Madeline asked, suddenly recalling she had seen Elijah. Everything happened too fast and he skipped her mind. "How is he? Is he fine?"

"We didn’t see him either." Elian responded in a low tone.