Page 81 of Miss Vincent’s Vow

Xander

Her spirits plummeted. The breach was even worse than she feared.

With a heavy sigh, she folded the note and laid it aside. “My brother will not be returning. He is putting up at the Golden Lion for the rest of his leave.”

“It’s unfortunate he feels that is necessary, but maybe it is as well. I’m sorry—”

“Please, do not apologise. What’s done is done.”

Jethro grimaced, but said nothing more, and they sank back into silence, leaving Cassandra to dwell on the contents of her brother’s letter. Though she was still angry with him, she loved Xander, and could not bear the thought of being estranged from him.

If he refused to stay with them any longer, she supposed she would have to visit him at the Golden Lion as he’d requested. Jethro would understand that, wouldn’t he?

Perhaps she had better ask him. She would hate to give him reason to accuse her of seeing her brother in secret.

“Do you object to me visiting Xander?” she asked, praying her husband would not withhold his permission and force her to choose between the two men.

Jethro looked up from his plate of toast, his brow even more furrowed than it was before. “You must think me as dictatorial as your brother suggested if you believe I would forbid you from seeing him.”

“I just thought, after last night, you might prefer—”

“I have no desire to stand between you and Alexander,” he said, rising from the breakfast table. “Visit him as often as you choose, but I would ask you to take Mary Ann with you. I don’t wish you to visit a public taproom on your own.”

Jethro didn’t wait for her answer. With a brief bow, he left the room.

Cassandra stared at the door long after he’d gone. It was a reasonable request to make. She could not blame her husband for doubting Xander’s ability to look after her. So why did it leave her feeling so uneasy?

Because Jethro was controlling her movements again. First the man in the green coat spying on her, and now Mary Ann was to accompany her to see her brother, whether or not she wanted her to.

It deepened Cassandra’s fear that Jethro trusted her as little as Xander.

Chapter 43

Cassandra hoped Xander’s removal to the Golden Lion would result in Jethro spending more time with her, but he didn’t. He seemed to avoid having any meaningful interaction with her at all. Their conversation at breakfast and dinner was trivial at best, and he spent the rest of the day at the warehouse, or shut away in his study.

Her brother’s abhorrent behaviour must be to blame. Jethro was still too angry with him to tolerate her company. She had been tainted by association, and there was nothing she could do about it.

The flicker of hope that her marriage to Jethro could develop into something more meaningful died, and Cassandra found it hard not to resent Xander for the part he had played in snuffing it out.

Perhaps when her brother went back to sea, the situation would ease, but she feared her relationship with her husband might have been damaged beyond repair.

In the meantime, Cassandra poured her energies into improving the decorations in the house, and discussing menus with Mr Oliver, the new cook whom Jethro had employed.

She visited her unrepentant brother at the Golden Lion as often as she could. He refused to apologise for causing the rumpus that had led to his expulsion, but at least he refrained from openly criticising her husband in her hearing.

Cassandra made no attempt to reconcile the two men—and neither did they. Her brother sailed without seeing Jethro again.

The morning after Xander’s departure, she sat alone in the drawing room when a footman brought in a letter. That was strange. It was in her brother’s hand.

She broke open the seal and a piece of paper which had been enclosed in the first fell out onto her lap. Ignoring the second sheet, she read the note from Xander.

Dear Cassy

Forgive me for imposing upon you, my beloved sister, but I find myself quite unable to pay my account at the Golden Lion. I am confident your adoring husband will be only too happy to extend his magnanimous generosity toward your only brother in footing the bill. It is but a trifle to one in his position.

I am much obliged.

Your adoring brother,