The Chocolatier's Wife (68 page)

“It
is
my
duty
to
wed
him,
madam.
I
do
not
exactly
have
a
choice.
And indeed,
your
comments
would
have
a
point
to
them
if
in
fact
your
son had
not
already
set
a
date
for
our
marriage, as
he
must
by
the
laws
of
our land.”

Her
voice
was
calm, even
kind
as
she
said
it,
but
she
was
getting
tired of
these
snide
remarks, and
she
knew
her
words
doubtless
showed
it.
She was right.

“Ah,
I
have
struck
a
nerve.
Would
you
like
some
of
these
cheese
tartlets? I
cannot
abide chocolate, sadly. No?
Well.”

She settled back,
and
to Tasmin
her eyes glittered like a
snake’s.

“You
are
right
about
duty.
If
either
of
you
are
to
wed,
you
have
no
choice. The
laws
of
this
land
prevent
any
other
option.
I
am
glad,
for
one.
I
would never
have
married
my
Justin
of
my
own
accord,
and
I
do
dote
on
him
now that
I
know him,
though
no
one
may
think it.
I
am
not
one
for
emotional scenes.”

Tasmin nodded,
grateful
that
a
maid
came
in
with
the
tea
things.
She took
some for
something to do.

“What
do
you
really
think
of
this
endeavor
of
William’s?
No,
no,
I don’t want what you think you should say; I want to know what you really think.
Does
it
have
a
chance? How
do
you
feel
about
him
just
going
about it without asking
a
soul?”

She
swallowed
her
drink,
and
said, wryly,
“Well.
A
woman
does
like
to be
asked
when
her
husband-to-be
makes
plans
for
their
future,
but
now
that I
have
spoken
to
William
about
it
and seen
the
place
properly,
I
think
that William
has
the
determin
a
tion
to
make
it
work.
The
shop
itself
could
not
be better placed; he has excellent bus
i
ness sense, and some truly interesting ideas. I
dare say if anyone can
make
a
success at it,
he can.”

For
a
second,
she
saw
a
true
smile
flitter, then
disappear.
“I
think
so, too.
William
was
always
determined.
He
was
walking
and
talking
before
any child
I
ever
met.
And
once
he
started
walking
and
talking ...
oh,
heavens.” She
laughed,
and
for
a
second
the
mask
dropped,
and
Tasmin
realized
that behind
all
the
coldness
and
waspis
h
ness
was
a
woman
who
truly
loved her
son.
“Andrew
was
like
that,
too,
but
not
quite
so
much. He
was
just
as bright,
but
a
bit
more
quiet.
Then
he
got
so
very
sick.
The
Tanigier fever touched
here,
too, not
as
badly
as
it
did
the
Capitol.
Anyone
who
got
sick was
sent
away
immediately,
in
the
hope
that
it
would
keep
down
the
spread
of
the
plague.
We
were
grateful
that
he
survived
it,
but
when
he
came
back he was diffe
r
ent.”

Tasmin
didn’t
have
to
feign
concern.
She
could
feel
for
the
woman,
a
bit.

“I
don’t
mind
William
having
his
hobbies,”
the
woman
said,
starting
to
return
to
the
person
Tasmin
was
used
to.
“But
he
has
a
flaw, one
you must
watch
out
for,
for
it
will
bite
you
some
day.
He
believes
that
everyone is
as
determined
as
he
is.
Even
when
he
was
a
child
I
found
him utterly exhausting. I was relieved when he went to sea; it allowed me to rest.

“He
thinks Andrew
will
be
able
to
rise
to
the
task
of
being
the
head
of the
bus
i
ness,
while
the
rest
of
us
know
that
he
most
certainly
will
not.
That is
including
you,
for
surely
you,
as
an
outside
observer with
no
emotional sentiment
to
cloud
your
judgment,
can see
how
unsuited
he
is.
The
only other one who refuses to see it is Bonny.
Oh,
how she pushes him.”

“It
must
be
a
terrible
strain
on
their
marriage,
this
new
position
and
all the respo
n
sibilities it entails for
them both.”

Henriette
looked
into
her
cup,
and
Tasmin
wanted
to
ask
if
she
was reading the leaves. “They were so happy when they first
wed. You wouldn’t have
known
that,
for
the last year or
so.”

“That
is
most
distressing.
I
wonder;
can
anything
can
be
done
to
mend
it?”

“Doubtful. Even William
coming back
would not heal them.”
Tasmin
was
feeling
extremely
uncomfortable.
“Well.
I
suppose
the
course
is
set,
now.
William
is
dete
r
mined
to
go
his
way;
surely
you
must
know
that.”

Henriette
looked
out
the
window,
absently
crumbling
one
of
the
tartlets into
tiny
pieces.
“Nothing
is
ever
set,
Miss
Bey.
William could
still
come back. Normalcy
could
be
returned.
Do
not
think that
Andrew
would
lose too much by this.
We
may
be a
hard
people, but we watch after our
own.”

“So,
the
only
one
to
feel
like
they’d
lost
something
would
be
...
Bonny?”
And
Wi
l
liam.
But,
poor
man,
you
are
fighting
your
battles
in
a
world where
duty
comes
b
e
fore
self,
and
though
you
strive
to
find
a
balance between
the
two, no
one
will allow for it.