“I most certainly won’t. She is, after all, the reason I’m yet again facing censure from society because she hoodwinked my son into marrying her, and then they went off and had you.”
“One would think you’d have reconciled yourself with my parents’ marriage by now, since it’s been over twenty-five years.”
“I will never forgive your mother for stealing Pierson away from me, using her beautiful face to do so, one you seem to have inherited. Her desire to elevate her nonexistent social standing caused me to lose Pierson, and yanked him out of a world he adored. I’m certain he’s consumed with regret over a choice he should have never made, one that saw him cast from his familiar environment and into a world he didn’t know existed.”
Gwendolyn’s lips thinned. “Father doesn’t have a smidgen of regret over marrying my mother. They’re still wildly in love, which is occasionally embarrassing for their children, although we grew up in the security of knowing they loved us just as much as they loved each other. There’s a certain comfort being raised in a house filled with love.”
Opal seemed to swell on the spot. “Love?” she all but spat. “How charming. While you may believe he and Finella are perfectly content with each other, I would bet good money Pierson is harboring a great deal of resentment against her by this time. Because of her, he’s had to live a frugal life, one where his own children have no choice but to seek out positions because he’s unable to provide for them.”
Gwendolyn’s eyes flashed with temper. “You’re mistaken if you believe I have a job because Father lacks the wherewithal to support me, but my reasoning for taking up my current position is not one I care to discuss with you. What I will discuss, though, is that Father has done exceedingly well for himself. If you’re unaware, when you cast him out of the Brinley family, he was in possession of a trust given to him by his paternal grandfather. He used the funds from that trust, along with his flair for financial investments, to increase his fortune.”
“I highly doubt that.”
“It’s true, but if you don’t believe me, ask your husband.” Gwendolyn’s eyes flashed hotter than ever. “My grandfather,although it feels odd to address a man I’ve never met as such, knows Father doesn’t lack for funds. He is also aware that your son began buying up stock in Brinley Railroad Company, anonymously of course, years ago. He eventually bought enough to where he’s a substantial stockholder. Grandfather learned who was behind those acquisitions when Father showed up at a board meeting a few years ago.”
Opal’s face paled ever so slightly. “Frederick’s had contact with Pierson?”
“I believe they see each other about four times a year.” Gwendolyn leaned closer. “Grandfather hasn’t been given the privilege of meeting me or my siblings though, because Father doesn’t believe he deserves that honor since Grandfather has consistently stood by and accepted your refusal to welcome my mother into the Brinley family.”
“Finella was not, nor will she ever be, of our class.”
Gwendolyn inclined her head. “True. She was, after all, merely a seamstress when she met Father, something that didn’t bother him because he loves her. He’s always claimed he fell in love with her the moment he caught sight of her leaving the dress shop she worked in all those years ago.”
A ghost of a smile flickered across Gwendolyn’s face. “According to Mother, she tried to dissuade his attentions, because she knew they came from different worlds, but Father was determined to win her over.”
“She should have tried harder, but I’m certain she eventually came to the realization Pierson would be the means needed to escape a life of continued employment.”
“Mother didn’t marry Father because she wanted to stop working. She’s still working to this day.”
Opal’s eyes narrowed. “I thought you said Pierson has done well for himself. That must not be the case if Finella is a seamstress.”
Gwendolyn waved that aside. “Mother’s not a seamstress,but she does enjoy dabbling in different ventures. She’s currently raising sheep and selling the wool—and is beginning to turn quite the profit.”
“My son is married to a sheep farmer?”
“He does enjoy indulging Mother’s every whim, which is why he purchased a working farm a few years back. He didn’t want Mother to have to limit the number of sheep she wanted to acquire.”
“I did not raise my son to live on a sheep farm.”
Gwendolyn drew herself up. “Given what I’ve overheard Father saying about his past, you didn’t have much to do with raising your son at all. He was put in the charge of a team of governesses and then sent off to boarding school at the ripe old age of five.”
“That’s how quality raises their children.”
“Then thank goodness Father had the good sense to remove himself from that type of quality.” Gwendolyn stepped closer to Opal. “I’m sure you’re going to take offense at what I have to say next, but a mother’s main job is to love her children unconditionally, protect those children, and to do everything in her power to ascertain her children are happy. By refusing to accept my mother, you were less than successful in the job of making Father happy.”
Opal’s lips thinned. “Perhaps you’re right, but Iwasattempting to protect my son because Finella was not of our station.”
“Father believes marrying Mother was the best decision he ever made, even though doing so caused him to become estranged from his immediate family.”
Opal’s eyes glittered. “Too right it did, since I’ve not spoken to my son since he married.”
“I would hope you regret that, as well as hope you realize you could have simply accepted his decision and graciously admitted defeat.”
“Never.”
“So pride is more important to you than your son?”
“I never said that.”
