Chapter Six #2
“Yes, thank you,” said the other woman. “The decorations are glorious. I daresay this will be an event that is talked about for many months to come.” Mrs. Stratford was more reserved than Lady Swanleigh, though she was also a member of the Reading Society, so Victoria needn’t have worried that she was one of the stuffy ladies who would look down their noses at her.
Victoria found her sweet and reserved, mindful and conscientious in the things she said.
Blackwood had asked Mr. Stratford to stand up with him at the wedding, and Victoria was certain two more different men could not have existed in the world.
Where Blackwood could be loud and animated, Stratford was quiet and observant.
For such a tall, objectively attractive man, he somehow managed to blend in with the paneling of the walls.
He often seemed lost in his thoughts and relied upon his wife to carry out conversations on his behalf.
Victoria might have felt sorry for Mrs. Stratford, except she’d also witnessed the small gestures of affection between the two of them.
There was a distinct air of adoration in the marriage that made their relationship make sense.
“I appreciate the compliments, but I ask that you direct them to Lady Morton. She had a great deal more to do with this event than I.”
“Oh, hush!” Lady Morton gently tapped Victoria’s arm with her fan.
“Your first lesson in being a part of English nobility: Accept compliments, especially when they relate to your abilities as a hostess, especially when any assistance you employed has expressly indicated that you are to take all the accolades for yourself.”
“Very well,” Victoria laughed lightly.
“I have a good feeling about you, Lady Blackwood,” Lady Swanleigh said with another wide smile.
“My husband had begun to despair that anyone could entice Blackwood to settle down; I was always insistent that it would simply take the right woman. Who knew the right woman had to sail all the way here from America? Though it makes sense…Blackwell never did like to do things the easy way if there was a more interesting way to be had.”
“Why settle for an Englishwoman when there is a beautiful, bright American?” Lady Morton chimed in with an airy laugh as she claimed a drink from a passing servant.
Coming from anyone else, the comments might have been underhanded or snarky, but these women had been nothing but supportive of Blackwood and their relationship.
And Victoria hoped she might continue to count on them as she settled into her new role.
She could only guess at the challenges a newly minted viscountess might encounter.
She would need their support if she was going to make her way in this world.
“Indeed,” intoned Mrs. Stratford. The marchioness and duchess were quickly pulled into another conversation, leaving Victoria alone with the wife of the man who had so recently stood up in her wedding.
Mrs. Stratford had always been polite and kind, but Victoria could tell there was more behind the woman’s smile than she let on.
Deciding to have it out, Victoria asked, “Won’t you join me on the terrace for a moment? I require a bit of air.” Indeed, the room had grown quite full of all the guests now having meandered over from the church.
Mrs. Stratford nodded amiably and followed Victoria’s lead. The women filled their lungs with the heady summer air, and Victoria resolved to clear whatever it was that lay between them. “Our husbands are quite close, and have been for most of their lives, have they not?”
“That is correct,” Mrs. Stratford replied with a nod. Intelligence flashed in her blue eyes, letting Victoria know there was more to the woman than a pretty face.
“Then I would like for you and me to have the same opportunity, since I suspect we will see one another often. I hope I have done nothing to offend you, and, if I have, please accept my apologies—”
“Oh, it is nothing like that at all!” she rushed to reassure Victoria. Her eyes averted as if she were weighing her next words.
“Then please tell me what you wish to say. Today is a day of new beginnings, and I do not want there to be any shadows lying in wait.”
Mrs. Stratford nibbled her plump lower lip for another moment before she met Victoria’s gaze once more. “I have always found you quite likable, Lady Blackwood,” she admitted. “You are charming and intelligent—Lady Morton feels the same.”
“I thank you for the compliment, but I cannot help but wonder how this is concerning?”
“The viscount, well…please forgive me for speaking plainly.”
“I would not have it any other way between friends.”
This seemed to reassure the other woman, because a fleeting smile of appreciation crossed her lips.
“Then I will say that Lord Blackwell has not always presented the most favorable side of himself to me.” Victoria’s eyes widened, and she was suddenly unsure if she wished to hear more.
“You are aware that he has a bit of a reputation that follows him around?” Victoria nodded once.
“My, but you’ve gone quite ashen!” Mrs. Stratford reached out and took Victoria’s hand.
“I promise it is not as bad as whatever you have in your mind right now. He simply had a relationship with an old friend of mine, and it did not end on the best of terms. He wasn’t cruel,” she hurried to add when she saw the question begin to form in Victoria’s eyes.
“He merely bruised her heart. We women from the theater stick together to protect one another. I admit that I am holding onto the grudge a bit longer than is perhaps seemly, but…” She lifted her shoulder in a Gallic gesture.
“You are standing beside your friend,” Victoria supplied.
“Yes.” Mrs. Stratford deflated a little in relief. “I am glad you understand.”
“I do.” Victoria squeezed her fingers. “As long as you don’t hold my husband’s past against me, then all will be well.”
“Certainly not! And I vow, in the name of this blossoming friendship, that I will do my best to forgive him his sins.”
“Well, now…let us not be too generous.”
The women giggled together and regained their composure before returning to the wedding breakfast.