Page 67

Chapter 16

The moment the door closed, Victoria rounded on Lavinia and Frau Elinor. “You invited him for tea?”

Lavinia grimaced. “He came to see Sebastian, but he is not home. What was I to do, turn him away?”

“Yes!” Victoria cried. “That’s exactly what you were supposed to do.”

“That’s rude.”

“It is not rude if the person you’re being rude to has been rude to you in the past.”

Lavinia and Fray Elinor exchanged confused glances. “Are you certain you are mad at us or is there’s something more?” Lavinia asked.

“Come, Kindchen. Have some tea,” Frau Elinor soothed.

Victoria took a deep breath and settled in the chair her husband had recently vacated. “I don’t understand why you are so nice to him,” she grumbled.

“Well,” Lavinia said hesitantly as she poured Victoria tea. “He is a part of the family now.”

“He is not!”

“Yes, he is. He is my cousin-in-law… in-law…” Lavinia grimaced before passing the cup of tea to Victoria.

“Thank you,” Victoria said and placed the tea in front of her. “And yes, he is my husband, but only because he lied to me. And he lied to you, too. For God’s sake, Lavinia, he blackmailed you!”

Lavinia folded her lips in a pout and looked down at her hands. “He apologized.”

“He apologized?” Victoria was too flabbergasted to even comprehend what surprised her more: the fact that he apologized to Lavinia when he had never apologized to her or the fact that an apology was enough for Lavinia to forgive him.

“And it wasn’t his intention to cause me stress,” Lavinia added. “Besides, it all turned out well. Without that incident, I wouldn’t have married Bastian. And for that, I can only be grateful.”

“He stabbed your husband!” Victoria cried out of desperation.

“He did.” Lavinia calmly stirred her tea. “But he stabbed him in a place that he knew wouldn’t do permanent damage, and he was right.”

“Lavinia! He is a thief! He was telling you the story of how he robbed a grave!”

Lavinia licked her lips. “We’ve all done things we are not proud of at one point…”

“Are you seriously defending him?” Victoria breathed.

“No,” Lavinia said as she set a spoon aside and finally fully faced her. “And I am on your side, I promise. But he is your husband. And since you are living with him, it only makes sense to make peace. He is a part of my family now, too.”

“He lied his way into our family.”

“Only because he loves you so.”

Victoria raised her hand, unwilling to argue with Lavinia anymore, and turned to Frau Elinor, who had been peacefully sipping tea this entire time. “And you! You agree with her?”

Frau Elinor shrugged. “The fact that he is a part of this family is impossible to argue, Kindchen. You live with him.”

“But you hate him!” Victoria whispered furiously. “You yelled at him. You cursed him when he showed up on our doorstep.”

Frau Elinor frowned. “Yes, and I did all those things because he hurt you. I only hate him because you do, dear. I barely know the man.”

“And if you did know him better, could you approve of him?” Victoria asked in shock. “After everything you know he’s done?”

Frau Elinor expelled a deep breath. “Do you not think that I don’t blame myself for the predicament you’re in? You loved him once, did you not? You came to me, telling the tales of how wonderful he was and how in love you were. I was the one who encouraged you to marry him.”