His mother hung her head. Defeated, she followed the servants out to the carriage without a word.
When the carriage disappeared from view, Cassian felt a knot loosen in his chest. It shifted from happiness to fear and back again, for he had a feeling that it was not the end, but at least she was gone now.
Adelaide watched the drive long after, her eyes sad.
“Adelaide, if I may?—”
“Not tonight,” she whispered. “Not after everything. My friends will arrive soon, and I would like us to enjoy our time. We can discuss all of this later.”
He knew better than to argue with that.
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.”
