Chapter 7: Leopards don't change their spots, and so is a womanizer.
"Because I hate for a capable and astonishing woman like yourself to end-up as alone as I am." Lady Danbury replied.
Furious, Safa slammed her hands on her desk then stood-up hastily.
"Lady Danbury!" She nearly shouted.
Agatha looked at Safa with half-wide eyes, "Yes?" She asked.
"I believe your visit has lasted far too long." Safa replied.
In disbelief, "Are you asking me to leave?" Agatha asked, "Yes I am, now please...I would be grateful if you make haste and exit my property, As you already know, I am entertaining other guests, it would be far too rude to keep them waiting any longer." Safa replied.
Sighing, "I imagined you might react poorly to my line of inquiry but I did not think you would go as far as to kick me out." Lady Danbury said standing-up.
"Well you should have known better than to come to My House and humiliate me!" Safa replied.
Shocked, "Humiliate? Dear I had merely asked why you chose to remain unmarried!" Agatha said.
"Leave! I want nothing to do with you right now or possibly ever!" Safa replied.
"I take it you also want nothing to do with the puppy I brought either?" Agatha asked.
Glaring, "The dog is innocent, poor thing has no clue he was used to fulfill whatever motive you had for your visit.
If you want to take it with you, I will not stop you but I have no plans of punishing the animal for the mistakes of the human." Safa replied.
Surprised and weirdly pleased by Lady Vega's response, Lady Danbury smiled, "I suppose I shall take my leave then.
I sincerely apologize once again, it was never my intention to humiliate or hurt you, I was simply trying to look after you.
But I suppose you don't need looking after, not for the time being at least." She said.
Confused, "What are you trying to say Lady Danbury?" Safa asked.
"Let's just say, that I am regardless of this failed encounter of ours, I'm still willing to offer you help should you come seek it from me.
If you ever need a woman to talk to, an auntie or a mother figure, or even just a friend, you are welcome to come and see me.
I would love to be there for you." Agatha said still smiling before she began walking away towards the office doors.
Stunned, Safa watched the older woman leave, her chest now bearing seeds of guilt, "Was I too cruel...?" She questioned underneath her breaths, her heart beats quickened a little too much.
...Meanwhile...
In the parlor where the group of friends had previously enjoyed their tea, a Worried Wolfgang decided he'd go back to the office.
So he rose from the sofa, the dog that was beside him joining him, jumping off the cushion it previously rested on, to stand eagerly next to his new favorite human.
"Where are you going? Eavesdropping again?" A seated James asked.
"I don't know...I just have a feeling something might've occured." Wolfgang replied, "Something... bad?" Clara wondered earning a nod from the worried servant.
"Then how about I go see for myself! The poor puppy is attached to you, it'll definitely bark again!" Clara said getting to her feet.
"Are you sure?" Wolfgang asked, "Don't worry, you're not troubling me at all!" Clara replied happily before she left the room.
Suddenly, "Wolf...now that both ladies are away again, yesterday I meant to ask you something but I think it had slipped my mind, but now that lady Danbury has unexpectedly made an entrance, I feel like if anyone can fill my curiosity, it would be you." James spoke-up.
Wolfgang sat once again with the dog jumping back onto the cushion, he glanced at James and said, "What was it that you wished to ask me?"
"Safa has told me yesterday that she was purposefully avoiding lady Danbury because she feared she would be interested in securing her a match, a husband so to speak." James said.
Nodding, "Yes, she has told me the same reason yesterday as well." Wolfgang replied.
Surprised, "You only knew of this yesterday?" James asked, "But I thought you two share everything of your lives?"
"No, not entirely...we do keep things from each other, but usually either harmless or very personal secrets, we also have boundaries set between us.
For example, Safa never sets foot in the basement area without my permission, in return I don't set foot in her laboratory without permission either." Wolfgang explained.
Astonished, "The whole basement Is off limits to Safa? The basement in her own property is off limits to her?!" James said.
"Safa and I treat each with mutual respect, we have lived together in harmony for years now...and we both like things how they are.
Even if I didn't...have feelings for you, there would still be a great chance that Safa would reject your marriage proposal once again because she wouldn't want anyone new to disrupt her way of life.
With all respect to you...James, you're not the kind of man that would easily fit in Safa's life." Wolfgang replied.
Intrigued, "I hope I'm not stepping in, but what sort of a man would fit into Safa's life?" James asked, "I assume a man like you Wolf?"
"I'm not sure I can answer that for you, even I struggle to know what type of men she desires...and even if I knew I do feel like it's inappropriate to tell you." Wolfgang replied.
"But let's assume, hypothetically, if she were to get a husband, what do you imagine him to be?" James asked.
Thinking for a while, "I would think..." Wolfgang began, "He must be a man who sees girls good for more than just... pleasure and motherhood."
"Well that's something we all know, I can't imagine Safa settling for a gentleman who believes women are too stupid to understand what he says." James replied, "What more?" He added Asking.
While petting the dog beside him, "Well, a man of science that's for sure, one that would talk to her for hours about the latest scientific discoveries, a man who shares her love for plants too...perhaps a man who also likes gardening and farming and would help her in her work and let her help him as well.
A man that sees beyond Safa's physical limitations." Wolfgang said, he found himself smiling at the idea that such man might exist.
"Does she want children? Are you aware of such things?" James asked.
"Umm well...Safa never talks about children, to be honest we haven't been around any child for years so I never saw how she could handle them... Honestly I find it hard to believe that a woman like her would want a child..." Wolfgang paused talking, he felt like he might've said too much.
"Personally, I think she would make a great mother, at least an interesting one...can you imagine her with a daughter? she would probably be twice as headstrong as Safa, haha!" James said laughing, "But at the same time, she'd be a well raised girl with an unmatched persona amongst her peers." He added.
"Why the sudden interest in Safa's choice of men?" Wolfgang asked.
"Can I trust to tell you my reasons without you feeling hurt?" James replied with his own question.
Confused, "Why would I feel hurt?" Wolfgang asked.
Slightly nervous, "Because...I am seriously thinking about courting Safa." James replied.
Wolfgang's eyes went wide open, "Do you... perhaps Have feelings for Safa?" He asked.
Looking away briefly, "No, not yet at least...I hope eventually that I would...but the thing is I've always seen her as an interesting woman.
A woman immune to my gentlemanly charms like Safa is Rare, but that's not the only reason she's interesting to me.
It's just that for the past three years, I saw her as a business partner, and a lady friend, but I never just saw her as 'Just a woman.'" James replied.
"She's hardly ever just a woman."Wolfgang said forcing a smile.
"I'm sorry once more to be talking about this with you, it's just that you're the only connection between me and Safa.
I don't know who else to talk to about her..." James said.
"James, Why do you want to court Safa? You can have your pick of other women and You don't fancy Safa, so why her?"
"Because other women are not interesting to me, they're all...too similar."
"So you're only interested in their vessels, once done with them, you toss them like garbage."
Frowning, James didn't like what Wolfgang said about him, so he said in return "I don't toss people, I haven't forced any woman to lay with me against her will, each and every one of them knew what she was getting herself into and made her choice.
I never said I was looking for a wife to any of them, they knew I was there simply to have a good time."
Scoffing, "How gentlemanly of you indeed! Should I clap for you too?" Wolfgang said sarcastically.
"Excuse me?"
"It's always the same tale since the beginning of time, men like you sleep around with tons of women, then when they near their 30s, they straighten their acts by finding a young virgin modest wife for themselves."
James blinked twice at those words, "I'm sorry, are we having an argument here? Is this because of your feelings towards me?!" He asked.
"My feelings have nothing to do with this and don't you dare use them against me EVER AGAIN!" Wolfgang shouted, standing to his feet in rage.
Standing as well, "Don't yell at me! I told you I hate that habit of yours!" James replied frustrated that their conversation has led to this point.
"You're not my master to tell me what to do James! SCREW YOU!
Safa is my dearest of friends, the kindest person and woman I know, I won't let a womanizer like you even think of courting her!
If she's going to ever marry a man, I'll make sure he would be one that can truly take care of her! And put her needs above his.
You only want to marry her to get her money and save your reputation at the same time, knowing damn well the moment you're her husband you would abandon her and continue having affairs with other women while spending Safa's fortune on them.
Meanwhile, she'll live miserably attached to you as your wife, for the rest of her life, married to a man who can't even control himself!
So While you get praised and treated as hero by Society for marrying the Sickly crippled girl, they will make fun of her disability, blame her for your womanizing behavior, joking that she couldn't keep her man satisfied, and if she doesn't give you a child they'll blame her and call her barren!" Wolfgang replied angrily.
Dumbfounded, James was at a loss of words, is this how Wolfgang sees him? A good-for-nothing common whore?
...Meanwhile...
Clara has watched from a hiding spot as Lady Danbury left Safa's study room.
When she made sure the woman was gone, The anxious maid then hurried to see Safa who was still in her office, leaning with both hands on the desk balancing herself as she stood without the help of her cane.
"M'Lady, I mean Safa! Are you alright?" Clara asked.
"Yes, worry not dear." Safa said grabbing her cane, she began to make her way around her desk when she suddenly felt as if her world started spinning violently.
Noticing something was off, "Safa?" Clara walked towards Safa only to have the woman faint in her arms, "MY LADY!" She shouted in surprise.
Unsure of what to do, Clara began shouting on top of her lungs for the two men in the other part of the house to come, "WOLFGANG! MY LORD! HELP!!"