33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Cassandra’s smile dimmed as Jethro disappeared around the corner. The timing of her brother’s arrival was most unfortunate. Her husband had made an effort to spend time with her, and she had deserted him the instant Xander turned up.

Her brother had not helped matters by greeting Jethro so coldly. Why had he taken her husband in such dislike on sight? She didn’t know, but she had sensed the friction between them all the way back to the house.

Xander had held her arm so firmly at his side that it would have been difficult to let Jethro take the other. Not that he had tried to do so. His overture of friendship to her brother had been rejected, and he had withdrawn. From Xander and from her.

Her brother made no reference to Jethro’s departure, but turned his attention to their home.

“Well, I’ll say this for you, sister. You’ve got yourself a fine house here, with a superb view of the sea. Not a bad-looking building, and a corner plot, too. Wasn’t even built when I was last in Weymouth.”

She was glad he approved of something about Jethro, even if it was only his house.

He patted the trunk sitting in the hall. “I see the carrier beat us here. Be a darling and have your man take it up to my room. I have a desperate need for fresh clothes and a drink. A tankard or two of ale would be welcome—unless that husband of yours has a bottle of burgundy in his cellar, just begging to be opened.”

Cassandra pursed her lips. “Jethro must decide that, but as he’s not here, ale will have to suffice.”

Xander grunted. “Keeps a tight lock on his wine store, does he?”

She ignored the jibe and asked Young to take the trunk upstairs, following with her brother, so she could show him his bedchamber.

A brimming tankard was waiting for him when Xander joined Cassandra in the drawing room half an hour later.

He nodded his appreciation. “Nice room.”

“Nice? Is that the best you can do? I spent weeks redecorating it and replacing the furnishings.”

“So, Hunt has money to spend on such things, does he? Is that why you married him? Why didn’t you stay with Eugenia as we had planned?”

Was Xander serious? “You expected us to depend on Eugenia after the way she behaved toward you?”

“Why not? It’s only a temporary misunderstanding—one that I’m sure will soon be resolved. There was no need for Julia to take a post as a schoolmistress or for you to get married. Her situation can be remedied, but yours—”

Her heart sank. Xander didn’t know about Eugenia’s marriage. How was that possible? She had supposed the wretched woman would have had the decency to tell him of her approaching nuptials when she wrote to break off their engagement. Apparently not.

Hadn’t Cassandra mentioned the marriage when she’d written to inform him of their father’s death? No. She had been too consumed with grief and she’d left that task to Julia. After that, they had agreed not to refer to Eugenia again when they communicated with their brother, not wishing to keep stirring up Xander’s disappointment. Now, it appeared, he hadn’t received Julia’s letter telling him that all hope of a reconciliation was at an end.

Cassandra needed to break it to him. Straightaway. “Xander—”

He downed the tankard of ale, jumped up from his seat, and grabbed her by the hand. “Come on, Cassy. Let’s go for the walk I deprived you of earlier, and without your grumpy husband.”

She let him pull her to her feet. If he was going to talk like that, the less conversation they had inside the house, the better. She had no wish for a servant to overhear her brother talking in such a disrespectful way about Jethro .

Besides, it might be preferable if she delivered the news outdoors. She couldn’t imagine Xander taking it quietly.

Cassandra let her brother chatter away as they walked along the seafront together. She wanted to wait until they were past Gloucester Lodge, where the houses and people were fewer, before broaching the subject she dreaded.

“I still think you’d have been better off with Eugenia than rushing into marriage with someone you hardly knew.”

“Jethro is a man of excellent character, and I would ask you to show him some respect, seeing as he has welcomed you into his house.”

“But he’s a cold sort of fellow, isn’t he? I didn’t detect much warmth between you when he left. Not even a peck on the cheek for his wife?”

The heat rushed to Cassandra’s face. “Please, do not criticise my husband. I won’t listen. Jethro is a good man, and he stepped up to look after me when you weren’t here.”

“And I told you, your marriage was unnecessary. Why didn’t you go to Eugenia?”

“Because I never liked the woman, and after she jilted you, she was the very last person on earth I wanted to rely on.”

Xander dropped her arm abruptly. “Don’t talk about Eugenia like that. I’ll straighten things out with her.”

Cassandra shook her head in disbelief. “Didn’t she tell you?”

“Tell me what? I’ve not heard from her since she broke off our engagement. Not that it bothered me overly much. I figured it would be better to sort it out in person. I plan to call at her house later.”

“She won’t be there.”

“Then I’ll leave my card. Trust me, it will all be resolved soon.”

“Ever the optimist, but on this occasion, you’re wrong.”

“I’m sorry you don’t care for my choice of wife, Cassy, but I can’t say I’m enamoured with your choice of husband. I still can’t figure out why you’re so set against Eugenia, but I’m sure you’ll get to like her in time.”

Cassandra stopped in her tracks and turned to face her brother. With both his hands in hers, she looked him in the eye.

“No, I won’t, Xander, and it doesn’t matter, because Eugenia will never be your wife. She’s already married.”

He yanked his hands away from her grasp and glared at her. “Is this some kind of joke, because you dislike her?”

“I’m sorry. I thought she would have told you. ”

Xander walked out onto the pebbles that sloped down to the sea, and Cassandra followed him. He picked up a stone and threw it into the water, letting out a piercing howl as he did so.

“When?” he asked, in a small voice, so different from his usual confident tone.

“Seven months ago.”

He let out a bark of laughter. “Did she break off our engagement before or after she betrothed herself to another?”

Cassandra said nothing. Xander already knew the answer to his own question.

“She said she couldn’t live with the uncertainty anymore, not knowing when I would return or if, indeed, I would ever come back. She wrote as if she still cared, whilst planning her wedding to someone else.”

He picked up another stone and tossed it into the water. “Who is the scoundrel who stole my bride from me?”

“Mr Frampton. He’s a wealthy businessman, some years your senior.”

“Ha! She’s just like you. Settling for a marriage of convenience rather than waiting for love. Why, Cassy? Why couldn’t she wait for me?”

“I suppose because she didn’t love you enough.”

“She loved me. She did. Oh, Eugenia. Why?”

Xander sat down on a rock, buried his head in his hands, and wept.

Cassandra’s heart ached to see her brother in such agony, but there was nothing she could do to ease his suffering apart from wrapping her arm around his shoulders and praying that God would comfort him.

He was in the most acute stage of heartbreak, and she was helpless.

The walk back to Devonshire Buildings was uncomfortable. The silence was punctuated by outbursts from Xander that caused heads to turn and stare.

When they approached the house, she spotted the man in the green jacket who had been watching her before. That was the last thing she needed. It hurt that Jethro felt it necessary to keep spying on her. Did he believe all women were as fickle as Eugenia?

At that moment, Xander let out another cry. “Why?”

Embarrassed lest the neighbours hear, Cassandra hustled her brother inside the house and was relieved when he said he would rest before dinner.

It was painful to witness Xander’s distress, and it made her question whether falling in love was as wonderful as she had always imagined. Was love truly worth it when it came with the risk of facing such agony?

She doubted she would ever find out.