“You didn’t know I was pregnant,” I replied. “But you knew I was asking whether our marriage mattered.”
His face tightened.
“I know.”
For the first time since I had arrived, Vanessa moved.
Her veil trembled as she took a step backward.
Julian noticed.
His gaze shifted from me to her, and the pain in his expression changed into confusion.
“Vanessa?”
She looked at him.
No tears ran down her cheeks now. She seemed too frightened to cry.
Charles looked at her as well.
“What is wrong with you?”
“Nothing,” she whispered.
But her voice had betrayed her.
Margaret hurried toward her. “Vanessa, sit down. You look faint.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re shaking.”
“I said I’m fine.”
The sharpness of her reply made Margaret stop. Vanessa pressed one hand against the folds of her wedding dress, her fingers curling tightly into the fabric.
Behind her, three little boys sat with a young nanny near the edge of the lawn.
They were dressed in matching cream-colored suits. One had fallen asleep against the nanny’s shoulder. The other two were sharing a toy car, arguing in low, serious voices over whose turn it was to push it.
The sight of them made my chest ache in a way I hadn’t expected.
They were innocent.
Whatever had happened between the adults, none of those children deserved to become evidence in a family dispute.
I looked away first.
Julian followed my gaze. His expression softened when he saw the boys, but something uncertain passed through his eyes.
He had always loved children. I remembered that about him. During our marriage, he had stopped in the middle of business dinners to smile at toddlers in neighboring booths. He had once spent an entire afternoon helping my young cousin build a wooden train set, even though the instructions were in Swedish and neither of us could understand them.
The man who had failed me had not been incapable of love.
That had made everything worse.
“Evelyn,” he said, “may I speak with you?”
“Not here.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.” I kept my voice low so the children wouldn’t hear. “You may think you understand because you’re looking at four children who share your blood. But you don’t understand what it took to raise them while you built another life.”
His shoulders lowered.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me.”
