40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

The following evening, Jethro sat in his study, going over Crowley’s report on the latest shipment again. Perhaps this time he could make some sense of it. His mind kept straying to the drawing room, where he’d left Cassandra and the captain alone together after dinner.

After his last pitiful attempt to establish a rapport with the man had failed, Jethro had given up trying. It was natural his wife should want to spend time with her brother, and he resolved to let her enjoy his company while he was on leave, without his own disruptive influence.

It was better for everyone if he stayed out of the way, but it didn’t stop him from resenting Alexander’s presence. And it didn’t stop him from wondering.

Were they talking about him, or was he simply forgotten, once he retired to his study? Was the captain trying to turn his sister against her husband? Or was she already regretting marrying him?

A knock interrupted his thoughts, and he uttered a curt command to enter.

Much to his surprise, his wife walked into the room.

Jethro rose to his feet, searching her face for any sign of distress. What had made her leave her brother’s company to come in search of him?

“Is something wrong, Cassandra?”

“Why do you assume something has to be wrong for me to wish to talk to my husband?” she asked, perching on the edge of the chair opposite his desk.

Her words banished his concern, but her actions spoke louder. If she had bothered to sit down, she must have more than a quick question to ask him, and intended to stay for some time.

He retook his seat, a half-smile on his lips. “No, but I supposed you were with Alexander.”

“His friends have arrived in Weymouth, and he’s gone to meet them.”

Some of Jethro’s pleasure at Cassandra seeking him out faded. She was not choosing him over her brother after all. The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth and sparked a harsher response than he intended. “Ah, I see. He has deserted you in favour of his shipmates.”

Cassandra’s frown was a silent reprimand, and Jethro wished he’d kept his thoughts to himself.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she said. “I’m glad they’ve come. He invited me to accompany him to the Golden Lion to meet them, but warned me his friends were likely to become somewhat tipsy.”

“Not just his shipmates, I warrant.”

“I imagine not. Which is why I stayed at home. I didn’t think you’d like me to go.”

She was right. He didn’t want his wife going to a common tavern, with only her brother for protection. “I don’t suppose Alexander took kindly to that.”

“No. I’m afraid he blamed you for my reticence, and said he would persuade Julia to accompany him instead. I fear she lacks the principles that guide my behaviour, and a group of drunken naval officers is not the sort of company I wish her to keep, though I daresay she would see no harm in it. I hope Miss Seymour will forbid it.”

“She is fortunate to have a sister who cares so much for her. It is a pity she won’t be guided by you.”

Cassandra shrugged. “If we had grown up together, it might have been different, but our characters were already set by the time my father remarried, and to be fair, I wouldn’t have appreciated gaining an elder stepsister who was far too inclined to tell me what to do.

“I suppose a sister can’t easily take a mother’s place. Xander doesn’t appreciate my chiding either. What do you think? Would it have made any difference?”

“I’m not qualified to answer, as I am the only child of my parents, and my mother never remarried. ”

“Perhaps if you had a brother, you would find it easier to get on with Alexander.”

Jethro gritted his teeth together to prevent an unhelpful retort. How could his softly spoken wife be related to such a coarse, ill-bred man?

“I’m sorry, Cassandra. I have tried.”

Her shoulders sagged as she fixed him with a pleading look. “Can you—is it possible?—to try again?”

Could he? Jethro didn’t know. Not while he still smarted from Alexander’s accusations. That he had preyed on Cassandra’s vulnerability to persuade her to marry him. If there was no truth in his words, why did they hurt so much? And every time the captain poked at the wound he had opened, the more heavily Jethro’s guilt weighed upon him.

Dare he explain why he found it so hard to live in harmony with Alexander? What would Cassandra say if he told her how wretched her brother made him feel? Would it help the situation or just make it worse? Because if his wife believed the accusations were justified, Jethro didn’t know how he would ever forgive himself.

An intense longing stirred within him to tell her how he felt. Taking a deep breath, he prayed she would understand, and spoke before he lost his nerve.

“Your brother made me feel guilty.”

Cassandra blinked at him in astonishment. “Why?”

“He said I took advantage of your dire financial circumstances to secure myself a genteel wife, and—”

Cassandra’s eyes blazed with anger. “Xander had no right to say that to you.”

“But it’s true,” Jethro whispered. “I did—and I’m sorry.”

“No apology is necessary. You came to my aid when I needed help. I was and always will be grateful that you rescued me. I was fully aware of what I was doing. My brother thinks me mercenary for choosing to be mistress of my own household rather than relying on someone else’s charity, but he has no notion what it is like to be a woman with no dowry. How can he? He’s a man with excellent prospects ahead of him. I decided I couldn’t wait for those prospects to materialise.”

“Then you do not regret your decision?”

She looked him in the eye. “No. I would make the same choice again.”

A weight fell from Jethro’s shoulders, leaving his spirits feeling lighter than they had done since the captain had arrived .

His wife did not rue the day she had married him. She did not wish she’d chosen differently. And she had been furious with Alexander on his behalf.

This knowledge was fresh armour against the captain’s attacks. What did it matter what her brother thought if Cassandra was content with the decision she’d made?

“And would you make the same choice again?” she asked in a small voice, her gaze unwavering.

Jethro rose and walked around his desk to where Cassandra sat. He took both her hands in his and pulled her up to stand in front of him.

He leaned in and placed a lingering kiss on her brow. “I would.”

A blush stole across Cassandra’s cheeks, and Jethro let his eyes drop to her mouth. Her lips parted slightly, as if she expected his embrace, but at that moment, they were disturbed by voices coming from the hall.

He stepped back, burying his frustration, and said in a voice devoid of all emotion, “I believe your brother has returned.”

“Yes. I suppose I had better join him. Will you come too?”

“If you wish.”

“It would please me to see the two of you living in harmony with one another.”

That was more than Jethro could promise, but he would show Cassandra how much her happiness meant to him by playing his part. He had no control over Alexander’s actions, but he could keep a tighter rein on his temper. Perhaps he had made insufficient allowance for his brother-in-law’s broken heart, and, in time, they could reach a better understanding.

But all his good resolution vanished at the scene he beheld when he opened the drawing room door.