Chapter 75: Chapter 175 – Planning ahead

Apparently, the author of that novel was not the only one who had decided to contact people who lived there. After several days without news from him, Peter Northrop also made his necessary contribution to the cause, sending a couple of letters. The first, one addressed to her daughter, both to congratulate her on having successfully completed her Cheltenham course and to let her know that he´d be in town soon. Perhaps, as Oscar suspected, to make up for the fact that he hadn't been able to attend the festival organized at the boarding school and spend some quality time with her.

The second was for his son. And here is the source of some of Albert's concern; In this letter, his father made it clear that he planned to disregard him if he continued with that attitude that he had been carrying for a few months.

As mentioned in his letter, things in Snodland had calmed down considerably. Or, rather, he himself had done his bit so that the rumors about an allegedly indecent sexual preference of his son would not continue echoing through the streets. Based on lies and gossip that he and some friends he convinced to go along with him spread, few were those who remembered the incident in the middle of the road that led to Lilac Hall.

Of course, in a town as small as Snodland, it was difficult - not to say impossible - for such rumors to be silenced in such a short time and forever. But apparently, even more than the tricks of a father concerned about the well-being of his offspring, what helped the most to have credibility was the fact that someone outside his person —and of whom nothing was known, because in the letter that Peter sent no names were mentioned—was spreading some new gossip.

Gossip that consisted of an unpublished romance.

A heterosexual romance, of course, because you couldn't get people's support if it was anything else.

According to this unknown source, the rumor that Albert was dating Oscar had been created by a jilted girl from a good family, who was secretly dating young Northrop for a while, before he left her to focus on his work. in the family business. And who was this girl? Well, it wasn't Dianne or Madeleine. Not even any of the Tanners.

It seems that it was a girl whose name hadn't even sounded familiar to Oscar if he had heard it before, with whom Albert had only met a couple of times at some rural event and to whom he had only given a greeting as he passed. The most likely thing was, being so, that the young woman in question had been paid by someone to tell that story that she was dating the villain, even offering a public apology for the harm she could have caused by blaming herself for having started it. Also for the rumors about an alleged homosexuality of the aforementioned.

Anyway, why shouldn't they believe her even if it was all a farce?

The woman in question was someone who kept a low profile, she did not get involved in scandals or was known for hanging on the fame of others. She didn't have a lot of money, but she wasn't broke like the Cornells either. What motives could she have for cheating? No one would believe that she had been paid to perform such a function due to the maturity that she had always shown! And it is that, even in such a delicate moment for her as this had been, by publicly admitting a mistake that she had never made, she did not seem to be taking things to heart.

She apologized as convincingly as possible to the neighborhood and promised not to speak to the Northrops again. Something, by the way, very simple to fulfill, since she had never really had any dealings with them.

Perhaps Albert's attitude also helped foster the credibility of this girl's story. Because, although they had never been seen together for more than a couple of minutes and on such occasional times, he had a reputation for being a cold person and difficult to read. It was not unheard of that he had been the one who had taken the initiative to keep this relationship a secret. After all, speaking of the past, when had he been seen being openly affectionate with another person in public?

Oscar didn't count, it was obvious. If anyone saw something inappropriate between them, they were imagining it.

At least as far as the villain was concerned, because not only did Dianne not want to fulfill her part of the deal and get him out of that predicament, Peter Northrop also didn't seem like it because of the work of saving the face of that shameless ex-stable boy who was seen meeting with his son. And so it is that while the rumors about Albert were dying down, those about Oscar remained as vivid as on the first day.

According to what the townspeople said, and this was not because someone had led them to think that way, but because it was the last piece to fit in the puzzle and this seemed to them the best solution for it, Oscar was the one who had the villain on a pedestal. He was the only one who had wanted to engage in an indecent relationship, hence why he had tried so hard to get a position next to Albert that he had not the remotest intention of even being his friend.

Obviously, following that line of reasoning, Albert only left town to get rid of all those unwanted suitors. If anyone knew that Oscar also left for London, it was quite likely that they would blame the villain's patience for agreeing to share stagecoach as they headed to opposite destinations—since almost no one even knew they were planning to share a house—and also the persistence of Oscar himself. Oscar, not wanting to abandon an affection that would never be reciprocated.

However, Peter Northrop would not support his son in this preference of his.

He didn't before, when the malicious rumors spread. And much less he would now, when, although the talk about Albert was dying down, Oscar had already been raised to the level of stalker.

Peter mentioned it several times before they left, and he kept reiterating it in this latest letter. Though he had been a bit more accommodating of Albert's eagerness to work for him in a humbler trade, starting from scratch, and accepting that a bit grudgingly, he wouldn't change his mind about it. the other.

The following week he would arrive in London, as he had originally predicted and, according to the letter, that was the time Albert had to kick Oscar out of that house and get rid of him once and for all. Or well, disengage, or go with him. But if he chose to leave, then the villain would face an added inconvenience. Which must have been the main reason this letter was written:

Peter Northrop had tolerated his son being with Oscar quite well, had even covered his back in his manner. But that was only because he hoped that he would reconsider, that he would realize that this was wrong in more ways than one. How was he to know that Albert would actually follow through on his threats to go to the capital in such company? He had thought that by the time he was due to pick up Letitia, he would have outgrown that preference of his. If it wasn't because he got tired of Oscar, it would be because he would get fed up with the treatment received by the neighbors who were suspicious of them.

But no, that never happened. And Mr. Northrop had been left alone at Thornfield with a dilemma in mind; What to do to convince his son that he was in the wrong?

Well, if time didn't heal him—and to be honest, he had had so much patience because the villain had never been a noisy person, always keeping a low profile in his dealings—he would have to use other methods. Methods like threatening to disinherit him, if by the time he reached the capital he had news that Albert and Oscar were still seeing each other.

"Wait, but can he disinherit you?" the latter had asked when he found out about the mess.

At that time, only men could inherit businesses and the family home. Northrop had no other sons, so the choice of heir had always been clear to him…until now.

"He can and he will, I know he's only looking out for my good, whatever the cost," Albert surmised. “If I don't give in, I see him capable of changing his will and bequeathing the properties to Letitia's husband, when she is married. Or, if that does not come to pass, he could give them to one of my cousins, with the promise that they would take care of her so that she would not lack for anything.”

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"And what are you going to do? Losing all that is not little.”

"I intended to work on my own… I still do. Wouldn't what I earned be enough? Maybe not at first, but if I gather the experience and then look for another job, independent of my father's company...” Although he seemed determined to continue the sentence, in the end he not only left it halfway, but asked instead-. “If you were in my position, what would you do?”

“Easy. If my family demanded of me something as simple as letting my partner go in order not to deprive me of what rightfully belongs to me, I would do it.” Seeing that the other's expression turned darker, he added with a mischievous smile. “Of course, that would only be for the public. I would pretend to get rid of my partner, be diligent in my new job, and not make any suspicious escapades. Then, when the waters settled down, I'd say I'm going to go find another apartment. Because that's what you want to do, right? Set up on your own, starting from scratch. Now, who says you couldn't choose to move into the same apartment your partner chose to stay in?”

"T-that's risky! What if my father happened to pay a visit to my new apartment and saw you there?”

"Oh, but would he visit?"

He made sense, considering how well father and son had gotten along thus far. If Oscar did not contemplate the possibility, it was, in part, because his aunt and uncle were not the type to visit him often. Not since he started working at Lilac Hall and they found out how difficult it was to get onto the property to converse with one of the servants. So, if they wanted to meet, the usual thing for them was to meet somewhere in town, telling him to meet several days in advance.

"Well, I suppose that in order to save the inheritance, certain sacrifices would have to be made," Oscar continued. “Like, for example, having to spend a period without seeing me or even move alone to another place, so that your father can not be so aware of your nocturnal escapades.”

“But Oscar, the idea of ​​moving to an apartment was to be with you. What would be the point of going to live alone and visit you from my new place? Yes, I know you're saying this for my father and his employees, so they can't take my departures into account and make assumptions, but that's not a good plan for me!”

"That's right, it would be pretty fucked up to move somewhere alone. If you are going to live like the common mortals, getting rid of the riches, it is likely that you will have a hard time if you do not have a partner to help you pay the rent.”

“That… I guess it would be like that too.”

Though it wasn't at all; Oscar knew it well and that's why he deliberately said those sentences. Albert had enough saved to afford an apartment in a well-situated area with his own service. By his count, he wasn't nearly as rich as his parent. But, referring to the salary saved during all those years, he could afford something not as modest as what he and Oscar thought to look for.

If Albert was reticent, surely, it was because he didn't want to spend so much time apart.

"Of course, if you want to save the inheritance, there are other possibilities as well," Oscar continued. “For example, you could pretend that you are dating a woman.”

“No”.

"Ah, but she would be a trustworthy one, someone who had no romantic intentions with you," he continued, half-jokingly. “Lest this end in disaster, Madeleine would be the perfect example of a person you should never even choose for a pantomime like this.”

"Absolutely not," the villain insisted. “I refuse to accept any woman, I don't care if it's pure theater or if the aforementioned was someone who wasn't looking for anything else. I've had enough with these rumors that I was dating this Miss Hahn for a period, and luckily the aforementioned was professional in whatever deal they put her in and did not give more information than necessary when it came to brag to the neighbors!”

"So what do you want to do to avoid raising suspicions? Move in with me and make me dress as a woman to appear, at least among acquaintances, that you have a partner as God intended?” Seeing that Albert was looking at him questioningly, as if to ask if he was really willing to go to such lengths, Oscar laughed. “Forget it, I haven't survived this far in this story to accept cross-dressing. Not in public, at least.”

"It´s okey, it would have been weird, anyway.” Returning to the matter at hand, Albert continued. “I don't want to continue fighting with my father, but if we came to the city it was for a specific purpose. And I don't want to give that up either! In Snodland the talk of us may still go on, but here nobody knows us. So why not start over together after all?”

“In the end, it's your decision” Oscar pointed out, that the only reason why he was not blunt with his ideas was because he knew that the choice must be difficult for Albert and he didn't want to impose his own goals when the main loser would be another . “Given my position, I can only ask you to consider it calmly. Then, whatever you decide, I'll support you.”

To be honest, Oscar hoped that he would choose the option of moving in with him right away. But if he chose the other way, staying in this house or moving elsewhere on his own, he couldn't blame him either. Well, the latter was the most accurate and prudent way, given the case. And yes, although the immediate consequence would be that they would have to be separated a little more, it could solve a lot of their problems with Mr. Northrop.

Perhaps Albert would think about it for a day or two before talking to him again about his decision. Oh well, that would have been normal. However, it seemed that Oscar was not the only one in this novel whose patience was running out. And, although he no longer seemed to fear death with his risky acts, the villain did not seem to fear his father's fury either when, just fifteen minutes after finishing their conversation, he told Oscar that the next day they would begin their search of an apartment to live in.

It was so unforeseen that Oscar feared the villain had chosen on impulse, but he couldn't bring himself to ask what on earth had made him choose to throw away an inheritance of hundreds of thousands of pounds in order to pursue an uncertain future with him. That is, it's not that he wasn't happy, but... With what it cost to have cash in that damned time full of prejudices and social classes...! And if, as in the plans he made in his mind, he could have both, why give up one?

But of course, neither money nor property, much less prestige, were things that Oscar possessed. So, he told himself, he shouldn't be judging what others did with it, either. And if Albert had chosen to stay with him in a new life a little more humble than the one he had led in Snodland, it was perfect for him. He would make an effort to continue working hard, so that Albert would not regret such a decision.

Thus, starting from the next day, the search for a place to live began.

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