Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"Try not to look as if you want to murder everyone here," Simon murmured, handing Henry a drink as he grinned heartily at the many guests filling the dining room.

Too many guests. Henry had hardly expected everyone to answer the wedding invitations and show up from out of town. It was his second marriage, not his first, yet he could almost swear that more people were staying in his home now than when he and Martha had been married. And there were still more days for more to arrive before the wedding.

"Especially not now," Simon continued gleefully as if Henry hadn't ignored his first comment. "As I do believe that is your intended and at least one of her siblings."

Henry shot Simon a look as his friend quickly broke away, laughing under his breath on his way to go and bother someone else.

He was right, damn him. It was Josephine headed his way, and from the looks of it, with at least one of her sisters and her sister's presumed husband in tow as well. There was a resemblance between the woman and Josephine, a similar colouring and bone structure. But the woman next to her was a washed-out version, her hair a dull brown and her features pinched and less expressive.

"Your Grace," Josephine greeted, her smile tight and forced as she stopped just in front of him. "This is my sister, Mrs Amelie Frond, and her husband, Mr Jacob Frond."

"Your Grace," her siblings repeated, inclining their heads just slightly.

Amelie, her sister, eyed Henry up and down, her smile just as fake as the fondness she pretended to display to her sister.

"An honour to meet both of you," Henry lied, reaching out to take Josephine's hand so that he could pull her to his side and away from the couple that seemed to set her so far on edge.

"The honour is all ours, of course," Mr Frond blustered, his cheeks going a ruddy red as he looked in awe around him. "Your estate is so–"

"Lovely," Mrs Frond spoke quickly over her husband, elbowing him before he could make a social faux pas. "He was going to say how lovely it is. It's hard to imagine our little Josie at home here among all the finery." She laughed, the sound grating to Henry's ears.

And his smile tightened, his fingers closing over Josephine's hand as he felt her flinch beside him.

"Is it hard for you to imagine?" he asked silkily, his eyebrows lifting slightly. "I think she outshines everything around her." And that included her and her husband before them.

Josephine's sister's smile slipped right off her face, her lips parting despite the lack of sound that came from them.

"If you'll excuse us," Henry continued without pause, his gaze icy as he stared the Fronds down. "I have important people to introduce Josephine to."

He swept her away smoothly, refusing to look back at her sister gaping after them even though he could see Josephine do so several times from his side as he took her away.

"That was incorrigible." She giggled breathlessly as soon as they were out of earshot. "I don't think I've ever seen Amelie so shocked."

"Good." Henry fought the urge to glare back at the insufferable woman; his temper soothed only slightly by how amused Josephine seemed by it all. "I can see why you made little mention of your siblings." All of them, thus far, had been the same. Snotty, rude, and snarky when it came to their youngest sister. They were, none of them, outright ugly. But there was a dissatisfaction there, a separation between them and Josephine that was all the more marked by how tense she became around them.

"They all got out," Josephine said with a shrug. There was no bitterness to her tone, though a resigned weariness that he'd come to learn came from her only when she spoke of her family's affairs. "I think they resent me for writing for help so much, honestly. I'm the reminder that they haven't helped our parents enough."

"And they're your reminder of how much you were forced to shoulder because of it," Henry pointed out gently, his thumb brushing against her hand in a show of support.

Josephine's gaze jerked back to his from where she had been staring at her siblings, her eyes widening slightly as if she were surprised he would dare to say such, or maybe because she was surprised that he had noticed.

"Your parents make a fine couple," Henry told her, directing her gaze to where they both stood talking to her eldest brother and his wife, fondly catching up despite how lacklustre the support of their son had obviously been over the years. They were just as warm and gracious with their other kids as Josephine. And while Henry found it hardly fair, he felt it spoke volumes about their characters. "They set a great example, do they not?"

Josephine's smile grew soft as she followed his gaze, her lips quirking slightly.

"I suppose I should treat them warmly as my parents," she acquiesced with a sigh.

Henry laughed.

"Oh, that isn't at all what I meant." He chuckled. "I pointed it out so I could say what we should aspire to in our old age. For now, I am more than happy to assist you in anything that makes you feel better regarding your siblings. I, myself, have a more vindictive heart than I would care for the world to know."

Josephine glanced quickly at him, her eyes wide, before sputtering a laugh that required her to slap her hand over her lips.

"It's only the aspiration of being as fine as your parents that kept me from informing your sister that she paled in comparison to you," he continued bravely, enjoying far too much how quickly colour alighted on her cheekbones.

She was pretty when she was flustered.

More so, even when it was his complimenting her that made her so.

"I'm surprised at how well you handle them and this," he continued more frankly, gesturing to the guests milling about the room and the social aspect of it all. On more than one occasion, she had mentioned that she wasn't much out in society.

"I never said that I didn't enjoy socializing." Josephine laughed, looking up at him slyly. "I did, actually, quite enjoy attending events whenever my sister first came out in society."

She looked impish, smiling like she was, her blue eyes shining. Without thinking about it, Henry reached over, lifting a stray auburn curl off her forehead and tucking it behind her ear. His fingers lingered against her cheekbone, tracing the line as he watched that colour in her cheeks deepen.

He was caught in her gaze again, as frozen as he had been staring at her that first day in the dining room.

She was always beautiful; her humour just made her more so, and the way her lips quirked drew his attention, making him trace the dip of her cupid's bow upper lip with almost too much attention.

He'd only kissed her that once. There'd been no opportunity to repeat such an action, but staring at her just then, he could imagine doing so again. The room of people surrounding them be damned. Would she taste the same? Or would she taste more of the champagne she'd sipped earlier? A combination of the two?

He leaned in closer, drawn in by the way her eyes were darting between his and his lips. His fingers skipped against her cheek, his whole body heating as he watched her sway towards him.

"Finally alone!"

Damn him. Simon had always had horrendous timing, but Henry had never cursed him quite so vehemently as he was at that moment, his hand falling from Josephine's cheek as he turned to stare flintily at him.

Lisbet, on his arm, shot him an apologetic look as they neared, but she also looked pointedly to where his hand had just dropped, reminding him of just how publicly he had almost just kissed Josephine.

"What he means …" Lisbet laughed, speaking over her husband, "is that we have been waiting for the right moment." She let go of her husband's arm, shooting him a warning look before moving further forward to reach for Josephine's hands.

Henry wanted to protest, his eyebrows furrowing as she pulled her from his side where he had only just secured her.

"I've been waiting for the opportunity all afternoon," Lisbet continued, ignoring Henry's ire entirely. "It's been ages since we last got to visit, and I hear there's scandal afoot," she faux-whispered, leaning in with a grin. "You simply have to tell me all about it."

"Well–" Henry started, only to be interrupted by Lisbet waving her hand at him as if to shoo him away.

"Not you," she said with a sniff. "I visit with you often enough. I'm going to steal your bride-to-be away here."

Josephine grinned, leaning into Lisbet's charms just like everyone always did.

Damn her too.

It was a fleeting thought that was only half-bitter as Lisbet pulled Josephine away with her.

"I wish anyone would remember that she is my bride-to-be," he groused good-naturedly, shaking his head as Josephine shot him a reassuring look over her shoulder.

"And thus, you have the rest of your life to monopolize her time," Simon pointed out glibly as their women disappeared with their heads bowed together.

Henry grunted, shaking his head but choosing not to comment on that. There was no argument he could offer to it. He did. He just wished there were fewer interruptions already.

"Lisbet enjoys her company immensely, you know. Even more than she realized." Simon snagged a drink off one of the passing drink trays, leaning forward to snag a second almost as an afterthought to pass on to Henry.

Despite his irritation at having lost Josephine at his side, Henry smiled as he took the drink. As much as her being stolen away annoyed him, he was glad she got on so well with his two closest friends.

"She seems to be a wonderful young woman," Simon continued pointedly, staring hard at Henry over the rim of his glass as he lifted it to his lips.

Ah, the inquisition.

Henry said nothing, taking a sip of his drink and considering making Simon work even harder for any answer. But it was a brief thought. He wanted to talk about Josephine, he realized.

"She is very charming," he admitted plainly. "Intelligent, witty, we share a great many things in common. I'll admit to having made a good choice."

Simon snorted. "Not at all arrogant to phrase it that way either." He laughed. "You certainly seemed quite taken with her when we walked up." His dark eyebrows rose suggestively, his smile turning devilish.

Henry rolled his eyes. That certainly bore no response.

"Have you changed your mind?"

Henry blinked, surprise filling him as he wondered at his friend's sudden, unexplained shift. Hadn't he just admitted to being taken with her?

"Why would I have changed my mind and still have everyone here ready to attend our wedding?" he asked sharply, worried for a moment that there was going to be another rumour to dispel.

Simon grinned, holding one hand up as if to stop Henry from jumping down his throat.

"I meant about falling in love with her." Simon spared no words; his chin tilted to the side as he regarded Henry with a frankness no one else would be allowed.

Henry started to scoff.

It was impossible.

His chest tightened, the instantaneous ‘no' dying on his lips as his gaze slipped from Simon and across the room to where Josephine walked arm in arm with Lisbet.

He wanted her. His body's response spoke well enough to that. He desired her company. He enjoyed speaking with her, sitting with her, and simply being in her presence.

But love?

A frisson of guilt worked its way through him, his mouth going dry.

"Henry?" Simon looked worried when Henry's eyes cut back to him, an apology clearly on the edge of his lips.

"I am … unsure," Henry answered before he could say sorry.

Simon looked more surprised at Henry's admittance than he was himself.

Did he love her?

It shouldn't have even been something to put into question. And yet…

"You're unsure?" Simon repeated belatedly, coughing past the words and finishing his drink all in one go. "As to whether you love her?" he verified.

Henry's gaze slipped back to Josephine, his heart uncomfortably unsteady within his chest.

It didn't feel like how he remembered it. It was different, more slowly spreading through his veins. He didn't have the same certainty he had been so sure of before.

But could he say it wasn't love?

No.

"I do not know," he repeated, more surely than before. He could hear the note of his own wonder clinging to the words as he watched Josephine's head tilt back, and her lips spread in a ready laugh at whatever Lisbet was whispering to her. "I do not know, even if it is possible," he admitted.

But he wanted to find out.

Simon was forgotten beside him as he considered the possibility that he would have thought far-fetched only a day or more before.

He had been happy enough to imagine being content with her, happy enough to think of their life as well-suited companions who could raise children with one another.

But to love her?

His throat felt tight as he followed Simon's suit and knocked the drink in his hand back in one go.

"Maybe you should find out," Simon suggested softly, all teasing gone from his words.

Henry glanced at him, his stomach in knots.

"You seemed to be doing a good enough job when we walked up."

Henry started admonishing his friend before realizing that Simon was only speaking and meant nothing by it this time.

"That is not what I was doing," Henry huffed, laughing at himself as he ran a weary hand down the front of his face.

"Isn't it?" Simon offered him a small smile. "I think you've rather forgotten how these things actually go, Henry. You remember it in the wake of having been married. Desire is one thing, yes, but it is part of it. A part I didn't think ever to see you experience as I have just today again. The way you touch her is as if she is made of spun glass, of precious stone."

Henry huffed, but his words were stuck in his throat, his eyes on Josephine.

For how could he say, ‘is she not?' without proving his friend's point.