There was no doubt in my mind that both of them were desperately in love. I had seen it on Lizzie’s face and on her husband Sydney’s face. Mother and Father, too, wore that expression often.
I was thrilled for my friend, unbearably thrilled. The only problem was their affection and consideration for each other threw my own marriage into sharp contrast.
Hugh did nothing but hide in his study, day in and day out. It was as though he could not stand the sight of me. Except at night, at night he came with more and more demanding, provocative touches.
I managed the disappointment well enough, visiting the vicarage and seeing to the tenants, making improvements to the estate.
It was true that I would never have the kind of life I had dreamed of, with a husband who looked at me with a fraction of the adoration Michael wore, but I was carving out a life here.
There was a satisfaction that came with running a household. Each incremental improvement brought with it more pride and a sense of belonging.
I had developed something like a friendship with several of the tenants. True, it was not a real friendship because they were too deferential of my rank for me to truly confide in them. But I enjoyed their company, and they enjoyed mine. And I did count Anna amongst my real friends. Michael, too, would soon join those ranks, I was certain of it.
It was different from the life I envisioned, but that need not mean it was a bad life. And, once we were blessed with children, I need not feel quite so lonely.
A giddy part of me, a part that was certainly rushing ahead, considered that Jules and my children could be cousins in truth, the way we were cousins only in our hearts.
In the meantime, I left Michael and Juliet to their courtship.
* * *
HUGH
“And you are absolutely certain of these figures?”
“Yes!” The man, Matthews, exclaimed with no small amount of exasperation.
“Sir, one of you is lying to me. I would think you would want me to be assured that it is not you.”
He had arrived at my summons a few hours ago with every single bank draft for the last five years. He had stomped his way into my office, in muddy boots and trousers, refused a seat, and turned progressively more purple in color the angrier he got.
“I don’t need to toady to you. I won’t be polite when I’m being accused of a crime I didn’t commit. If you’ll remember,my lord, I am the one who pointed out the discrepancy.” If it were possible to infuse more disgust in the term “my lord,” I did not know how to do it.
“You did not point it out, you merely complained that you did not have the money you wanted.”
“Needed.”
“Needed,” I corrected, barely suppressing an eye roll.
“Don’t know why I’m even dealing with you. I know Michael is in residence. He’d have this sorted.”
“Michael is not the viscount.”
“Oh, believe me, the whole of Kent is well aware. You’ve made that abundantly clear—you’re nothing like Michael.”
“Mr. Matthews, that is enough.”
“I am just saying Michael set up the accounts. He knows what they were intended for. And I don’t know why you’re still accusing me. You have the bank drafts right there. You can confirm them at your leisure. But if you want to plant that field, you needed to have sorted out the irrigation last fall.”
“Thank you for your timely input.”
“It was timely, when I sent you a letter about it last spring, and the fall before that, and for the two years prior to that.”
“Yes. Thank you. I think you best be off now.”
He huffed in answer. Stomping out the door and tracking muddy boot prints back the way he came. Leaving the ledgers and drafts behind for my perusal.
I already knew they matched what he sent previously. I had all but memorized the ledgers I had in town. The drafts looked legitimate too, completed in Forsyth’s neat yet distinctive hand.
