“I blame my change of heart on Beryl.” Camille smiled at her twin. “As she was the one who pointed out that love might be important in marriage.”
Beryl shrugged. “Who would have imagined?”
“Oh, I see.” Delilah refilled her cup. “I thought it might be due to Grayson. He's become part of this silly farce and seems to be lending a great deal of assistance, and there is something about the way he looks at you. . . .”
“Do you think so?”
“Don't you?”
“I don't know.” Camille shook her head. “It's all most confusing. I have been angry at him for so long.” She glanced at her younger sister. “But then you don't know about that.”
Delilah took a bite of a biscuit. “You mean, how he told you he loved you on the day before your wedding, but then never did anything about it?”
Camille stared.
“Mother told me.”
Camille looked at her mother. “And how did you know?”
“Beryl told me, of course.”
Camille glared at her twin. “If I recall correctly, I told you not to tell anyone.”
“Goodness, it was a long time ago. And, I daresay, your memory isn't very good, as I don't remember that at all.” Beryl studied the biscuits on the tea tray, then selected one. “These are very good, you know. And I didn't tell just anyone.”
“Beryl!”
“I told Mother.”
“And I am not just anyone.” Mother sniffed. “Although she didn't tell me until well after you were married. And I can't recall when I told Delilah, but it wasn't that long ago.”
“You told me after Harold died.” Delilah finished her biscuit, then reached for another. “I remember it distinctly, because I recall being shocked at Grayson's lack of taste.” She froze and her gaze shot to Camille's. “I am sorry. I didn't mean, well, I did at the time, but now . . .”
“It doesn't matter.” Camille smiled. “There is a great deal of water under the bridge among the three of us. It's to be expected that some of it would, oh, splash about on occasion.”
“There are all sorts of nasty things we have thought or said about you,” Beryl said in an offhand manner. The others stared and Beryl had the good grace to wince. “More of that water under the bridge, I suppose.” She cast her younger sister an apologetic smile.
“I daresay, this will take some getting used to for all of us,” Camille said.
“But well worth it,” Mother said with a firm nod.
“As I was saying, Mother told me about you and Grayson after your husband died.” Delilah poured more tea. “I must say, I was rather surprised he didn't return to England. I knew he hadn't married.”
Camille raised a brow. “You did?”
Delilah nodded. “I had a friend, more of an acquaintance really, who was engaged to Grayson's cousin at the time. She told me he had never married. And, of course, as his investments in American railroads and some other things I can't recall had made him quite a sizable fortuneâ”
“What?” Camille stared. “What do you mean by a âsizable fortune'?”
“Oh, you know, sizable.” Delilah shrugged.
“Immense.” Beryl nodded. “Almost obscene, really.”
“Not at all,” Mother said. “There is no such thing as too much wealth.”
“You knew this?” Camille stared at her twin.
“Everybody knows,” Beryl said casually.
“I had heard a rumor or two about his being successful but I never imagined . . .” She glared at Beryl. “Why didn't you tell me?”
Beryl frowned. “For one thing, I thought you knew. For another, you never asked. Indeed, you expressly forbade me to so much as mention his name. You were quite adamant about it. I do remember that.”
“Does it matter, dear?” Mother asked.
“The fact that he has money doesn't matter. What matters is that he lied to me about it.” She rose to her feet and paced the parlor. “He led me to believe his circumstances were unchanged.” She stopped and glared at the others. “He introduced himself as a poor relation. Hah! Why would he do that?” She resumed pacing. “And when we wagered over who could hire Mrs. Fortesqueâ”
“Who is Mrs. Fortesque?” Delilah asked Beryl.
“The cook.” Beryl reached for a piece of molded gingerbread. “I might well wish to hire her myself.”
“He said it wouldn't be fair, as my resources were so much more extensive than his, and therefore we should agree to offer her the same wages.” She folded her arms over her chest. “Why wouldn't he want me to know he had money?”
“Perhaps he thought as it made a difference then . . .” Beryl said cautiously.
“Don't be absurd.” Camille scoffed. “It made no difference then.”
“But did he know that?”
“Oh, there was a comment about how I would marry him if he had money, and how, as he didn't, it didn't matter. Something like that.” She shrugged. “But he should have known me better.” Aside from everything else, that was one part of this that had always angered her. “He should have trusted me.”
“He was a boy in love.” Mother shrugged. “They are even more stupid than men in love.”
“I couldn't have married him, anyway.” She narrowed her eyes. “Not that he asked me.”
“The beast,” Beryl mumbled around a mouthful of gingerbread. She looked at Delilah. “This is exceptional.”
“Isn't it?” Delilah nodded. “Try the scones.”
“Why not?” Mother said, then glanced at her youngest daughter. “The scones you say?” Delilah nodded.
Camille stared at her mother. “What do you mean, âwhy not?' For one thing, he didn't ask me. For another, I was to marry Harold the very next day. What was I supposed to do?”
Mother shrugged. “It would have been most distressing, but you could have called off your wedding.”
“I know I was rather shocked when I heard the story that you hadn't done exactly that,” Delilah said, “given your penchant for impulse.”
“People call off weddings at the last possible moment all the time,” Mother added. “Ask Lord Stillwell.”
“And done what? Chase after a man who makes a grand announcement about love and then runs off?”
“Odder things have happened,” Mother said.
“You were expecting me to marry Harold!”
“Oh no, Camille.” Mother shook her head. “Do not place the blame at my feet. I encouraged you, but I never forced you to marry Harold. Nor did I force Beryl to marry Charles, or Delilah to marry Phillip. Admittedly, I was in favor of those matches, but I have never been able to make any of you do something you did not want to do. It is a shame all three of those charming gentlemen have passed on. . . .” She met Camille's gaze firmly. “However, none of you were unhappy in your marriages. None of your husbands treated you unkindly. And all three of you now are in control of your own fortunes, your own fateâeven Beryl, who was clever enough to make appropriate legal arrangements before marrying Lionel. You will never have to worry about how you will feed yourself and your children, should you have children. You will never have to be dependent upon the fickle whims of a husband who is more boy than man. You may thank Harold for that, and you may thank me as well. But I never forced you to do anything. Although, admittedly, on the day before your wedding, I did indeed expect you to marry Harold.” She nodded and reached for a scone.
Camille stared at her mother for a long moment. She had never really considered that while there had been expectations and encouragement, her mother had never told her what she could or could not do when it came to marriage. “No, I suppose you didn't, really.”
“I was simply a practical woman,” Mother said with a shrug.
“You've grown out of it,” Beryl noted.
“I have earned that right.”
“He's come back to throw it in my face, hasn't he?” Camille said abruptly. “That's it. That's exactly what he's done! He's gone off. He's made his fortune. Now he's come back to throw it in my face.”
“I've never trusted him,” Beryl said.
“To what end, dear?” Mother studied her closely. “What would be the purpose?”
“Who knows?” She resumed pacing; thoughts raced through her head. “I have no idea, but then he's a man, and who knows what goes through their minds?”
Delilah nodded. “There is that.”
“Revenge, perhaps?” Camille stopped and glared. “Do you know he claims I broke his heart?”
“When it was so clearly your heart that was broken.” Beryl nodded.
“Indeed, it was.”
“But, surely, it would wound a man deeply to think the woman he loves won't marry him because he does not have enough money,” Delilah said.
“He should have known I was too stunned to make any sense whatsoever. He told me he loved me. Something I had longed to hear very nearly since we first met, but I had completely pushed it out of my head because I knew it wasn't possible. Because I was expected to make a brilliant match.”
Mother sniffed. “I will not apologize for that.”
“Yes, and it scarcely matters now. The past is the past.” Camille waved away the comment. “It's over and done with.”
“Darling, the past is never over and done with,” Mother said. “It's always there lurking.”
“I suppose so.” Still, she had thought it was over and done with. Or perhaps she had simply hoped.
“Perhaps Grayson thinks you will fall into his arms now because he is a wealthy man?” Delilah suggested.
“Because I am nothing more than a fortune hunter from a family of fortune hunters?”
All three women stared in shocked silence.
“Come now, Camille,” Mother said coolly. “Fortune hunters rarely have money of their own, nor do they have a respectable lineage. We have both.”
“That's when he does it, you know. When you fall into his arms.” Beryl nodded. “That's when he will throw his wealth in your face.”
“Well, he has a long wait ahead of him!”
“Or perhaps he hasn't mentioned his money because he doesn't want it to interfere in your feelings one way or the other,” Delilah said.
“Good God!” Camille gasped. “Then this is a test!”
“Goodness, dear, I wouldn't leapâ”
“Of course it's a test.” She thought for a moment. “To see whether or not I will love him enough to ignore the state of his finances.” She narrowed her eyes. “That's probably why he pushed his way into staying here as well. He wants to be my friend, he said. Lend me his assistance. He only wants me to be happy. Hah!” A thought struck her and she paused in midstep. “Perhaps I need to reconsider my decision about Nikolai. Why, I still haven't kissed him. I should do that immediately.”
“Oh, and that would certainly serve Grayson right.” Beryl cast a reluctant look at her gingerbread, set it on her plate, then wiped her fingers. “I am all in favor of teaching Grayson a lesson he admittedly deserves, not just for this but for everything else as well. However, I don't think marrying Nikolai is the way to go about it.”
“Perhaps not.”
“Besides, you haven't told Grayson of your change of heart regarding Nikolai, have you?”
“No.” Camille shook her head.
“Then let him continue to believe that,” Beryl said.
Camille stared. “That's not a plan. How does that teach him a lesson?”
“You don't see?”
“Nor, I'm afraid, do I,” Mother said.
“Camille continues to allow Grayson to believe Nikolai is what she wants. It will drive him mad. Eventually, if what he wants is to win you over, he will tell you everything.”
“Why would he do that?”
“I have no idea.” Beryl shrugged. “But men tend to do that sort of thing when they are trying to declare how much they love you. They confess all their sins. Pity that they expect you to confess yours too. Admittedly, that can be awkward.” She grimaced. “At that point, he'll confess that he has money and why he didn't want you to know.”
“I would think the very fact that he hasn't thrown his success in your face is quite significant,” Mother said thoughtfully. “If that is his purpose, one does wonder what he is waiting for.”
“Why, he's obviously waiting for me to tell him that I still love him.” She continued to pace. “That I've always loved him. Which is why mine was the heart that was broken.” She stopped and glared at her family. “The blasted man gave me hope and then snatched it away. For one moment, he held out to me everything I had ever wanted. Admittedly, I was too shocked or perhaps too stupid to grab on to it. But one would think if a man truly loves a woman, he wouldn't make a grand announcement and then vanish. He would do everything in his power to win that woman!”