My Once Handsome Husband

The day after her party, Delaney woke up early despite going to bed very late. She was on edge, waiting to hear something from Vincent or Miles or even Cora. Someone that could tell her where things stood with Vincent today after their argument.

After her Uncle Felix had heard about the encounter he seemed quite unsettled too. Her Aunt had scolded her much as Constance and Cora had, for the unkind things she said to Vincent as well. Delaney told them the same thing she had told her friends.

He had surprised her and she hadn't been prepared. She didn't want the conversation to go that way.

Delaney dressed in a blue gown and looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were a bit red with shadows underneath them. She looked pale and tired. Her bed called for her to get more sleep but her worried mind wouldn't allow it.

Calling for a carriage, she decided to call on Cora and see what her friend would suggest. After all, she was betrothed to an Adair too and knew Violet just as well as Delaney did.

Even if Vincent had agreed not to marry her, she would still have Violet Adair to fight with. The woman would be a formidable opponent.

Delaney arrived at Cora's home where she lived with her parents and a couple of her brothers who had not yet moved out on their own. She was the only girl in a family almost as wealthy as Vincent's.

She hoped Cora would be home since she was arriving unannounced but her fears were put to rest when she stepped out of the carriage and Cora pushed open the grand front doors of the manor herself with a mischievous smirk and a lovely pink dress.

"I thought I might see you today," she giggled as she looped her arm through her friends, "Gosh you look terrible. Did you sleep at all?"

"Why thank you Cora you look lovely as well," Delaney rolled her eyes in reply.

Cora grinned and lead her friend around the house to her mother's gardens.

In the late spring weather, the flowers were all starting to bloom and fill the air with their lovely smells. Cora's mother had some of the most beautiful gardens Delaney had ever seen and she was happy for the chance to stroll through them while the women talked.

Cora started their conversation by telling Delaney she had not heard from Miles yet today and didn't think she would for a few days at least. She imagined Delaney might hear from Vincent first in fact. 

Delaney told Cora about telling her Aunt and Uncle about her conversation and how her Aunt had been just as unhappy about it as Cora and Constance were.

"I think she's afraid of Violet," Delaney admitted when they stopped to sit on a stone bench surrounded by soft pink roses.

"I think most everyone is afraid of Violet," Cora laughed, "She's one of the most powerful women in the kingdom, just under the Queen herself. She was even before their family started doing so well with their money."

"She's still close friends with the Queen then I imagine?"

"Oh yes, when she arrived in the city to see Vincent after his accident, the Queen actually came to the house to have tea with her afterward. I was leaving with Miles just as she arrived."

Delaney swallowed. By Violet having the ear of the Queen she also had the ear of the King. If she didn't want the contract to be broken there wasn't much Delaney could do to make it happen.

The King would do what made his wife happy, if not what made his cousin happy. Violet may be his cousin by marriage but Vincent was his cousin by blood.

Delaney remembered the disapproving look Violet had given her when they had been caught racing after her husband's funeral. She honestly didn't know if Violet had ever liked her again after that.

"Tell me about you and Miles," Delaney sighed, wanting to get her mind off of her own troubles for a while, "You both seem very fond of each other now."

"He can be a terrible brat," Cora laughed, "And he doesn't ever like to lose. But I think we've butted heads enough he's realized I'm not someone he can easily scare."

Delaney smiled, "I suppose he's a lot like his mother then. They're both used to getting their way and thinking they're right."

"He's much better now than he was. The war changed him. Seeing everything that happened to the other men and to his friends... to his brother... It made him see things differently I think. What he values now has changed from what it was before."

Delaney thought about her memories of Miles throughout her life and realized he had seemed different since the war. The only thing that hadn't changed was his fierce loyalty to his brother.

"If you marry Vincent we'll be sisters you know," Cora changed the subject back abruptly, "Before, when Miles was still sort of terrible, I always thought that even if I was going to be stuck with him at least I'd have you. I've always wanted to have you as my sister even before we were friends."

Delaney stared down at her hands in her lap, feeling her guilt return.

"When you marry Vincent you won't be alone either. You'll always have me. Even if I have to tell Miles I'll be going to stay at Edgewood for weeks. If that's what you need I promise I'll do it. I won't let you be stuck there alone and unhappy."

Pulling her friend to her, Delaney hugged Cora tightly and Cora hugged her back.

"No matter what happens I'll always be happy we were betrothed to brothers so we could become best friends," Delaney agreed.

"I know it's not what you want," Cora said as they stood and began to walk back towards the manor, "But if you do end up married to Vincent please try to give it a chance to make you both happy. You both deserve it."

Delaney sighed and turned her ring around on her finger. She wished for the millionth time that things were different.

Cora's mother was pleased to see Delaney and insisted she stay and have tea and a snack with them. They sat in the fancy parlor and the friends recounted stories from their days at school for her mother's amusement.

By the time they were finished, Delaney had laughed so much she was in a much better mood despite being so tired. Cora invited her to stay longer but she was afraid she might fall asleep right there in her seat.

Feeling more at ease than she had all day, Delaney climbed into her carriage when it came around and sank onto the padded seats inside.

Even though it wasn't the most comfortable of positions, Delaney leaned her head against the wall of the vehicle and closed her eyes, letting the gentle rocking lull her to sleep.

She was so tired that, to her relief, no dreams came as she slept. When at last the carriage came to a stop in front of her house and jogged her awake, it was all she could manage to get up the stairs to her bedroom and close the door behind her.

Vision blurry from exhaustion still, she kicked off her shoes and pulled off her stockings. She fumbled with her dress until at last, she was standing in only her underdress. Crawling into the nice, cool sheets, she was asleep again before anyone had noticed she'd come home.

So groggy from her sleep, Delaney had not noticed that neither her Aunt nor Uncle had come to welcome her home as they normally would.

She didn't know that her family members were actually sitting down in the parlor with a guest.

Violet Adair sat sipping tea in a long black dress, having just minutes earlier, finished telling Delaney's Aunt and Uncle about all her plans for the great wedding she was going to throw for her son and their niece.

The older couple shifted uncomfortably in their seats, not wanting to give away any hint that Delaney planned to fight the marriage. The last thing either of them wanted was to give the Adair family a reason to dislike them. They knew as well as Delaney did, that the family was close to the King's heart.

Violet smiled, eyes sparkling with secrets of her own, as she raised her cup to her smirking lips. Little did these people know, she was already suspicious of her son's future wife. Ever since she had left the city while Vincent was still in the hospital.

Her oldest son, the apple of her eye, may no longer be the strong, handsome man he had once been but that didn't mean Delaney Simms could simply back out of marrying him. This contract had been signed when she was an infant and would not fall apart now.

Violet's late husband as well as the young woman's deceased parents had all agreed with Violet that this was a good match. Now the others were gone so Violet knew it was up to her to ensure the contract was carried out whether either of their children liked it or not.