Page 16 of Now & Forever
“Yet you knew what the Welshes had done.” Gwen hadn’t meant to sound so accusatory, but how could she avoid it when the topic always angered her?
Ophelia poured the last of her tea from her small China pot. The hand-painted wisteria blooms would have once amazed Gwen, had she not become so jaded to the sort of affluence infecting everything she now touched.Sometimes I miss the days of getting my hands dirty in a middle-class bar.Hell, she would even take a dive bar sometimes. At least she didn’t have to adopt a new set of manners there.
“I did.” Ophelia had never denied it. She would’ve been foolish to claim ignorance, since her name was also on the papers saying the Welshes could use her son’s damned sperm. “I regret it, though. Then again, I regretted it the moment the papers were filed.”
“Because you did it behind James’s back.”
“Yes.” Ophelia swallowed. “I wanted to talk to you today about the men in my family. From one outsider to another.”
Outsider?In what universe was Ophelia a true outsider? Her family had gobs of money, although their reign as the kings of the New England lumber industry had ended when the first of many mills closed in the late early seventies. Ophelia’s family had been quick to arrange a marriage with Albert Merange before the money ran out. They had done it for her sisters, too, and now all four of them could say they had married into more money than their family could currently claim. As the oldest of her sisters, Ophelia had dibs on the most lucrative match, even though everyone knew Albert was in love with Sarah Holliday and often had premarital honeymoons with her all over Europe. There were even rumors that they had eloped before Albert’s marriage to Ophelia, but they were never proven and always denied.
Gwen supposed Ophelia meant that she was an outsider in the mental sense. She had always been aguestin the Merange household. A promise fulfilled to old family friends. She pumped out one baby boy and sealed her place in the Merange legacy. She never wanted for money, healthcare, or excuses to travel the world. Love? That was another story.
“From the time James was a boy, Albert had lobbied for us to arrange a marriage with the little Welsh girl. I told him that was terribly old-fashioned – it was the nineties, you know. Even if wehadarranged a marriage, it wouldn’t be legally binding, and James would do as he pleased as he already does.” Ophelia shrugged. “Like his father!”
“I’m sorry.” That was all Gwen could say about that.
“It’s all right.”
“Besides, I already knew that Albert and Sarah conspired to get their kids married. James has told me plenty of times, especially over this past year.”
“I’m sure he heard us talking a time or two. James likes to pretend he’s carefree, but he has a sharp wit, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. Anyway, I proposed we let them become playmates and hope that a natural romance may bloom between them as they grew up. Albert was, of course, for the idea, which is how James and Cassandra became close friends until recent years.”
“He’s been quite distraught by her behavior.” That was an understatement. James always expressed apprehension over his childhood friend’s promiscuity, since he claimed it didn’t come from a genuine place.“She’s using sex as a band-aid for something deeply troubling her,”James said after rumors flew about Cassandra frequenting a local pleasure house.“I worry about her well-being. It’s like she’s one more boyfriend away from a meltdown.”Apparently, Cassandra’s problem was that James wasn’t interested in her after she had pined after him like a silly girl for years. “I would be surprised if they repaired their friendship after so much distrust.”
Ophelia’s eyes were sharper than Gwen had ever seen them. “I know it hasn’t been easy for you, either. I’m so sorry, Gwenyth.”
“Yes, well…” Gwen wouldn’t play the games that somehow absolved Ophelia from her role in this mess. Even if Lady Merange had little choice but to support her husband and his real love in this distasteful endeavor, she still did it knowing how much her son and his girlfriend would be harmed in the process. Greed. Selfishness. Those very things they claimed to fight in their children’s generation. “Ithasbeen difficult. James and I are not the same as we used to be, though I understand he knew nothing of these machinations.”
“It can’t be easy. My son doesn’t talk to me about these things, but I know he’s vented frustrations to his father.” That was probably an understatement. Gwen had witnessed James ripping his own father a new asshole over his role in this charade.“The fact that man would rather have a bastard grandson he ripped from my nuts than anything we might have, Gwenny… I can’t forgive him.”She had believed James when he said that, too.I had never seen him so angry before.James wasn’t a man prone to anger. When he popped, it was because some great injustice had been thrust upon the people he loved.
Ophelia folded her hands on the table.
“I asked you here today,” she began, sighing, “because I wanted to talk about your future with my son.”
Gwen did not pale. Nor did her breath hitch in her chest. The only thing giving away her apprehension was her drying throat, and Ophelia could not see that. “I had always considered you one of my biggest supporters, Lady Merange.” Fat lot of good it did Gwen when Ophelia carried so little power in her family. Meant one less person to give her shit during Christmas.
“Which is why I am invested in your well-being, dear. My son’s happiness is my happiness. Your happiness is his happiness. Therefore, your happiness is my happiness.”
Gwen couldn’t help but smile a little. “I appreciate that.”
“You may not have been the woman I would have chosen for my son’s life,” Ophelia continued, sure to cut Gwen off before she could protest, “but that doesn’t mean James has poor taste. I’ve seen you two together for several years now. I understand what he sees in you.”
Gwen sat back. “You do?”
“Of course, dear. You laugh at his terrible jokes and have always been by his side, including through this ordeal. That’s something a mother truly appreciates. The fact you’reverypretty is something he must appreciate as well.”
“Thank you.”
“That said, I completely understand if this is the final straw for you and you wish to cut ties from my son.”
Gwen said nothing.
“Since I’ve seen you two together for so long, I can also see the signs of your relationship falling apart. This distresses me, because I know how much my son has invested in making you his life partner.”
Not sure you know how much, Lady Merange.“There has been much in the way of obstacles in our relationship as of late.”
“Of course. I simply want you to know that I understand and am here for whatever decision you make.”
