“That could change the game,” Alex whispered, joining the conversation. “Dukes and a Marquis with their wives, all here for your wedding may just be the trump card.”
Ambrose watched his mother smile and even show her teeth. She then dropped into a curtsy, before taking her seat.
“She’s not easy to please” was all Ambrose added.
“I’ll be ready for a nip of spiced rum after this,” Charles said, moving from foot to foot.
After a lot of debate, he and Tilly had settled on spring for their nuptials. He’d wanted to just get it done so he could move her into his household. She’d said that it had to be spring if it was to be held in Crabbett Close, so spring it was.
They’d learned a great deal about each other in the months since he’d asked her to marry him, like her appetite. It was as large as his, and she was partial to sweet food, whereas he preferred savory.
She was sweet-natured with those she loved—which included him—and did not suffer fools. Her intelligence constantly surprised and delighted him, and her general knowledge far exceeded his, so he’d set about remedying that, with the help of his glasses, which had changed his life.
“Has there been any more news on the fate of the five men involved in that Fraternitas Sanguinis Crucis business below the clubs?” Charles asked. “It has been dragging on far too long now.”
“Gray told me their lawyers were throwing everything at them, but they will not win, as there are too many witnesses standing against them,” Ambrose said.
“They are also disgraced and ruined in the eyes of society now, which, from personal experience, is most unpleasant,” Alex said.
“Howard is the one who will bear the brunt for the murders, as the other four men turned on him and admittedhe was the instigator of the deaths of those poor women,” Ambrose said.
All entrances to that evil place had been boarded up. No one could get in or out, and all concerned were happy to keep it that way.
“I still can’t believe Mavis has found love,” Charles said as they watched her walk down the aisle with a man at her side.
Joseph was Mavis’s exact opposite. Shorter than her by half a head. Happy, usually smiling, and his laugh could be heard in all the residences of Crabbett Close. He’d come to do some building work at 11 Crabbett Close, took a single look at Mavis Johns, and had fallen hard.
“That relationship is one of life’s miracles,” Alex said as the couple took their seats, still holding hands.
Ambrose looked to see if he could find Tilly, but so far had not sighted her. He had, however, seen the trestle tables laden with food and the fires lit to keep everyone warm. Lamps and candles were everywhere, and musicians were setting up in the rotunda.
The sound of a fiddle started, and Ambrose felt a smile tug at his lips. Soon, he thought.
“Ram assured me he had convinced Clemmie not to sing,” Alex said.
Clemmie clearly had not listened because his voice suddenly rang out across the gathering, and it was accompanied by his violin. Luckily, the Duchess of Raven joined in, and the guests breathed a heavy sigh of relief as she almost drowned out the music.
“Close your eyes, Rosie,” Charles said.
He did. His pulse raced, and he felt the excitement that had been simmering inside him all day build.She was here.
“Now open them.”
She stood with her father, smiling, and her eyes were on Ambrose. Her mother was there, too, and he thought thatwas perfect. He’d come to admire and respect her parents, and not just for what they’d done for Tilly. They were good people who he was glad to now have in his life.
“It was exceedingly kind of her to wear the purple scarf, don’t you think?” Alex said.
It was wound around her neck several times and complemented the lilac dress she wore beneath a deep sable-hued jacket. Her hair was pinned in place with matching tiny flowers, and a deep purple ribbon fluttered from the back.
Mine,he thought, digging his toes into his boots to stop himself from walking toward her.
Before her were a handful of small Nightingale children flinging rose petals in delight. The guests smiled and waved at them. Cissa, Violet, and Tavi walked behind Tilly, dressed in matching lilac.
In that moment, Ambrose felt like his chest would burst, it was so filled with love.
“Hello,” she said when she reached him.
“You look beautiful. I particularly like the scarf,” Ambrose said.
