“Oh no, Camille.” Mother shook her head. “Do not place the blame at my feet. I encouraged you, but I never forced you to marry Harold. Nor did I force Beryl to marry Charles, or Delilah to marry Phillip. Admittedly, I was in favor of those matches, but I have never been able to make any of you do something you did not want to do. It is a shame all three of those charming gentlemen have passed on. . . .” She met Camille’s gaze firmly. “However, none of you were unhappy in your marriages. None of your husbands treated you unkindly. And all three of you now are in control of your own fortunes, your own fate—even Beryl, who was clever enough to make appropriate legal arrangements before marrying Lionel. You will never have to worry about how you will feed yourself and your children, should you have children. You will never have to be dependent upon the fickle whims of a husband who is more boy than man. You may thank Harold for that, and you may thank me as well. But I never forced you to do anything. Although, admittedly, on the day before your wedding, I did indeed expect you to marry Harold.” She nodded and reached for a scone.

Camille stared at her mother for a long moment. She had never really considered that while there had been expectations and encouragement, her mother had never told her what she could or could not do when it came to marriage. “No, I suppose you didn’t, really.”

“I was simply a practical woman,” Mother said with a shrug.

“You’ve grown out of it,” Beryl noted.

“I have earned that right.”

“He’s come back to throw it in my face, hasn’t he?” Camille said abruptly. “That’s it. That’s exactly what he’s done! He’s gone off. He’s made his fortune. Now he’s come back to throw it in my face.”

“I’ve never trusted him,” Beryl said.

“To what end, dear?” Mother studied her closely. “What would be the purpose?”

“Who knows?” She resumed pacing; thoughts raced through her head. “I have no idea, but then he’s a man, and who knows what goes through their minds?”

Delilah nodded. “There is that.”

“Revenge, perhaps?” Camille stopped and glared. “Do you know he claims I broke his heart?”

“When it was so clearly your heart that was broken.” Beryl nodded.

“Indeed, it was.”

“But, surely, it would wound a man deeply to think the woman he loves won’t marry him because he does not have enough money,” Delilah said.

“He should have known I was too stunned to make any sense whatsoever. He told me he loved me. Something I had longed to hear very nearly since we first met, but I had completely pushed it out of my head because I knew it wasn’t possible. Because I was expected to make a brilliant match.”