Substitute Bride

Chapter 8

     After supper, the men went to Joshua's study for a cigar and brandy while the women went to the parlor for tea. Caroline poured the tea. She sat in her chair and studied Jane.

     "Was Philip furious when he found out that it was you who he married and not me?" Caroline asked.

     "He was in the beginning," Jane said. "He wasn't mad for very long though. He said that he understood why I did it. He has been wonderful." She smiled wistfully.

     "You are in love!" Caroline said.

     Jane stared blankly at her. "I am what?" she asked.

     "You are in love with Philip," Caroline said. "I am so happy for you." She clapped her hands.

     "I do not think I am in love," Jane said. "I do care for him. He is a wonderful man. He took his sisters into his home because their parents were abusive. Instead of casting Anna aside, he cares for her. He does not dally with other women." Suddenly she stopped and her eyes went wide. "Oh, dear," she said in bewilderment. "Oh, dear."

     "What is it, Jane?" Caroline asked in concern.

     Jane stared at her sister. "I am in love with Philip," she said. "Oh no!" Her eyes filled with tears.

     "Why are you crying?" Caroline said.

     "Because he does not love me," Jane sobbed. "He only married because he needed a mother for Anna. I was not even his first choice. He married me because we tricked him."

     Caroline's heart broke when she saw how miserable her sister was. "I am sorry, Jane," she said.

     "In the time we have been married, I have never been inside his chambers," Jane confessed.

     "You have separate chambers?" Caroline asked, surprised.

     Jane nodded. "Any time we made love on a bed, it has been in my room," she said.

     "I am sorry that I forced you to marry him," Caroline said.

     Jane smiled tearfully. "It isn't your fault," she said. "I knew it was going to be a loveless marriage from the beginning. I just never expected to fall in love."

     Caroline took her hand. "You are worthy of being loved," she said. "You are kind, compassionate, loyal, and beautiful. Any one who does not love you is a moron."

     "Thank you," Jane said. "I am glad that you are happy. Not many people can boast that theirs was a love match."

     Caroline gave her a half smile. She didn't like the fact that Jane loved a man who would never love her. She felt that she was selfish for wanting to be married to Joshua and forcing Jane to commit to a miserable marriage.

     In the study, the men had finished their cigars and were nursing their brandys. They toasted to their marriages.

     "How do your sisters like her?" Joshua asked.

     "They adore her," Philip said. "They get along very well. She treats Anna like she is her own."

     "Has she changed your chambers much? Caroline would have completely changed mine if I let her."

     "We have separate chambers. She has never been in mine."

     Joshua looked at Philip in surprise. "Why have separate rooms?" he asked.

     "I promised myself when I moved into the house that I would not have a woman in my chambers," Philip said. "Especially one that I did not love. I care for Jane but I do not love her."