“If I were John,” Charles began, “I would find myself a rich wife, quit my job the second she says, ‘I do,’ and live comfortably off of her dowry for the rest of my life.”
Chuckles erupted around the table, but Morgan just scowled at her brother.
“That’s not funny,” Morgan said as John had to suppress a giggle of his own.
“John should just marry Morgan then,” Charlotte said.
The room fell silent. Normally, this was the kind of comment the Loughlins would have just laughed off, but no one seemed to think Charlotte’s comment was funny.
Loughlin cleared his throat. “John would never do something like that,” he said, maintaining strict eye contact with John as he spoke. “He has too much respect for our family and himself to simply marry for money.”
“Plus, he and Morgan are completely wrong for each other,” Evangeline added.
“Oh, come on,” Charles chimed in. “Sure, he’s not the typical Northridge prick I’m sure you had in mind for Morgan, but he is a good, respectable man. We all would be lucky to have someone like John in our family.”
John squirmed uncomfortably in his chair. He hadn’t expected the dinner conversation to turn into a debate about his compatibility with Morgan. He especially didn’t care for the way everyone talked about them as if they weren’t sitting right there. Still, Charles’s open gesture of acceptance was comforting and unexpected. Sitting at the table, his secret wife by his side, John wondered if Morgan’s family would eventually come around to the idea of them as a couple.
“I’m sorry, but I completely disagree,” Evangeline said, setting her silverware down on the table.
“That didn’t last long,” Morgan muttered to John.
“John might be a decent enough man, but that doesn’t change the fact that he has no prospects and no respectable relations,” Evangeline argued. “And it’s not just Morgan who would suffer. It wouldn’t be a fair match for either of them. Poor John isn’t equipped to handle Northridge society. Everyone is better off sticking with their own kind.”
“Their own kind?” asked Morgan.
“This is not the time nor place,” Loughlin warned.
“You indulge her too much, Arthur,” Evangeline said. “First with this Council nonsense and now you’re supporting this ridiculous friendship. It is too much for a mother to stand, and if Lillian was still with us, I’m sure she would say the same thing.”
John had heard this argument more times than he could count. Morgan was one of the most talented, intelligent, well-bred, and ambitious people he had ever met; all statements her family would wholeheartedly agree with. Morgan’s ambition was one of her best traits, according to Evangeline, so long as her ambition was to marry a rich Northridge gentleman and have a hundred babies. Morgan worked twice as hard as any of her brothers but still couldn’t get her own family to take her seriously.
“My mother would have supported me regardless,” Morgan said indignantly.
“I guarantee she would not,” Evangeline replied. “Like this silly notion of trying to be on the Council. This is the kind of abandonment of traditional, wholesome values that led to the collapse of the Old World in the first place. Those Old World deviants had to learn their lesson the hard way, and I for one would rather history not repeat itself.”
Morgan rolled her eyes. “The plague didn’t happen because women wanted to work.”
“It’s unnatural, a woman ignoring her home and family to pursue her own vain ambitions. Straying from tradition brings nothing but trouble.”
“If everyone kept doing things just because that’s the way it’s been done, then we would all still be wandering in the wild and Haven would never have been founded and we wouldn’t all be sitting here,” said Morgan.
“That would be a shame,” Charles muttered into his glass.
“Everything seems like a radical notion until it becomes the norm,” Morgan continued. “I’m sure there was once a time when the Genetic Fitness Evaluation seemed unorthodox. In time, Haven will adjust to the idea of the Council being a little more inclusive.”
“It shouldn’t,” Samuel said. “Allowing a woman to be on the Council goes against every policy ever passed to better Haven in the first place.”
“That is absolutely not true,” Morgan said.
“Population growth and selective breeding efforts can’t be upheld if all the women are running around chasing careers instead of fulfilling their womanly duties,” said Samuel.
“Womanly duties?” Morgan replied. “Sam, you sound positively barbaric.”
“The truth isn’t always popular.”
“I’m not going to argue with you about this anymore,” said Morgan, throwing her hands up. “You’re not going to change my mind and I’m obviously not going to change yours, so I’m just going to call a truce now before either of us gets any more aggravated or, in my case, disgusted than we already are.”
“You all get too hung up on silly technicalities like this,” Charles interrupted. “People should just be allowed to do whatever makes them happy.”
“It’s fine, Charlie,” Morgan said. “I don’t need you to defend me.”
Ignoring Morgan, Samuel smirked. “Yes, but you know better than anyone, that can’t always be the case, don’t you Charlie?”
“Shut up, Sam!” Charles hissed.
“I’m sorry,” Samuel said, frowning with feigned remorse, “did I hit a nerve, Charlie?”
“Don’t call me that,” Charles warned.
“Why not? Morgan does.”
“That’s different,” Charles said. “She’s actually my sister.”
“Charles!” Evangeline gasped, clutching her pearls. “What a terrible thing to say! We are all family regardless of which mother…”
“That’s enough, all of you,” Loughlin interrupted.
“We can’t all be so lucky in love as you, Sam,” Charles continued. “Tell me, how much did Father have to pay the Burgess sisters before they finally agreed to marry you?”
“Enough!” Loughlin shouted again, his voice echoing throughout the room as the dining hall fell silent.
No one spoke for what felt like an eternity as everyone returned to their dinner. Morgan’s gaze was fixed on her plate, her face a mask of indifference. Only the slight quiver of her lower lip gave away just how upset she truly was. John reached under the table towards Morgan and found her hand resting in her lap. He wrapped his hand around hers and softly squeezed it twice in quick succession. Her gaze still on her plate, Morgan smiled and squeezed his hand twice in return.
The silence was broken by a loud clatter as Charlotte accidentally knocked her glass to the floor, sending shards of glass and drink everywhere. Before John could even register what had happened, Evangeline was snapping her fingers at one of the servants, who immediately jumped to clean up the mess.
“At least unfits are still good for something,” Evangeline said smiling, trying to break the tension. “But your father is right. We’re all together, we have a lovely meal and reason to celebrate. We can’t let hypotheticals and scandal ruin our evening.”
John took a deep breath, his stomach twisting in and out of what felt like a thousand knots. The timing wasn’t ideal, but he wasn’t sure he would get another opportunity to speak his truth before losing his nerve. “Morgan and I have something we’d like to say,” John announced. The whole table turned to him, the collective expression a mixture of mild curiosity and apprehension. “Morgan and I—,”
“—are just friends,” Morgan interrupted. “We’re good friends and nothing more, so I would appreciate it if you would all stop trying to interrogate us and treat John with the same amount of civility you would if he were any other guest.”
John stared at Morgan, shocked and horrified by her statement. The evening hadn’t exactly gone to plan, but it was still salvageable, or so he hoped. They were going to come clean and bear the consequences no matter what they were.
“Yes, of course,” Evangeli
ne said, flushing a harsh pink. “John, I’m so sorry for my appalling behavior. You are our guest and we are happy to have you.”
“You know who won’t be starting school in the fall as planned?” Genevieve said, hastily changing the subject. The Loughlin family wasn’t one that liked to dwell on emotion, after all. “The Harrington boy. Turns out he’s an unfit. I heard he was arrested this morning.”
“Benjamin Harrington? No! Where in Haven did you hear that?” gasped Leonora.
“From Cynthia.”
“Oh please, Cynthia’s a third wife. She doesn’t know anything that goes on in that family,” Evangeline scoffed, oblivious to the resentful scowls directed at her by her fellow wives. “If you want to know the truth, you ask the head matriarch of the family.”
“She was there when he was arrested,” said Genevieve. “The guards came and hauled him away to the asylum yesterday.”
“But he came from such good breeding,” Evangeline said.
“That’s what everyone thought, but it turns out his mother has relatives in Southend.” As Genevieve spoke those words, she caught herself and, turning to John, hurriedly added, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
“Serves Mr. Harrington right for not doing his due diligence before he married that wife of his. Now his entire lineage is sullied,” said Evangeline.
“It’s such a shame though,” Leonora sighed. “Benjamin always seemed like such a nice young man.”
“Any word on who will be taking his father’s job at the university?” Priscilla asked. “Surely they’re not going to keep him on after such a scandal.”
“No respectable person would be caught standing too close to a member of the Harrington family at this point. My guess is they delivered his termination notice when they arrested his son,” said Evangeline.
“Such a shame,” Leonora said again, shaking her head.
“It is better for all of us that he is dealt with quickly,” Samuel said in his best official Council voice. “We can’t have too many unfits walking around freely.”
“I heard Benjamin was engaged to be married,” Evangeline said. “Can you imagine? Council forbid he had gotten married or had any children before they caught him. That’s exactly why you wait to get married until after you get your results.”
“His poor fiancé,” Charlotte said sadly.
“For heaven’s sake, what if they had had children?” Evangeline declared. “Can you imagine having a child with an unfit? It’s disgusting.”
“It’s such a shame,” Leonora continued without missing a beat. “He had the most beautiful green eyes.”
“Thank you for dinner, everyone,” John said, abruptly standing from the table. “I had a lovely time, but I’m afraid I must excuse myself. It’s getting late and I want to give myself plenty of time to cross the bridge before it closes.”
“Of course, John. We were all glad you could join us,” Loughlin said, even though the night’s events suggested otherwise.
“I’m going to have to excuse myself too,” Morgan said, standing and following John towards the parlor. “I have a lot of studying to do tonight.”
“Of course, darling,” Loughlin said, exchanging a good-night kiss on the cheek with Morgan as she passed.
“Goodnight to both of you,” said Evangeline. “John, I’ll send Geoffrey to escort you to the gate.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Morgan said. “I can walk him out.”
“Oh,” Evangeline said, raising one perfectly drawn on eyebrow, “and why would you be accompanying Mr. Hunter off of the estate?”
“I’m walking with John back to his apartment to pick up a book he offered to lend me,” Morgan explained.
“I’m sure Mr. Hunter can bring it to you in the morning,” said Evangeline.
“I have an exam first thing in the morning, so I need it before then. It’s fine, I’ll be back before curfew.”
“It most certainly is not fine,” Evangeline said, rising from the table. “A young woman alone with a man at this hour, it’s positively scandalous. Mr. Hunter will just have to bring it to you tomorrow.”
“I already told you it can’t wait until then.”
“I’m sorry, but you two are not leaving this house without a chaperone.”
Morgan sighed, accepting defeat, then slowly turned to Charles.
“Don’t even think about it,” Charles replied as he took a particularly large bite of roast.
“Charlie.” Morgan pulled both hands up under her chin and cocked her head slightly to the side as she dramatically batted her eyelashes. “My dearest, sweetest, handsomest brother, would you please chaperone Mr. Hunter and I this evening and inhibit us from giving in to our youthful, carnal urges whilst collecting a book from his place of residence?”
“Fine,” Charles said flatly, throwing his fork down onto his unfinished plate.
Charles walked them down the pathway leading away from the mansion. Once certain they were out of sight of the house, Charles stopped.
“All right, that should be far enough,” he said. “Have fun you two.”
“Thank you, Charlie, and be careful Evangeline doesn’t see you go back into the house.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll take the back way. Goodnight, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Charles winked as he slipped away into the garden.
Morgan wrapped her arms around John, pulling him in, but John brushed her away. “I think this is where we should say goodnight too,” he said.
Morgan let out a short, uncomfortable laugh, fumbling to recover from John’s rebuff. “If this is about what Evangeline said, don’t let her upset you.” She forced a casual smile. “That’s just how she is.”
“Evangeline’s not who I’m upset with,” said John. “What was that in there, Morgan?”
“What was what?”
“That!” John pointed back at the house. “That announcement you made. I thought we were going to tell them.”
“We are going to tell them, but the timing wasn’t right. They’re not ready yet.”
“They’re not ready, or you’re not ready?”
Morgan took a step back from John and folded her arms across her chest. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Are you embarrassed of me, Morgan?”
“Of course not.”
“Then let’s go back to the house right now and tell your family. Let’s walk through the front door, hand in hand, and tell everyone we’re married.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, John.”
“In what way am I being ridiculous? This was the plan—to tell them as soon as the Genetic Fitness Evaluation was over.”
“We can’t just spring something like this on them. They’d be horrified. I need to ease them into the idea. I even came up with a plan at dinner. First, I need to convince just one of the mothers that being from Southend isn’t such a bad thing, that there are plenty of redeemable people there. Probably Genevieve. She’s always been a bit of a pushover. Then you need to win Evangeline’s affection—”
John cut Morgan off. “How is this any different from what we’ve been trying to do for the last year?”
Morgan opened her mouth to respond but said nothing.
John’s shoulders dropped. “Today is our anniversary, Morgan. Did you know that?”
“Of course I did,” she said.
“When I married you, I knew it was going to be difficult. I knew your family would be a challenge, and I knew you needed time before you would be ready to tell them. But I’m starting to think that day is never going to come.”
“John, please—” Morgan began.
“Goodnight, Morgan.” John walked away, leaving Morgan standing alone, the lights of the Loughlin manor gleaming behind her.
“What are you doing here?”
“I need to speak with you. I’m afraid it’s urgent. A situation has been brought to my attention that I’m sure you will want to address immediately. I rushed the sample through, ju
st like you asked and, as you can see, the results are as we feared.”
“Who else has seen this?”
“Two lab assistants, but I made sure they only ever saw the patient number, not the actual name.”
“Good. I can’t believe this is happening.”
“Maybe the test was wrong. There’s always a margin of error on these things. Is he exhibiting any of the symptoms?”
“Yes.”
“I see.”
“Just do what we’ve done for the other families, find a clean result and put that in the file instead.”
“There won’t be very many compatible candidates this late in the process.”
“That doesn’t matter. Just make sure this can’t be connected back to us.”
“We can’t keep doing this, sir. It’s not as simple as faking lab results anymore, not with this new system and these new restrictions. The only way to buy a clean result is to take it from someone else, and by the next round that will be impossible too. It’s just not worth the risk anymore, not when the Council Elders are watching us this closely.”
“Then I suggest you be discreet.”
“Perhaps there’s another way. My research so far has suggested this particular disorder is passed on through the mother.”
“How does that help me?”
“Save the tree by removing the infected branches.”
“Except no one else will see it that way. Do you know why people are willing to submit to the Genetic Fitness Evaluation? Because they believe it is for the greater good. We are ripping families apart, and they let us because we tell them it is a necessary sacrifice. They believe us when we tell them certain people are inherently better. Do you know what would happen if they stop believing that? All the hard work we put into snuffing out the rebellion efforts would be completely undone in a matter of seconds. Now is not the time to confess our faults. One diseased branch is all it takes to kill an entire tree.”
“I don’t think this will have as much of an impact as you fear it will. You’re prestigious enough, you can just wait this out.”
“Prestige won’t save us. All it means is more people are waiting for me to fail.”
Unfit Page 4