“No, she’s my cousin, Mrs. Zimmerman.”
“Icouldhave been a princess if I’d married this wonderful prince I met in London,” Catriona said, moving to stand beside Priscilla. “Gwendolyn nipped that idea right in the bud though, so no princess title for me.”
“I nipped it in the bud because the prince was a fortune hunter in possession of a crumbling castle, and besides that, he was a reprobate.”
“What’s a reprobate?” Samuel asked.
“A man who does not possess the characteristics of a true gentleman, even though he sported the title of prince,” Gwendolyn said before she introduced the children to Catriona, finishing up right as Walter stuck his head in the door.
“I hope we’re not interrupting,” he began, stepping into the entranceway and settling a smile on Gwendolyn, then inclining his head to Catriona, whom he’d met at Mr. McAllister’s picnic.
“Miss Brinley was telling us what repro-somethings are, Papa,” Priscilla said.
Walter’s brow shot up. “Reprobates?”
Priscilla nodded. “That’s it. She said they’re not gentlemen.”
“I was just about to secure Priscilla’s promise that she’ll keep her distance from such gentlemen in the future,” Gwendolyn said, which had Pricilla’s nose wrinkling.
“But what if I want to be a princess, but the prince is one of those like your cousin met?”
“Doesn’t matter. You’ll need to steer clear of such a prince.”
Priscilla nibbled on her lip before she finally nodded. “Alright, but I won’t be happy about it.”
Gwendolyn sent Walter a wink. “You’re welcome.”
Walter’s eyes crinkled. “Given Priscilla’s temperament, if she meets a dashing prince when she’s older, I highly doubt she’ll remember your wise counsel.”
“When Priscilla is older, I imagine she’ll be incredibly sensible, and she also has two brothers who’ll make sure she won’t land herself in trouble.”
“That’s Gwendolyn’s role with me,” Catriona said, stepping forward and giving Walter her hand, which he dutifully kissed. “She was elected by the family as the keep-Catriona-out-of-trouble-at-all-costs person.”
“How’s she been doing with that role?”
“I’ve never landed in jail, so I’d consider her successful.”
“But since the children don’t need to hear why you’ve almost landed in jail numerous times,” Gwendolyn hurried to say when Catriona opened her mouth again, “allow me to redirect the conversation to that present they mentioned.”
“We’ll go fetch it,” Priscilla said, snagging Oscar by the hand and hauling him through the front door. They returned a moment later, Oscar holding something out of sight behind his back.
“The children picked it out for you, and”—Walter leaned closer to her—“they paid for it with their own allowances.”
Warmth immediately coursed through Gwendolyn as she settled a smile on the children. “How thoughtful of you.”
“Wait until you see what we got you.” Samuel nodded to Oscar, who pulled a long package wrapped in brown paper and tied with twine from behind his back and handed it to her.
Silence settled around the entranceway except for the soundof paper crumpling as Gwendolyn carefully unwrapped the gift, her vision turning blurry when a tennis racquet was revealed.
“I don’t know what to say,” she whispered.
“Say you love it,” Priscilla said.
Gwendolyn blinked a few times, and when she was certain she wasn’t about to turn into a blubbering mess, nodded. “I do love it. In fact, this is the most thoughtful present I’ve ever been given.”
“We didn’t want you to go to the Newport Casino without your own racquet,” Oscar said. “They have racquets to rent, but they’re not very good. Sherman and I rented them once when we went to the casino with his parents but didn’t bring our own racquets. We never did that again.”
“You play tennis?” Walter asked slowly, earning a rolling of the eyes from Oscar in return.
