Page 64 of Miss Vincent’s Vow

“Ever the optimist, but on this occasion, you’re wrong.”

“I’m sorry you don’t care for my choice of wife, Cassy, but I can’t say I’m enamoured with your choice of husband. I still can’t figure out why you’re so set against Eugenia, but I’m sure you’ll get to like her in time.”

Cassandra stopped in her tracks and turned to face her brother. With both his hands in hers, she looked him in the eye.

“No, I won’t, Xander, and it doesn’t matter, because Eugenia will never be your wife. She’s already married.”

He yanked his hands away from her grasp and glared at her. “Is this some kind of joke, because you dislike her?”

“I’m sorry. I thought she would have told you.”

Xander walked out onto the pebbles that sloped down to the sea, and Cassandra followed him. He picked up a stone and threw it into the water, letting out a piercing howl as he did so.

“When?” he asked, in a small voice, so different from his usual confident tone.

“Seven months ago.”

He let out a bark of laughter. “Did she break off our engagement before or after she betrothed herself to another?”

Cassandra said nothing. Xander already knew the answer to his own question.

“She said she couldn’t live with the uncertainty anymore, not knowing when I would return or if, indeed, I would ever come back. She wrote as if she still cared, whilst planning her wedding to someone else.”

He picked up another stone and tossed it into the water. “Who is the scoundrel who stole my bride from me?”

“Mr Frampton. He’s a wealthy businessman, some years your senior.”

“Ha! She’s just like you. Settling for a marriage of convenience rather than waiting for love. Why, Cassy? Why couldn’t she wait for me?”

“I suppose because she didn’t love you enough.”

“She loved me. She did. Oh, Eugenia. Why?”

Xander sat down on a rock, buried his head in his hands, and wept.

Cassandra’s heart ached to see her brother in such agony, but there was nothing she could do to ease his suffering apart from wrapping her arm around his shoulders and praying that God would comfort him.

He was in the most acute stage of heartbreak, and she was helpless.

The walk back to Devonshire Buildings was uncomfortable. The silence was punctuated by outbursts from Xander that caused heads to turn and stare.

When they approached the house, she spotted the man in the green jacket who had been watching her before. That was the last thing she needed. It hurt that Jethro felt it necessary to keep spying on her. Did he believe all women were as fickle as Eugenia?

At that moment, Xander let out another cry. “Why?”

Embarrassed lest the neighbours hear, Cassandra hustled her brother inside the house and was relieved when he said he would rest before dinner.

It was painful to witness Xander’s distress, and it made her question whether falling in love was as wonderful as she had always imagined. Was love truly worth it when it came with the risk of facing such agony?

She doubted she would ever find out.

Chapter 34

Dinner was a sombre affair, with little talk beyond what was necessary. Xander was uncharacteristically quiet, still dealing with the shock of discovering Eugenia’s betrayal, and Jethro did nothing to help Cassandra carry the conversation.

It was therefore something of a relief when Julia’s arrival was announced a short while after they had retired to the drawing room. She had declined the invitation to join them earlier, but had agreed to come for supper.

Cassandra was surprised, but pleased, that her sister’s desire to see Xander was sufficient to overcome her usual reluctance to enter the house when Jethro was at home.