13. Chapter Thirteen

Kairos

Chapter Thirteen

Dearest Violet,

It's strange to think that I have not seen you for just three days, and it seems an eternity! I know that we decided for me to spend a week at Aubrey helping Mama to prepare for the wedding, but I had no conception of what I was letting myself in for. How can a single day turn into an entire year when wedding planning is involved? I am going to be honest with you, I cannot take another minute of floral decorations, menus, table plans, musical arrangements and linen selections! I did not need to know that there are 295 shades of just green! In fact, I could have lived my whole life in happy ignorance of this fact! But now I have to consider whether emerald is preferable to mint or sage is a more vibrant shade than chartreuse ..?

The truth is, dearest Vi, I am half tempted to crown Harold the new Viscount Bridgerton, steal you away from London and live the rest of my days shut away in the seclusion of my Scottish estates after a quick ceremony at Gretna Green. But then I remember that I am not the eleven year old boy who ran away from his aunt's wedding on one of the carriage horses (true story). I am a twenty three year old man who has responsibilities and a beautiful bride waiting for him to grow up and face the realities of lace, finery and even (shudder) floral arrangements.

For you, and you alone, my love, do I brave the dreaded florist with Mama. I can actually hear you laughing at me now and that thought brings me more comfort than I could ever have conceived. It amuses me greatly that I fell in love with a woman who laughs heartily at my expense at every opportunity. Mama says that this is one of the many reasons that I am one of the luckiest men on earth (Her words not mine, though I do agree). She asks me to thank you again for your visit and has assured me at every opportunity that I am incredibly fortunate to have met one of the few women on this earth who would wish away my title if she could.

I do not say these words lightly and mean them with all my heart. I thank God every day for having met you. When I think about all the loveless marriages in our society, I am grateful every day that I found someone who does not give a fig for my title or fortune. I hope that we will make it our pact in life to always remind each other of how much we love each other and to remember every day how lucky we are.

I will stop the "romantic drivel" as Harold would put it, and finish my epistle by hoping that everyone in the Clympton household is well. We are all fine at Aubrey Hall, just overwhelmed by floral arrangements and wedding favours.

All my love,

Edmund.

This was probably Violet's seventh time of reading the Viscount's letter, but she found that she did not care. He had a way of writing letters that brought him to life. She smiled as she read certain phrases, feeling as though he were there with her.

It seemed utterly ridiculous that she missed him so much, but the truth was that she did. She missed his daily interruptions at breakfast and the way he would sidle up to her in the library.

With a sigh, she thrust the letter into a drawer and made the firm decision to have a productive day. After this resolution was reached, she spent half an hour responding to letters of congratulation and correspondence from various acquaintances – some welcome and others not so much.

It was only once 'Miss Katherine Andrews' was announced as a very welcome distraction that she abandoned her little writing room and descended with much gratitude to the parlour. She found her mother putting aside some needlework and went in search of her own work basket as Katherine was announced. Her friend looked very well and they enjoyed a lively round of greetings.

"You have been neglecting us, Katherine," Lady Clympton observed with a twinkle.

Katherine laughed, "Well if one's friend will insist upon gadding about the country then what do you expect, my lady?"

"If by gadding about you mean daring to leave London, then I daresay you are correct," Violet added with amusement. "Though we have been back a full three days."

"And busy with amusements and outings for all of them!" Katherine stated. They all laughed and the subject of the Viscount's stay came up. There was much amusement at his complaints about not knowing there was 295 shades of green.

"You really should wear that same green gown when you next meet him to torture him, Vi," her friend observed.

Lady Clympton chuckled, "You my dear Katherine, have a most wicked mind."

Their friend laughed, "I blame my brother entirely!"

"It is just what Frederick would do," Violet observed with amusement.

"I wonder why there is such a correlation between wicked tricks and young men?" Lady Clympton observed.

However, their consideration of this topic got no further as Mrs Wethering and Cordelia flew in the next moment in a flurry of ribbons and muslin. They were followed by a very flustered Crook who announced them hurriedly before remaining to gather their outerwear.

Mrs Wethering did look slightly contrite, "Apologies Crook, but my intelligence is too urgent to allow delay."

After the flustered butler had departed, Mrs Wethering turned to them all with a decidedly flushed countenance, "My dears! You will never believe what Cordelia and I have just heard in the modiste."

"Well don't leave us in suspense, Henrietta, please elaborate!" Lady Clympton exclaimed, her patience decidedly short.

"Miss Braydon and Lord Featherington have both left town," Violet's aunt stated.

"Miss Portia Braydon?" Katherine queried, "But I didn't know his lordship was such a favourite with her or she with him?"

"Neither did I," Lady Clympton agreed.

"They weren't," Aunt Wethering continued, "But they were seen in the garden at Lord and Lady Romling's ball and by the least discreet member of the Ton."

All three ladies cringed.

"You don't mean ..?" Violet began.

Her cousin nodded, "Yes, Lady Danbury saw them in the gardens. Apparently they were very … er … indiscreet …" Violet felt herself flushed for poor Miss Braydon.

"Erm … just how indiscreet ..?" Lady Clympton prompted. Cordelia herself flushed this time. It was her mother who spoke.

"Apparently his lordship had his hand down her …" All five women winced this time.

"And to be seen by Lady Danbury …" Katherine commented.

"Poor Miss Braydon," Violet finished, mortified for the girl. "They will have to marry, and they barely know each other."

"My dear," her aunt began, "It would not surprise me at all if up to a quarter of the marriages in the Ton were not brought about in such a way. Such incidents are far more common than society would have you think."

"I should be utterly devastated to have to marry a man I barely knew," Cordelia confessed.

"But you my dear would have better judgement than going into a garden alone with a man," her mother reassured.

"But that's what I did, Aunt," Violet added.

Aunt Wethering shook her head, "Violet, you became engaged that night and you weren't in a dark garden. You were in a properly lit courtyard."

"Mr Bridgerton did still see us …"

"You were engaged before he did and there was nothing compromising about your interaction," her mother finished clearly.

"You were also with a man whom you were courting, who had the permission of your father and who we know to be a gentleman of upstanding character and reputation," her aunt finished. "Lord Featherington is a renowned rake."

"I pity poor Miss Braydon," Katherine remarked. "She faces a future with a potentially loveless marriage."

"Have they danced together?" Cordelia asked.

"A few times," her mother replied, "But I never detected any particular preference between them. A gentleman with serious intentions is normally far more discerning and careful."

"I think you give certain gentlemen too much credit, Mrs Wethering," Katherine stated. "There are many young men of the Ton who I have observed show their intentions willy nilly with little regard for the consequence of certain actions to many a young lady's reputation."

"I cannot say that you are wrong, my dear Miss Andrews, though I wish you were."

The ladies went on to discuss the likelihood of happiness within such a match and they had to agree that there was little possibility of it with a marriage that had been cobbled together under such circumstances.

"I never thought Portia Braydon so thoughtless," Lady Clympton confessed. "I always thought that she chose her companions with care."

"Her stepfather will be desperate to see her married and off his hands," Mrs Wethering observed.

"Mama!" Cordelia exclaimed.

"Am I wrong, dearest?" she pressed, "I think any father would be horrified to find his daughter in such a compromising position."

Again, Violet felt her heart ache for Portia Braydon – to have such an uncertain future ahead of her, married to a man who would always resent her for having been forced to marry her. It was not a happy prospect.

"Oh!" Katherine exclaimed, "I've just realised something! Is Featherington House not on Grosvenor Square?"

"Yes …" Violet replied, confused.

"Well then Miss Braydon will be your neighbour in town, Vi! Bridgerton House is just across the square from it!"

"Oh my word, so it is!" Mrs Wethering exclaimed, "You will be neighbours, Vi!"

"I do not know how much we will use the Grosvenor Square house …" Violet began.

"Well you will see her during the Season at least!" Aunt Wethering stated. "How very strange that will be."

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As the week progressed, the gossip about the Featherington / Braydon elopement became the only thing anyone was talking about. At the theatre, the concert, dinner parties, balls, there wasn't a single member of the Ton who did not seem to have some juicy anecdote to add to the already scandalous affair.

Miss Felicity Kendall had been quick and efficient in separating herself from Miss Braydon, stating that she had only been a "mere acquaintance" and a "hanger on" to herself at balls. It seemed that all were as quick to drop the poor girl's acquaintance as soon as they could and by the end of the week, one would have thought that she had never had a friend at all.

Her mother, after having given birth to her husband's third child, the long awaited son and heir for Mr Bradshaw, had seen fit to depart to their country estate for the rest of Season, refusing any and all callers on account of her "delicate health". Even Queen Charlotte had reportedly been heard to comment upon the "unfortunate affair".

And whilst all this gossip and drama was going on, Violet had been feeling progressively more and more sad. Try though she might, she had kept seeing herself in Miss Braydon's shoes, imagining how she would have felt under such circumstances and feeling a growing ache in her heart

Try though she might to distract herself, she had found that the unfortunate young woman's lot had deeply affected her. It had gotten so bad that she had even forgotten the day that the Viscount was returning and gone to bed, claiming a head ache an hour before dinner.

Alarmed, Lady Clympton had entered her room and found her daughter lying down, seemingly asleep.

"Violet?" she tried. Her daughter did not move. She tried again, "Violet, have you forgotten that the Viscount is returning today?"

Her daughter stirred slowly rising to a sitting position. "I had forgotten …" she admitted. "I can't see him Mama, I really can't."

"Whatever has been wrong the past few days, Violet?"

"I can't stop thinking about poor Miss Braydon …"

"But why should that so upset you, Vi?"

"I can't help feeling as though that might so easily have been me."

"Violet, we have been through this!" her mother exclaimed. "You and Miss Braydon are entirely different."

"I can't explain it, Mama," Violet pressed, somewhat petulantly and very unlike herself, "Please send my regrets to the Viscount, I shall see him tomorrow."

"I will most certainly not," her mother replied. "Get yourself up, let Sarah dress you and get ready for dinner Violet Clympton. There is nothing wrong with you and I want you to kick yourself out of this strange mood that has been affecting you all week. Your fiancée has spent an entire week arranging a wonderful day for you and I will not have you appear so ungrateful as to not even bother showing up for dinner on the night he returns. Now if you would please exert yourself and at least make yourself presentable." Without another word, Lady Clympton left.

Violet lay there for a full minute, her mind in quandary before she gave herself a shake. Her mother was right, what was she doing? Mentally shaking herself, she rose from the bed and looked distastefully down at the wrinkled gown she had been wearing. Sarah entered a few moments later and Violet allowed her to primp and preen to her heart's delight. By the time she was done, she was arraying in a pretty yellow gown, her hair was neatly pinned and she was feeling fresher and far more like herself.

She made a point of knocking on her mother's door and entered quickly when given permission. She strode over and hugged her mother tight before Lady Clympton got out a word. After getting over her momentary shock, her mother returned the embrace, stroking her daughter's hair gently.

"I'm sorry," Violet said, sounding more like a little girl than an engaged young woman. "I don't know what's wrong with me. The story of Miss Braydon just … scared me I suppose."

Her mother drew her close and kissed her cheek tenderly. "I think this may be the first of your jitters, my love,"

Violet drew back, "My jitters?"

"Wedding day jitters. Every young woman faces them when the reality of marriage sinks in. You saw Miss Braydon and Lord Featherington marry and the reality of "until death do us part", suddenly was very real and terrifying."

Violet considered her mother's words and found that they probably made sense.

"That would explain it …" she observed.

Lady Clympton gave her a final hug. "And it is fine to admit," she reassured. "But my advice would be that a problem shared is a problem halved. Please don't struggle by yourself, Vi." Violet nodded, though she wasn't entirely convinced by her mother's ideas.

With a decision to put aside her doubts, she gathered her composure and followed her mother down the stairs. This proved easier than expected when her eyes immediately lighted upon the Viscount and she was hard pressed not to sprint across the room and throw her arms around him. His face broke into a grin and he struggled to maintain his good manners as he completed his bow to her parents.

Lord Clympton noticed his distraction and laughed when his daughter entered the room. "Go ahead Bridgeton," he stated, "My wife and I will be in the parlour." He led Violet's mother out with a knowing smile, allowing his daughter and her betrothed a moment alone.

Violet found herself frozen to the spot as she simple took him in, marvelling at how beloved he has become in such a short amount of time. The Viscount had no such compunction and stood before her in a moment, his face strong with an emotion she was struggling to fully comprehend.

He took her hand and bowed low over it, his lips lingering for far longer than was necessary. Unhappily, she felt the same disobedient blush staining her cheeks. His lip quirked into a half smile.

"Is a kiss on the hand really all it takes, Violet?" he teased, "Have you missed me that much?" Violet covered her mouth as she smothered a smile but did not reply. Unaffected, he tucked her arm into his and led her towards a curtained alcove. "I am glad that I am not the only "hopeless case" as Harold would put it."

She laughed openly at that and reached up to kiss his cheek. "You are fishing, my lord, but I will gladly indulge you. I did miss you, dreadfully. But I thank you for your letters, they were a great comfort."

He smiled, "I am glad." With a quick glance over his shoulder, he drew her gently to him. "I have just enough time to follow the dictates of our agreement."

Before she could comment upon his mysterious manner, Violet found herself kissed soundly upon the lips. His arms were firm about her waist and his lips were warm and sure. He only lingered for a few moments, however, before pulling away.

Feeling slightly dazed, Violet gathered her composure, not oblivious to his amusement.

"Did that obey the dictates of our agreement?" he asked with much severity. Violet was hard pressed to match his seriousness.

"I believe it does," she replied. "You did not linger overlong, but that is also the only kiss you are allowed this evening."

"Unless you request that I kiss you again," he reminded her, "I also have an embrace."

Violet laughed, shaking her head, "It seems as though you are constantly trying to push my boundaries, Lord Bridgerton."

"It is what keeps life interesting, Miss Clympton," he replied, deadpan.

"On that note, we really must join my parents," she stated, "Or else Father will send Crook to fetch us, or worse … Frederick."

"Well then may I have the honour of escorting you?" Amused, she took his arm a second time and allowed him to lead her rather decorously into the parlour.

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Author's note:

I cannot apologise enough for my six week long absence. RL has been ridiculous and I've been rather ill. However, my school is breaking up for the summer in two days and I have major plans to finish this sooner rather than later!

Thank you very much to both guests and Elias7 for your kind reviews, it's nice to see another teacher on this website!

I will be updating this much sooner, and thanks again for reading!

Breeze.