AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’re pregnant?”
Briony nodded, her face radiant. “Sorry, we had this whole plan for telling you over dinner, but I just couldn’t resist.” She turned to Alaric. “You’re going to be an uncle!”
Alaric swept her into a tight hug.
“Congratulations.”
The rest of the evening passed in a blur. Conversation shifted from what Briony and Cass had done on their honeymoon to the upcoming treaty with Switzerland. It wasn’t until after dinner, when Alaric pulled Cass aside to talk business, that Briony and Clara got a moment alone.
“I’m really happy for you and Cass,” Clara said as they sipped tea by the fire.
“Thank you.” Briony patted her still-flat stomach. “It’s a little hard to take it all in. Finding out I’m a princess, getting married, having a baby. I feel like I’ve lived three lifetimes these last few months.” She leaned in, a conspiratorial gleam in her eye. “I couldn’t help but wonder if you and I will be giving birth about the same time.”
For a moment Clara just stared at her.
“What... I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I saw you the day of our wedding.” She motioned toward Clara’s belly. “Your hand drifted down and laid across your stomach, just like I started doing as soon as I found out. And then I remembered the night of the dinner with the Swiss ambassador and his family.” Her smile turned devilish. “When you and Alaric were comforting me, I didn’t fully register the implication of your hair being all mussed when I came to his office. But then it all fell into place.”
“You haven’t told anyone, have you?”
“No, of course not! The only reason I even told Daxon that the two of you had gotten married was because he was spouting off about contacting Alaric’s ex-fiancée’s father and trying to get their marriage back on track.” She scowled. “Alaric never should have been engaged to her in the first place.”
Clara’s initial panic abated, leaving her feeling a little dizzy.
“Alaric...you should know Alaric didn’t cheat on Celestine. What happened between us happened after she’d broken off their engagement.”
Briony laid her hand over Clara’s. “My brother is one of the most honorable people I know. I never doubted his integrity for one second. But even if the sequence of events had been different, their engagement wasn’t real. And judging by the photos I saw, she was certainly not faithful to him.”
Clara’s lips twisted into a grimace. She’d seen plenty of photos of Celestine Osborn, but that last one, especially knowing what she did know about Alaric’s past, made her livid that a woman could act so selfishly and cruelly.
“She certainly seemed to like the attention,” was the nicest thing she could come up with.
“The wrong attention. Now, your photos,” Briony said, her voice lightening, “those were stunning.”
Clara smiled as a pleased blush stole across her cheeks. “Thank you.”
“I’m so glad Alaric listened to me.”
“Listened to you?”
“Yeah, about moving the ceremony...” Briony’s voice trailed off as her eyes widened for a moment. “I just mentioned the rose garden seemed really nice. I spent a lot of time there when I first got to the palace.”
Clara’s chest tightened with pain. She’d thought Alaric had come up with the idea to move the ceremony himself. It had been the first gesture that had made her question if perhaps he saw their relationship as something more than just a business arrangement.
Except it hadn’t been his idea at all.
Her chest tightened painfully.
“Did you suggest anything else?”
Briony glanced at her husband and her brother.
“I don’t think—”
“Briony. Please.”
Her sister-in-law’s face fell. “The dress. And the photographer.”
