Page 60 of A Bride for the Forbidden Duke
Still, she missed her best friend.
“I must admit,” Judith went on, “I am surprised you have not yet thrown a dinner party in your new estate. Surely His Grace is eager to show off his new Duchess to his acquaintances and family. And we are all so very eager to see the happy couple.”
“Yes,” Veronica said. “We are… very happy. Perhaps it is something I can plan.”
The lies all tasted like ash as her heart grew heavier, knowing that none of these things were anything she could realistically look to have or do.
She fought back a sigh.
“Mama,” she spoke quietly. “When you and Papa married one another… was it a happy marriage?”
“Oh, Heavens, no.” Judith’s smile was both fond and sad. She set down her teacup and came to sit next to Veronica. “For the first week of our marriage, your father didn’t breathe a word to me. He did not even greet me whenever he walked into a room. He introduced me to others but never once spoke to me, and when he had to introduce others to me, he spoke very indirectly. We did not dine nor have tea together. We did not stroll.”
Veronica was shocked. “Truly?”
“Truly,” Judith said, smiling. “However, through such silence, I fell quite in love with him, for I saw through those gaps. I watched how he spoke in other ways. Through movement, dancing, art, books. His displeasure at suddenly being wed when he did not want to turned into an expelling of language in another way. And I learned that language until, bit by bit, I realized how we might cross a bridge to meet one another halfway. We were friends, even as husband and wife, before we truly loved one another.”
Veronica listened, enraptured. She had not known any of this. She had always thought her parents were a love match.
“Your father loved me, but it took a long time to reach that point,” Judith continued. “But when we did… Oh, Veronica, it was the happiest years of my life. He treated me beautifully once we got over those initial weeks.” Judith met Veronica’s gaze. “What I mean to tell you is that marriage is not alwaystenderness and intimacy. It can be hard at times, and there are many hurdles to overcome and challenges to face, my darling.”
Does she know? Can she read me better than I realized?
Veronica mustered a smile. “It is a good thing the Duke and I are rather calm with one another. We are but a boat on very mild waters.”
“I am afraid marriage is not like that at all.” Judith gave her a knowing look. “And to convince yourself, and me, otherwise, is futile. I do not know a great deal sometimes, Veronica, but I know enough. A good, strong marriage radiates through a woman. An unhappy one is worn like a veil.”
“I am not unhappy,” Veronica insisted. “Just the other day, the Duke and I spent some time in the garden. It was very pleasant.”
Even though I fainted. And he… he carried me to my chambers.
“And we have dined together,” she continued.
Although he did walk out angrily.
“There was also the time we discussed a new blend of jam that his cook has experimented with.”
Judith gave her a withering look, as if seeing right through her. “All I am saying is that patience is a virtue, my darling. Give ittime. A garden does not blossom in a week. It can take a whole season.”
And strangely, although Veronica did not admit she was lying, and her mother did not outright accuse her of it, either, they both knew that a pretty picture was not always the truth. A painter could look upon a stormy landscape and paint a sun shining, but he might never truly capture the rays as if they were actually there.
“Are you sure you cannot stay for dinner?” Judith asked as Veronica got settled in her carriage. “Perhaps we could go for tea somewhere. It is late in the day, but I wish to parade you about in all honesty.”
“Mama,” Veronica chastised teasingly. “That would be improper.”
“And? We have been the nasty talk of thetonfor a while. Should a mother not get to show off her daughter who is now a duchess?”
In truth, Veronica could not deny her mother wanting to do that, but she knew it wasn’t what she wanted. She held her mother’s hand and squeezed tightly.
“I will miss you,” Veronica told her. “Westley Manor is beautiful, but I miss Grantham House. I still do not like you living here alone.”
“I shall not be alone for long,” Judith said insistently. “For your brother shall return, I believe in that. And when he does, he shall marry and take over the estate properly. And I will dine with my two children once again.”
“I look forward to that day.” Veronica hugged her once more through the window of the carriage before she sat back in her seat and called for her journey back to the manor to begin.
She waved out of the window of the carriage long after she could not see her mama.
“Back to the lonely manor,” she sighed.
