He nodded, a tentative smile on his face.
“It’s a very fine set.” Veronica ran her fingers along the beautiful brushes.
“Do you like it?” Sebastian asked, biting at his lower lip, and looking so much younger and hopeful than she’d seen him in an age. Was he truly worried she wouldn’t like it?
She met his gaze. “I love it. Truly. I—” She stopped. At a loss for words. Instead, she turned and pulled an emerald-green box from the tabletop behind her. “This is for you.”
An inscrutable look crossed Sebastian’s face, and he took a seat next to her on the settee and set the box on his lap.
“I…purchased it the summer before…er. I never got a chance to give it to you the first Christmastide we were married,” she explained. She didn’t want him to think she’d gone to any sort of trouble to buy him this gift recently. Certainly not since…things had changed between them.
“Oh,” Sebastian murmured. He pulled off the silver ribbon and removed the lid. Inside was a black onyx panther. He lifted it from the box and examined the piece of art. It had emeralds for eyes, he noted. “It’s…very fine.”
Veronica glanced away from him and nodded.
“You kept it…all this time,” he said quietly.
“Well, I—” The way he said it made it sound…special. She opened her mouth to say something, to deny that keeping it had any significance, but the words wouldn’t come. Which is why she was exceedingly glad for her brother’s interruption when Justin came marching over to the settee.
“What do you have there?” Justin asked, pointing to Veronica’s gift.
She held up the box for him to see. “Sebastian gave me a painting set.”
“Ah, and what did you get him?” Justin asked.
“Never you mind,” Sebastian replied, standing. He gave Justin a new billiards cue and Justin gave Sebastian a box containing a bottle of oil and some fine cloths to clean his hunting rifle.
When the men were finished exchanging presents, Veronica pulled another small box from atop the table behind her and handed it to Justin. “Here’s your present, Brother. Though I daresay you deserve little more than a lump of dirt.”
“Why in the world would I deserve dirt? I think I’ve been quite good this year,” Justin replied with a grin.
“You know precisely why,” Veronica replied, arching a brow at him.
Justin opened the box that contained a set of monogrammed handkerchiefs. “Thank you,” he replied, with a bow. “And here is your gift.” He handed her a blue box with a white ribbon.
Veronica quickly unwrapped the box, which contained a gorgeous hat. It was violet, her favorite color, with a tasteful white feather on the side and a wide, white bow. She nearly squealed. “The shopkeeper told me it’s the latest fashion,” Justin said.
“It is! I just saw it in a periodical.” Veronica exclaimed, immediately placing the hat on her head, and tying the bow beneath her chin, all while continuing to study her lovely painting set, the hint of a smile on her lips.
“I’m glad you like it. You’ve always been one for the latest fashions,” Justin replied with a chuckle.
Sebastian grabbed two more boxes from the tabletop. “I’ll just be off to give Elizabeth and Jessica their gifts,” he announced. “It was nice buying gifts for the Whitmoreland family this year instead of just my mother. I don’t know why I even continue to buy her things. She’s liked nothing I’ve ever presented her with. Let alone ever said anything kind to me in her life.”
Veronica’s head snapped up. She searched Sebastian’s face. “Your mother…was unkind to you?” Her frown intensified.
Sebastian sighed and scratched the back of his head. “Yes, I suppose I never mentioned it before because I didn’t want you to know that the Sinclairs weren’t a happy family. But my mother is a snake. Never believe a word she tells you.”
Chapter Fourteen
Veronica stood on the balcony overlooking the white wonderland of snow-covered trees behind the manor house. She was wearing her pelisse, hat, and gloves, but the cold still found the crevices and bit her skin. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself more tightly.
The painting set was a beautiful gift, and it was kind of Sebastian to have remembered and bought it for her. And he hadn’t merely given her a thoughtful gift. Her sisters were delighted with their presents of a small pearl bracelet for Jessica and a compendium of Shakespeare’s comedies for Elizabeth. Grandmama and Mama had been equally charmed by the bottle of French perfume and new embroidery set he’d given them, respectively. Grandpapa had been quite pleased with the humidor he received for his favorite cheroots. In short, Sebastian was more popular than she was in her family this year. It seemed as if they all had missed him.
She’d missed him too.
The thought came out of nowhere, hitting her like a blow to the gut. She didn’t want that thought. She didn’t need that thought rolling around in her mind, confusing her. But something niggled…the words Sebastian had said just before he’d left to give Jessica and Elizabeth their gifts. My mother is a snake. Never believe a word she tells you.
Veronica certainly hadn’t known that Sebastian and his mother disliked each other. Though she wasn’t surprised given the fact that he hadn’t introduced them until the day of their wedding. But why hadn’t she ever bothered to ask him about his mother? It was true that every time she’d tried to bring up his childhood, his family, he’d changed the subject. But she should have pressed. She realized that now. She’d never stopped to consider why Sebastian had spent so much time at their house when he was younger. She’d just accepted it as a fact. He was simply always there, with Justin. A comforting presence. But now it saddened her to think of Sebastian choosing to spend time with another family because his own was so unhappy. His mother was a snake? Veronica couldn’t help but feel sorry for a boy who had to deal with an unloving mother. She couldn’t imagine such a thing. And she’d uncharitably assumed that he hadn’t introduced her to his mother because he didn’t want her to find out about his mistress. But now she understood that he hadn’t introduced them because he didn’t like his mother and apparently his mother didn’t like him. Unfathomable, but true. Now Veronica couldn’t shake the idea that his mother may have lied to her. Only she hadn’t lied, had she? Sebastian had admitted he had a mistress and Veronica knew for a fact that his mistress was named Melissa. The woman had written her a letter and signed it, for goodness’ sake.
