“Only one way to find out,” Finella said, making a beeline through the barn door and heading for the house.
“What are you doing?” Gwendolyn asked, breaking into a run to catch up with her.
“I’m going to greet our guests and introduce myself.”
Before Gwendolyn could respond to that, Priscilla’s head shot up, she caught sight of Gwendolyn, and then she was racing across the lawn, the ribbons in her hair flying madly about.
“Miss Brinley, Miss Brinley,” Priscilla yelled, throwing herself into Gwendolyn’s arms as soon as she reached her. “I’ve missed you. It’s been forever.”
Allowing herself the luxury of holding the little girl close for a long moment while breathing in the sweet scent of her hair, Gwendolyn kissed the top of Priscilla’s head before she set her on the ground. “I’ve missed you as well, darling. But it hasn’t been forever, merely a week.”
“Forever,” Priscilla said again as Samuel bounded up to join them, the sheepdogs dogging his heels. He gave Gwendolyn a tight hug and stepped back.
“Rat and Bert have decided to be friends,” Samuel said in a rush. “Bert even lets Rat ride on his back, but they both miss you and told me to tell you they want you to come back.”
“But they don’t really talk about that out loud,” Priscilla said. “Sam just understands things like that.”
“Of course he does,” Gwendolyn said, as Oscar walked upto join them, surprising her when he gave her a hug. “Anything new with you?” she asked him.
Oscar smiled. “I’ve been fishing a lot with Father and Sherman, but we didn’t catch any sharks, which was disappointing. And I’ve been working with a tutor Father hired. I’ve almost made up all my work, which hasn’t been difficult since I got expelled right at the end of last term. Father’s already arranged to have me readmitted to my school come September.”
“How wonderful, but what are you doing here?”
“We have a plan we’re hoping will have you come back to us,” Priscilla said, a statement that left Gwendolyn, for the first time in her life, feeling somewhat wobbly in the knees, because a plan certainly seemed to be something that could very well hold a great deal of potential, although what that potential could possibly be, she wasn’t exactly certain.
Forty-Two
“Honestly, Priss, you weren’t supposed to mention anything about our plan,” Oscar grumbled, sending his little sister a rolling of his eyes.
Priscilla’s lip immediately began to tremble. “Won’t it work now that I told?”
Gwendolyn kneeled beside her. “It depends on what that plan is.”
“And here is where I take over, children.”
Looking up, Gwendolyn discovered Walter standing two feet away, Ethel on one side, Matilda on the other. That he was smiling left her feeling all sorts of peculiar emotions, but before she could sort any of those out, Finella stepped forward.
“I believe Gwendolyn and Walter could use some privacy. I’m Finella Brinley, Gwendolyn’s mother, and I would adore showing all of you around the farm.”
“You’re beautiful,” Priscilla breathed, which had Finella grinning as she moved to Priscilla, swept her up in her arms, and sent a wink to Gwendolyn. “I adore these children already.” She nodded to Oscar and Samuel. “Would you care to see the tree house Gwendolyn’s father built years ago? It’s quite the sight, almost on par with the tree house inRobinson Crusoe.”
Given the grins on the children’s faces, and the chorus of “Yes please” that accompanied those grins, it was obvious they were perfectly willing to abandon their father to whatever it was he’d come to say to Gwendolyn.
After Finella sent her another wink, she strolled away with Ethel and Matilda, who sent Gwendolyn winks as well before they began chatting away with her mother, quite as if they’d been friends for years.
“I suppose you’re wondering what we’re doing here,” Walter said.
“Priscilla said you had a plan.”
He winced. “Well, yes, but she wasn’t supposed to blurt it out like that.”
“She’s five. It’s hard to show restraint at that age.”
“Indeed, but her blurting has thrown off how I was going to approach this.” He shifted on his feet, the action suggesting he was nervous, something that left her heart beating in a more-than-curious manner. “I’d like to start off by apologizing for the week that’s passed since we last spoke. It took me all that time to summon up enough courage to seek you out. I also wanted to run my plan past a few people to make certain I wasn’t completely off the mark, because clearly I made a muddle of things after the ball.”
“Who did you debate this plan with?”
“Oh, well, the usual suspects, and then a few that will probably surprise you. Gideon and Adelaide were the first to hear my thoughts, but then I decided I should branch out, because those two actually like me and might not have wanted to hurt my tender gentlemanly feelings if my plan was ridiculous.”
