Chapter Twenty-Seven
Arriving at Mowbray House, Finn admitted to himself that yes, he was impressed.
It felt like a country estate, a beautiful mansion surrounded by trees, lawns and impeccable gardens. And yet it was less than half an hour or so from London’s busiest streets.
Elegant and stately though it was, their welcome was anything but.
“Hecate,” shrieked an attractive woman, running out of the front door to the carriage. It had to be Kitty, since she had the feminine equivalent of Richard Ridlington’s handsome features.
She was followed by a tall gentleman, who would have been impeccably dressed but for the lack of a jacket and the colourful towel over his shoulder. Apparently he’d forgotten it was there.
“Kitty,” exclaimed Hecate, scrambling to get out of the carriage. She nearly tripped in her haste, but both Kitty and Max were there to catch her.
“Careful,” muttered Finn, a bit intimidated by the surroundings and the assurance of Kitty and her husband. The aura of theTonlingered around them.
Finn was not of theTon.
“Come inside. Please…” Kitty let Max give Hecate his arm, and held her hand out to Finn. “We’ve been dying for you to arrive so that we could meet you. Richard’s spoken of you so I feel as if/ I know you already.” She linked her arm through his as he dismounted from the carriage, and smiled up at him with such friendliness that any lingering nerves he felt immediately dissipated.
“Did you have a good journey? Were the roads all right? We’ve had some snow, but not much yet. Our nanny says it’s going to be a bad winter, because there are a lot of caterpillars on the ground. Did you ever hear such a thing?”
“Kitty, my love.” Max stood at the door waiting for them to enter. “Give the man a chance to catch his breath?”
Finn smiled. “It’s a fine welcome, and I thank you both for allowing me to stay.”
Hecate rolled her eyes. “Of course they’re allowingusto stay.” She shook her head. “Kitty, Max, this is Finn Casey. My fiancé. And now we’re all formally introduced, I’d like to see my niece?”
Kitty’s mouth had opened in surprise, but she turned it into a grin. “Well, you’ve gone and shocked me to my slippers. But I am so very happy for you…” She flew at Hecate, hugging her fiercely.
Then it was Finn’s turn to be ruthlessly crushed in her embrace.
“Married. By God. Max, did you hear? My baby sister is going to marry this fine man.”
“I heard,” he grinned, rolling his eyes. “So did everyone else in the surrounding acres.” He turned to Finn and Hecate. “You’d better settle in or we’ll be spending your entire visit here in the hall.”
Fortunately, the Seton-Mowbrays weren’t a family that held to a strict timetable, so it was early afternoon when they finally had a chance to sit down together for a late lunch.
Finn knew that Hecate had spent the appropriate amount of time cuddling baby Margaret, but had surrendered her to her Nanny, so that she could nap. Reluctantly, said Hecate, she had done as she was told. But not before a final kiss on the soft skin and a stroke of the hair that looked as if it was going to be as dark as her father’s.
The conversation around the table was general, with Kitty offering the latest London news, and Hecate filling her sister in on Richard and Cressida’s wait for the babies, and the most recent goings-on at Ridlington.
“I haven’t seen Letitia, yet,” she mentioned as they finished their meal. “Are she and James here in town?”
“Yes indeed, and they will be joining us for dinner,” announced Kitty. “As soon as she heard you were coming up, she demanded we get together. Since driving in to London and their townhouse can be a bit challenging this late in the year, we thought it would be nice if they came out here. They’ll stay the night so we have plenty of time to talk.”
“How wonderful,” Hecate clapped her hands. “I so look forward to seeing them again.”
Finn, who had remained silent during most of the meal, wondered how it must feel to have such a large family and to be assured of a welcome at any of their homes.
“All right then, Hecate.” Max leaned back in his chair. “Tell us why you’re here.”
She looked at Finn, then at Max. “I’m not sure if there was any mention of it in the Ridlington messages, Max, and I don’t want to repeat what you already know.” She paused.
Max shook his head. “Very little. Just that you had an urgent reason to come to London and could we put you up.”
“We should, of course, tell you the entire story. But since it’s powerful and distressing, perhaps we should wait until James and Letitia get here? I think both Finn and I would rather tell it only once.”
Finn nodded at Hecate’s suggestion. “I agree. This is a complex situation and we’ll welcome all your suggestions. The lass here has an idea about how to resolve it.” He sighed. “And the less said about that, the better.”
