Lavender Morning by Jude Deveraux Page B

Ramsey…Rams?”
    “She runs his life.” When Joce raised her eyebrows, Sara shook her head. “No, not in that way. Tess runs
    his law office and she’s so good at it, she tends to run his life as well. If you get flowers on your birthday from
    Rams, they were probably chosen and sent by Tess.”
    “Ah, one of those secretaries. Dotes on him, half in love with him? That sort of thing?”
    Sara smiled. “She says she can’t stand him, and she frequently lets him know it.”
    “So why does she work for him? Why does she live here in Edilean?”
    Sara shrugged. “I have no idea. Tess is a mystery to me, and I know she’s a mystery to Rams. But she lets
    him know when he does something she doesn’t like.”
    “So what does she have to do with a low-cut dress?”
    “You’ll have to get Rams to tell you that story.”
    “You know, I think I read in some book that when you go on a first date with a man, you do not ask him
    what his secretary and a low-cut dress have in common.”
    Sara laughed. “I’m sure you’re right, but Rams has always been able to laugh at himself. Listen, this is just a
    warning, but when you meet Tess, don’t call her a secretary, and do not ask her about that dress. She’s sick of
    the story.”
    “All right,” Jocelyn said as she pushed her empty plate away. Already she was beginning to feel a bit
    overwhelmed with all she had to learn.
    Sara seemed to know what she was thinking. “You’ll do fine. Everyone is just curious, that’s all. But I do
    warn you that everyone in this town—who actually lives here, that is—is going to want you to tell them about
    Miss Edi.”
    “I can understand that,” Joce said. “The townspeople must have loved her very much.”
    “Loved her?” Sara said. “The truth is that there are few people still alive who really knew her. Except for
    Aunt Mary Alice, that is, but she can’t very well love her, now can she?”
    “I don’t know,” Joce said. “Why couldn’t your aunt Mary Alice love Miss Edi?”
    “I thought you two were friends. Surely you must know Miss Edi’s tragic love story?”
    Joce gave a sigh. “Until a few days ago I would have said I knew nearly everything about her, but I’m
    learning that I didn’t know that much. She never mentioned Edilean, Virginia, or this house. I do know that she
    was once deeply in love with a young man from here who was killed in World War II.”
    “Killed!” Sara said. “Killed by feisty little Mary Alice Welsch getting herself pregnant by him and making
    him marry her. When Miss Edi came home from the war there was the man she loved, married to someone else.”
    Once again Jocelyn had that feeling of betrayal. This wasn’t the story she’d been told. All the love that Miss
    Edi had told her about, her great, deep love for David Aldredge, hadn’t ended in death. It had ended in a
    shotgun wedding. No wonder Miss Edi never mentioned Edilean and no wonder she lied about her beloved’s
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    shotgun
    3/16/2010 wedding. No wonder Miss Edi never mentioned Edilean and n
    Jude Deveraux - Lavender Morning.html o wonder she lied about her beloved’s
    death. Better death than betrayal!
    Joce tried to compose herself so Sara couldn’t see what she was feeling. “Didn’t all this happen a long, long
    time ago?” Joce asked. “You make it sound like it happened yesterday.”
    “This is Virginia and we remember things. My grandmother used to tell me stories about the War Between
    the States. She knew who loved whom and who was jilted. So now I tell stories from another war. Whatever,
    I’ve heard Miss Edi’s story a thousand times. The Harcourt family started the town, owned the biggest house,
    laid out the town square, all that. Even after they lost most of their money, they were still the most important
    family. By World War II, the McDowells were far richer, but they didn’t have the cachet the Harcourts did.”
    As Joce finished her tea,