“Oh sorry,” Ryan said. “I am Lady Marianne Daventry. Of Winscombe. In Guernsey.”
“How do you do?” he said cautiously. “And you’re acquainted to Elise’s brother... how?”
“Right. That. How can I explain it? Well, I was oncebetrothedto, er, Prince Gabriel? That is, I still am, or so I’m told. We were betrothed as children. By our fathers. So I’m hesitant to say Iknowhim, more like I knowofhim? Or rather, Iknewof him?”
“Oh,nowI remember,” exclaimed Mrs. Crewes. “Yes,yes,yes. You’re the Earl of Amhurst’s eldest daughter. FromGuernsey.Lady Marianne—I completely remember.” She clapped her hands to her cheeks, smiling back and forth between the two of them.
“I am, in fact,” said Ryan. “All grown up, I suppose. And I’m called Lady Ryan—or simply Ryan, as is my preference. We do not stand on ceremony at Winscombe.”
“But we visited Winscombe several times as children,” enthused Mrs. Crewes. “I actually loved our time there because I’m so very fond of sea bathing. There’s a little trail down the cliff to the beach on your estate, is there not?”
“Yes. Daybreak Walk, we call it,” said Ryan, smiling. “What a very good memory you have. It’s a delight to see you again, Highness—after everything that’s happened.”
“Killian,” said Mrs. Crewes, spinning to her husband, “Lady Marianne’s father was a very dear friend of our papa’s. Their home was but a short sail from the French port of St. Malo, which is a port on d’Orleans lands. Our families have a long history as neighbors. And our fathers arranged for Gabriel and Lady Marianne to marry when they came of age. It was to be an exchange of property, mingled fortunes, that sort of thing. In all that’s happened, I’d forgotten about the betrothal.”
“Oh yes, I can see how that might slip one’s mind. And I should like to hear more, truly—buton the topicof abandoning this stoop...” Killian prodded. “Perhaps Lady Ryan’s suggestion of tea in the garden would be the thing? Can we settle on that for the moment?”
Ryan glanced at Gabriel, hoping to covertly gauge his level of comfort with the notion of a garden tea.
“But have the two of you reunited?” asked Mrs. Crewes, looking back and forth between Gabriel and Ryan. “But of course you have. If not, how would Lady Ryan find us? Although—how did Lady Ryan findGabriel? I don’t understand.” She laughed a little, clearly unsettled and confused and delighted all at once.
“I’m going to make a command decision,” cut in Mr. Crewes. “We’ll ask Wallace to have tea brought to the garden. In the meantime, I wonder if you, Lady Ryan, and my wife might discuss your unlikely journey from Guernsey to Wiltshire. Also, perhaps the two of you could oversee staff as they set things up in the garden? While you manage this,I’llavail myself of Prince Gabriel. His expertise with horses precedes him, and I have a mare about to foal. I’m deuced worried about her.”
“A mare about to foal?” repeated Mrs. Crewes, spinning to him. “You can’t mean to take him to thestables, Killian?Now?No. He’s only just—”
“I should be happy to look in on the mare,” Gabriel cut in, descending the first step of the stoop.
Ryan exhaled in relief. Mr. Crewes understood.
“I’ve given everyone quite a shock, I know,” Ryan interjected, “turning up with no warning. I can try to explain. If Mrs. Crewes will—”
“Please call me Elise,” Elise said, waving a hand. She wasn’t looking at her; she stared only at her brother.
“The stables are in the back,” Mr. Crewes said lightly, leading Gabriel down the steps.
Gabriel looked again to Ryan and she nodded.Yes. Go. Look at the horse.
And then they were gone, disappearing around the corner of the house.
Elise Crewes watched them go like she was watching an heirloom burn in a fire.
“Will he stay?” asked Elise Crewes softly.
Ryan, of course, had no idea if he would stay, or vanish, or become the king of France. She’d thought she’d never see him again, and now here he was.
“Probably?” Ryan guessed.
“But should I go with them?”
It wasn’t Ryan’s nature to stride into situations and tell people wherenotto go, but itwasher nature to solve problems. The problem here seemed to want a very slow pace and room for everyone to come accustomed to everyone else.
“Perhaps a more pressing task,” Ryan suggested, “might be to oversee the laying of the tea? The less formal, the better, I think? And with few distractions?”
“Yes, alright. I understand,” Elise said. She gathered up her skirts and then stopped. “But how welldoyou know my brother, Lady Ryan?”
“I only met him yesterday. If you can believe it.”
“Yesterday?”
