'I am worried about Ophelia, Ben.' She came and sat on the edge of his bed, realizing that she never bothered to come into the chamber before. She tilted her chin up to admire the new mural on his wall depicting azure skies and playful cherubs. Ben looked up from where he was going through a report on some new farming techniques by the fire. 'I feel as though something was amiss in her behavior.'
'I agree.' Her husband concurred. 'But not to worry, I have spoken to her.'
Minerva couldn't shake the sense of foreboding that was coiling through her. She tried to convince herself that she was overreacting, that her bias against Needham was making her see things that weren't there.
But she had seen it. Needham had reached for Ophelia after breakfast and she had flinched away from his touch. The steel in his eyes afterward had sent alarm bells tolling away in her head. How many times had she seen the same exact exchange between her parents?
'You have?' She asked, trying to keep her voice even. 'What did she say?'
Vera had never liked Needham, but her apathy had turned into active dislike when, upon a visit about a year ago, he had yelled at one of her maids until the girl had wept because she had accidentally spilled some tea over his newspaper. And when Vera had stepped in, she had seen such unchecked rage in his eyes that she had nearly staggered under the force of it. Ugly, harsh, and unforgiving; and Needham had managed to mask it with a bored look so swiftly that it had unsettled Vera to the bone.
Needham had not liked Vera after she had undermined him in front of the staff, but she out-ranked him and he dared not say anything or make his dislike known. He remained unfailingly polite, always courteous but Vera could not shake the feeling that she had a glimpse of the real Needham that day, instead of witnessing him at a bad moment.
'She and Needham have been fighting as of late. Naught to be very concerned over.' He reassured her then turned back to his reading. Vera wasn't so easily mollified.
One by one, other small details began to filter in. Details, which, on their own were insignificant, but if one were to take a step back, a picture would begin to form. Ophelia's clumsiness as of late, Ophelia sometimes canceling plans at the last minute, Ophelia's hesitance to leave her husband for long stretches, the Arabian that had been abused, and the tendency of staff to quit Needham's household after a few months.
A very, very concerning picture.
Everything in her was screaming at her to tell Benedict. He would tear apart anyone who would dare to harm his family.
How to do so when all she had to go on was a gut feeling? No solid evidence to speak of. Not even servants' gossip. The niggling of self-doubt would not leave her.
What if her personal experience was making her see things that weren't there? Just like with gin; just because someone imbibed did not make them a threat. Her brain just refused to understand that. What if what Ben was saying was right and she had just witnessed the aftermath of a marital quarrel?
She feared that if she was wrong and she set Benedict's into motion over nothing, she might ruin her sister's happiness. And her relationship. Ophelia was one of Minerva's closest friends. One of her few allies in a sea of hostiles. She could not afford to alienate her.
No, she must talk to Ophelia first. She would have to scheme to get her alone, Needham was a terribly clingy husband. Always underfoot.
But before that, she had a ball to prepare for.
As if he had read her very thoughts, her husband asked, 'What is the color of the gown you will wear tonight?'
'It is midnight blue with silver embroidery on the bodice. Why do you ask?'
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A Marriage Most Inconvenient (Inconvenient Matches Book #1)
रोमांस[The Inconvenient Matches series is comprised entirely of stand alone novels that can be read in any order] Forced into marriage by duty and obligation, The Duke and Duchess of Rothbury parted ways a week after saying their vows under the explicit u...
