Chapter Twenty-Five
“And to think, some women have to wait for weeks for their wedding!”
Anna, who had begun fanning herself as she sat, rather slouched, on the chair in Pere’s room, gave her friend a glare. “What you mean to say, is that most women have weeks to do what we’re trying to do in two days. That’s a little more accurate.”
“Your wedding was by special license as well.” Pere gave the cheeky reminder.
“Yes, well, we needed to abate the scandal,” Anna said dismissively. “You … are just impatient. And your betrothed is equally as such. Thus…” She waved dramatically at the dresses strewn across the bed and resting on every other surface aside from where she sat. “This mayhem.”
Pere took in the scene and started to giggle. “It really is rather hilarious when you think of it. I mean, I want to be beautiful, and wear the perfect dress, but … it really won’t matter, will it? I will still arrive unmarried and leave married to Hawthorne. That, I would think, is the priority.”
“Agreed, and since we have tried on every dress in your extensive wardrobe…”
“It was a blessing to pack up my things from my mother’s residence, at least we don’t have to do this in two locations.” Pere sighed.
“Thank God for small favors!”
“I think…” Pere considered the sea of fabric before her, and as her eyes settled on the dress she wore at the first ball of the season, the one where she’d all but bullied Hawthorne into asking for a dance, and then in a fit of pique, stepped on his boot.
“This one. It’s perfect.” She lifted the lavender silk dress from a chair and nodded.
“I’ll have it readied and the rest can be …
packed.” Pere turned to her friend. “Because tomorrow, I’ll have a new home. ”
Anna’s eyes were suspiciously bright as she gave a warm smile. “Yes, yes you will. But you must visit often. Drat, I’m going to miss you.”
Pere blinked back a tear and nodded. “You’ll miss me. Henley … will likely not,” she goaded.
“Oh, he will. But maybe it will take a few weeks,” Anna baited.
“Or months,” Pere added.
Anna shrugged and then sobered.
Determinedly, she straightened her posture and nodded once. “Speaking of your new home, I think there’s a conversation we must have…”
Pere’s face flushed as she assumed her friend’s intentions. “No … I’d…”
“It’s either me or your mother,” Anna shot back, her eyebrow raised in challenge.
“Good Lord, not my mother. Not that she’d have that long of a conversation with me to begin with.” Pere gave a delicate shiver.
“Then you’re stuck with me.”
“I … would rather not,” Pere hedged.
“I didn’t ask for your permission or leave.” Anna’s tone rose as she speared Pere with a strong glare.
Peregrine paused and regarded her friend. “You are going to be an excellent mother. You already have the glare. It must become natural during pregnancy.” She nodded once, as if affirming her own hypothesis.
Anna gave a dismissive grunt. “Now, sit down…” Anna’s eyes scanned the room and then she amended her words. “There’s literally nowhere to sit, so … stand.”
“It’s not going to be comfortable, regardless if I stand or sit so, make it quick at least.”
Anna clasped her hands on her lap and took a breath through her nose, opened her mouth, and then paused.
“You don’t even know where to start, do you?” Pere grinned.
“Give me a moment.”
Pere waved her hand.
“When a man…” Anna paused. “I didn’t expect it would be difficult, there’s just … so much. And I don’t want to give too much away, yet I don’t want you to be surprised…”
“How about this…” Pere took a step forward. “Given Hawthorne’s past…” She took a deep breath.
A piece of her heart twisted at knowing she wouldn’t be his only partner in intimacy, but in truth, she did have the only part he’d never given another soul … his heart.
Secure in this, she continued, “Given his past, I don’t doubt if it will be a delightful experience, and I believe I’d like to let him teach me rather than hear about it … from you.”
Anna’s lips twisted. “It feels like I’m taking an easy path rather than doing the right thing.”
“I give you permission, take the path,” Pere replied.
Anna slowly stood and smoothed her skirts. “You know you can always come to me for anything.”
Pere nodded, her eyes growing moist once more as she reached forward and hugged her dearest friend. “I know. And I’m thankful.”
Anna released her after a tight squeeze and placed her hands on her shoulders, regarding her. “Now that we have the dress taken care of, what’s left?”
“Hawthorne—”
“You can call him Gabriel in front of me. I know it’s killing you,” Anna teased.
Pere giggled. “It was, I kept nearly slipping! But yes, I will. I rather love his name…” She sighed contentedly. “Gabriel.” She caressed his name with her voice. “Is addressing all the other tasks, and as such, now I get to wait till tomorrow.”
“Your favorite pastime.”
“Yes, I live for waiting in suspense,” Pere replied dryly. “I swear I’ve done more of it in the past few days than I have the entirely of my whole life previously.”
“I believe that’s an overstatement, but regardless, let’s go take tea, and then we’ll come back and direct the maids on packing up your things.”
Pere gave a soft laugh. “And wait. But thankfully, at least I know that tomorrow, the waiting will be over.”
“It will, and I believe a wise woman once said, it wasn’t waiting…”
“It was anticipating. And that wise woman was you.”
“Brilliant woman.”
“I agree, but let’s get that tea before your confidence needs its own parlor.” Pere squeezed her friend once more and then started out from the room that had been her haven and her retreat.
Tomorrow, she’d have a new room.
And a new name.