Claire winced. She hadn’t meant to sayat night. Why had she? And why could she taste sea salt on her lips now?
She could see Freddy for a moment. The Freddy of many years ago, with shorter hair and a smoother brow. She could see the way he looked at her as the water boomed under the hull of the ship, as spray erupted from the sides. She could feel the warmth of his hands in her own.
She quickly averted her eyes, blinking away the emotion that was threatening to rise in them.
Dot, ever the savior, cleared her throat, her pale green eyes watching Claire with a steady gentleness that Claire thought she absolutely did not deserve at all, in this context.
“I’ve never been to an evening wedding before,” Dot said. “The fact that instead of a wedding breakfast, we will be celebrating Lady Bentley and Dom Raul with a midnight banquet is very romantic, is it not?”
And mercifully, that did distract them, pulling them into speculations and debate over one way beyond the other.
“None of you has ever been to a proper Catholic wedding,” Ember said with a sniff, “and it shows.”
“You didn’t have a proper Catholic wedding,” Millie pointed out.
“Aye, well, I’m a terrible Catholic, aren’t I? Besides, Joe is a Quaker. Possibly also a terrible one, andthatstyle of wedding sounded like being put in a punishment corner when I was in school. We’re both lapsed, and at the time we were both a bit impatient, so we opted for the London way.”
“Here’s to the London way,” Millie agreed. “But tell us more about the Quaker weddings.”
“Well, from what I gather,” Ember said, leaning forward like they’d be overheard, “everyone just gathers in a barn and stares at each other in total silence until the couple feels married. It can go on for hours!”
There was a pause.
“That can’t be true,” Claire said. “No vicar?”
“No! Just people staring at each other,” Ember insisted.
“For an indeterminate amount of time?” Millie pressed.
“Yes!”
Another pause as they all considered it, with a broad variance of expressions on their faces.
“Oh,” said Dot after a moment. “Well, I think that sounds nice, actually. Lovely.”
“Maybe for you,” Ember said with a frown. “I don’t do silent.”
“She doesn’t,” Millie had agreed with a quirk of her lips. “Her husband performs all the silence for her.”
“Ah, he does,” Ember had agreed with a wistful sigh. “Bless him. Do you think Dom Raul is chatty or silent when he’s alone with Lady Bentley? I can imagine it either way.”
“Perhaps you should stop imagining that,” Dot had said flatly, winning giggles from the other women.
But then, of course, it was impossible not to imagine it, especially with a man as handsome as Dom Raul.
So they all did, in exactly the style of a Quaker wedding.
PART II
THE WITCH & THE STONE KING
CHAPTER 8
Freddy personally oversaw the packing of the picnics for the excursion to Long Compton. Everything, he had decided, must be perfect. The cheese must be uniform. The meat must be smoky. The bread must be moist.
It wasn’t an unreasonable request, was it? All he wanted was the perfect luncheon. Just a flawless afternoon. Just a day unmarred by embarrassment or disappointment or calamity.
Freddy was a reasonable man. He did not ask for much!
