much more.”
“And Roger,” Kitty added. “He was so happy when I was visiting him and Lilly. Besides the day you married Benjamin, I can’t recall seeing a husband more in love with his wife. Roger doesn’t hold any ill will toward Lilly because of the past. He has forgiven her completely. It’s like nothing bad ever happened to them.” Such would never be the case for her and Aaron. There was nothing pleasant about Aaron at all. “I wish my brother had let me take my dowry and live on my own. I knew he wanted to get rid of me. I don’t know why he was so insistent I marry.”
“I think he did that in order to make himself look good. If you hadn’t married, people might have blamed him for being a lousy chaperone.”
“He was a lousy chaperone. I never thought I’d say this, but Gretchen wasn’t all that terrible. Once I got to know her, she was even nice to be around. She wasn’t so stuffy after a while.”
“She probably recognized what was happening with Aaron.”
Probably, though she’d never said a word about it to Kitty.
“Well, you’re welcome to stay here for as long as you need to,” Emilia said.
“Are you sure your husband is all right with it?” Kitty asked.
“Benjamin gives me everything I want. He’ll agree to this when he returns from White’s.”
“I hope so.”
“He will. You have nothing to worry about. This bedchamber is yours for as long as you need it.”
“Thank you. If Aaron gives me my portion of the dowry, then I’m going to use it for my own townhouse.” That was, if Aaron gave her any money. He could very well keep it all to himself out of spite.
“Why don’t we go to the drawing room?” Emilia suggested. “You must be thirsty after all that crying you’ve been doing.”
Kitty wiped the remaining tears from her face. “I can’t. I look terrible. My face is red and my eyes are swollen.”
“Then I’ll have something brought up here. Are you hungry?”
“No, I can’t eat when I’m upset.”
Emilia went to the cord and pulled it. “You’ll feel better. You just need to give yourself time for everything to settle down.”
Kitty could only hope her friend was right. She didn’t want to feel this awful forever. She was glad of one thing, though. Thankfully, she wasn’t with child. It was to her benefit that Aaron delayed trying for the heir. At least she had the relief of knowing he wasn’t going to steal her child from her.
Her gaze went to her friend. “When Benjamin returns, you should visit Lilly. It was nice to hold her baby. You’ll get an idea of what to expect when you have one.”
“Well,” Emilia said as she returned to her, “I just found out this morning that I’m with child.” She winced. “I didn’t want to say anything, but I’ll want to tell Lilly, and it wouldn’t be right for Lilly to know when you don’t.”
Kitty gave her an understanding smile. If only Aaron had been so mindful of her feelings. “I want you to be happy, Emilia. You and Lilly should have children.”
“You’ll be like an aunt to them.”
“I’ll spoil them all.”
“They’ll enjoy that.” After a moment, Emilia added, “I hope Aaron isn’t as terrible as he seems. I’d like to think that he’ll show some good sense and change his ways.”
“I don’t think there’s any hope for him. He’s impossible to deal with.”
“I hope you’re wrong. I know you didn’t want to get married, but it can be nice.”
“That’s only if the husband is a good one.”
A knock came at the door, and Emilia went to answer it. She told the maid to bring up a pot of black tea with sugar cubes then shut the door.
Kitty let out a sigh. The day wasn’t even half over, and she was already exhausted. She just might crawl onto the daybed and take a nap.
Emilia pulled out a table from the corner of the room and placed two chairs by it.
“You’re a good friend, Emilia.”
Emilia went over to her and hugged her. “Everything will be all right. I don’t know how things will go with Aaron, but at least you have people who care about you. You can treat this townhouse as your own. I want you to be as comfortable as possible. Maybe we can go for a walk or do some shopping later.”
“I’d like to do some shopping.” And Kitty decided she would buy at least one red