“Seeing your daughter in love should be a fine sight, indeed,” she told him. Then she realized what he’d said. “Christmas Eve! Is it?”
She looked at Geoffrey. “I hadn’t realized.”
He appeared equally astonished. “Nor I. I suppose we had our minds on other matters, and the month slipped away.”
Lord Diamond came in looking concerned. “I may head out to find the ladies. They should still be about five hours away. The snow has stopped, so I doubt they will get stuck anywhere, but I don’t want to risk it.”
“I’ll go with you,” her father said.
She felt a tingle of anticipation. She and Geoffrey would be left alone again. By the quick smile upon his handsome face, he realized the same thing, quelling it just as quickly when their fathers stopped discussing their travel plans.
“We’ll trust you to remain here,” Lord Diamond said.
“And unwed,” her father added.
“Of course,” Geoffrey answered. “I would offer to go, too, but I don’t want to leave Lady Caroline alone in this place.”
“Hear now!” said the barman as he brought in tea service. “That’s uncalled for,” he repeated his words fromthe night before, sounding as if he were used to having his establishment slighted. “We have no trouble in this inn.”
“You have a broken window,” Lord Diamond said, “giving us a chilly night.”
The man’s eyebrows rose, but he set down the plain wooden tea tray. “We’ll put some wax paper on it if you’re staying another night.”
“I believe we are,” Lord Diamond said.
The barman rubbed his hands. “Don’t usually have our rooms all filled for two nights in a row by the same folks.” And he wandered off, presumably to tell Mattie in the kitchen the good news.
“I’ll have a cup of tea,” her father said, “and one of those scones before we go.”
Lord Diamond shrugged, but in two minutes, all four of them, including both the fathers, were tucking into scones with cream and thistle jelly.
Caroline wondered how terribly disloyal it would be if she and Geoffrey married and left as soon as the men went in search of their wives.
And then a third astonishing thing happened. The front door of the inn opened, and the two mothers blew in along with a frigid gust. Caroline could see it all through the open sitting-room doorway.
“Mother!” she exclaimed, jumping up, causing the three men to do the same.
The two ladies turned in amazement and stumbled into the room.
“Isn’t this a fine how-do-you-do!” Caroline’s mother exclaimed. “We’re out in the brutal elements, and they’re all inside here warm as toast. And eating it, too.”
They all started talking at once.
“Did they marry?” Lady Diamond asked.
“How did you get here so quickly?” Lord Chimes asked.
“Did you stop them?” Lady Chimes asked.
“Are the horses in good condition?” Lord Diamond wondered.
“Would you like tea?” Caroline offered.
“Is this the best inn in the area?” Lady Diamond asked, looking around.
“Hush,” Geoffrey said. That made the four parents stop and stare at him with varying degrees of annoyance. “Please, ladies, won’t you sit and warm up? We’ll get more tea and scones.”
At the commotion, the barman wandered in. “I don’t have any more rooms,” he said, rubbing his hands with glee at being full up. “But I’ll bring more tea and my wife’s scones.”
