Skyler gnawed on a barbecue rib, drawing out the flavor, and said lazily, “My parents have their spats too. Dad had his brush with a home-wrecker once just like my cousin, but Mom kicked her to the curb.”
Mrs. Heninger glanced at him and teased as she inquired in a light tone, “And who might this mistress be?”
“Her name might be Adah.” Skyler pulled a face. “Not a beauty either, nothing on Mom.”
Jessica felt a jolt of recognition. She knew Adah who was her elder brother’s first love, the daughter of a servant, growing up alongside him.
Her father would never consent to a servant’s daughter marrying into the Heninger family. A Heninger bride, if not a high society dame, at least had to hail from a well-educated family.
“When did all this happen?”
“Just last year.” Skyler stuck out his tongue playfully. “Mom was fuming. She and Dad had it out big time, even involved Grandma. Grandma gave Dad a piece of her mind and made him swear in the family chapel he’d never see that woman again.”
Jessica furrowed her brow. After all these years, was Adah still entangled with her elder brother? Persistent, to say the least.
Aurelia sighed inwardly. It seemed that men of stature always had their fair share of admirers and temptresses.
Either the men were dogs, sniffing around every skirt in town. Or the women were bitches, scheming to land in their beds.
She thought of her future with Leopold. No doubt, there would be a parade of mistresses and flings to contend with.
She'd have to be ever-vigilant, ready to defend her love at all costs.
At the thought of it, she felt her heart twisted with discomfort.
Deep down, she yearned to remarry Leopold, not just for their child’s sake, but for herself.
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