Chapter 86

LORD Edwin Moore, who was now known as Edwin Ortiz, a fisherman from Chentersea, was looking at the grand townhouse where his alleged sister was living with her husband. He did not know what he was doing, writing the letter stating that he would love to have a visit with her if Lady Emily Hassildor, the marchioness of Kain, would accept his humble self.
And accepted, he did.
Edwin stepped down from the hackney that he had got in Grea before he went to the residential area of the gentry in the capital. He was nervous about meeting his only sister when he couldn't remember that he had a family member when he had washed ashore on Chentersea. Edwin gulped as the hackney stopped and before he could pay for his transportation, someone handed the money to the driver as he stepped down from the carriage.
“Thank you, my lord. Have a good day,” the driver said before he whipped the reins, and the hackney moved forward, leaving Edwin alone as he was looking at the couple that was lavishly dressed in the latest fashion of Niapachad Island.
The man, who was a lord, was dressed in a black coat and waistcoat. The white shirt was hidden underneath. The woman, his wife as Edwin presumed, was wearing a nice yellow dress as her brown hair was plaited on top of her head before her beautiful face lit up when she saw Edwin.
He did not know what to feel as his heart was beating with anticipation, looking at the young lady that left her husband’s side and went to greet him as she stood in front of Edwin.
“Brother?” her angelic voice hit his ears as memories flooded his mind right now. A lot of scenes were coming at once, but the ones that were prominent to Edwin was the one where he and a little girl were running around in a garden. Or perhaps it was a meadow as they went on to climb the trees that were abundant there. Edwin taught the little girl how to climb as they were laughing at each other, trying again and again until the little girl could climb the tree.
Then, it shifted as Edwin was looking at the little boy and the same little girl were riding the ponies as they were making some jokes at each other and laughing. Edwin could see that the love between those two siblings was strong, as the brother was tucking his sister’s hair when she fell from her pony one time. Then, there was laughter afterward.
Later in his memory, Edwin was staring at the sea, the ocean was calling as he was walking down the shore of the beach before a cackle broke him from his trance. The little girl was dragging him by the hand as they went to the sea, wanting to get into the water as early as they could. The little girl was smiling, laughing as the sun was shining.
Edwin knew that they were breaking the curfew but he did not care when his sister—Emily was her name—asked him to join in on her adventure as they were swimming around in the warm water. They were laughing and playing before their parents came to get them. They were punished, of course, but Edwin knew that the precious memory was one of his.
And that’s when he knew that he was finally home.

EMILY was looking at the man that was standing in front of her. Her brother, Edwin, was finally there, staring at her as if she was the gift that he had been searching for. Then, he took a step forward and hugged her as he was kissing her hair.
She was smiling, closing her eyes as she let her brother hug her for the first time eight years after his disappearance. She did not know if she wanted to be angry or happy when Fate took her brother home. Edwin sighed as he was smoothing his hands on her hair before leaning back and looking at Emily with all the love in the black eyes he could muster.
“Emily?” his baritone voice was hitting her ears as Emily was nodding at her brother. She was smiling, feeling the tears brimming in her eyes before she blinked her eyes. Then, Ian was clearing his throat, clearly amazed at the display that he was witnessing right now.
Emily was chuckling softly before he was standing by her side, offering his hand to Edwin as her husband was putting his other hand on her lower back. Emily smiled at the possessive gesture that Ian couldn't help himself.
“Lord Edwin, I believe we’ve never met before. I am Dorian Hassildor, Emily’s husband, and I welcome you to our humble townhouse, my lord,” he said, as Edwin took his husband’s hand and shook it. Her brother was smiling as he shook his head.
“Please, don’t be too formal. Call me Ed,” her brother said as Edwin was looking at her, “That’s what my sister calls me anyway,” Edwin said as Emily smiled. Ian chuckled before he was gesturing that they should go inside the house to continue their conversation.
“Please, call me Ian then, as your sister likes to call me that,” her husband said as Emily was arching her eyebrows at him. Ian winked. Edwin chuckled before he was following them inside the townhouse.
Emily was putting her hand on the crook of Ian’s elbow as her brother was looking around the parlor. The butler was taking his coat before Emily and Ian showed Edwin to the yellow room. She did mention that she would bring her brother there and Ian was happy to oblige as her face would heat up when she remembered what occurred on the carpeted floor last night.
Do not think about it. I refuse to think about it! Emily thought before she instructed the maid to bring some tea and biscuits. The servant nodded, curtsying before leaving the yellow room. Emily smiled as she was looking at the gentle people who were talking to get to know each other.
She could sense that her brother liked Ian as much as she loved her husband. Ian was charming enough when he wanted to be and, right now, his brother was under his spell.
“Please, Ian. No need to be formal between us. We’re family and I was hoping that you would tell me the story of how you got my sister to marry you. Perhaps on how you first met her, if I’m being honest,” Edwin stated, taking his seat on the divan as Ian was sitting across from her brother. Emily went to sit beside her husband as Ian reached out to grip his hand with hers. Then, his handsome face was looking at her.
“Well, where do I start? We met at a ball when I first saw Emmy. I did not know who she was at the time but she was the most beautiful lady that night,” Ian started, as she was smiling at her husband.
He did have a way with words, this husband of mine, she mused as Ian continued with his tale.
“I asked her for a dance as one lord should,” he said as Edwin was nodding at him. “And we danced through the night when, finally, I got to see her face for the first time,” he said as Edwin was furrowing his eyebrows.
“Did you not see her face at first?” her brother asked as Emily hid her smile.
If only you knew the truth even about our encounter, Brother, Emily thought as Ian chuckled softly.
“Well, did I mention that it was a masquerade ball? We were in masks when we were dancing the night away,” Ian said as he was turning to look at her face. Emily smiled before she heard that her brother was chuckling. Then, she turned to look at Edwin, not wanting him to conclude that she had fallen for her husband on that night.
“Well,” Edwin started as the maid came into the room. She put the tray on the table, arranging the cups as she was pouring the tea. Emily noticed that her brother was staring at the maid before she was finishing with the biscuits as she was serving them around. Emily could sense that her brother was intrigued by the maid but she did not dare to approach it. For this maid was new, someone that came from Chentersea.
Could it be…?
After that, the maid curtsied to them as she left the yellow room. Edwin was still staring after her before he snapped out of it. Then, he smiled as he was taking a teacup and he stirred one cube of sugar in the tea with a small spoon.
“I must say that your meeting was… exciting to say the least. I never thought that Emily would be going to a masquerade ball when I know that she’s a little… shy around strangers,” her brother stated before Emily arching her eyebrows at him. Then, she reached for a teacup and did the same thing as Edwin did before, only to add some honey and lemon instead of sugar.
“Well, perhaps you did not know me after eight years of being apart, Ed. I think I have changed after your disappearance and it helped me to survive polite society more than once to be bold rather than shy, as you put it,” Emily stated as she sipped the tea. Her husband was looking at her but Emily paid no attention to Ian. She was focused on her brother as she was smiling.
“I know you think of me as a shy person, brother, but trust me, see that I have grown up from my five-and-ten-year-old self when you last saw me. And I think it does not entitle you to say that I am shy because you have not been here for the last eight years with me.
“But I can say that you have been wayward from your genteel way, Brother. Perhaps being in the capital will remind you of that. I’m sure Moore Manor in St. Betown would need someone to look at it as well,” she said as Ian was coughing, clearly finding it amusing that Emily was stating some fact to Lord Moore. She turned to look at her husband before Ian was smoothing his hand on her knee.
“Do not worry, Ed. I will take care of your sister because she,” Ian stated as he turned to look at his brother that had been missing for 8 years, “is my beloved wife. And I will not let anything happen to her or harm her in any way,” Ian vowed as Edwin was looking at the couple. If she was being honest, Emily could hardly care what her brother thought of her marriage to Ian. As long as Ian was by her side, nothing could take him away from her side, not even her brother.