When Martha had gone, Brandon went out to the verandah and asked Clara and Shannon to join him in the library. Because of the limited time he had to explain the situation, he spoke directly to Clara, holding her on his lap while Shannon sat in a nearby chair.
It did not go well. Clara, whose frantic search for her mother had led Brandon to Shannon, had changed her mind about wanting her mother back. She expressed her unhappiness immediately, calling Shannon her new mama, proving to both the adults that she had never really thought of Shannon as anything else. Brandon looked helplessly at Shannon.
“I’ll take her to the nursery,” she said. She lifted Clara in her arms and the child clung to her neck, sobbing against her shoulder. Shannon placed her hand on Clara’s head, smoothing her bright orange curls. “She’ll be fine, Brandon. She’s just confused.”
He nodded wearily. “Will you join us at dinner?”
Shannon gave a small negative shake of her head. “I think I’ll have my meal with Clara in her room. This first night you will need the time with your wife.” She left before Brandon could argue.
Cody heldout his hand to assist Aurora as she alighted from the gangboard. He could see she had been crying. Her thick lashes were still spiky with tears, her lids puffy. In spite of the weeping she had done, or perhaps because of it, her eyes were luminous.
Aurora gave Cody a watery smile. “Faith, Cody!” she laughed, trying for lightness and failing. Her beautiful features still reflected pain. “I didn’t think anyone would meet me. I never knew I was expected.”
Cody bit his tongue to keep from saying that she was as welcome as the plague. “I saw you on the ship a few miles from here,” he said coolly. “Is Parker with you?”
Aurora’s mouth trembled, and tears, held back for a moment, reappeared in her eyes. Her slender hand rested heavily on Cody’s arm for support, and her shoulders drooped slightly. “He threw me out, Cody,” she said quietly. “Your brother told me to leave.”
“Came to his senses, did he?”
Aurora’s hand dropped as if scalded. Her voice was tremulous. “You beast! Why must you take his side? Why must you Flemings always pull against outsiders?”
“Cut line, Rory,” he said tiredly. He pointed to the baggage that was being unloaded on the landing. “Are those all of your trunks?”
“Yes, everything I own.”
Not everything, he thought, directing the trunks to be taken to the house. He remembered the clothes she had left behind, the ones that she thought too plain and dull for the mistress of the folly. “Let’s go, Rory. Brandon’s waiting for—”
But Aurora had already seen Brandon coming down the path. Her lavender taffeta skirt rustled as she lifted it above her ankles and began running toward her husband.
Cody lagged behind, raising his face to the cloudless azure sky, and sought a higher guidance for protection from the storm that had just descended on the folly.
Chapter 11
Aurora clutched Brandon’s shoulders, clinging and sobbing into his chest even when he tried to detach her. It was as if the last of her control had snapped. Her body trembled against the entire length of his. “Oh, Brandon! I’m sorry…so terribly sorry!”
When Brandon realized Aurora would not be moved, he let his hands fall from her waist. His fingers curled into loose fists at his sides. “You’re sorry about what, Aurora?” he asked with a patience he did not feel.
“Don’t be mean, Bran,” she said shakily, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder. “You were right about Parker. How I wished I had listened to you.” Her fingers slid along his collar and held the lapels of his jacket as she took a step backward, raising her tearstained face to him. “He used me, Bran, just as you said he would. Used me to get back at you.” Her face crumpled. “I don’t have anywhere to go. He’s sent me away.”
“‘Came to his senses,’ I told her,” said Cody as he passed Brandon and Aurora on the path. He kept on walking.
Aurora stamped her foot, releasing Brandon. “He hasn’t changed. He still hates me.”
Brandon ignored that. He gripped Aurora’s wrists, removed them from his coat, and dropped them. “Why have you come, Aurora?”
Her eyes widened beseechingly. “Don’t look at me that way.”
The hard light in Brandon’s eyes did not change. “Aurora.”
“He sent me away,” she whispered. “I told you…he never really wanted me. It was always you, a way to hurt you. I didn’t understand…” Her eyes dropped to the ground and she spoke quietly, hurt and humiliation rife in her shaking voice. “Not until I received your letter. He didn’t want me anymore, not when he realized you didn’t either. We argued…I thought he would help me. He said he had a plan…” She looked at Brandon again. “Oh, it doesn’t matter now. His promises were for nothing. He could not rid himself of me quickly enough. I don’t want a divorce. Please don’t do this to us. I can change, Bran,” she said earnestly. “I know I can be the wife you want if you’ll let me.”
Brandon’s mouth hardened as a muscle worked in his cheek. “This is not the place to discuss this matter. We’ll speak of it later,” he said. “Come, let’s go in the house. Martha’s prepared your room. You probably want to rest after your journey.” His tone strongly suggested that she would be wise to retire to her chamber.
Aurora meekly followed her husband into the folly.
Cody handed his brother a tumbler of Scotch as Brandon walked into the library. His own glass was nearly drained. “Do you believe her?” he asked without preamble, searching Brandon’s face.
“What?” he asked, distracted by the focus of his own thoughts. He forced himself to concentrate. “Oh. I don’t know. I suppose I should have known that Parker would send her packing.”
