Page 144
Oswald stared at him. “She wanted to cry?” he asked tightly.
Mason nodded. “And then you left her alone in your bed and spent the night elsewhere. If actions speak louder than words, then you dealt her a hefty blow.”
Oswald sat down heavily. Shit. The play had been so ludicrous that watching it performed had actually robbed it of its sting for him. Could it be that the experience had been different for Fenella? He felt suddenly cold, in the pit of his stomach.
Mason drew out a chair opposite him and sat down. ““Linnet once cried because I told her I didn’t want to hear her every thought,” he confided.
“Really? Why did you do that?” asked Oswald warily.
“Because I was a stupid son of a bitch.”
Oswald considered this a moment. “Mason, Linnet never stops chattering at you.”
“I changed my mind,” said Mason smugly.
Oswald thought about this. Mason had the happiest marriage of anyone he knew. “I may not have been the most considerate husband,” he admitted. “But that doesn’t mean-” he broke off his words.
Mason looked at him hard. “You resent her because you were tricked into marriage,” he suggested.
Oswald gave a short laugh. “Hardly.” There was a heavy pause. He met his brother’s gaze. “It was the other way around,” he said softly. “I trapped her.”
Mason’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s not what everyone thinks.”
Oswald shrugged. “People think what I want them to think. It’s always been that way.”
Mason sat back in his seat, stretching out his long legs. “Roland always said that about you.”
Oswald smiled mirthlessly. “Roland’s not my greatest admirer.”
“Nor mine,” snorted Mason. “He misses Father. He’s jealous of our closeness.”
Oswald shot a look of surprise at Mason. “Roland?”
“Aye. He feels left out.”
Oswald digested this in silence.
“Why did you trap her?” asked Mason curiously.
“It was convenient at the time,” answered Oswald sounding tired. It seemed like such a long time ago.
“But not anymore?”
Convenient? To have a wife who plagued his every waking thought? Oswald gave a short shake of his head.
“Why haven’t you just sent her down to Vawdrey Keep before?” asked Mason with interest.
“Because I don’t want her out of my sight.” His voice was harsh. He didn’t moderate his tone.
“Yet, you just told me…”
“I was lying through my teeth,” Oswald gritted out. “I lie all the time. Didn’t Roland tell you that?”
Mason shrugged. “You don’t lie about important things. Just,” he waved a hand. “Court politics and the like.”
“I lie about everything,” said Oswald bitterly.
Mason remained silent a moment.
