Chapter Eleven
Edmund hardly recognized his own home, bedecked in orange blossoms and garlands of summer flowers and white ribbons.
“Clark! Walters!”
His butler hurried up, and Walters was never far from his side these days.
“Yes, m’lord?” Clark asked, a touch of breathlessness in his voice.
Edmund knew that as a minor baronet, the title wasn’t warranted, but his servants had always given him this unnecessary elevation beyond a mere “sir.” “Is this all quite proper? What about these flowers? Won’t they wilt by the wedding breakfast?”
“Not in two days’ time, sir,” Clark intoned, his deep, even voice soothing.
“In two days’ time.” Edmund mopped his brow.
Three weeks had fled, seeming all too slow and far too fast at the same time. Tonight would be the engagement ball, and Friday morning would be the wedding, held at St. Ann’s. The wedding breakfast, which was usually held at the bride’s home, would be held at Cadfael House instead, for it could easily accommodate the swarm of friends and relations Mrs. Lycombe insisted on inviting.
“This house hasn’t seen more than a shadow for company in years, and now, hundreds in a week!” Mrs. Taylor swept past with a huge sponge cake on a silver tray. A kitchen maid followed with saucers of berries on a tray.
“Yes, I’m aware,” Edmund snapped, trying not to gulp audibly.
Catherine liked balls and dances. His leg was much better, but it was by no means up for hours of dancing. Would he have to watch history repeat itself? Would Rose dance the night away in the arms of other men?
“Not hundreds, Mrs. Taylor,” Mrs. Brown sang, trailing the cook with an armful of folded napkins. “Don’t you worry, sir. Everything is going to be splendid. You will meet your best man this evening, will you not?”
“Oh, good heavens. Charles. He arrived earlier in the week, but I haven’t seen him yet. What if he doesn’t like me?”
“You’re talking nonsense, sir,” Walters attacked him vigorously with a clothes brush, working over his dark suit with a practiced eye. “You look incredibly handsome. Young and handsome. Many a young woman marries an older man.”
“And if I may say,” Mrs. Taylor came through again, and Edmund smiled ruefully as he knew the cook would have a say whether he agreed or not, “that young lady is not so young in spirit. She’s an old soul, good and wise. She’ll make this place a happy one.”
Edmund had to admit that he believed she would. But would he be able to make Cadfael House a happy place for her?
“THAT’S MRS. MARBURYand her daughter—she’s six months younger than you, Rose.”
“I recall how old Alice Marbury is, Mother.” Rose knew she sounded fretful. But it wasn’t her fault that her dresses were all so tight in the waist and large in the back. It wasn’t her fault that the new fashion seemed to be to make women as uncomfortable as possible.
“Ooh!” Ivy leaned out of the family carriage and let out a breathy squeal. “That’s Captain Bryce with her!”
“I never!” Mrs. Lycombe practically threw her younger daughters out of the coach in her eagerness to get past them and stare at her friend (who she also considered somewhat of a rival).
“Calm yourself, my dear,” Mr. Lycombe hopped lightly down from his horse and took his wife’s hand.
Charles did the same, handing the reins to a footman and extending a hand to Rose and Ivy. “Dear sisters. Lily, wait for Father to help you down.”
Lily nodded, eyes wide. “There are so many people,” she hissed.
“Poor thing is afraid,” Ivy fanned herself with her free hand. “Mama should have left her home with Lyddie.”
“I am not afraid! And you haven’t gone to lots of balls, either, and you hope someone falls in love with you as fast as Brother Edmund fell in love with Rose!” Lily whispered in a tart little voice.
Charles laughed. “Lily, you’re my favorite sister—at the moment.”
Rose smiled at that. She was happy to see her handsome, thoughtful brother home from Harrow, and glad that he was home in time for her wedding. “Lily, you must come and have cake and punch, and greet all the people, for you are my bridesmaid.” Rose leaned over and whispered, “But then I will take you to the library. Edmund has so many wonderful books on nature and the sciences, with amazing illustrations, even of the animals in Africa and Asia!”
Lily nodded, eyes bright.
Ivy tossed her head. “You may sit and look at the dusty old books, but I will be dancing every dance, shan’t I, Mama? You’ve often said that I’m not allowed ‘Out’ until Rose is married, and on Friday, she will be.”
John Lycombe cleared his throat. “You may dance when I introduce you to your partners, Ivy, and not otherwise. You are not yet eighteen, and I will not have you married off so hastily after Rose. Besides, Edmund and Rose are vastly suited, despite the difference in their ages. The man who would suit you gives me pause, for I fear he would be given to flirting and pleasure without more substantial interests.”
Rose was spared Ivy’s reply by Edmund’s appearance.
He was framed in the wide doorway of Cadfael House, dressed in a fine dark suit. His hair was brushed until it shone in the light coming from inside. The best part of all was the way he hurried to her, a wide smile on his face. “Good evening, Lycombes!”
Rose broke free of her father’s escorting grasp without thinking, her arm already longing to be tucked under Edmund’s. In three weeks’ time, he had become her friend, a true friend of her heart. She told him things she knew her mother and sisters would laugh at, things her father was too busy to hear as he prepared to teach Charles the business of running their estate. Edmund was never too busy and never laughed—unless she was trying to be funny.
“You look breathtaking.” Edmund looked at her in her new lilac-colored dress. “Is this the new style?”
“Yes, inspired by our gracious Queen Victoria,” Rose answered. She leaned close and whispered, “I don’t much like it, but Mama says I must attempt it since I’m to be married to a baronet.”
“At home, you shall wear whatever you like,” Edmund whispered back.
“My goodness, did you ever think our Rose would be in a love match, husband? I assuredly did not.” Mrs. Lycombe inserted herself into the conversation. “Edmund, this is Charles, my son.”
“My best man.” Edmund extended his hand, and Charles took it with a smile.
“You have made Rose very happy—to say nothing of my mother. She will crow over this match for the rest of her life.”
“Charles!” Mrs. Lycombe warned before laughing. “Cadfael House looks as grand as I’ve ever seen it! I’m delighted we’ll have the wedding breakfast here. Rose, you must help Sir Edmund greet the guests, for this ball is in honor of your engagement.”
“Yes, Mama.” Rose smiled up at her suitor. “I’ve never been a hostess before, but Mama assures me I have the necessary skills.”
“I certainly don’t. I believe we just point the people toward the food and the music, then let them have at it.” Edmund smiled back.
EDMUND FELT AS THOUGHhe was in a dream. Rose clung happily to his arm, and he loved the feel of her against him. She seemed genuinely happy to be at his side and he at hers.
A steady stream of coaches and carriages arrived, and their inhabitants descended on Cadfael House (like a plague, he found himself thinking). His leg was beginning to burn already from such a long period of standing.
And Rose will surely want to dance.
“I promised Lily that she could visit the library and look at your books of the natural world. The ones with the colorful illustrations. I hope I have not overstepped my bounds,” Rose murmured as they smiled at the next pair coming inside.
“Not at all. I have a chessboard set up. Your father said you play. Does Lily?”
“She and Charles do. Ivy does not have the patience to learn.”
“Ah.”
At last, the bulk of the guests seemed to have arrived. Edmund led Rose from their position by the doors into the great hall. Cadfael House was Georgian in design, a solid block of stone with windows all across the front and back, giving way to a smaller, shorter wing on either side, and a great hall for feasts, receptions, and balls in the middle of it all.
The great hall had been the bane of his existence when he was married, for it either stood empty (to Catherine’s great dismay) or on the rare occasions it was full, she was dancing around it in another man’s arms and he was either a helpless bystander or hiding away and trying to forget that he was not a part of her enjoyment.
Tonight was different. Rose stayed with him as they moved between small knots of chattering guests, attached to his arm in such a way that his chest puffed out with pride.
“Your leg must be tired. I know it is common for people to stand and have their refreshments, but do you think we could sit?” Rose whispered.
“I think it is bad form for the host to do so,” he whispered back.
“What about at the wedding breakfast? Can we put chairs in the garden if the weather is fine?”
“I don’t know how many chairs we have, but I suppose we can attempt it.”
Rose was silent beside him for a moment, then she stepped forward, taking him with her in small, measured steps. “You must show me the library, Edmund. I have been longing to peruse your collection on physiology.”
“I have some very fine notes on anatomy that have just come from a recent lecture at the Royal College of Surgeons. One of my business associates, Herr Klinefelter of Berlin, has a brother who spoke on the topic of cranial operations.”
“Not as fascinating as new botanical discoveries made in the Americas.” Rose smiled at him teasingly.
“Goodness, Captain Bryce. I can see what you mean.”
Edmund stopped short, halting Rose in her steps. He turned to find a small group of guests looking at them from a few feet away, expressions of amusement on their faces. “Ah, Captain Bryce. Mrs. Marbury. Miss Marbury. I apologize for missing your arrival. I must have been out retrieving my Rose.” Edmund raised Rose’s hand to his lips and kissed it with a small, cold smile meant to show his ire at the foolish officer, not his warmth for his future bride.
“It’s quite all right, Locke,” Bryce said in an easy, cheerful way. “May I present my own dear flower, Alice Marbury? Soon to be my wife.”
“Oh, how delightful for you! I’m glad you managed to find a suitable replacement before you left for London, Captain.” Edmund gave the little group a wide smile, well aware that his words were less than mannerly.
Indeed, Miss Marbury looked shocked, then petulant. “Replacement, sir? I fear you are misinformed. Captain Bryce had no other woman in mind to fill the role of wife.” Alice’s bright blue eyes cut across Rose, partnering with a subtle sneer. “Although he did hope to find someone suitable from among the Lycombe daughters. Sadly, two are too young, and one was... thoroughly unprepared for marriage, her head filled with knowledge more suited for men.”
Edmund’s hand tightened on his cane. “I beg you to clarify further, Miss Marbury, for you are speaking either of my own dear Rose or one of her sisters, whom I now consider my kin.”
Bryce, realizing his young lady had been too indiscreet, attempted to repair the damage. “‘Tis nothing to fret over, Locke. Miss Marbury only meant that Miss Lycombe has a thirst for knowledge that is useless to a woman and won’t benefit an officer’s wife.”
“Knowledge benefits any man’s wife,” Edmund declared in a frosty voice, fingers flexing. “Should I have a choice of all the women in England, I would pray God grant me an intelligent one, one who reads and studies. The quickness of her mind on many matters means that she can learn anything and everything.” His eyes flashed over the sulking Miss Marbury, who was pressed obscenely close to Bryce. “I pity the woman whose husband values her brain so very little and is concerned only with her body.” He leaned forward and whispered, “A body may fail, may age—and then what shall he value her for?”
“Edmund!” Rose’s voice was a low gasp. “Lily is waiting for us in the library.”
“Excuse us. We must circulate.” Edmund bowed.
“I suppose you’d know all about failing bodies, Locke,” Bryce called out after him, his voice careless as he tossed out a barb that would stick.
Locke froze in mid-step. Ooh. I deserved that and more. I was abominable to Miss Marbury and insinuated her groom’s future unfaithfulness. Well and truly, I let my temper get the best of me. He forced his muscles to relax. Mustn’t react. Keep going toward the library. This is a night to show Rose that I can be a gracious host—and I’m failing.
To his surprise, it was Rose who answered the parting shot, her voice clear and sweet, with a smile to match. “Indeed, it is wonderful to know that Edmund doesn’t have to rely on a dashing, manly figure or some temporary physical prowess to enthrall and enchant his bride.” She dared to run a hand over his cheek and chin, such an unexpectedly affectionate, intimate gesture that left him stunned. “I was wholly his from the moment he put pen to paper, showing me the heart that beats only for me. Never was a bride more fortunate than I. Come, darling. We’ll have plenty of time to see our dear friends and neighbors later.”
Edmund followed Rose, knowing that several more heads were turning in their direction.
“Eee!” A piercing shriek caused them both to turn and see Charles holding an empty plate and Miss Marbury wearing several strawberries and a heaping amount of cream on her shoulder.
“Good heavens, Miss Marbury! I most humbly apologize,” Charles was saying in his most charming voice, bowing deeply. “Let me escort you to the ladies’ salon to repair the effects of my clumsiness.”
As Edmund disappeared from the ballroom, he caught the younger man’s eye and was delighted to see him wink.
I think he’s going to be an excellent brother-in-law.
“Edmund, you were beastly to Miss Marbury,” Rose’s quiet voice was shaking as they stole down the corridor.
“I am ashamed. My temper is not what it should be, I confess, which is why I very often shun society. But, I solemnly vow that I will—Rose? Rose!”
Rose let out a weak, wheezing gasp and then leaned her face into his shoulder.
“Oh, my dear! Are you crying?” Edmund whispered, hating himself more by the second.
Rose looked up at him, her eyes wet, but her cheeks bright pink and her shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. “I am being terribly wicked. But it is so true that Bryce only wants a woman of the right class and standing, no matter her personality or the thoughts in her head. They would say that I am the failure, but you... Oh, Edmund. You were my knight-errant, rescuing me with your words and slaying Captain Bryce and Miss Marbury. Did you mean it?”
“That I would choose you above all? Yes.”
“That you think I can learn anything?”
“That as well.”
It was Edmund’s turn to be shocked as his wife-to-be pressed him into the door of the library and kissed him until his toes curled in his shoes. His previous thoughts about waiting for a long while to consummate their marriage evaporated in a haze of desire that he knew he should not yield to. “Rose. Don’t.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.” Rose fell back, eyes downcast.
He grabbed her hand, shaking his head. “No, no! I enjoyed that very much. Far too much for tonight. Remember what I told you? I feel it is better to wait for some time after marriage to ensure that I don’t disappoint you,” he concluded in a whisper.
Rose raised her eyebrows. “I will wait as long as you like—but I’m equally likely to disappoint. Wouldn’t it be more likely that we would please each other only through practice?”
Edmund felt like his head was swimming, although he hadn’t had any spirits.
He was very relieved when Lily suddenly burst through the door of the library, causing them to flounder backward into the room. “Hello, little one!” he gasped, working to regain his balance.
“Rose! Brother Edmund has a map of Africa with lions and elephants. I want to see a zebra! Do you think you could ride one like a horse?”
Rose smiled at him over the top of Lily’s head.
“I think you can achieve most things through practice.”