Amelia nodded. “A lady. Very fine, she is. They’ve arrived in a carriage—also very fine—at top speed; they literally raced through town. The woman called Elise—Mrs. Elise Crewes—and her husband, and three little girls. Also, a young man and a nun.”
“Seven people?” challenged Miriam. “Sevenstrangers? But surely they don’t believe we’ve room for seven uninvited guests at a family wedding? Ten minutes before it’s meant to begin? I’d sooner...”
Dani stopped listening, she stopped seeing—the room was suddenly too bright, Miriam’s gestures too wild. She shooed the cat from her lap and pressed her palms to her knees, sitting very straight. She looked back to Amelia and repeated the name. “Elise?”
Amelia nodded.
Elise Crewes was Dani’s sister. She’d come—her sister had come. Here. To her wedding. But how had Elise d’Orleans Crewes located her? What did she—?
“Did she say what she wanted? What she wanted with me?” Dani whispered.
“Well,” began Amelia, “she asked if she might see you. I told her you were about to be married—in minutes, I said, you would walk down the aisle—and she apologized. She was very conciliatory; perfectly gracious actually—humble-like. She was excusing herself, telling me she’d locate the inn and wait for a more appropriate time. But I said, ‘No, wait, don’t go’—I hope you don’t mind—I said, ‘Let me just speak to Dani.’ And I’ve bade her wait in the churchyard.”
“Dani,” warned Miriam, “if the woman has agreed to wait for a more appropriate time, for God’s sake, leave her to it.”
Dani looked at her mother. She’d not told Miriam about the potential of a sister. Amelia knew, which was why her friend was currently levitating in the doorway, eyes huge, breath held.
“Dani?” Miriam pressed, and Dani held up a hand to her mother. “What else did she say, Amelia?”
“She thanked me, and again she said that she’d no wish to disrupt, but she agreed to wait for your decision. About a meeting. So, now she’s waiting.”
Dani’s brain was a swirl of hope and fear and excitement. Four words emerged from the blur: “I will see her.”
“Danielle,”scolded Miriam, but Dani ignored her.
“If they’ve not yet gone,” Dani added. “Just for a moment. I... I won’t be able to concentrate during the ceremony if I do not meet her.”
“But why not?” Miriam wanted to know. “Who is this woman? No one with manners, obviously. I’ve never—”
“Go, Amelia,” Dani went on. “Ask her. I shouldn’t go out—Miriam is correct—but if you could bring her here? Only for three minutes?”
“Understood!” sang Amelia, her face bright. She pulled the door closed.
Miriam said, “Well, clearly I’ve been—”
“Miriam?” Dani cut in. She spun to her mother and took up both of her hands. She looked into her eyes.
“What are you—?”
“Miriam,”she repeated. “Are you listening? Are you really listening?”
“Yes, of course, but what—”
Speaking quickly, squeezing her mother’s hands as she spoke, Dani said, “The woman called Elise is my sister—well, probably my sister. From the family of my birth. Princess Elise Allard d’Orleans. Captain Bannock read about her in old newspapers found at Eastwell Park. I meant to show you the clippings, but with the wedding and so many other changes, there wasn’t time. He and I thought we would seek her out after the wedding, but clearly she has located me herself. I’ve no idea why she’s come, nor why today of all days. I’ve also no idea what she wants. Honestly, I don’t even know if she’s a sister, or an aunt, or a cousin, or an unrelated stranger who bears my same last name—but I’ll not be able to marry Bannock with a clear head and heart if I know she’s come and I do not speak to her, just for a moment.”
Miriam’s hands went cold. She tried, feebly, to pull them free of Dani’s grasp. “No,” Dani said, clinging more tightly. “No. We’re in this together, you and I. You are my mother. You have raised me. This is my wedding day and you and Whittle are the hosts. You’ll remain at my side until I walk down the aisle. Whatever is said, you, also, will hear. And I mean what I’ve said before: my love for you and your love for me is untouched by whatever happens with this family who left me behind. Do you understand?”
“Dani...” Miriam said on a sob.
“Do you understand that I am unchanged, Miriam?” Dani asked. “That my love is unchanged, and we are family?”
“It’s too much,” Miriam insisted.
Dani chuckled. “Twenty years of secrets do tend to pile up, and now they’re overflowing. You may have it one way or the other. Clarity all along or the wellspring at once. We are in the wellspring. Look, Miriam, I will meet this woman—you and I will both meet her—and then the wedding will go on. If she is pleasant, and she’d like to stay, she may remain as a guest. If she is terrible, we will send her away.”
“Why didn’t you tell me what the captain had discovered?” Miriam asked.
Dani took a deep breath. “Excellent question. Let’s just say I’ve a better understanding of how difficult it is to share information that may disrupt the harmony of an otherwise loving home.”
