Thomas let her go as she poured a drink. "Yes," he said quietly. "Edith was here. I met her on a trip to America, hoping once again to find honest investors. But... I am apparently an awful salesman," he said with a wry, weak smile.
"But Edith, she-- She-- It felt like she saw me. And she was everything I had not had the courage to be." Thomas looked down at his drink. "I told her that I had learned to look away from things that made me uncomfortable. She told me that she never wanted to look away. Her father knew me a fraud the moment he saw me, but she married me all the same."
He did not say that Lucille murdered the man.
"Edith believed in me. She believed in the work I was trying to do, honest work. And in loving her, I believed I could have a better life. One without the past grabbing at me at every turn. One without darkness and secrets in every corner. I knew that Lucille started poisoning her the moment we returned to Allerdale, and I stopped Edith from drinking whatever tea Lucille gave her."
Thomas pushed his hair back and he had another drink, because he needed something to steady him. "The more I was with her, all I could think of was leaving. Was starting a new life somewhere else with Edith. I-- I told Lucille. I told her that Edith would not be signing any more of her assets to me. I told her that we could all just leave Allerdale. There was nothing for us."
He remembered the look on his sister's face when he told her. When he talked about leaving Allerdale forever - all of them, together. Thomas finished his drink and set the glass down.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2018-03-12 03:48 pm (UTC)"But Edith, she-- She-- It felt like she saw me. And she was everything I had not had the courage to be." Thomas looked down at his drink. "I told her that I had learned to look away from things that made me uncomfortable. She told me that she never wanted to look away. Her father knew me a fraud the moment he saw me, but she married me all the same."
He did not say that Lucille murdered the man.
"Edith believed in me. She believed in the work I was trying to do, honest work. And in loving her, I believed I could have a better life. One without the past grabbing at me at every turn. One without darkness and secrets in every corner. I knew that Lucille started poisoning her the moment we returned to Allerdale, and I stopped Edith from drinking whatever tea Lucille gave her."
Thomas pushed his hair back and he had another drink, because he needed something to steady him. "The more I was with her, all I could think of was leaving. Was starting a new life somewhere else with Edith. I-- I told Lucille. I told her that Edith would not be signing any more of her assets to me. I told her that we could all just leave Allerdale. There was nothing for us."
He remembered the look on his sister's face when he told her. When he talked about leaving Allerdale forever - all of them, together. Thomas finished his drink and set the glass down.
"That was when she killed me."