Page 77 of About a Rogue
She frowned at him. “You could have prevented all that if you had listened to Cathy.”
He rolled his eyes. “She barely said a word against him! How was I to know it wasn’t just maidenly nerves? Frances assured me young ladies have such fits of passion, and when they recover no one, even they themselves, can recall what the fuss was. She was certain Cathy would get over her fit and settle down contentedly with St. James.”
“You consulted Aunt Frances about us?” Bianca was incredulous.
“Who else?” he asked in surprise. “What other woman should I ask for help with my daughters?”
Bianca was speechless. Frances cared for them, but she was also a quarrelsome old lady who’d been disappointed in love herself. Frances was the last person whose counsel she would ask when it came to marriage or happiness.
Papa waved one hand. “I’m not above admitting I was wrong. Neither is Frances.”
“She isn’t?”
He laughed at her dry remark. “Not in so many words, of course.”
“You’re in an expansive mood today,” she couldn’t resist saying.
Papa grinned. “Am I? It must be because your sister’s written to me.”
Bianca gasped. “She has? You never said! Is she well?”
He nodded, beaming. “She says so. Mr. Mayne has been writing to his superiors, and has finally been assured he may come back to his living here. I gather the bishop was displeased with his actions, but has decided it will all come out well.”
“I hope it was because you wrote to the bishop that you now approved of the marriage,” remarked Bianca.
Papa grunted. “Well, your sister asked it of me, and since all came out so happily for you, I could hardly refuse her.”
Bianca shook her head, but with a smile. She’d known Papa would forgive Cathy anything. “So she’s coming home?” She was both anxious to see her sister and nervous of the reunion, and the explanations that would be required. In her letters to Cathy, she hadn’t been able to find the words, and finally gave it up as hopeless, promising herself she would explain much better in person.
“I have every confidence she’ll come soon,” her father promised. “Especially once she hears of your marriage!”
“You... you told her?” Bianca asked after a moment. “What did you say?”
“That you married St. James in her place, much to the advantage of everyone.” Papa rose. “I expect you’ll want to fill in the details, but I thought you might like someone else breaking the news to her.”
She gave him a sour look, and he laughed, patting her on the shoulder.
When she met Max at the factory gate later that day, it was the first thing she told him. Max raised a brow. “You hadn’t told her already yourself?”
“No.” Bianca cringed. “I should have. What shall I say now?”
They strolled along, arm in arm. Bianca was a little astonished at herself; she’d been thinking of this all day, craving his advice. She, who was so decisive and who trusted her own judgment.
“Is there a reason not to tell her the truth?”
She blew out her breath. “She’ll be so disappointed in me.”
He squeezed her hand. “Would her feelings matter more than your own?”
Bianca paused. She hadn’t let Cathy’s opinion stop her before. “I fear the truth is not my friend this time.”
He cut a sharp look at her.
“I can bear her disappointment at how I argued with Papa,” Bianca explained quickly. “I can bear it when she learns how I... I agreed to our marriage in a fit of temper.” Her cheeks were burning. “I shall hate to tell her how long I blamed you and called you the worst sort of fortune hunter.”
“You could omit that bit,” he suggested after a pause. “Or make light of it. Surely what matters most is how we get on now.”
Warmth flooded her at the thought of that. She squeezed his arm and gave him a teasing smile as they reached Poplar House. “Howdowe get on now, sir?”
