"And why didn't I realise to dress like this earlier? Fool! I could have visited poor Charlotte at least twice… At least once a week! Even bloody Jeremy wouldn't have found anything to object to that!" – Vivian thought, grudgingly to herself.
– I think my husband doesn't like Charlotte," she said, wrinkling her nose to break the silence in the carriage.
– What makes you think so? – Anthony raised his eyebrows.
– I think so," Vivian shrugged her shoulders. – And he told me once that Charlotte was a bad influence on my behaviour. He said she was too free-spirited and frivolous.
– Jeremy said that about Charlotte? – Young Cranford squinted his eyes: this was not pleasant news for him.
– Well, who else would? Who am I married to? – Vivian replied sarcastically. – But I don't care what he thinks. I won't betray my friendship with Charlotte. Jeremy will have to accept the fact that from now on I'll be coming to her and she to me," she added in a firm tone.
– Charlotte? Flippant? – Anthony grinned derisively. – She may be a little naive, but she is not frivolous.
– Tell him that! – Vivian threw her face towards the window. – And please, dear cousin, don't mention Richard in your letters to me. Don't even hint at him: Jeremy once said he wanted to read my correspondence, and I'm afraid that if he found out about Richard he would make an unimaginable scandal, and it would cause me a great deal of inconvenience or even a divorce. And another thing: don't tell him that you saw my bruises, because it will embarrass him.
– Sometimes I feel like we're talking about two different gentlemen. Because the Jeremy Wington I know would never read another man's letters," said Cranford coolly. – But how did you manage to make him fall so in love with you that he married you against all common sense?
– It's simple: when your mother threw me out on the street, it was he who picked me up and fell in love. And when Jeremy's father found out that his son wanted to marry a penniless girl, he sent him away," Vivian said, staring out of the window in an indifferent tone. – But when his father died, Jeremy came to me, confessed his undying love for me, and made me an offer I could not refuse.
– Of course you couldn't, because the marriage had made you so rich," Anthony said ironically. – But do you have any warm feelings for him, or does your heart remain loyal to Richard?
– Do I love Jeremy? – she asked quietly. – Not a bit. But I am grateful to him.
– Grateful? Is that all?
– That's all. Do you think I'm insensitive? – Vivian shrugged her shoulders. – 'This is marriage, my dear cousin. Marriage needs anything but love. And you yourself wish to marry my good Charlotte only for her dowry.
– I was going to," Anthony corrected her gently. – It was at Devry, my brother's estate, that I realised my affection for Miss Salton.
Vivian looked at her cousin's face with interest, trying to determine whether he was lying about his love for her friend, but Anthony had such a calm and happy smile on his lips that she believed his words and sincerely congratulated him on his truly honourable choice. They were unable to discuss this savoury subject, however, for in a few minutes the carriage stopped and the coachman shouted loudly, "Here we are, ma'am!"
It is unnecessary to describe in detail how delighted Charlotte was when the butler brought her Mr. Cranford's card, and reported that Mrs. Wington had arrived with him. Leaping up from the table and dropping a letter to write to her parents in Denmark, Miss Salton sprang from her chambers and hastened to receive her guests.
