Then, he paused; how did one gently go about explaining a horrid scandal to a little girl? “Do you know how your uncle Leander can get himself into mistakes at times?”
“Yes,” Emily nodded.
“Well, a week ago, he made a very big mistake, and he almost got an innocent young lady into a lot of trouble,” he said while ignoring the truth of how Ariadne’s mother had forced this whole kerfuffle.
“And you had to fix it?” Emily asked smartly.
“And I had to fix it,” he said. “See, Emily, young ladies like you, well, older than you are, are very scrutinized by everyone around them. If they are found in the wrong place with the wrong people, the ton can shun them.
“Your uncle made such a mistake that could have destroyed the young lady’s life, so I had to step in and force him to marry her.Unfortunately, Leander did not like that idea, and he ran away, leaving her in a very harsh situation.
“I had to step in and marry her instead to make sure she was not shunned,” he said. “Do you understand that means, Emily?”
Her brows furrowed. “I have a new mother?”
“In the eyes of the church, yes,” he replied. “But you can accept her as a mother figure if you want. I will not force you to.”
“Why not?” Emily blinked. “Isn’t she pretty?”
“She is,” Cedric admitted. “But being pretty isn’t enough for a marriage, Emily. I only married her to save her from the hate that would come from the ton.”
“Oh,” Emily shrugged. “Don’t you want to be married like my friend Ameilia and her father and mother?”
How do I explain this delicately?
“Some marriages are different than others, Emily.” He said. “Amelia’s mother and father married because they love each other. I married the lady because it was practical. Think of it as a business arrangement. The lady and I both gain from it.”
“Are you sure, father?”
“Yes.”
She came forward and hugged him tightly, “I love you.”
He embraced her back, “I love you too, but you are not going to escape the punishment of trying to scare your governess.”
“But father?—”
“No,” he stopped her. “You will stay here, and when Mrs. Grimes returns, you will tell her what you almost did and promise her you will not do anything of the sort again.”
Returning to his private room, Cedric pulled his jacket off and flung it over the back of a chair. His eyes flitted to the door that connected to Ariadne’s room while he strode to his cupboard and plucked out a bottle of sherry and a glass.
He felt unduly gutted by the conversation with Emily—he had held in his grief and pain about Helena for years, and being reminded of her betrayal only rubbed salt in the smoldering sore.
After swallowing half the glass, he crossed the room again, pulled out a drawer, flicked the lid of a strongbox, and pulled out a letter. Yellowed and fragile with age, he gently opened the last thing Helena had left behind.
Every day, he wondered why he had not buried this letter with her.
Cedric.
It’s about time I reveal the truth.
I do not love you; I never loved you.
I write not with trembling hand but with a steadiness born of long-suppressed contempt. For the few years of our marriage, I have endured the cold civility of your companionship, your indifference paraded as propriety, your pride masquerading as honor.
You are not a husband to me, you have no emotion, no care, consideration or love inside you to be my husband. We are two ships in the night, passing by each other once in a lifetime, and then never again.
Know then that I will no longer submit to your hollow companionship. Another man has shown me the love and passion you do not possess, and, in his arms and bed, have I found the warmth and devotion that does not live inside you.
