Page 38 of Lady Fiona's Tall, Dark Folly
Chapter 9
“There you are!" Her aunt sailed into the salon as the hall clock struck the half hour. "I've looked everywhere!"
"But I told a footman I awaited you here."
"He didn't find me. No wonder, I've been everywhere." Her aunt brushed a hand over her coiffure. "I'm atwitter with this ball!"
"I'm sure. Did you go to the library?" Fifi asked, her voice squeaky with concern Diana might be discovered in a compromising position.
"I did. Northington was there. He told me he saw you in here when he passed by." She chuckled. "The poor man is pacing."
Diana and Collingswood must have gone elsewhere. Fifi exhaled.
"He is also quite grumpy." Her aunt rattled on. "But that's allowed."
"Grumpy. Is it?" How much did her aunt know about her daughter's reluctance to marry the man tomorrow? "Shouldn't the groom be happy? Eager?"
"Each reacts to their nuptials differently. One of my husband's brothers fainted the day before. Hit his head. Wore a bandage to the altar. A friend of his mixed so much port with champagne, he forgot his own name."
That unappetizing combination made Fifi wince.
"The vows weren't legal until he said his own name of his own accord. Had to do the ceremony twice."
Fifi sat forward. She had to get to the issues at hand. ”Do you like Northington, Aunt?"
She stared at Fifi as if she had two heads. "Of course. Why do you ask?"
"Does Uncle Courtland like him, too?"
"Ah. Well. You know men."
"I'm afraid I don't."
"What?"
"I don't know men. Most men. I knew best my father who, I must say, was not a regular sort of fellow. Where men are concerned, I go by instinct only."
Her aunt sank to the opposite chair. "I'm confused, dearest. Your note was vague. What is it that you wish to discuss? Northington or weddings...or your father?"
Fifi marshaled her forces. "You may have noticed that I am drawn to the Earl of Charlton."
"I do!" she cried, her lovely face wreathed in a smile. "And I am delighted that you have found him so charming. I invited new men this year. Just for you and all of Esme's friends. The war is over and we must have fun. So I... What is it, Fee?" She took her hand in her own. "Tell me, dearest."
"What do you know of the nature of my mother's and father's marriage?"
Her aunt's coffee brown eyes were so like Esme's. Mother and daughter could have been twins with twenty years age difference. The umber shadows that crossed her aunt's gaze were not to be denied. "Your parents were an unusual pair."
Fifi said nothing, only waited.
Her aunt snatched a breath. "They knew how to irritate each other."
Irritate. So mild a word for the chaos they had rained down upon each other.
"When they married, they tested each other. Equal to equal. But as years passed, your mother succumbed to his..."
Brutality.
"Requests. He did not respect her for that and his cruelty went from verbal to..."
