“I do my best,” I said in my most professional tone.
“Good,” she said. “Because there’s nothing worse than incompetence disguised as charm.”
I had to smile at the bluntness. “I’m sure you’ll find everything quite suitable here, at Langston Estate.”
She inclined her head a fraction. “Yes, the air here has that particular sweetness in the morning. You can almost taste the salt from the ocean if you stand just right.”
I tilted my head. “You’ve been here before?”
Her mouth curved. “A lifetime ago when I was younger.” Then she was already moving, the tap of her cane a steady metronome of purpose.
Her gaze shifted towards the horizon, where Noah was walking from the cellar block. “Ah, there’s a Langston. The resemblance is rather striking. The jawline, I suppose. That family always did photograph well.”
Noah approached, expression politely curious. “Lady Beaumont. A pleasure.”
“Mm.” She extended her gloved hand. “You manage the vines now, I understand. Your grandfather spoke of them as though they were children. I trust you treat them with the same affection.”
He paused, startled just enough for her to notice. “You knew my grandfather?”
“Oh, everyone knew your grandfather,” she said smoothly, then added, “He threw excellent harvest parties in the 70’s. The kind that lasted three days and usually ended with someone in the lake. I trust that tradition hasn’t survived.”
“Not recently,” Noah said carefully.
Her face fell a fraction. “Pity. The world’s grown duller.”
I trailed behind as they ascended the steps, mentally shredding my perfectly timed schedule for the day.
“I’ll need a room overlooking the old vines,” she said. “Something with a little air. And the west staircase, if you please.”
Margaret looked up in alarm. “We were going to put you in the east wing, Mother. It’s closer to the terrace.”
Victoria didn’t even pause. “The east wing faces the wrong direction.” She turned back to me, her tone final. “The west wing will do nicely.”
It wasn’t a request so much as a gentle decree.
“Of course,” I said, typing the change into my tablet.
She gave a small, satisfied nod. “Good. I like to know where I am.”
As they disappeared through the doorway, the scent of her perfume lingered behind her.
The drawing room felt expensive in the way only old money can. Cut-glass decanters caught the light, pale roses sat in crystal vases, and the air smelled faintly of Earl Grey. Even the porcelain teacups seemed to sit up straighter when Lady Victoria Beaumont entered.
Lady Beaumont settled herself at the head of the low table with the kind of effortless authority that made it feel less like a seat and more like a throne. A server stepped forward immediately, pouring her tea with near-religious precision.
Margaret sat beside her with a leather-bound notebook already open, looking alarmingly eager for someone attending what wastechnically only an afternoon tea. Richard positioned himself loyally at her side, while across from them Caroline and James sat neatly dressed and visibly tense.
Elaine, meanwhile, sat politely apart from the group with the careful expression of a woman trying very hard not to become emotionally involved in whatever this family had going on.
“Grandmother, how lovely to see you,” Caroline said, recovering quickly. “We weren’t expecting you until Saturday. You must have left home in quite a hurry.”
Lady Beaumont smoothed the cuff of her sleeve, unbothered. “I decided waiting felt unnecessary. Once I heard the wedding was being held here, well…” she glanced towards the tall windows, where sunlight spilled across the vines, “I thought it might be nice to come early. It’s been a very long time since I’ve been to the region.”
James, ever the diplomat, leaned towards her. “I understand it’s changed a lot. The estate’s grown, new vines, new cellar, everything rebuilt to be a little more… modern.”
Victoria gave a faint smile, one that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Ah, yes. The modernisation of everything. Some things, of course, resist change.”
The silence that followed stretched just a heartbeat too long. Then she turned briskly back to the table, her tone shifting to one of brisk command.
