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Eden sighed softly, “I hadn’t thought about it until just this minute. I’m sorry, I hope that doesn’t sound ghoulish.”
“Not at all. It’s a very sensible question since we’ll undoubtedly spend the rest of our lives together.”
“You’ve not given me even one day to consider my options,” Eden reminded him. “Please don’t rush me.” Raven did not look pleased by that request, so she hurriedly changed the subject. “Why is there no portrait of Eleanora here?”
“Alex had only one of her and he took it to Jamaica. You’ll see it there.”
Exasperated that he had again taunted her about her decision, Eden gave up on their conversation but she was very curious about what sort of a woman Eleanora had been.
As they continued on up the stairs, Raven made no effort to hide his smile, and with the promise to rejoin her soon, he left her at her door.
Chapter Seven
August 1863
Eden wore a gown of ice blue satin to dinner that night. Raven recalled seeing her in it at one of the balls they had attended. It was stunning, but once again he wondered at her choice of attire. When they entered the dining room, he helped her take the first seat on the right, then slid into what had always been Alex’s place at the head of the table.
“Do you not own a black gown?” he attempted to ask without sounding critical.
“Why no, I don’t. But Alex asked me not to wear black for him. He wanted me to always wear the pastel colors he thought so pretty.”
Raven had no way of knowing what Alex had told Eden, but because that did sound like something the gracious man might have said, he didn’t question her any further. Her wardrobe was a minor point when Raven considered the fact he had absolutely no idea of the content of Alex and Eden’s conversations just prior to their elopement or during their brief marriage. If Eden realized that, then surely she would use it to her own advantage and cleverly fabricate all kinds of convenient things Alex might have said whenever she wished to make a point.
It was a disturbing thought, but if she and Alex had talked about something so insignificant as her wardrobe, what could they have failed to discuss? Realizing there were several important questions he ought to ask, Raven waited until they had finished their soup to respond.
“You knew all the while, then, that Alex didn’t have long to live?”
Eden was amazed by that question when she thought the answer had to be obvious. “Yes, of course. He told me before he proposed. The shock would have killed me when I lost him had I not known that each day we spent together might be our last. Perhaps we were overly optimistic under the circumstances, but we’d hoped to measure the length of our marriage in months or possibly years, rather than days. Didn’t you realize that I must have known Alex’s heart wasn’t strong?”
Raven shrugged. “I knew Alex meant to tell you, but I wasn’t certain that he actually had.” After all, the last time he had spoken with him, he had gotten the impression that Alex meant to tell her goodbye.
Determined to defend herself, Eden could not let that comment go unchallenged. “Then you must have thought me the most unfeeling of women.”
Raven had a great many opinions about her, but few he cared to share. “You always struck me as being very serious-minded. When you learned of Alex’s illness really doesn’t matter. I knew you’d be able to cope with his death.”
The coldness of that remark jarred Eden badly. If Raven truly thought her more unfeeling than brave, she did not want him to hold such an insulting misconception a moment longer. “I’ll miss Alex for the rest of my life. That I’m not so sick with grief that I can’t leave my bed doesn’t mean that his death didn’t affect me very deeply.”
The threat of tears made her amber eyes glow with an appealing golden light. That she was a great beauty was a fact of which Raven was already fully aware, however. He reached over to take her left hand. Alex had given her a magnificent diamond and ruby ring, which Raven caressed lightly with his thumb as he began to smile. “Anytime you wish to take to your bed, let me know, and I’ll be happy to console you there.”
“You bastard.” Eden yanked her hand from beneath his and rose to her feet so rapidly she nearly toppled over her chair. She fled the elegant dining room, unable to give him the tongue-lashing he deserved, but the minute she reached the privacy of her room, she gave vent to her rage. She blasted Raven with every despicable name she had ever heard shouted in her father’s shipyard, but that failed to erase her guilt over the ease with which he had already shared her bed.
She had used the handsome young man shamefully, and that was something she knew she w
ould never be able to forgive herself for doing. That Raven would pounce on an opportunity to remind her of that horrible indiscretion was equally unforgivable, however. Despite his devotion to Alex, Raven had proven himself to be arrogantly self-centered. Clearly he cared only about himself.
A new torrent of tears began to stream down Eden’s face then, for all she truly cared about was Alex, and her darling Alex was gone.
Eden’s parting insult stung Raven far more harshly than she could ever have guessed, but he did not let it show. Instead, he continued to enjoy the excellent meal. He gave no excuse for Eden’s sudden departure from the table to the footmen who brought in the remaining courses. Instead he made a point of savoring every last crumb and sending his compliments to the cook. He then went out for a stroll in the garden before entering the study, where he sat and sipped brandy for a good long while.
He liked the fact Eden was such a high-spirited woman, but he saw no reason for her to constantly resort to tears to justify her actions when her motivations were all so clear. She had to have known even a brief marriage to Alex would leave her wealthy should her family suffer irreversible losses in the Civil War.
Women were expected to protect their futures with marriage. He would not condemn her for that. It was the fact she had taken advantage of Alex’s love for her that galled him, for in doing so she had undoubtedly hastened his death. Even if she had shortened Alex’s life by no more than an hour, he intended to make her pay for that crime.
Raven felt neither sad nor lonely that night, merely determined. He knew precisely what he wanted from Eden, and certain she had had sufficient time to calm down and provide it, he went upstairs to find her.
His bed had been turned down, but it was empty that night. He had expected as much, however. When he tried the connecting door between his room and Eden’s, he found it locked but that presented no problem to a man who had been raised in the house. All the doors could be unlocked with a single key, and he had several.
When he walked into Eden’s bedroom, Raven was disappointed to find her already asleep. Her blue gown had been replaced in the wardrobe; indeed, there was nothing out of place, no feminine clutter in sight. If she had carelessly tossed her clothes about, then one of the maids had seen that the fine garments did not remain on the floor.
