She crossed that out immediately.
Your Grace,
No, that wasn’t right either. After thinking for several seconds, she began with:
James,
We haven’t always seen eye-to-eye on what this marriage should look like, and I am still angry about the fact that you never gave me the chance to choose. But the things I said today were beyond the pale. No matter what you may have done, it is important to me that I keep my temper in check and always speak to those I respect with respect.
And I do respect you. After everything we went through with Farrell, I know that you are a good man. You put your life at risk to help the people who rely on you for their incomes and homes, to help those poor dogs, and to help me. Despite the frustration I feel over our current situation, it was wrong of me to strike so low and say such hurtful things to you.
I’m sorry, James. I don’t want an annulment. I don’t know what will happen in our marriage, but I do know that I am lucky to be married to a man as strong, brave, and morally clean as you are.
I hope that you can forgive me and that we can make our marriage work.
Sincerely,
Violet.
Violet re-read the letter several times, her tongue poking between her lips. The letter wasn’t particularly eloquent, but she was writing it near midnight, and her nerves were frayed. It was better to be honest, even if it was less polished, and to apologize sincerely, rather than get muddled up trying to use fancy language.
It’ll have to do.
She folded up the letter, sealed it with a small bit of wax, and then went to the door that separated her room from her husband’s. Once there, she paused.
Is he still awake? Is it possible he is writing me a letter as well? Or has he already gone to his solicitor to annul our marriage before I can?
The last thought made her immediately sick to her stomach, even though she knew it was ridiculous. After all, it was after midnight.
No solicitor would be open now.
Mustering her courage, Violet bent down and slid the letter through the crack under the door.
For several seconds, nothing happened, then someone on the other side of the door grabbed the letter and pulled it away. Violet leaped back as if burned by an iron, and the door swung open. A little sheepishly, she looked up to see her husband standing over her, one hand on his hip, the other holding her letter.
“You have something to say to me?” he asked, raising an eyebrow as he lifted the letter and waved it in the air.
Blushing furiously, Violet straightened up and smoothed down her night shift. “I wrote it in that letter,” she said, eyeing the letter. “If you’re curious, you can read it.”
Her husband narrowed his eyes at her. “Is there a reason you would rather have me read a letter than just tell me what you want to say? Is it because the letter is going to soften whatever bad news is in it?”
“No,” Violet said, frowning in annoyance. “It’s because it’s easier to say certain things in writing than in person. Everyone knows that.”
James raised an eyebrow. “I never knew you were the kind of person who liked to do things the easy way, versus the right way.”
Now it was her turn to put her hands on her hips. “We had an awful fight tonight, in case you don’t remember, and I wasn’t sure you would want to speak to me. I thought it was better for both of us to put what I had to say in writing so that we didn’t end up having another screaming match for the whole tonto hear.”
“The whole tonisn’t going to hear us now. We’re in our bedroom.”
“My point is that I didn’t want things to devolve into hurtful words again,” she said quietly.
James looked down at the letter in his hands. For a long moment, he examined it, turning it over in his hands. Then, to her surprise, he walked over to the fire that was still glowing in the grate and tossed the letter into it.
“What are you doing?” Violet shrieked, running forward.
But her husband caught her by the arm and held her back. When she looked up at him, there was a hint of a smile on his lips.
“Now you will have to tell me in person,” he said.
