Page 83 of Once Bitten, Twice Mine

“You don’t have to answer that, my dear.”

Valeria’s head snapped towards her. “Dear? I’ve never once heard a pet name cross your lips.”

“He’s my fiancé.” Her face was so hot she wouldn’t have been surprised if she caught fire. Edgar’s head was pointed at his food, and she prayed he kept his attention there.

“Still, there are many who would have killed to hear such devotion from your lips.”

She snorted. “If they were so desperate to hear such devotion, then they wouldn’t kill at all.”

“Is that the surest way to lose your heart?” She turned to look at Edgar. “I would keep that in mind, Mr. Andrews. You don’t want to lose your pretty bride’s heart, if you can help it.”

“I’m not worried about losing her heart. We’ve been in each other’s lives a long time.” Edgar looked up at her with a smile that made her stomach twist.

“How sweet your love story is. It’s almost unbelievable it took so long for you to finally get married after being in love for so long.”

“Love takes many forms. It often changes and grows through the years,” Caroline said.

“I don’t know how you’ve managed to make passion sound so dull.”

“Passion is overrated.”

“Really?” Valeria asked with a raised brow. “By whom?”

“Everyone sensible. A fire may burn hot, but it also burns out. Hard.”

“My, that sounds so dramatic. Though, I’m not sure I agree with you. I think it’s difficult for true passion to burn out. What do you think, Mr. Andrews?”

“Passion ebbs and flows, but I believe it can be fostered,” Edgar said, taking a shaky breath as if speaking for that long winded him. “Though I do agree with my sweet that it is not the most important factor in a relationship.”

“And what do you think is more important?”

“Trust and respect are the foundation of any relationship.”

Caroline’s sweaty hand dropped her fork. She saw Valeria’s smirk slowly grow out of the corner of her eye.

“Trust is so valuable, but difficult to find. I envy anyone who has someone they can trust,” said Valeria.

“Trust is a two-way street; it can only be given if it’s reciprocated,” Caroline said, knowing it was smarter to keep her mouth shut. Edgar shouldn’t trust her—not anymore—but what really bothered her was the idea that Valeria thought she should when she had been deceiving Caroline.

“Long-term, of course, but sometimes trust requires a leap of faith.”

“I would say blind trust destroys relationships. Especially when the person who requires it is a liar.”

Valeria laughed, but there was no humor in her eyes. “Do you think I’m the only liar here?”

Caroline huffed; it wasn’t as if she needed to feel worse about it. Though her lies to Edgar weren’t nearly as bad as Valeria’s lies to her were. Her lies had no body count.

“Somehow I have managed to avoid homesickness for weeks, but now that I know you were just with my family, I miss them all very much. You spent a lot of time with The Count, but how did you find his wife, Lady Devereaux?”

“She’s lovely.” Edgar’s face softened, but she wasn’t jealous of his adoration of another woman. “She’s a delicate, fair creature. It’s so curious that you all seem to have such similar conditions despite not being blood-related.”

“We were all bitten by a similar bug. We’re quite lucky to have sunsickness instead of malaria,” Valeria said, leaning forward. She wore the same dress she wore for her engagement party. It wasn’t as dangerously low-cut as some of her others, but she was still giving Edgar a view of her bosom, and she didn’t like that. “What did you and Lady Devereaux do in all the time you spent together?”

“We mainly rested, but sometimes her sister would play the pianoforte for us.”

“You really met the whole family. The Count must have taken quite a liking to you.”

Edgar’s smile was boastful in a way Caroline had never seen before. By nature, he was a modest man, so this reaction surprised her. Maybe she didn’t know everything about the man she was to marry.