An Unacceptable Arrangement (17 page)

Another wife, a sweet, kind woman chimed in.
“Well as long as you are happy, that is all that matters.”
Cassandra took a sip of wine and decided to go for broke. “I don’t
believe that my happiness was one of the factors taken into
consideration.”

She looked over at Frederic and instantly
regretted her words. He looked hurt. It was very difficult to let
her parents know that they’d ruined her life, without making her
husband think that she didn’t love him. This party was beginning to
give her a headache. Soon she suspected by the storm clouds
gathering on her husband’s countenance, more than her head would
hurt.

The woman gossip spoke again. “Why, I’m dying
to see your engagement and wedding rings, my dear. Why are you not
wearing them?”

Cassandra looked coolly at her husband. He
suddenly looked exactly as he had at the altar, as if he hadn’t
given the idea of rings another thought since that moment.

“In my husband’s country, the custom is to
exchange anniversary rings rather than wedding rings,” Cassandra
rescued him by explaining. Everyone looked thoughtful. She had made
that up, but nobody knew for certain if it was the truth or not, so
the topic was dropped. Also, perhaps it would give her husband some
ideas for future gifts. She hoped he’d notice that she had no
jewelry at all while all of the other women at the table were
dripping with jewels. It was unseemly to wear one’s childhood
jewels; married women wore only the jewelry their husbands gave
them. Then the thought occurred that perhaps once in Bavaria she
could have her jewels reset into something more adult.

She glanced at her parents out of the corner
of her eye. They sat quietly listening to Cassandra explain the
unfortunate details of her marriage to her dinner guests, both of
them unhappily looking down at their plates.
Good
, she
thought,
perhaps they are learning not to unexpectedly descend
upon me
.

Again the gossiping woman needled her. “Don’t
you miss your old life my dear, your friends and activities?”
Cassandra realized that she should have at least glanced at the
calling cards the butler had presented to her. This woman knew she
wasn’t usually taking callers, had she tried to visit?

“I never look to the past, Lady Ashley. I
only look to the present and to the future, with my husband, the
Baron at his side in Germany.” She swore she heard a sob from her
mother but when she looked at her, she had not changed
position.

Frederic began to feel uncomfortable. These
people, none of who knew his true identity (except for Lord and
Lady Newblythe, of course) seemed to be insinuating that he wasn’t
good enough for Cassandra.

“I can assure you that I have a very large
estate in Germany,” he volunteered, feeling the need to defend his
suitability. “And I am taking my wife on a wonderful wedding trip
as well, as soon as my business affairs are in order.”

“Oh really!” The gossip turned to him.
“Wherever are the two of you going?”

Cassandra deferred to her husband. All she
knew about was their five-day trip up the coast that never seemed
to materialize. This was the first she’d heard of this “wonderful
wedding trip.” She too was curious to hear where they were
going.

“We are going up the coast to visit some
lighthouses and then we will tour some cemeteries in the north of
England.” Frederic beamed as he looked around the table. One of the
older gentlemen agreed that it sounded like an interesting trip but
the women at the table did not meet his eyes. They all looked down
at their plates. Only Cassandra smiled at him with excitement in
her eyes. He could tell she was truly looking forward to their
upcoming trip.

One of the women – the sweet one – spoke up.
“My husband and I took a trip to Paris for our honeymoon. It was
years ago, of course, but so romantic.” She smiled at her husband
and he smiled back. “The museums and parks, the restaurants and
nightclubs, it was magical,” she sighed.

Frederic flushed – Paris, of course. His
family owned a
pied
-à-
terre
there. What was the
matter with him? He vowed then and there to try to be more romantic
with his young wife. No wonder she didn’t accept any callers,
whatever would she talk about with them? He kept her here at home
practically as a prisoner.

As the evening drew to a close, Cassandra had
a splitting headache but her parents stayed after everyone had
left, clearly wanting to talk. Frederic was glaring at her, she sat
obediently looking down at her lap, for the first time that evening
unconcerned about her duties as a hostess. She was determined to
remain silent. Whatever happened next would not be helped or
hindered by her.

Her mother congratulated Frederic on the
wonderful dinner party. Cassandra glanced up at her, her mother was
truly the embodiment of class, always gracious, never letting on
how she really felt about a person or an event or a shabby little
townhouse.

She knew it was only a matter of moments
before the sore subject of her brother’s wedding came up. It was
only a couple of weeks away. Her father, true to form, introduced
the subject.

“Cassandra, Hayden and Teresa very much wish
that you and Frederic be in the wedding. It is announced in the
program. It is time to get over this nonsense. You will do so.”
Cassandra shook her head. He was still giving her orders. The
nerve! He had forfeited that right when he gave her away.

Her mother quickly joined in, “The seamstress
is arriving tomorrow to size you. Your dress is almost finished.
It’s a beautiful gown, dear and hopefully will make up for that
dreadful wedding dress fiasco.”

Well that was something. Finally one of her
parents admitted that perhaps her nuptials had been less than ideal
in some way.

Cassandra shook her head. “I have sent my
regrets. I will not attend. And you both know why”

Her father cleared his throat and reached
into his vest, removing a thick envelope. He spoke, “Ah yes well,
about that - your mother and I wish to give you two a honeymoon.
First class all the way, to all of the great capitals of Europe;
Paris, Rome, Madrid, Vienna. You could take it as you head home to
Germany.”

Cassandra smoothed her skirts as her husband
thanked them, saying that it wasn’t necessary, they should spend
their money on the wedding that was soon to happen. His polite
refusal of the offered gift was the first socially correct thing
she’d ever seen her husband do. It was expected that such an
extravagant gift be refused at the first offering and even the
second offering. One did not accept unless it was offered a third
time. Her father turned to Cassandra.

“My darling daughter, we hope that this gift
in some small way makes up for your disappointment in your wedding.
It is our hope you will talk your husband into reconsidering. Will
you accept it as the token of parental love that it is?”

Cassandra stood up and took the envelope from
her father. She looked at her husband as she caressed the envelope,
which represented all of the travel she’d ever wanted to do. Then
she turned back to her father. If she had learned nothing else in
her six months of married life, she had learned that men did not
absorb by osmosis. It was necessary to explain things to them very
clearly. She crouched down before her father and spoke as quietly
and calmly as she could, her voice for his ears only.

“Father first of all this token in no way
makes amends for what was taken from me. At an extremely vulnerable
point in my life, I was denied any voice in my future. There was no
explanation as to why it had to be so; I was just expected to obey.
I had to give up the most important event of my life – a special
wedding to a man I loved – because you ordered it so, as if you
were ordering me to go to my room. Can you understand my
disappointment? In a single moment I lost my future, my social
standing, even my self esteem was undermined,” she said, searching
his face for some sign that he understood. Her father looked
perplexed, he still did not understand.

“I expressed my disappointment in my wedding
but it was much, much more than that. I was not eloquent enough to
express my horror at being expected to give myself to a stranger I
had not even been properly introduced to. Can you imagine how that
felt?” She began to see a crack in his veneer. Her father looked
away, embarrassed to meet her eyes.

He finally spoke, still not meeting her eyes.
“I believed that I was doing right by you, girl. Sir Frederic was
an excellent catch and very much besotted with you. I believed that
you deserved all that he could give you. He asked that things be
done a certain way and I felt it a small price to pay to secure
your future.”

Cassandra stared at him, puzzled. Her
father’s explanation made no sense but she still had to deal with
this extravagant gift. It had been offered in good faith and her
parent’s deserved a respectful response. She stood and spoke,
loudly enough for her husband and mother to hear. “I am going to
return these tickets to you, mother and father. This trip is a nice
thought but... to be honest... your offer is too kind. We simply
can’t afford to accept it. You see, my husband and I... live
quite... frugally.”

Frederic made a strangled sound and she
turned to him and spoke sincerely. “I don’t mind darling, really I
don’t. I am ultimately most sensible and have found I can be quite
frugal as well. I have come to realize that things like wedding
rings and new dresses and fancy weddings are not important. What is
important is that we are together. I couldn’t love you more, my
darling, even if you were a wealthy man.”

“But what
is
important,” she
continued, “Is that we live within our means. You must admit that
we simply can’t afford a trip like this. Even with the transport
and lodging covered, there would still be expenses. There would be
no point in visiting the great capitals of Europe if we couldn’t
afford to do anything once we got there. Besides, travel can be
hazardous. What if something should happen and we found ourselves
stranded in a foreign country with no resources?”

Frederic recovered his astonishment to ask,
puzzled, “Why would you think that we can’t afford to take a trip
like this? You and I have never even discussed money; you have no
knowledge whatsoever about what funds we may or may not have.”
Cassandra looked at him shocked. Did he really wish to discuss this
delicate matter in front of others, especially her parents?
Apparently he did because he kept watching her with a puzzled
expression on his face, waiting for an answer.

“I am well aware that money is tight, my
darling. It’s very obvious in our day-to-day lives,” she attempted
to explain.

He still looked puzzled. “Whatever do you
mean?”

She had no response. He really didn’t know
how she knew? Suddenly she forgot about her headache or that her
parents were even in the room.

“Well, for example, we just served chicken to
our dinner guests.”

“I like chicken.” Frederic explained.

“We often eat leftovers.”

“I like leftovers,” he replied, beginning to
feel cross.

“We can’t afford for me to have a proper
married wardrobe.”

“I like your dresses!” Frederic roared, his
frustration growing. Cassandra stepped back and her voice began to
shake.

“But you... you were so angry when I bought
that book.” Frederic stopped cold and stood staring at her, a queer
expression on his face.

“I was angry because you went out
unaccompanied. That is very dangerous for a woman of your
station.”

“What station?” she asked puzzled. “I thought
that the real reason you were angry was because I’d spent money. I
swear to you that I didn’t put it on account. I sold my pearls for
pocket money.”

Frederic looked at his wife. She really
didn’t know - had never caught on to who he was and what they were
truly worth. He’d just assumed it would come out in time and that
all of her needs had been met. He looked back at the life he’d
presented to her, the townhouse, the small wedding, the way they
lived. He realized that she really believed that this was the level
they would always live at. And yet she loved him anyway!

Frederic realized that he owed his wife - his
exquisite wife - an explanation. The time for disclosure was long
overdue. The dinner guests had been correct, he was not worthy of
her. He took her hands in his and began to speak.

“My darling, we ate chicken tonight because
Cook excels at wine reduction sauces. We eat leftovers because food
always tastes better the second day. I never thought... I didn’t
realize you wanted pocket money - you never asked for any and I
don’t think of such things. I didn’t buy you a new wardrobe because
your dresses are already so pretty and I don’t give a fig about
what is fashionable or proper. I was wrong. Will you ever forgive
me? And the reason I was so upset when you disappeared from the
house is because I have enemies. It is impossible to be in my
position without having enemies.

“I have a beautiful young wife that I love
with all my heart,” Frederic continued. “I want to give you
everything – travel, beautiful clothing. We own a
pied
-à-
terre
in Paris and also maintain a great house in
Vienna and a vacation home on the coast of Spain. As for jewelry,
there is a wealth of jewels at our estate in Germany, jewelry that
has been handed down from generation to generation for a thousand
years. Much of it will be yours, including the famous Templar
Diamond, which will be made into a wedding ring once you are there
to be sized and choose the setting. I am not just a Baron, my dear;
I am also the Crown Prince of Bavaria, one day to be made King. And
you my love, you are my Princess, one day to be my Queen.