“They are here!” Felicity called out from the kitchen window. “The babies are here!”
“Babies?” Connor looked up from his game of tug and wrinkled his nose. “What babies?”
Grace hopped up from the bench and waved the children toward the door. “My niece and nephew. Rorie and Quill. Come meet them and their parents.”
“Will they like us?” Sissy asked, hanging back beside the tree.
“Of course they will like you, and you can help us keep up with Rorie. She’s just now started walking.” Grace realized the children had been shunned by so many, they were now leery of strangers. “Bring Hector and Galileo. Blessing and Fortuity adore cats and will also be very impressed with Hector’s ability to herd Gastric. No one has ever been able to steer him as effectively as Hector does.”
Connor and Sissy eyed her as if weighing whether the invitation was a trap. Their hesitation hurt her heart and made her even more determined to protect them from the world’s mean-spiritedness.
She went and took them by the hand, easing them across the garden toward the house. “Blessing and Fortuity are my older sisters. They’re between me and Serendipity in age. Blessing loves astronomy, and Fortuity writes books. You will like them, and they will like you. I promise.”
She tugged them along, through the kitchen that was already astir about the arrival of the rest of the Broadmere family, then down the hall and into the larger of the two parlors.
“Gracie!” Fortuity rushed over and caught her in a warm hug, then stepped back and smiled down at Connor and Sissy. “Seri was just telling us about our special guests here.” She curtsied to the children. “I’m Lady Ravenglass and very happy to meet you. You may call me Lady Fortuity if that’s easier for you.”
Sissy returned her curtsy and politely said, “I am Lady Susannah Craigston, but you can call me Sissy. Lady Grace told us you write books. Do you make up stories about princes and princesses?”
Fortuity nodded. “Sometimes I do.” She pointed at the baby fussing in Serendipity’s arms. “Lately, though, my strong-willed son Quill has kept me too busy for stories.”
Connor stood taller and straightened his shoulders. “I am Lord Connor Craigston, and Lady Grace would have accepted my offer of marriage instead of my brother’s if I had been old enough. You can call me Connor.”
Fortuity nodded and gave him an even deeper curtsy. “I am honored to meet you, Connor, and look forward to meeting your brother.” Eyes dancing with mirth, she wrinkled her nose at Grace.
Grace clenched her teeth to keep from scolding Serendipity or whichever of her sisters had already spilled the secret within moments of the rest of the family’s arrival. She forced a smile and narrowed her eyes at Fortuity, warning her to behave. “And where is Blessing, little Rorie, and my two brothers-in-law?”
“We are here,” Blessing said, entering with a jubilant toddler bouncing on her hip. She combed her fingers through the child’s silvery-white curls, making the little one chuckle and clap her hands. “She is faster than you think. Never take your eyes off her. Remember how Merry used to be? Rorie is even faster.” Blessing handed the child off to Joy, then swept across the room and hugged Grace. “Congratulations, Gracie!”
“See?” Connor said. “I told you everyone already knows.”
Choosing to ignore both their comments, Grace rested a hand on each twin’s shoulder. “Allow me to introduce you to Lady Susannah Craigston and Lord Connor Craigston. Children, this is my sister, Lady Blessing Knightwood, and over there is her daughter Aurora.”
Blessing curtsied to them both. “I am very happy to meet you. You can help us keep up with Rorie. That’s Aurora’s nickname, and much easier to shout whenever you’re trying to catch her.”
“Where are her leading strings?” Sissy asked. “Her nurse should have pinned them to the back of her clothes first thing this morning.”
Blessing wrinkled her nose. “While I know many mothers and nursemaids insist upon them, I consider them too dangerous. What if little Rorie were to get caught in them and tangled? Besides, with all the cats in my house, leading strings could prove more trouble than what they are worth.”
“You sound like Grace…I mean…Lady Grace,” Connor said. “She does things different too, and her way makes a lot more sense than the way everyone else does it. I was going to marry her, because she is beyond compare. But she told me I was too young. So I let her marry my brother instead.”
“Connor,” Grace said in a warning tone she prayed the boy would heed.
“What?” He nodded at Blessing. “She needed to know too, since I already told Lady Fortuity. I got to be fair.”
“Indeed you do,” Blessing said with a solemn expression and laughter in her eyes.
“And my brothers-in-law?” Grace asked, determined to take control of the conversation.
“In the library,” Serendipity said. “Chance was most excited for more males to arrive, since he and Middlebie find themselves outnumbered.”
“Middlebie?” Blessing and Fortuity repeated in unison.
“The Earl of Middlebie. Chance’s Scottish chum from university. The loud one. Remember?” Grace couldn’t remember if Chance had thrown Middlebie at Blessing and Fortuity as a possible husband, but she was certain he had. Dearest brother never missed an opportunity to leg-shackle them. After all, the sooner they all married, the sooner he inherited the entirety of the family’s coffers.
Blessing slowly shook her head. “I can’t place the name with a face, but I am sure I’ll remember once I see the man, since Chance paraded us in front of every marriageable male he couldfind. I assume our darling brother invited him here for the summer?”
“Well, he might as well send him on.” Connor puffed out his small chest. “My brother and I claimed Lady Grace first.”
