“Oh no, you stay where you are, Lady Worthing. Your cause is far greater than playing nursemaid to me. And Cassandra shouldn’t be on her feet.” Caroline turned to Mother. “Would you accompany us, Aunt Valentine?”
“Me?” Taken aback by the request, Mother took a second torecover, then gave an eager nod. “It would be my pleasure.”
She excelled at matchmaking, politics, and social contracts. She liked to plan weddings and hold babies. And she only had Jasmine,who had given her nothing but stress. It must have devastated her to have rebellion-incarnate as a daughter. Jasmine frowned when Caroline, the ambassador, and Mother left the room. Adjusting her gaze to the children playing on the floor, she studied Cassandra’s daughter. Rose was a blend of both her parents, with curly brown hair and bright blue eyes.
What will my children look like?
They would be strong-willed tyrants if they were anything like their parents. Visions filled her mind of a curly-haired child with Matthew’s eyes, and a knot formed in her throat. If she had married him upon her debut, they would have had a child or two already. An absence she felt deeper with each passing day.
At Jasmine’s silence, Cassandra prodded, “Why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you?”
Jasmine blurted out, “What if I’m not a good mother?”
Cassandra put her embroidery aside and gave Jasmine her undivided attention. “You’ll be a wonderful mother.”
“I’m worried I’m going to turn intomymother,” Jasmine admitted.
Cassandra laughed. “You have a good mother.”
“As respectfully as I can say this,” Honora said with the tone of someone not worried at all about respect, “Neither of you had good mothers. Cassandra’s mother encouraged love.Lady Dorchester is too lenient—and I’ll say that to her face. She should have married you off years ago.”
Jasmine tried not to bristle. “What about your mother?”
“I have the best mother.” Honora gave an appreciative sigh. “She knew exactly what she was doing.”
“She married you to an eighty-year-old man!”
“Precisely.And I cursed her name hourly during my early days of marriage. I endured hardship, mistreatment, survived a harrowing birth… but now my son is an earl.” She smirked. “And I have become the most powerful widow in England—because of my mother.”
“I think most mothers and daughters have problems with each other,” Cassandra said. “I’m sure Rose will have plenty of complaints about me. Rebecca too, once she’s born. Well.” Cassandra gave her a lopsided smile. “Hopefully not right away.”
Jasmine’s eyes drifted to Cassandra’s belly, with a baby moving inside that would one day need to come out. Not only painful, but life-threatening. Jasmine missed Rose’s birth, and guilt tore her apart for not being there for Cassandra during her time of need. This time, she would be by her side—as her sister-in-law.
And one day, it would be Jasmine’s turn.
“Aren’t you terrified?” Jasmine asked.
“All the time,” Cassandra said earnestly. “But I love Rose beyond description, and I’ll love Rebecca just as much. It will be worth it when I hold her.”
Jasmine looked between Honora and Cassandra. She didn’t want to ask either of them questions about the bedchamber, but this might be her only opportunity to ask a married lady—who wasn’t her mother—what to expect.
“Was it strange for you to share a bed with Seth?” she asked Cassandra. “You had known him for most of your life as well. Was it uncomfortable?”
“At first,it was very strange,” Cassandra admitted. “But Seth was patient.”
Jasmine redirected her gaze to her lap. Matthew would be patient as well. He would know what to do. She tried not to think of how he acquired his knowledge, but how could a rake possibly find pleasure with someone who had difficulty being held?
“Does the passion fade?” Jasmine asked. “Does it get boring?”
Cassandra snorted. “I would never describe Seth as boring.”
“How do you keep things interesting?”
Blushing, Cassandra went back to her needlework. “There areways.”
Jasmine grinned at her. “Good for you, Cassandra.”
“Shameless, the both of you,” Honora said. “Passion is unseemly.”
