Page 80 of An Ill-Made Match

Eden dropped her napkin through nerveless fingers. “What? No! I - I heard no such thing!” She stood up and then sat back down again in agitation. “I can scarcely believe… I mean, why did no-one tell me? I thought… That is, I quite imagined…” She gulped, stared at the table top a moment and then, to her embarrassment, burst into tears.

“I daresay no-one wanted to distress you unduly,” said Linnet kindly, as the storm abated. She passed her a handkerchief as Fenella patted her shoulder. “You are going through quite enough as it is, without anything else to worry about.”

“Is he very upset?” Eden sniffed, looking up at Fen and Linnet’s concerned faces. “Have you seen him today?”

They both nodded. “He’s not terribly upset,” Linnet said quickly. “About the title I mean. In truth, I do not think he cares two rushes for an honorary title.”

“Once I heard him complain that all it did was distort the odds so that it was not worth wagering on him any longer,” said Fen with a small laugh.

But Eden found she could not even muster the smallest of smiles at this. He hadn’t left her. He had been stripped of his title. Because of her.

“Eden…”

Eden waved her hand awkwardly. “Speak of something else,” she said hoarsely. “I beg of you.”

“This seems like a funny thing to say,” sighed Fen. “But being involved in an annulment case is something all three of us have in common. Indeed, I think it must truly be a Vawdrey thing.”

Linnet gasped, lowering her goblet. “That is true!” she said, with a stunned look at Fen. “I forgot that Oswald had your first marriage annulled.”

Fen nodded sagely. “I was thinking it this morning, but I didn’t like to say so to Oswald. He’s so sensitive about the subject. You know how they can be.” She pulled a face.

Linnet laughed. “Only too well.” They both turned to Eden.

“Roland and I have not even been married yet a month,” she reminded them, when they seemed to be waiting for her agreement.

“Oh but I am sure you have his measure by now,” said Fen. “And I am so pleased, for it seems long overdue to me that Roland was settled.”

“Er, yes,” said Eden feebly. “I think we are – um – we were doing our best, although, it is rather an adjustment to make, don’t you think? To being a married person?” she confided in a rush. “And yet, strangely I thought at times that Roland seemed to make it almost without conscious effort!” She looked helplessly from Fenella to Linnet. “Whereas I-“ she broke off, looking down at her hands.

“I think,” said Linnet thoughtfully, after a pause. “That Mason found it more difficult to adjust than I did. But he took to it beautifully, once we were over the initial stages.” She turned expectantly to Fenella.

“Oswald definitely took it all in his stride,” said Fenella cheerfully. “Even though I had been married before, I was the one flailing around like a panicked hen.”

Eden huffed out a breath, and Linnet surprised her by reaching across and patting her hand. “Perhaps,” she suggested tentatively, “Roland took to married life easier because he was ready for it.”

Eden sat back in her chair. “You mean because he had decided to offer for my cousin?” she asked flatly. It seemed pointless to keep up the subterfuge. She was sure both Fenella and Linnet must be fully in their husband’s confidences.

“Oh but…” Fenella looked up quickly. “That’s not right. It was you that Roland wanted. Right from the outset.”

Eden shook her head with reluctance. “I expect Lord Vawdrey wanted to spare you the details, in case you would worry about it, as my friend. You had not long been delivered of your twins at the time.”

“Oh no,” said Fenella vigorously. “You’re quite wrong there. Oswald keeps me fully up to date when it comes to family matters. I was confined to my bed for the last few months of my pregnancy and he came and joined me every evening for cozy chats. We liked it so much that we still do it now,” said Fenella complacently. “He reads his paperwork in bed beside me.” Eden tried and failed to imagine the immaculate and precise Lord Vawdrey, retiring early to bed to sit beneath the covers with his wife, chatting over his day. She looked uncertainly at Fenella, but her friend was looking entirely sincere. “He told me from the very first, when Roland asked him to approach Sir Leofric for your hand, and then updated me every step along the way of negotiations.”

Eden’s jaw dropped. “Forgive me, Fenella, but that just isn’t right. You must have misunderstood…”

“There was never any question that it was Lenora,” Fenella insisted quietly. She looked to Linnet for support.

Linnet fiddled with the pear she was slicing with a small fruit knife. Looking up, she cleared her throat. “Well, Mason did seem to be under the impression that the intended bride was to be Lenora initially,” she admitted awkwardly. “But after the business at Hallam Hall, he told me that Oswald seemed vastly pleased with the outcome, and he did say he wouldn’t be surprised if it was the one he had intended from the very offset.”

“Of course it was,” frowned Fenella. “After all, Oswald saw Eden and Roland embrace at the Midwinter feast. He knew they were destined to be together. And, so did you, Linnet,” she prompted her sister-in-law when she looked blank. “Remember? What Baron Vawdrey said to you on his death-bed?”

Linnet’s confusion fell away. “Oh that,” she said enthusiastically. “Yes, Father was very insistent that Roland was to marry a girl of sense and not some feather-brain.”

“You see,” said Fenella, turning to her triumphantly.

Eden bristled. “Lenora is not a feather-brain.”

Fenella and Linnet exchanged glances.