Chapter 30
Adelaide woke up the following morning with a renewed sense of worth.
It had been a tumultuous few days, but with Iris gone, she felt the atmosphere lighten. No longer did the servants tentatively wander the hallways, not wanting to be scolded. No longer did they look anxious about being told to do several different things at once.
Now, she could run her household as she wanted, and Cassian would support every decision she made.
“Are you happy with how the house looks?” he asked. “I know that you did it all with my mother and me in mind, but if there is anything you would like to change, please tell me.”
“Eventually, perhaps, but not yet. I do not wish to be wasteful.”
“We have the money, Adelaide.”
“And I would not want to waste it. Besides, it is unfair of me to have the servants do so much, only to tell them to do it all over again. I like how it all is for the time being.”
“Very well.” Cassian nodded. “I will receive word when my mother arrives. Would you like to be made aware?”
He was being very attentive, and Adelaide appreciated it greatly. She had not asked him where he had gone, nor what he had done, but she did not care. Whatever it was, it seemed precisely what he had needed. He was, at last, the husband she wanted.
“I suppose,” she replied. “Though I do not need further details. I am simply pleased that she will not come to bother us again. We may start anew without her shadow hovering over us.”
“Indeed, and I intend for that to begin sooner rather than later. Your friends are set to arrive in two days, yes?”
“Indeed. I suppose you are feeling the nerves creeping in?”
“Why would I? I am sure that you have only said the loveliest things about me to your closest friends.” He chuckled as he said it, but it was not too far from the truth.
In her correspondence, she had hardly said a bad word about him. She had been tempted to do so the day before, telling her friends not to come, but she was pleased not to have done so.
It would have been a grave mistake, for she wanted her friends to know her husband for who he truly was, rather than the man he had to be around his mother.
“You know of Cecilia, don’t you?” she asked. “They are all older than us, but she had quite the reputation as a debutante.”
“Yes, my mother made that known. She was not especially pleased about seeing what she called a radical being in her home, though I do not know what is so radical about telling a man that you do not particularly like him.”
“You would be surprised.”
She thought back to Hargrave and how he had frightened her so much. He had almost ruined her, and she wondered just why Iris had never taken issue with that.
“Have you heard anything about that man?” Cassian asked. “As far as I am aware, he has disappeared entirely.”
“I have not heard anything either. It is strange, but then it is to be expected. He is likely nursing his wounds and trying to accept his loss. I do not believe that he has experienced loss before.”
“So I am his sworn enemy, I see,” he joked, his fork hanging in the air. “Perhaps you were right; we should never have said anything.”
“It would seem you have not provoked him any further, so there is no harm done. He is a strange man, and I have never quite understood why he is so well-liked, but that is not a problem for us to solve anymore.”
“Indeed, it is not.”
They continued eating in companionable silence, and Adelaide wondered just how long it would last. She wanted to believe that there would be no more difficulty and that the worst was over, but she could not quite shake the feeling that something more was coming, and that she had to be prepared for it.
Cassian, on the other hand, was more at ease than she had ever seen him. He wandered the house slowly rather than darting from one room to the next, and more than once that morning, she watched as he stopped to admire the paintings on the walls or to look at the fresh flowers in the vases.
At last, he was living in his home, rather than simply existing in it.
That afternoon, she went to his study after hearing a loud crash come from it. She opened the door gently to see that he was perfectly fine, simply moving everything around.
For once, his curtains were open, and sunlight was pouring in. His desk had been tucked against the window rather than far away from it, and he was pushing the heavy bookshelf along the wall so that he could stare up at the painting of a garden from his desk.
“You could have called for a footman to help you,” she pointed out.
“I considered that, but then I decided that if I did it myself, it would be precisely as I wanted it.”
“It certainly looks much better. For a start, I can actually see.”
“I know. My father kept it that way, and as a boy, I thought it was the pinnacle of maturity. But if I am to spend much of my time here, then I would rather it reflect my personality. I will have the walls repainted, eventually. A lighter green, perhaps.”
“That would be lovely. We can have it done now, if you wish.”
“No, it can wait until you decide to redecorate.”
Adelaide wondered if that was all it was. Her husband had made so many changes very suddenly, and she had to ask herself if a part of him was trying to cling to what was familiar. She did not blame him for that, but if it were the case, she wanted to know.
Just as she opened her mouth to ask, the butler appeared in the doorway. He seemed to be in shock, and at once, Adelaide wondered if something dreadful had happened. She had been waiting for it, for something to go terribly wrong just as they had started to heal.
“Your guests are here,” he announced. “They are waiting for you in the drawing room.”
Adelaide looked at Cassian, who seemed as confused as she was.
“We did send the correct dates, didn’t we?” he asked.
“I am certain of it. I wrote them down myself, and I checked them afterward. I do not know what has happened.”
“I see,” he uttered, offering his arm and leading her out. “Well, it has been a difficult week. Anything could have happened. I am sure they will understand.”
But Adelaide knew that she had not done anything wrong. She had read each invitation several times to make sure that she did not sound too desperate or too upset about her situation. She had wanted it to all be positive, and each time she read them, she made sure that the date was correct.
In any case, Cassian was right; her friends would understand if something had happened. They were not the sort to care if a household was not prepared to receive guests. Even so, she was slightly ashamed that she had not been able to fully prove herself.
Once she saw them, however, and all four of them embraced her tightly, the feeling went away. Her friends were here, and she would do her best to be an excellent host.
“It is so nice to see you all,” she greeted, nodding to their husbands and children. “My apologies, we were not… we were not expecting you today.”
“Oh?” Cecilia asked, an eyebrow raised. “But I thought—never mind. As long as you are willing to have us for a short while longer, there is no harm done, is there?”
“You are all most welcome,” Cassian said. “Now, shall we gentlemen go to the village and leave the ladies in peace?”
The men clearly liked the sound of that, and they were gone moments later.
Once they were alone, Cecilia fixed Adelaide with a triumphant look. “I knew that you did not send that letter.”
“What letter?” Adelaide asked.
“You see?” Cecilia said to their friends. “I know a forgery when I see one. It takes more than a letter to fool me.”
Before anyone else could say a word, she drew a piece of paper from her pelisse and handed it to her. Adelaide took it, not truly wanting to open it. She had had quite enough already, and she wanted nothing more than to have tea with her friends and forget about it all.
But of course, she knew Cecilia would not stop until they had gotten to the bottom of it.
Cecilia,
I know that this is difficult and that I am being so very burdensome, but I need you to visit sooner. I have already sent this letter to the other duchesses, and though it shames me greatly, it is my hope that you will come.
You see, my husband is a cruel man, and he is mistreating me terribly. I shall need not only you, but also your husbands and whatever help you can bring. I need to be rescued, and quickly.
I trust that you will all be discreet and that you will do what is necessary.
Sincerely,
Adellaide.
Adelaide read the letter with shaking hands. She was in disbelief, even though she had thought that nothing could surprise her anymore.
“We were so worried about you,” Dorothy explained. “We thought that you needed help—we almost sent the constables here.”
“But I was not so easily fooled,” Cecilia added gleefully, pointing to the bottom of the letter. “You may not have gone to university, but you know how to read and write. You would never have misspelled your own name, even if you were as frightened as the letter claimed.”
Adelaide was grateful that her friend had noticed that, for it was a shocking thing to read. She would not have been surprised if they had indeed brought help.
“Yes, Cecilia,” Beatrice sighed, “you saw the mistake that we did not. That does not explain who sent the letter in the first place.”
“No, but Adelaide will know. If you ask me, it was that nasty Edmund Hargrave.”
Adelaide shook her head and motioned for them to sit.
“He would not have known that you were coming to visit,” she pointed out. “No. You see, I was hoping that I would not have to tell you this just yet, but it seems I have been left with no other choice.”
The ladies looked at her expectantly, and with a sigh, she explained what Iris had done. The children were taken to another room to play, the older ones happily agreeing to help watch over them.
As she told her friends everything, she watched them feel all the shock and anger and surprise that she had gone through.
“And you have not demanded retribution?” Emma sputtered. “Adelaide, she has committed a crime! She pretended to be you and falsely accused your husband of the most dreadful things.”
“I did not know that when we sent her away,” Adelaide reminded her.
“So will you do it now?”
Adelaide considered it. She did not want to cause such trouble for an old lady, but it was true that what she had done was awful. Not only that, but she had done it before they had sent her away, so there had been no real reason for it.
But she knew that Cassian did not hate his mother, and for his sake, she wanted to keep it that way. It was easier for him to think that she still had some redeeming qualities, and regardless of what she had done to him, there was the excuse that she had never broken the law.
Slowly, Adelaide shook her head. “No, I cannot. The thing is, we have sent her far away. She can no longer cause trouble. So much has happened of late that all I truly want now is peace.”
“That is understandable,” Cecilia agreed. “But you must not let it all be forgotten. It might bring you comfort now, but there may come a time when you will wish you demanded justice.”
“I do have justice, at least in the way that matters. Now I can run my household without her shadow hanging over me. That is all I need.”
Adelaide was truly convinced of that, but her friends did not seem so certain.
Despite herself, she felt a looming presence, a feeling that it was not quite over yet. Still, she had been looking forward to seeing her friends, and the fact that they had arrived sooner than expected could only be a good thing.
They were going to have a good time together, regardless of what had happened.
“So,” Emma said gently, “aside from the most bizarre mother-in-law, how has your marriage been?”
“The same as any marriage, I suppose. We are slowly getting to know one another, and we enjoy each other’s company. We have formed a friendship.”
“And what of your romance?” Dorothy probed.
“Dorothy!” Beatrice hissed. “You cannot just ask that.”
Adelaide laughed softly, but she could not help envying her friends. They all had love and were blessed with beautiful families and the most incredible lives. That was not what she shared with Cassian, and she knew that she never would. They were friends, and that was all she could ask from him.
Except she had been craving more for a while, and the knowledge that he did not want that caused her pain.
“We are happy,” she began. “I have a stable home and a good man for a husband. What more could a lady possibly ask for?”
But she knew, and she also knew that it would never be hers.