Something Old, Rebecca Connolly [ebook reader for laptop TXT] 📗

“Is it so obvious?” Thomas asked, the aforementioned smile turning rueful.

“When a man smiles like a loon, the odds say it must be a woman,” Basset explained sagely, his own smile something of bemusement. “As I suspect you are not a man of infidelity, one may assume your wife is the cause. Always entertaining to witness a love match in the early days of a marriage with the glow of wedded bliss, mark my words.”

Thomas blanched ever so slightly. “Erm… As it happens, Lily and I have been married for five years.”

Basset’s dark eyes went round, and he made no attempt to hide his bafflement. “You what?”

“Five years,” Thomas repeated with a nod. “Just passed the anniversary, as it happens. Is that so shocking?”

“Yes, dammit.” Basset leaned an elbow on the arm of his chair, his fingers going to his chin as he stared at Thomas. “You are as lovesick as any man I have ever seen in my life, and you’ve been married long enough to return to sanity. What ails you, man?”

Thomas laughed once and crossed a leg over the other as he turned to face Basset more fully. “Have you not heard the story of my marriage, Basset? Anyone in London could have told you. It caused no small stir of gossip.”

“As I am rarely in London and never there for long, I tend to avoid any social gatherings that might involve recounting any gossip.” He shrugged, making no apologies for doing so. “I wouldn’t like to hear what is said about my brother, so it serves little purpose. What would I have heard, pray tell?”

“That my wife and I had been acquainted for some years before we wed,” Thomas relayed without shame, possibly for the first time in his life. “That we were nearly courting when I suddenly lost my entire fortune on a wild scheme I thought would enhance my fortunes magnificently, rather than deplete them. That I then went to Lily’s father to ask if he might give me his daughter in marriage so that I might be saved by her dowry. That he agreed, and I then broke my wife’s heart by marrying her for her fortune rather than affection. Because she didn’t know I also felt affection.”

Basset did not react much, which suited his rather composed nature. “My, my, how very high Society of you. And you then fell in love with her? Five years after?”

Thomas grunted softly. “I loved her from the start. I was simply desperate for money and unwilling to leave her for other men to snatch up while I recouped my losses, so I married her. I always wanted to marry her. It was simply the wrong motivation.”

“And did she know the reasons you did so?” Basset pressed with some interest. “That you were marrying for affection but in haste for her fortune? That your heart was in the right place even if your finances were not?”

“No,” Thomas replied. He smiled a very bland, flat smile. “I kept my reasons to myself and kept myself away from any semblance of love in the marriage as penance for my sins.”

“Good heavens, man. You’re an imbecile.”

There was nothing to do but laugh at that, and Thomas did so, only a twinge of remorse remaining in him for the fact that now he and Lily had revealed all to each other. “Trust me, Basset, I am well aware.”

Basset shook his head in disbelief. “To be frank, Granger, you’re fortunate your wife didn’t find companions for herself with you abandoning her like that.”

That sobered Thomas creditably. “Lily would never do so.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Basset shot back. “Once a married woman, dalliances may easily take place if she is discreet. It happens every day, and the dull husbands always say their wife would never. Believe me, my brother has been the culprit in such assignations often enough that I am familiar with the defense.”

Thomas swallowed with some difficulty, finding himself overwhelmingly grateful that his wife was a woman of high morals and true loyalty. She was a stunning woman, accomplished and graceful, sensible in thought and manner, and kind beyond what any earthly being could hope to attain. He’d been married to her for five years, and he had yet to find a fault of any kind in her character. Had she been more mortal and less saintly, she might have done exactly as Basset had said.

Suddenly, he wished to be back at Pendrizzick so he could seek her out and hold her in his arms in sheer gratitude.

“I never imagined she would,” he murmured now, shaking his head in disbelief. “If I had, I’d have been far more afraid in the interim.”

“Fortunate man.” Basset sat forward now, leaning his arms on the desk before him. “Your finances seem to be stable now, given your portions in our mutual investments. Does this mean your marriage has turned to affection at last?”

Thomas nodded, managing a smile as his recent bliss returned to his body. “Financially, I’ve become solvent and secure, so I felt it was time to treat my marriage as I always should have. It took a few attempts to get the beginning right, as I was so out of practice, but finally, after arriving here, we’ve found our footing. As it happens, my wife loved me in return, so I’ve wasted more time than I believed.”

Basset exhaled slowly, sputtering at the end of it. “I’ll say it again, you’re a fortunate man, Granger. So your recent assent into newlywed madness is simply a delayed venture?”

“Suppose so.” He turned almost sheepish as he realized he was discussing the nature of love in his marriage with his business associate. “This is hardly the topic you anticipated examining when I called, isn’t it?”

“No, not it all,” Basset admitted easily. “But as a bachelor with no expectations of affection in marriage, I do find it all rather amusing. It will be interesting to see if your jaunty tune turns at all with more exposure to your