6. Chapter Six #2
“I’d love to,” Mabel said eagerly and punched her fist in the air. “I’m all for women-empowered movements.”
For a moment Mrs. Reynold’s startled gaze met Colin’s, and he tried not to smile.
“I’m not sure how revolutionary our current branch is, but they were definitely active during the custard tart wars of the late twentieth century,” Colin said. “Maybe Mrs. Reynolds could fill you in on their history when you go and visit?”
“That would be awesome!” Mabel said.
“Three o’clock in the village hall this upcoming Saturday. I’ll see you there.” Mrs. Reynold made her escape.
“If we did do tours, the W.I. might be able to provide docents,” Colin said. “Many of them have ancestors who’ve lived nearby for generations, and they’d have a great take on the history of the estate.”
“And you wouldn’t have to open up the whole house for these tours, right?” Mabel said as she joined the queue for tea. “You wouldn’t have to disrupt anyone who actually lives here, but the estate is large enough that you could host so many things. Weddings and events and dinners…”
Mabel and Colin took their tea and headed out onto the patio through the open French doors. The view over the gardens was spectacular here, and Mabel could only imagine what having your wedding in such an amazing space would be like. She turned to Colin and told him exactly that.
“Do you really think people would want events here?” Colin looked intrigued but doubtful, which was so very British of him. “I mean isn’t it a bit over the top?”
“You’re kidding, right? Who wouldn’t want to get married here?”
“We have the Temple in the grounds as well,” Colin said thoughtfully. “The one my ancestor nicked from Greece and reassembled in his backyard.”
“Like a real temple?”
“So, they say. Although I suppose it could’ve been any old pile of stones. It would make a nice venue to get married in.”
“Can we go see it?” Mabel asked.
He smiled, and she was relieved to see that a lot of his earlier tension had disappeared.
Secretly, she was appalled at the number of relatives that the estate had been supporting but who had never lifted a finger to help their own family.
At least fifty percent of his audience had looked mutinous, and she wondered whether he would follow through and start throwing people out.
He seemed like he might be too nice to do that.
“I don’t see why not.” He took her cup and set it on the stone balustrade alongside his own and held out his hand. “Come along, then. Maybe you can tell me whether it’s a folly or the real thing.”
“I doubt it.” Mabel grinned at him. “I’m not exactly a history expert.” She half-turned back to the doors to the house. “Do we need to help clean up?”
“I don’t see why,” Colin said with that supreme upper-class confidence of someone who always had people to pick up after him. “They ate all the damn cake.”
He leapt over the balustrade and offered her a hand. “Short cut?”
“Why not.” Mabel clambered up onto the stone and let him lift her down. “I haven’t seen this part of the backyard yet.”
“Backyard.” Colin chuckled. “I love it. Just don’t let my grandmother hear you call it that. The gardens have been her life’s work.”
Mabel couldn’t even imagine what that meant and chose to nod wisely. They walked hand in hand across sloping lawns with perfectly cut grass that took them away from the house in gentle swings and dips.
“At one point there was a whole cascade of water features and fountains along this avenue.” Colin pointed back the way they’d come. “Eventually, the plumbing failed and when nobody could work out how to repair it, they filled it in during the war.”
“And I thought it might have once been a rollercoaster,” Mabel joked as she mimicked the rise and fall of the landscape down the slope with her hand. “It must have been a pretty impressive sight from the house.”
“Yes. They used to light it up at night as well. If we make millions opening up this place, maybe I should restore it.”
“Maybe start with the roof and the useful plumbing first,” Mabel suggested.
“I thought Americans were all about the big spectacle?”
“Not this American. Earlier, Mrs. Reynolds told me that they’re running out of buckets at the big house to catch the drips coming through the ceilings.”
“That bad, eh?” Colin sighed. “It really is going to be a massive job.”
“Yup.”
He paused and drew her close. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to, you know.”
“Trying to get rid of me already?”
“You know I love you being here, but I’m just saying that this isn’t your fight, and I would totally understand if you want to bail on me.” He gazed steadily into her eyes. “I’m not exactly fun right now.”
“You were fun before?” Mabel fluttered her eyelashes at him. “I can’t say I noticed.”
“That’s because you were too busy admiring my—”
“Accent.” She kissed his nose.
He lowered his head and kissed her very thoroughly until she wrapped her arms around him and held him close.
“I’d love you to stay,” he said softly.
“Then I will.” She reclaimed his hand. “How far away is this place?”
“Just across the lake.”
“You have a lake now?” Mabel teased.
“Of course, we do. Although it’s artificial and horribly grown over. It once had boats on it and there’s an island with some kind of statue thing in the centre.”
Eventually, they came to stop in front of a body of water with a green tinge that made the entire lake seem murky. “It’s a bit creepy,” Mabel said.
“Yes, like everything else here on the estate, it definitely needs a makeover.” He pointed to the right as if eager to get away. “The temple’s up that way. It’s sited on a rise to take advantage of the view over the valley.”
“Oh cool!” Mabel shaded her eyes against the glare as they turned up the slope. “Wow, it’s way bigger than I thought it would be.”
“There are photographs of my grandmother and her mother-in-law taking tea out here with about twenty friends.” He grinned. “They absolutely loathed each other, of course, but back in the day appearances still mattered.”
Mabel paused to take in the white stone of the circular structure.
Six pillars supported the overhanging front entrance, which offered shade from the sun and a place to sit outside.
Above the portico, there was a circular window and a smaller upper level rather like the second tier of a wedding cake.
“It’s quite beautiful.” She walked up onto the huge flagstone paving stones on the circular terrace and turned slowly around. “You could have entire weddings out here with that amazing view behind you. What’s inside?”
“Nothing much.” Colin followed her through the second set of porticos into the interior space. “Someone added windows and a ceiling at one point, so at least it’s not dark in here.”
Mabel whistled and the sound echoed around the painted domed roof. There were a couple of bird nests near the top, but the structure looked relatively sound. “It’s huge. You could fit a hundred guests in here.”
“I suppose you could.” Colin stared up at the golden-haired cherubs and the inadequately draped goddess perched on billowing white clouds. “I do hope that isn’t my great grandmother. No wonder she died young if she insisted on trailing around half naked all the time.”
“It’s way too cold to be wearing that little,” Mabel agreed. “Especially in England.”
“And, with the weather being what it is, retreating inside is always a good option, especially at a wedding.”
Mabel grabbed hold of his hand. “You could do this, Colin—the weddings, the open house—all of it.”
He looked down at her, his blue gaze intent. “You know? For the first time I almost think I could.”