Pembroke Palace 02 by The Mistress Diaries

Author:The Mistress Diaries [Diaries, The Mistress]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-08-30T15:14:21+00:00

Chapter 13

I sometimes wonder what is more power-ful—the burning intensity of lust, or a quieter affection that blooms slowly over time. I certainly know which of the two is more meaningful, but meaning is not always what guides us through life. Sometimes we are victims of our impulses.

—from the journal of Cassandra Montrose, Lady Colchester, June 23, 1874

hree days later Vincent made good on his commitment to Cassandra and June with the purchase of Langley Hall and all the surrounding acreage. The deal would be closed the day after his wedding, when he’d receive five thousand pounds from his father just for saying “I do.”

Over the next two weeks, he traveled to and from London to take care of various details regarding the purchase of the house—such as the acquisition of furniture and the hiring of servants. His mother, his fiancée, and the Duchess of Swinburne also traveled to London to make purchases for the wedding, which gave him the freedom to visit his daughter as often as he pleased.

More often than not he found June in the pram in the gardens, sleeping soundly beneath an organza cover, while Cassandra pulled weeds from the earth or planted new seeds. Sometimes he found his daughter lying on her belly on a quilt under the oak tree, while Cassandra sat beside her with an open book in her hands.

Through it all, he was perhaps most pleased to discover that she chose not to disappear when his coach pulled up in front of the house at the prearranged time. Rather, she would take June into her arms and greet him on the steps—always eager to place her into his outstretched hands.

Over those busy few weeks, he also discovered that he could be an affectionate, doting father, and even a gentleman, too—and that it was not quite as difficult as he’d imagined it would be. He was surprisingly capable of resisting his attraction to Cassandra, and when he contemplated the reasons why, he understood that it was more than a mere matter of being in breach of their contract. The truth of the matter was—he did not want to lose what was becoming a comfortable friendship.

So they spent many hours together in a congenial, companionable manner, strolling down to the river or through the Pembroke forests with the puppy, the core focus of their conversations always one safe thing—little June.

After two weeks of perfectly respectable contractual visits—during which neither Cassandra nor Vincent so much as mentioned their passionate kiss at Langley Hall—Cassandra managed to convince herself that everything was going to work out. She even began to accept the fact that she enjoyed Vincent’s company. She allowed herself to look forward to his visits, because despite their turbulent past, he was the one person in the world who understood and shared her infatuation with her baby. He, too, was enamored and delighted with every little gurgle and burp, every cry, every dazzling, delightful smile.

As for the kiss, she forced herself to forget about it. She put it out of her mind completely, pretended it never happened.

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