Class
England
Chapter 4 – Family
England
Lady Lilah Giles looked good for her age.
Many men of meansll cll coveted her attentions.
after her husband had passed, but she was vain and did not wish to give up her
title. She had taken many lovers over
the years, but the years were still lonely.
Her children made matters w.
Rupert had foolishly messed up his life and was now a disgraceful
drunk.
institutions and a constant burden. It
became even worse when Ethan Rayne married her. Drusilla was only 18 at the time and Lilah had suspected the
relationship might have been going on for years. Several years. Despite
her objections to Ethan, Lilah was relieved that she would be rid of the girl,
but she should have known better.
Instead of Drusilla moving out, Ethan moved into Pembrook.
baby Dawn arrived he made sure he was away on business most of the year.
least he was smarter than Rupert and hid his dalliances from Drusilla.
married Drusilla to get back at Rupert for sleeping with Jenny Callendar.
certainly wasn’t for Drusilla’s inheritance.
The only bright spot for Lilah was Dawn.
mother’s afflictions.< sty style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Having Dawn made
up for Lizzy being in America for Lilah.
She raised Dawn the way she had hoped Drusilla and Rupert would turn
out. She knew Dawn suffered from her
parents neglect and often overindulged her to make up for it.
Lilah took over the family’s finances from Rupert a few
years after his separation from Joyce.
He was quickly squandering away the family fortune.
tripled what her husband had left her.
She was quite proud of this - she had to work very hard to cover the
disgraces of Rupert and Drusilla.
When the police came to the manor one day to tell her that
Rupert was dead, she was not surprised.
In her mind her son had been dead for years. Now she finally had something to burry.
Drusilla on the other hand, was devastated.
him. The servants restrained her in her
room. Dawn took it in stride.
became a drunk. Her only concern was
her mother. As Lilah prepared to have
her institutionalized again, Dawn objected.
“You know it’s not going to do any good – it will be like
all the other times. You might as well
leave her here and just hire a nurse to make sure she gets all her pills.”
“A girl your age should not have to deal with this.”
“Well, somebody has to, and it’s just you and me now.
what really goes on in this family from me, so I think I should have a say in
what happens to my mother. I doubt if
Dad will even come home for the funeral.”
“I actually heard from him this morning.
to discuss with me. He should be here
this evening.” Lilah felt terrible about
how pessimistic Dawn was regarding her parents. She had offered on several occasions to send Dawn to boarding
school so she could get away and lead a more normal life, but she refused.
her.
Ethan arrived that evening as promised.
usual. She thanked him politely and
excused herself to her room, saying she had a lot of homework to catch up
on. He briefly went in to see Drusilla,
but she was too sedated to realize he was there. Ethan then joined Lilah in the parlor.
“Lady Lilah, I am so sorry about Rupert.
himself around.”
“Thank you Ethan, but my son was deeply troubled and all our
attempts to help him were futile. I do appreciate
everything you tried to do for him. But
Ethan, we must talk about Drusilla.
She’s taken the news quite hard, and Dawn does not wish for her to
return to the institution. I can’t
really blame her, the girl should have at least on parent around.”
said this.
“Lady Lilah, I know I have been a terrible husband and
father, but you are quite aware of how difficult Drusilla can be.
time and devotion I have given her over the years.”
“Yes, Ethan, I do understand about Drusilla, but there is no
excuse for your treatment of Dawn. The
girl needs a stable parent in her life.”
“Oh Lilah, don’t sit there and try to pretend you haven’t
reveled in raising Dawn. You’ve made a
miniature Lady Giles, now haven’t you?” Ethan commented snidely.
“Trust me Ethan, I would have much preferred for Dawn to be
raised by her parents, but I certainly wasn’t going to lady my granddaughter,
heir to the Giles title and fortune, be neglected. It was my duty to raise her as a proper young lady.” Lilah
countered.
“Fine Lady Lilah, we could argue about this all evening, but
you have just hit on the exact point I came here to discuss with you.
and fortune. Have you forgotten your
eldest granddaughter? The one in
America that you have never once visited or called? Or do you prefer to pretend she doesn’t exist?”
“Of course I have not forgotten Lizzy!
must. The future of this family is
Dawn.”
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous.
Now is the time to make amends.
You need to cct Jct Joyce and let her know about Giles.
them. We could all be a family
again. If anything would help Drusilla,
it would be Joyce and Buffy coming home.”
“Buffy?” Lilah inquired.
“Oh, Joyce is now calling Lizzy ‘Buffy’ now.”
“What type of name is Buffy? How do you know this – have you spoken with them?”
“I actually visited them in America about 3 years ago.
them up. They’re living in a small town
in California called Sunnydale. I tried
to convince Joyce to reconnect with the family, but she wouldn’t hear of it.”
“Ethan, how could you do this and not tell me!
back!”
“Lady Lilah, I was only trying to help save Rupert. “Well he obviously made the choice to cut them out of his “Bullocks! You “How dare you take that tone with me Ethan Rayne. “Oh Lilah, how vain can you be? All you’re concerned about is appearance. Lilah could not believe this. She had never been treated in such an appalling manner. “Fine Ethan, your right.” Lilah stated in a small “Don’t you think they should be allowed to attend the “That’s just too traumatic and there is just to much bad ndifndif]> Ethan was so relieved that she had agreed to make contact “Fine Ethan, we will leave on Friday.” A/N: Please review!
it would be Buffy and Jo”
lives. I have to respect my son’s
wishes.”
interfere with more people’s lives than I can count. What’s the real reason you are shutting out Buffy?”
Giles has neglected her all these years?”
family. Well I’m fed up with it!
will.” Ethan glared at her.
Joyce and Lizzy. And she was ashamed
she hadn’t done something in the early years to rectify it.
voice. “As soon as the funeral is over,
I will go to American and try to talk with Joyce and Lizzy.”
funeral?”
history. I want to try to start my new
relationship with them on a more positive note. It’s bad enough to have to tell them this news, but then to put
them through the funeral? No, after is
best.”
that he argued no further. “Fine, I’ll
accompany you. I think they’ll be much
more receptive with a neutral party present.”
Thanks!