“It is an excellent reminder,” Drew managed. “But will you say what happened next?”
“When we made it so far as Dorset, it wasn’t hard to locate Avenelle. By then, Mama could show us the way.”
“It’s a miracle,” Ian whispered. He looked to Drew. “It’s a miracle they survived.”
“It was only walking,” said Ivy. “In summer. Given the choice between walking across England in summer and attending this ball in any season, I would choose to walk.”
“Luckily, no one will force you to make that choice, Ivy,” Drew said quickly. “But thank you for telling us. I’m very proud that you survived it, and that you persisted until you found your way to your uncle. I’m also very proud to have been made your aunt. You are very special girls. Both of you. And your mother too. Very dear—to me.”
“Actually I’ve wanted to tell this story for some time,” said Ivy. “But Mama doesn’t care for it.”
“Well, you’ve said it now. And I won’t mention it to her if that is what you prefer. Neither will Ian.” She gave him a hard look. He had the expression of a man who’d been asked to hold a large, wet fish.
“Not until you’re ready,” Drew continued. “We needn’t say anything more about it except that you were very brave—all of you—and certainly Imogene is... is very cap—”
“Oh, there she is!” Ivy said brightly, looking beyond Drew to the dark terrace steps.
They all turned and watched Imogene float from the shadows of the garden to the dim terrace. She was a puff of white rising in the night. Her debutante’s gown glowed silvery in the moonlight, the silk as delicate and flowy as the down of a swan. Her blond hair had been cut fashionably short and was swept back in jeweled pins.
Timothea ascended beside her, her skin a little blotchy, her eyes bright; she wore a gown-like, shroud-like garment of vermillion silk that trailed down the steps behind them.
Drew forced herself to smile, to reconcile the stunningyoung woman, her hair dripping in flowers, with the savior who rescued her grieving mother and innocent sister by walking across England.
Perhapsreconcilewas the wrong word; there was no doubt in Drew’s mind that Imogene had done it—and likely more to boot. Drew meant only to fix the combined vision of the two Imogenes in her mind; to mingle her pride in Imogene’s debut with the pride in her heroism. Imogene’s personality was colorful enough to accommodate both.
“How gorgeous you look,” said Drew, opening her arms.
Imogene, true to form, allowed only a brief hug, and then she stepped back and whirled, sending the delicate white gown spinning into a round disc as flowers dropped from her hair.
“Timothea,” enthused Drew, “look what you’ve done to her coiffeur. I love the flowers.”
“Oh, Mama,” said Ivy, “you’ve ‘adorned’ her. So pretty. Well done.”
“A bit of nature never hurts, does it?” Timothea sniffed.
“How do you feel, Imogene?” asked Drew. “Ready? You’ve commanded quite a crowd. The ballroom is bursting. Apparently Queen Charlotte hasn’t stopped talking about your presentation. Your reputation precedes you.”
“Oh, best not to saythat,” laughed Imogene, picking at the pearl fastener on her glove.
Drew couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s a good thing, I assure you, to be a favorite of the queen. London is aflutter with tales of the Duke of Lachlan’s niece, finally out in society after weeks of rumors about her great beauty and sparkling wit.”
“Never you fear,” said Imogene, “I’ll set them to rights.”
They laughed and Drew stepped away to signal a footman. It was time. If Drew allowed herself to acknowledge the swath she, herself, was cutting through London—the matrons she impressed with her pretty nieces and her lovely manners and her sensibility; the other young gentlewomen who admired her wardrobe and her carriages andthe changes taking place in Pollen Street—she didn’t dwell on the praise for long. These same women had chattered and gossiped in devastating ways when she’d been less polished, less sensible, and not married to a duke. Now she wanted only genuine friends.
And anyway, she was very busy. She’d had nieces to bring up and a debut ball to plan. She had a husband to love and a future to look forward to. She had a finishing school to launch.
When Drew stepped back to the circle of Ian and his family—herfamily—she said, “I should like to take a moment to say how very proud I am of the young woman you’ve become, Imogene. But I should also like to say that I’m proud of the girl you were all along. I could learn something from you on that score.”
“Pity,” sang Imogene, “I haven’t the patience for instruction. You’ll have to sort it out on your own.” And then she winked.
“And I,” said Ian, “would like to say that I’m a very lucky man. Through no effort of my own, I have two clever nieces, a sister who defies definition and is never boring, and a wife who—at least in my view—delivered us all to this happy moment. I love my family and I love my wife. And if we actually survive this party and these last weeks in London, I look ever so forward to us returning home. To Avenelle. Dorset in the summer puts on quite a show.”
No one knew quite what to do after that—they were a happy family, but they were very new at it—and Drew stepped up again, opening her arms to the twins, hugging them fiercely, hugging her sister-in-law, and then falling against her husband.
“Well done, Lachlan,” she said. “We’ve done it.”
“We’ve managed so much more than my wildest dreams,” he said, holding her close. “Thanks to you. In view of that, I’m wondering if you’ll accept a very small token of my love and appreciation?”
