“Oh, did he now?”
“Indeed.We were supposed to dance the waltz, but he offered to take me for a walk in the gardens instead.The ball was such a crush that night, I welcomed any excuse to go out of doors.”
“That’s when he kissed you?In the gardens?”She thought of all the indiscretions to which the flowers in the Morganfield gardens had paid witness over the decades and chuckled softly.
Helen nodded.
“You didn’t get caught,” Stella stated.
“No,” Helen acknowledged.“It wouldn’t have mattered if I was.None of the young bucks in London had any intentions of courting me, so ruination wouldn’t have changed anything,” she said in a quiet voice.
“It would have changedeverything, darling,” Stella countered.
“How?”Helen challenged, straightening in her chair.
“We would have forced him to marry you before he left England.”
“He wouldn’t have been ready for marriage.And I wouldn’t have wanted to marry a resentful man.Father wouldn’t have forced the issue,” she claimed, obviously with more confidence than she felt.“Besides, Thomas would have been long gone by the time the gossip spread, Mother,” she added.“But I agree.It was better this way, even though I’ve been forced to wonder for some time if anything would ever come of that kiss.”
Stella considered her daughter’s words, realizing she had been rehearsing them for well over a year.That didn’t mean she was particularly amenable with the idea of marriage to Thomas Forster, though.“Are you happy at the thought of marrying him?”
Helen nodded.“Incandescently so.Although I must warn you, I may end up living at Gisborn Hall in Oxfordshire.”
“Oh,” Stella murmured, her momentary thrill at hearing Helen was indeed happy with the arrangement quickly abating.
“Or we might take up residence in the Gisborn townhouse in Mayfair, should Lord and Lady Forster decide to live at Gisborn Hall.Which I think is more likely since there are apparently some archaeological sites there for Diana to explore.”
Stella’s eyes widened at hearing this last.“Oh, I do hope it works out that you can stay in the capital,” Stella breathed.
“Well, you’re friends with his aunt.Perhaps you can mention it to Lady Bellingham, and she can pass along the thought to Lady Gisborn when we return to England,” Helen suggested.
“You know I will.”She glanced down at Bradley again to discover he was sound asleep.“When will you marry, do you suppose?”
Helen shook her head.“It will be months before we’re back in Europe, and the boys are planning time in Rome as their final stop on their Grand Tour,” she explained.
Stella’s eyes widened in delight.“Rome,” she said on a sigh.“You should marry in Rome,” she whispered.
Lifting a shoulder, Helen grinned but didn’t mention that she didn’t think she could wait that long.She was about to put voice to a query about how she might marry in Egypt when her Father appeared in the doorway.“Good morning, Father,” she said brightly.
“Morning, darling,” Stella said in a quiet voice as Harry made his way to her to place a kiss on her forehead.“I didn’t realize you were awake.”
“Morning to you two.Three,” he amended when his attention went to his son.“I’ve actually been up for a while.There is a young man in the hotel lobby who would like a moment of our daughter’s time—or rather the rest of her entire lifetime,” he said softly.
“Oh!”Helen said, quickly rising from her chair.
“Don’t rush, Helen.Make him wait for you,” Stella admonished her.
“Yes, Mother.Thank you, Father.”She curtsied and slowly walked out the door, her measured steps exaggerating her slow pace.
Stella exchanged a knowing glance with her husband when they heard the footsteps increase in frequency and fade on the carpeted corridor floor.
“I told you so,” Harry whispered before he joined his wife on the settee.
Glad she agreed with him this one time, Stella said, “Yes, you did.”She paused.“Did he happen to mention their desire for children?”
Harry glanced over at her.“He did.”
“Are you going to make him wait?”
Knowing exactly what she meant, he shook his head.“Even if I told him to, it wouldn’t matter,” he murmured.
“Why do you say that?”she asked in alarm.
“Because if I know my daughter,shewon’t lethimwait,” he replied.“She is his now.”
Stella grinned even as a blush suffused her face.“Like mother, like daughter,” she said in a whisper.
“Minx,” he accused.
But he didn’t argue.
