Frances rapidly twisted around in the bed, grabbed hold of him in the tightest embrace Edward ever felt, and she kissed him hard on the lips. “I love you, Edward, and it is I who am sorry.”
He watched the tears form along the bottom of her eyelids and smiled with deep affection. “Oh, how I love you, Frances Emberton.” He tilted his head forward and kissed her gently. Reluctantly, he parted from her soft mouth and asked, “We forgive each other, then?”
He watched the relief spread across her face and felt her body relax in his arms.
“Of course we forgive each other,” she said, kissing him again, and then slipping down into the sheets to rest her face against the downy hair of his chest.
Chapter Nineteen
The following days and weeks were difficult for the newlyweds, and for Edward especially. His mother wore a constant mask of I told you so but welcomed them into her home and even made an effort to get to know Frances better. Edward was at a loss to explain this sudden change in his mother’s behaviour until one day a conversation with his brother Richard over a game of chess shed light on the matter.
“We are dreadfully sorry that doors are still being shut for you, Edward.” Richard’s tone was sympathetic.
“I do not expect it to last forever.”
“I suppose it is like pulling teeth.”
“What do you mean?” Edward looked up at his older sibling as his knight took Richard’s pawn.
“It’s best to just endure it, for the pain will not last forever.”
Edward smiled ironically. “I suppose so.”
“It will not last forever, you know?”
He looked up and saw his brother staring at him. “I know. I just wish I could see something positive come out of all this mess, some silver lining.”
“Well,” Richard shrugged, “I can think of one thing.”
“You can? What?”
Richard laughed. “Oh, Edward, you can be such a simpleton!”
Edward kicked him under the table. Neither could ever resist the occasional foray into their old childish ways.
“Frances and Mama are becoming friends,” he explained.
He twisted in his seat and glanced over to where their mother and Frances were cooing over baby Richie in Grace’s arms. “Hmm…would you look at that!” he exclaimed, his voice low yet full of amazement.
“Did you not see it before now?”
“To be honest, I have wondered why Mama is making an effort. But as you say, watching them there, one would think they are fast friends.”
“I think they are most certainly on their way to becoming so,” Richard nodded.
“How so? Explain it to the simpleton.”
“Do you not realise?”
Edward crossed his arms and waited.
“They are united in their mutual dislike of Lord Davenport,” Richard chuckled.
Edward stared agape at his brother’s revelation. “That is what has brought them together?” He could not believe his ears.
“Indeed, it is!” Richard leant forward. “When Mama heard that Frances broke with her father, swearing to never see him again, she saw your wife in a whole new light.”
“You jest!”
“No, I do not! I swear it. Mama said that if Frances had the strength of character to do such a thing and stand by you, showing you her unwavering love and devotion, then there was certainly more to her than meets the eye.”
Edward gazed back across the room to Frances and their mother. There certainly was a camaraderie present that was not there before. “Perhaps Mama has seen something in Frances she had not previously perceived.”
“I would say that is so,” Richard answered matter-of-factly. “She never says anything derogatory about Frances now.”
“Why, it’s almost as though she approves of her!” Edward quipped, making his brother laugh. He hoped with all his heart and soul it was true. He loved Frances and knew how deeply she loved him in return. Edward wanted nothing more than for his family to be as close as they were before he met her, to be united and all be friends.
As he sat at the chess table and watched the women play with the babe, Edward knew that time would heal all wounds, that things would get better for them, and still more things would repair. He may not now have a chance at becoming Prime Minister of England, but at that moment he did not care. He had a great family, a wife he loved, and, hopefully in time, they would have children of their own. He had a future right there in that very room. And it suited him fine.
More by Karen Aminadra
Regency Romance
The Emberton Brothers Series
The Spice Bride
The Suitable Bride
Book 3 – Coming Autumn 2016!
Pride & Prejudice Continues Series
Charlotte
Rosings
Wickham
Christmas at Longbourn – Coming Winter 2016!
Historical Crime
Relative Deceit: Death in the Family
It’s a Man’s World: Lettie Jenkins Investigates
Women’s Contemporary
The Uncanny Life of Polly
The Queen of Tarts – Coming Spring 2017!
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SCRIBD - http://geni.us/4EJl
SMASHWORDS - http://geni.us/3wYh
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