Page 59 of Scandalous Heiress
“Right you are.He said as much to me at Brentwood last week.”
“My brother-in-law’s sister, Elanna the countess of Carbury, and her husband are very unhappy.They have been from the beginning.None of us can say what might be the cause.Useless to speculate.But they married four years ago soon after Lily and Julian.The reason she accepted him was money.Her family had little.Julian’s father had not managed his estates well.Carbury, a neighbor of theirs in the country, had known Elanna all her life.He offered for her and she accepted him because she had to.She’d found no other men she preferred and so she married him.
“Nine months after they wed, she gave birth to a son.But soon afterward, she left her husband and came to London to live.It’s a scandal, but she doesn’t care.Carbury often comes banging on Julian’s door demanding he order his sister to return home, but Julian has tried to talk sense to her and she refuses to return.Her husband accuses her of improperly receiving the Seton family solicitor.He’s even ordered Julian to dismiss the man.But Julian has refused.In fact, Julian has revealed that he’s taken money from the Seton estate and sequestered it from Carbury’s reach.He says if she ever needs funds, she’ll have something to live on.”
He grimaced.“The Carburys seem well beyond discussing their differences.”
She agreed.“If it’s a matter of temperament, then they do not match.Carbury is forceful, belligerent.Elanna didn’t seem to be.Julian declares she was a sweet young woman, but marriage soured her.She antagonizes him.He goads her.They argue in public, in the streets, of all things.From time to time, Carbury will come up from the country to their townhouse.He demands entry for one reason or another.She tries to lock him out, and he persuades the servants to let him in.Aside from their screaming arguments, they’ve thrown lamps at each other.He has ripped her clothes to shreds.Worst of all, she shuns their baby.A boy.Three years old, Nate was born on the same day as Lily and Julian’s first son, Garrett.”
To hear of another’s plight had soured Victor’s expression.“Let’s speak of brighter things, shall we?”
“Yes, let’s.”
He reached across and squeezed her hand, then gave her a consoling smile.
“What would you like?”she asked, happy to be here with him in the sunshine.“The topic of which novel you currently read or the current actions in Parliament?”
“You’ve read this morning’s news, I would gather?”
“I have.Shall we debate the current price of corn or the value of the reform measures of women’s property rights?”
Amused, he narrowed his eyes on her.“Why does this interest you?”
“Because money is interesting.Don’t you think?A man’s?A woman’s?Mine?”
“Some men are not interested in a woman’s money.”
“I’ve met few of them,” she announced with a decided scowl.
“You’ve met me,” he said with hard intention.
She folded her hands in her lap.This man was a treasure.In politics or out.“You’d support the woman’s Marriage Bill?”A new one in Parliament was unusual in that it stipulated a woman may control her own money and her own stock.
“Of course.You’d want control of your own inheritance.”
“I would.I think my father would too.”
“Or any father.”
“Or any woman who earns her own income.”She thought of her step-mother, Liv who had earned a living doing interior design for clients.“If these gentlemen in Parliament want to make it possible for me to keep mine after I’m married, I’m happy to support them.”
That made him beam.“Tell me why.”
“Well, first of all, why shouldn’t a woman control the money she earns or inherits?”
“I agree.What else?”
“If she owns stocks, she should have the ownership and dividends of those, too.Don’t you think?”
“Indeed.”
She stiffened in her seat.“Appalling to think that women haven’t.That they’ve had to go begging their husbands or fathers or brothers for it.”
“Dastardly.”He was chuckling.
His humor was contagious.“Why are you laughing?”
“Anything else before Parliament that you’d like to discuss?”
