“I needed to read it in private,” Justin said. “I took it to the summerhouse last night after everyone had gone to bed. I persuaded Estelle to go with me. Because I needed her, Watley. Because I love her.”
Watley nodded and patted his shoulder. “I am glad,” he said. “Stell and I were fortunate that our father was still alive when we were ready to confront him. We were able to have it out in person. I suppose she has told you.”
“Yes,” Justin said. “I look forward to meeting him, though I do have an acquaintance with him from the House of Lords. I will write to him later today.”
“Really?” Estelle said. “To ask for my hand?”
“I know it is unnecessary,” he said. “But yes.”
“Oh.” She smiled warmly at him. “Thank you. He will like that.Ilike it.”
“We are going to Redcliffe tomorrow,” Watley said, his eyes upon Estelle. “It is home, after all—for a short while longer for Estelle, that is. And there will be no point in trying to organize a wedding from Elm Court. I would not be given a moment’s peace. Our stepmother is good at organizing. She has all the weight of the Westcott ladies’ committee behind her. They are a formidable lot, Brandon. Be warned.”
“Wearegoing to Redcliffe?” Estelle asked her brother. “Oh, I am so glad. It seems forever since we saw Papa. And Mother. The Westcott ladies’ committee is not too successful, though, is it? When they were planning a grand wedding for Avery and Anna, he simply went and got a special license and took her off one afternoon to marry her in an obscure little church in the middle of London, with only his secretary and Elizabeth, Lady Hodges, as witnesses.”
“The Duke and Duchess of Netherby?” Justin asked.
“Yes,” she said. “And most recently, this past spring, the committee planned a thirtieth birthday party for Harry Westcott at Hinsford and took along three prospective brides for him to choose among since everyone thought it was high time he married and lived happily ever after. He foiled them all by marrying Lydia Tavernor, the late vicar’s widow, on the morning of his birthday.”
“Good old Harry,” Watley said, laughing. “But by the law of averages, Brandon, they are almost bound to succeed one of these times, are they not? If I were you I would do what Netherby did.”
Justin looked at Estelle and took one of her hands in his again. “I suppose we are stuck with this twin of yours until we have a few matters settled,” he said. “Like the sort of wedding you want.”
Watley folded his arms and leaned back against the balustrade.
“Notone like Avery and Anna’s,” she said. “Though I am sure it was perfect for them. As I see it, a wedding can be considered in one of two ways. It can be seen, quite justifiably, as something for the bride and groom. It can also be seen, though, as something for their families too. A chance to celebrate. Together. A mingling of families, which can be a beautiful thing. We have seen it in the last two weeks. Your family is not a single entity, Justin. There are your father’s relatives and your mother’s, and even Maria’s. She is your sister, so in a sense her family is your family too. And there are Wesley and Hilda and Ricky. On my side there are my mother’s sister and her family, and my father’s brother and his sister and her family and a few cousins, children of the late marquess. And there are all the Westcotts, who are related to me in much the same way asMaria’s relatives are to you, not by blood but by a marriage connection. They have been wonderfully welcoming to Bert and me. They treat us as honorary members. When you and I marry, these two large, diverse groups will become our larger family. I want to celebrate that at our wedding.”
“It will have to be at Redcliffe, then, if you hope to squeeze all those people in,” Watley said. “Or in London, where everyone can find their own accommodation. That would be the easiest solution. I’ll wager Netherby would offer his ballroom at Archer House for the wedding breakfast.”
Justin was gazing at Estelle, and she was gazing back.
“The wedding will be here,” he said. “Unless you have another firm preference, Estelle. In October, when autumn will have turned the valley into something so beautiful you will run out of superlatives in your first sentence and then be doomed to repeating yourself or merely gazing in silence. You have only to look over your shoulder to the house to remind yourself that it is big enough to accommodate an army with room to spare.”
She smiled.
“But there is another reason,” he said. “Do you remember on the afternoon when I took everyone through the state apartments and then directly into the grand reception hall for tea?”
“The domed room?” she said. “I will never forget seeing it for the first time.”
“Do you remember what you did and what you said?” he asked her. “When the sun shone through the dome and made rainbow colors of light all about the room? I had just told everyone that it is occasionally used as a ballroom. Youlooked up at the light and spread your arms and twirled once about. And you said it would surely be the most wonderful place in the whole world in which to dance.”
“Oh.” Her face was glowing. “I do remember. And I still think it.”
“You, my love,” he told her, “are going to dance there. You are going towaltzthere on our wedding day.”
***
Everyone was already expecting a busy day even before they sat down to breakfast. For they were all leaving tomorrow, and there were bags to be packed—though, of course, it was the servants who would do the actual work of filling trunks and hatboxes and valises and bags. There were also favorite places to be revisited while there was still time—the lake, the wilderness walk, the gallery, the maze, the rock gardens, among others. There was to be a tea out at the summerhouse during the afternoon. Lady Crowther and her sister wanted to pay a farewell call to their old friend Lady Hodgkins.
There were future meetings to discuss—and it seemed that they alldidwant to meet again and wished to talk about it at breakfast. Maria would go with the Sharpes tomorrow to spend a few weeks with Rosie. But the Dicksons and the Chandlers were eager for her to come to Yorkshire later. She still had her aunt Sarah and uncle Thomas to meet, after all. And the Ormsburys hinted at Christmas in Cornwall, certainly for both Maria and Justin, but also perhaps for the Yorkshire families and the Sharpes if they did not have other plans.
“And you and Lady Estelle would be very welcome to come too, Lord Watley,” Lady Crowther added. “If yourcompany is not already spoken for, that is. But we must not all go years again without seeing one another. Families ought not to allow themselves to drift apart just because of the great distances that separate their homes.”
“Maybe next spring when Maria goes to London to mingle with all the other titled nobility for the social Season,” Mr.Dickson said, beaming at his niece, “she will take the eye of some handsome gentleman and fall in love and we will all be invited back here for a grand wedding in the summer.”
“Leonard!” his wife scolded. “You are putting the poor girl to the blush, not to mention Justin, inviting us back here like this.”
“No, he is not embarrassing me, Aunt Margaret,” Maria said, laughing. “But my bridegroom is going to have to beveryspecial. I refuse to settle for anyone just because he is handsome.”
