The Crown's Obsession (WN)
chapter-146

James Heathcliff stood on the other side of the room, with his back facing the King as he spoke to the guests who were acquainted with Lady Catherine.

"You must have met James during the time of the ball which was hosted by the King," said Lady Catherine to one of the couples who had come to greet them and was curious about the good looking man who stood next to her, "James was kind enough to accompany me to the ball."

"How kind," said the woman who was eyeing the man next to the lady, "It is good that you have a partner, Lady Catherine. Peter was out of town for work, and I didn't have any dancing partner," laughed the lady at the end, who was plump and who appeared to be in her late forties.

"They must have been intimidated by you, my dear," stated the husband of the woman who placed his hand around his wife's waist.

"You mean they were scared of me," replied the woman to laugh again before she said, "So James, what do you do?"

James was looking somewhere else when the woman questioned him. His eyes immediately looked at the woman who was waiting for him to answer even though he had introduced himself to her during the time of the ball.

"I am a tailorman, Lady Dorothy," James smiled, his words polite and the woman for a moment looked taken aback by his profession.

"A tailorman?" asked Lady Dorothy's husband, Peter.

Lady Catherine seeing the look of surprise, said, "Yes, James is a very esteemed dressmaker. He makes clothes for the King and the ministers."

Catherine was a vampiress who was lean and had a heart shaped face that made her look delicate and pretty. She was the daughter of a Duke who lived in the town away from the village, East Carswell. Since the time she had met James Heathcliff, she had been taken by him. His kind manners and gestures had won her heart. She had taken every opportunity that she could, to bring him into her part of the higher society, wanting him to get involved and be familiar. But even though no matter how much she tried to capture his heart, somewhere it felt that his thoughts were somewhere else.

"It must be nice to assist the King," commented Lady Dorothy, "I hear the pay is always good when it comes to working with the King," the woman had the habit of laughing more than necessary and the people around only smiled and nodded to her words.

"You should one day go to his shop. James is very talented. I am sure he will get the best dresses stitched for you," Lady Catherine tried to advertise the man's work.

James bowed his head, "Lady Catherine is too kind to praise my humble work. I do what is possible and with what I have," he said.

"If Lady Catherine is speaking so highly about you, I think I will have to pay a visit to your shop. Isn't that right, Peter?" asked Lady Dorothy and her husband, who looked a few more years older than her, nodded his head.

"That is right. I would like to see it myself on what makes you so special, that has dear Catherine singing your praises," said the man. Lady Catherine hearing this blushed, but James gave a tight smile. He knew what was being hinted at, but he had come here only to offer company to Lady Catherine and nothing more than that.

He had wanted to refuse her since the time he had openly spoken to Madeline about his feelings for her. But Catherine had been more than persistent in trying to comply with her requests. Being the man he was, he didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

"Excuse me," he said, bowing his head and walked away from the room, as he needed some air away from the vampires and humans who belonged to the higher class.

Calhoun was speaking to the people who were flocked around him. Madeline, who was sitting next to him, noticed how James had left the room and she was somewhere tempted to follow the man. But at the same time, she knew this would only make things worse. Somewhere, she felt terrible. Terrible that when he had mentioned about the letter, she had failed to clear it.

He had stood in front of the King, and made a fool of himself which was partly her fault.

If she had refused that she had never written a letter, James would have left right away. Her hands clutched on the front of her knees. She tried to control her heart beat without catching anyone's attention, especially the King.

Madeline felt torn by thinking what to do and she found it to be rather difficult to sit where she was right now. Her toes curled, her stomach churning as she heard the people who surrounded Calhoun sing his praises while he smiled at them, the smile saying he knew they were kissing his feet.

She didn't speak and only smiled or nodded at people when the eyes moved to look at her. Some women and men gave her a narrowed look with question in their eyes on what she was doing sitting next to the King of Devon.

When some of them walked away after speaking to Calhoun, Lady Catherine came to stand in front of the King. Like many others, she bowed her head deep down before standing up.

"My King," said Lady Catherine, "Is there something I can get for you?" she asked him in a polite voice.

"That won't be necessary. How have you been doing?" asked Calhoun. He had leaned his back against the couch with his legs crossed one over the other.

It seemed like the King knew Lady Catherine, Madeline thought to herself. Her brown eyes moved behind the lady and then at the entrance of the door to see that James was not yet here. Madeline only hoped that Lady Catherine would quickly finish speaking to Calhoun so that Calhoun would not get to speak to James. The last thing she wanted was Calhoun reminding James about the garter in front of everyone. Madeline was worried, and she tried to keep herself cool without bringing the nervousness on her face.

"I have been doing well, milord," bowed the lady and Catherine's eyes fell on the girl who sat next to the King, "How are you doing Ms Harris?"

Madeline had met Lady Catherine twice when her sister Beth and her had visited her aunt's house which was in the same town where Lady Catherine resided. She bowed her head, "I am doing well, milady. I hope your knitting has been going well."

"Oh, it has!" answered Lady Catherine. The vampiress wasn't fond of her, maybe fond of her sister Beth, but never her. At least that is what Madeline thought, and she knew it wasn't her overthinking that had conjured up this idea in her mind. There was an odd hostility that was presented towards her by the lady.

"If I knew the King was coming, I would have brought you some gifts. Handmade presents like sweaters or mufflers," the vampiress added, and Calhoun had a smile, that beat everyone's in the room, and it was wide and stretched up high.

"I have people for that, Lady Catherine. You don't have to work your pretty fingers," commented Calhoun and the lady blushed.

Madeline noted how Calhoun had turned everyone pink or red. Either by compliments or through his subtly embarrassing remarks. She knew it was not right, but she couldn't help but find solace that she wasn't the only one who was subjected to the King's remarks.

"I didn't know you knew, Madeline," stated Calhoun, his eyes filled with curiosity as he had thought that Madeline knew none in the room.

Lady Catherine bowed her head over his words, "I met her and her sister when we had a tea party over one of the ladies' houses. Ms. Harris was staying at her aunt's house. I believe?" she turned to look at Madeline to confirm.

"Yes. My father's sister. My aunt," replied Madeline.

"How nice!" exclaimed the King and Madeline didn't know what was nice about it. She had been smiling since the time she had arrived here, her cheeks had started to ache and so did her jaw, "Have you come alone?" asked Calhoun and this question was enough to set Madeline tensed again as her eyes widened.

"No, Milord. I have come here with a company," saying this, Lady Catherine turned around to see if the man had returned. When James finally did walk through and into the room, a bright smile appeared on the vampiress' face, "Here he is," and the man walked towards Lady Catherine to stop to stand next to her. Lady Catherine introduced him, "This is James Heathcliff."

James's eyes met Calhoun's, and he was compelled to bow his head to offer his greeting to the King, "Greetings, my King," came James' voice who finally raised his head to meet the King's eyes smiling at him.

A few seconds passed by in silence, and Madeline could feel her hands turning sweaty, and she subtly wiped it against her skirt. Lady Catherine had a puzzled look at the silence. Calhoun asked,

"Who is this?"

Lady Catherine had already introduced James to Calhoun. The King was acting as if he were meeting James for the very first time and didn't know who he was. What did he mean, who James was? Asked Madeline to herself. "This is a dear acquaintance of mine," blushed Lady Catherine.

Calhoun smiled, nodding his head, "I see, so he's the man who has captured your heart. I can tell now why you have been evading the other men who have tried to court you," he stated.

Madeline felt a slight prick in her chest after hearing this. Her eyes moved to look at Lady Catherine, who was evidently in love with James. When the ball for the Hallow was hosted, James had not received the invitation, but he had been invited by Lady Catherine for the ball, to dance and spend time with her.

Both James and Madeline together had never spent time together, at least not alone, that was why Madeline didn't know what equation James held with Lady Catherine.

"I am trying to sway Mr. Heathcliff's heart and hoping to marry him," Lady Catherine didn't hide her intentions towards James. When Madeline shifted her eyes to look at James, he appeared to look awkward, but he didn't refuse anything that put a furrow between Madeline's eyebrows.

Calhoun, who had a broad smile on his lips, commented, "You should make sure to make him commit to you. It would be terrible if he found another interest," looking at James.

James obviously being the kind-hearted man, couldn't refuse Lady Catherine in front of everyone. At the same time, the King was painting him in a bad light where Madeline could easily misunderstand his relationship with the vampiress.