Masquerade Disclosed

I knew, as I sat in repose in my study at home, it flashed across my mind, withered my heart, it swept all doubt aside, a hurricane of infidelity and Minxie once again failed to stay her unruly heart. I had suspected that their folly would continue and yet the question that might arise is why I would allow such a blatant disregard of my wishes to go unchallenged. I am aware that of all the suitors for the grace of Lucinda there is only one who might succeed in removing her from my grasp. Although the Dubois Empire is all encompassing, the eldest spawn of the Vanderhopeless dynasty is the only one burning with a fury that only vengeance can sate. Burning with a desire that only love can save.

There are those who believe that the nature of Karma is just return upon a positive action but I am aware that Karma has no notion of good or evil and rewards both on each side of the track without discrimination. One might consider, why I would not obstruct something that I recognised would happen. Is not the despoiling of her something I have raged since her pristine beauty stole my attention, to the point of revealing my emotional being to this rebellious cousin. My lack of action poses certain questions that can only be answered by the foresight of a man who can perceive the value of a reticent mind in the moments of rage. My first instinct was to remove the Vanderspawn without ado, bury him in some remote grave, never to be discovered. However emotionally satisfying the thought, I must deem this action as unproductive. It would raise his esteem to unattainable heights and Minxie would have affection for something more unpleasant than a knight in shining armour, a martyr in shining armour.

I realise in hindsight that perhaps he should have been allowed the union with the confection but a hearty lust had me consider enjoying a seduction of such a delectable creature. After all a man soon to be wed should be allowed one more overt sexual conquest. I do not consider the dalliances with minions and hopeful sycophant conquests, more a scratching of an itch. The confection now possessed of a rage worthy of Dubois lust managed to keep herself out of my range as the escapades of a naughty Minx dominated my attention. Reflection, can be the mirror of hindsight and foretell and I chose to use it to anticipate future association between Minxie and this Vanderhaven. He would only induce the two states of hope and disobedience, circumstances I must disallow within my households.

Braith Vanderhaven, the bold son willing to face a Dubois on his own terms, draws upon the fortitude of an ancestry that conquered the lands before them. His forefathers and mine fought for centuries for control of this town and it was the Dubois with our embrace of all means necessary that gained us triumph and the spoils that lay before us. Had we met at another time and place we might have been contemporaries but at this moment in time when he treads upon what is by right, by blood mine, he has sealed his destruction. I use the tool of reflection well, dispassionate, aloof as I consider the most satisfying result. It was not hard to determine that the best way to decimate this particular annoyance would be in the torture of that which he holds dear. I would have him watch Minxie in her embrace of the Dubois within and without, he can hold a clear view of whatever angst it will take to make her my obedient servant.

I swallowed the ire that demanded the retribution of murder. I put paid to the notion of a disfiguring accident. I released the dream of tragedy befalling his entire family for I knew what passions burned in his heart. He saw as I did, the exceptional nature of this girl, how she would stand by him in battle, how she would battle him if her heart upheld an opposing view. She is the only one worth his affection, the only one worth having and her soul made compliant before his eyes is the only anguish that such an adversary deserves. Do not mistake that my intent of a prolonged intense torment is because of dislike, it is because I respect his misplaced courage that I will exact a perfection of revenge.

I could not idle in my home any longer, the knowledge of what transpired drove me to expel the wild fury I could not act upon. I knew that no single creature could withstand the relentless craze that ripped my interior calm asunder. I found myself at an establishment where for the right amount of lucre filthy or otherwise any fantasy possible is indulged. I ordered a combination of Lucinda and Braith duplicates and proceeded to sate an unquenchable hunger. It took a resolve of vast character to remove myself from the present and the retaliation that my basic nature demands. To endure hell in order to create hell, has any suffered as much as I to retain control of what is rightfully his?

My night ended in a collapse as a spent rage took a toll upon all whom I encountered. I lay upon the soiled sheets of an exclusive brothel whose deviance is celebrated amongst select circles. How I wanted, burned to punish him for his insolence, her for defying me for I knew she only took him to her bed in defiance of my wishes. The knowledge that my love wishes to punish me with the same ardour that I wish to fracture her spirit sent a tingle of appreciation down my spine and I rolled over to inflict myself upon whatever hapless soul had the misfortune to lie beside me.

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