Page 155 of His Forsaken Bride

“Some kind of diaphanous fabric,” said Fen uneasily. “You can see my legs. And…things.”

“Things?”

“Well, not see them, but they’re sort of…hinted at,” said Fen painstakingly. “Eden explained that signor Arnotti portrayed me as a goddess.” She winced, “Reclining on a cloud.”

Oswald sighed, propping himself up on the pillows. “And where is this portrait now?”

“I’m not really sure,” Fen admitted. “Eden has it, but she said she would send it along to our rooms. She thought it should be exhibited, but I said not without your permission. I was so upset after viewing it, that I sort of rushed off in a blind panic and…That’s when I started packing my things.” Her voice wobbled. “I thought you would never forgive me.”

“Oh Fen,” Oswald’s voice was contrite as he cupped her face. “Foolish Fen. I never had any intention of sending you down to the country. Even when I was saying it, I never meant it. Not in my heart. Even when I was furious with you, I had every intention of keeping you firmly attached to my side.”

“What about…after that awful play?” she asked in a small voice.

Oswald’s lips twitched. “The only part that bothered me about that ridiculous play, was the idea that you still weren’t over Thane.” He dropped a kiss on her nose and then settled back against the pillows. “Mason told me you had given the manuscript to Hester Schaeffer, and then I realized you had tried to mitigate things. That calmed me down considerably. By the time we went to bed that night, I was already over it.” She rolled into his side and he ran a comforting hand down her back. “I’m sorry I kept over-reacting,” he said ruefully. “It’s the strangest thing, I’ve always considered myself the most even-tempered Vawdrey in existence. Then you came along and shattered my equanimity to a thousand pieces.”

Fen hid her face in his side. “That’s what the King said,” she admitted in a muffled voice. “He said I shouldn’t practice my womanly arts on you.”

Oswald gave a choked laugh, and Fen peered up at him. “You don’t need to tell me that. The King is all too aware that I have completely lost my mind over you.”

“Are you laughing because you don’t think I have any female tricks?” asked Fen, giving him a light pinch to his side.

His smile broadened. “Never, I know only too well that you are full of tricks, wife. You have enough to keep me occupied for the next sixty years at least. However, having recently come to terms with my possessive side, I am almost certain that I will want this portrait for my own private viewing pleasure and no-one else’s. I hope that doesn’t disappoint you.”

“Not at all,” Fen hastened to assure him, and laid her head against his bare chest. Then she remembered something and lifted a troubled gaze to his. “There was just one other thing I think we should talk about…” she said.

Oswald tucked his hands behind his head, looking unconcerned. “And what is that, wife?”

Fen took a deep breath. “Your plans to build yourself a palace.”

Oswald’s brows snapped together. “A palace?” he repeated blankly.

She nodded. “Several people have mentioned it to me, yet you yourself never have. I wondered why.”

He seemed to ponder this a moment. “It was more of a country estate than a palace,” he corrected her. “Only since we’ve been married, I haven’t given it much thought. I haven’t dragged out the plans in months. And I used to pore over them well into the early hours of the morning. Almost obsessively.”

“Why did you stop?” Fen asked.

He frowned. “I think,” he said slowly. “that at the time, it was the only thing I had in my life that I derived any relaxation or pleasure from. If I had a trying day, I’d get out the plans and add in a moat or another turret. I was planning for some unspecified time in the future when I’d have time for diversion or recreation.”

Fen opened her mouth and then closed it again.

“I suppose this isn’t really going to make any sense to you.”

Fen grasped her courage and admitted: “I feared that perhaps you didn’t want to share it with me,” she said in a small voice.

He was quiet a moment and Fen steeled herself to hear the worst. After all, he was a very private man, and she had rather forced herself into his life.

“Have you been worrying about this?” asked Oswald incredulously. To her surprise, his tone was more accusatory than anything.

Fen closed her eyes and swallowed. “Well – you’d be perfectly entitled to have-”

“How many times, Fenella Vawdrey?” he demanded. “Have I told you that if something is bothering you, you are to come directly to me?”

“Yes, but-”

“No,” he said firmly. “I would not be entitled to plan a future that did not include my wife in it.”

Fen looked at his expression and could see he was deadly serious. Despite the fact he was looking rather grim, her mood swooped up and lifted a few notches. “So, your palace?” she said. “Why are you no longer planning for it?”