Chapter 38
Chapter
Thirty-Eight
Plans are Made
Needless to say, the aftermath of Warwick’s proposal and William’s arrival was sheer madness. The entire family descended upon the morning room with shrieks, tears, questions, embraces, and so much talking at once that for a full five minutes hardly anyone made sense.
Eventually Warwick managed to tear himself away—he had a special license to arrange.
But before he left, I pulled him into the small closet off the hall reserved for coats, hats, gloves, so we could properly say goodbye.
We didn’t get far before the door was pulled open by Honeycutt.
His expression could have frozen boiling water.
“The wedding ceremony has not yet taken place, Your Grace.”
A laughing Warwick placed his hands on my butler’s shoulders. “Honeycutt. Don’t ever change.”
A shocked expression rolled across Honeycutt’s face. “Your Grace. It is not seemly!”
“It is if I do it.” And then Warwick strolled out, but not before promising to return for supper.
I left Honeycutt to recover his composure and headed toward my bedchamber where Tilly was waiting for me.
The moment I entered, her face broke into a grin. “My lady! Congratulations!”
I took her hands, and we danced around the room like a pair of fools. When lack of breath forced us to stop, she said. “You’ll be a duchess.”
More than that. I’d be the Duchess of Steele.
Only then did the reality of what I had agreed to strike me.
I was going to leave Rosehaven House. My family.
My brothers and sisters. For years I had known where each of them slept.
Who needed new shoes. Who had quarreled with whom.
Which child had a cold, which needed coaxing and which needed scolding.
Marriage would change all of that.
Not Petunia, of course. She had already made her intentions perfectly clear. She was coming with me whether Warwick and I invited her or not. She adored him, and he in turn adored her. But the rest of them—
A knock sounded on the door.
Tilly opened it to find Laurel standing outside. “Rosie, may I come in?”
“Yes, of course.” I bit my lip to keep from getting teary-eyed. Once I married Warwick, I would rarely see her. She would live with Cosmos and Claire on the other side of Yorkshire. I didn’t know how I would bear it.
Laurel joined me on the bed. “I was thinking.”
“A noble endeavor.”
“Do you think the duke would mind awfully if I came to live with you?” she asked in a small voice.
Joy surged through me. “I would need to ask him, but no, I don’t think he would mind.” She would never be a bother. All she cared about were books. I then realized I really should have anticipated her request. “It’s his library, isn’t it?”
She had the grace to blush. “Oh, Rosie, it’s such a grand thing.
Thornburn Abbey was once a monastery. The monks who lived there created such wonderful manuscripts.
The duke’s secretary told me all about them.
And it’s much vaster than the one at Steele House.
It’s not all ancient tomes, either. There’s modern literature as well—philosophy, science, history.
” She sighed softly. “It might take a lifetime to read them all.”
I pressed her hand. “We’ll also need to obtain Cosmos’s permission, sweetheart.”
“Oh.” She grinned. “I already asked him. He’s relieved actually. He and Claire will have enough on their plate with the new baby. And Fox. And Holly and Ivy. William won’t be much trouble. But Chrissie! She’ll be wanting to attend balls and visit the modiste. That will keep Claire beyond busy.”
“Yes, I expect it will,” I said somewhat wistfully.
Almost as though she had been summoned, Chrissie appeared in the doorway. “Can we talk, Rosie?” She glanced at Laurel. “In private?”
Laurel jumped up. “I’ll return to my room. I have a trunkful of books to pack.”
“Naturally.”
She kissed my cheek. “Thank you, Rosie. You are the best of sisters.” Then she sailed past Chrissie grinning from ear to ear.
Chrissie watched her go. “She asked if she could live at Thornburn Abbey, didn’t she?”
“How did you know?”
“I heard her ask Cosmos if she could speak to him privately. I could think of only one reason.”
“You’re right. She did.”
“And you said yes.”
“If Warwick agrees.”
“He will.”
“Everyone seems remarkably confident of that.”
Chrissie closed the door and took Laurel’s place beside me. “I’ve never seen him happier,” she said. “You did that.”
Something warm moved through me. “Yes.” I could bring Warwick happiness.
“Petunia is going too, I suppose.”
“Did you doubt it? She is already measuring a bedchamber at Steele House for new curtains.”
Chrissie laughed.
“It will be nice having Petunia and Laurel with us,” I said. “It will make leaving the rest of you easier.” I squeezed her hands. “Especially you. I shall miss you terribly.”
“You won’t have to miss me. I’d like to come along as well.”
“Why? Oh, that didn’t come out right. Of course you’d be welcome. If Warwick—”
“—Allows it. He will. He won’t say no to you.”
“You’re probably right. But my question still stands. Thornburn Abbey is located in a remote area of Yorkshire. You wouldn’t be able to enjoy the social life we had at Rosehaven Manor. And the weather is harsher, bleaker. You could very well be stuck inside for days on end while snowstorms raged.”
She fiddled with her hands. “Maybe I’d welcome that.”
Something was seriously wrong. I’d been so involved with the murder investigation, I hadn’t seen it.
We would need to talk it through. “Let us sit more comfortably by the fireplace so we can have a nice coze.” I turned to Tilly.
“Could you bring us some tea and sandwiches, please, Tilly?” I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and then all I’d had was toast.
“Of course, my lady.”
Once Chrissie and I had settled by the hearth, I asked, “Now tell me, what’s wrong?”
“There’s nothing wrong. It’s just that nothing is right.”
I gave her a teasing smile. “Well, that clears that right up.”
She let out a watery laugh.
“Talk to me, dearest.”
“I’m a fool.”
“You are no such thing.”
“I am.” She wiped a tear from her cheek. “All I thought about this season was what gowns I would wear, who I would dance with, what jewelry I would choose. None of that matters.”
“Of course, it mattered. You were the belle of the ball. Gentlemen lined up to sign your dance card. And several of them expressed an interest in marrying you, including Lord Sefton.”
“He didn’t want me, Rosie. He wanted only a trophy, as if I was something to be won. Once the reality of married life set in, I would have been miserable. That’s not what I want.”
“What do you want?”
“I don't know, and that is what frightens me.” The words burst out of her. “I know what gowns to wear to a ball. How to make a gentleman laugh. How to enter a room so everyone looks at me.” Her voice dropped. “But I don't know who I am when no one is looking.”
I squeezed her hand. “Maybe you want to be seen for who you are?” I suggested.
“A frivolous young woman whose chief accomplishment is twirling about a ballroom in an expensive gown.”
It suddenly became very clear. “Ah, Lord Redmayne.”
“He wasn’t wrong.”
“He is wrong. You’re much more than that.”
“Such as?”
“An intelligent young woman with a warm, caring heart, for one. And a brave one as well. You were terrified in that carriage and still did exactly what you needed to do. You kept your head.”
“Barely.”
“Barely counts. And that’s not only my belief but Warwick’s as well.”
Tilly arrived with the tea service and sandwiches. After setting it up in the small table between Chrissie and me she said, “His Lordship is asking for you, my lady.”
Of course, he was. We had arrangements to make. “Let his manservant know I will be with him shortly.”
“Yes, my lady.” She curtsied and left.
While I served both of us the food and tea, Chrissie busied herself with her hands once more. “I wish I knew what I wanted.”
“You do not have to decide today who you intend to become.”
“I don't?”
“You are eighteen, Chrissie. You are allowed not to know.”
She was silent for a long moment.
“I think Thornburn will be good for you. It will give you time to discover who you want to be.”
“Thank you, Rosie. I'd like that.”
“So would I.” I pointed toward her plate which sat untouched. “Now eat, and let us talk of other things.”
The corner of her lips turned up in a smile. “Like your wedding?”
“Yes. That.”
When she left in a much better frame of mind, I went in search of Cosmos.
He had escaped to his greenhouse, where I found him inspecting a tray of seedlings with the contentment of a man who was free, married to the woman he loved, and returned to the only creatures in his life that never demanded explanations.
He readily agreed that Chrissie should join Laurel and Petunia at Thornburn Abbey. Then we discussed Fox, Holly, Ivy, and William. Our brother had come home with troubles of his own, though neither of us yet knew what they were.
“He'll tell us when he's ready,” Cosmos said.
“He had better.”
Cosmos smiled. “Rosie.”
“What?”
“You don't have to fix everything anymore. Claire and I will handle it.”
“I know you will.” I had no doubt of that.
After my discussion with Cosmos, I returned to the morning room to pen a note to Grandmother telling her the news. But before I rang for Honeycutt to have it delivered, she arrived. Breathing dragon fire.
“And when were you planning to tell me Steele proposed?”
I kissed her cheek. “I was just sealing the note to have it sent to you. How did you find out?”
“My own maid told me. Do you know how lowering it is to have my ladies maid know before me?”
The Mayfair maid gossip express was second to none. “It happened barely two hours ago, Grandmother.”
She stamped her cane on the rug. “That’s no excuse. You should have sent word immediately.”
“I apologize for the delay. I was dealing with several siblings.”
“Humph.”
That was as close to forgiveness as I could hope for.
“I’d appreciate tea, Rosalynd. We have much to discuss.”
After I rang for it, she asked, “So it’s definite? My maid did not get the story wrong?”
“Yes. Warwick proposed, and I accepted.”
“And the wedding?”
“Some time this week. He’s gone to obtain a special license.”
“Where are you planning to hold the ceremony?”
“We haven’t talked about it. A small church somewhere in London, I imagine.”
“No, that won’t do. There would be a crowd of onlookers. And the press would be impossible. It’s not every day the Duke of Steele gets married.”
I laughed. “I’m marrying too, Grandmother.”
She pressed my hand. “Yes, you are, child. I’m so glad you finally came to your senses. I don’t mind saying I was seriously worried about you.”
Fighting back a grin, I said, “Do tell.”
She pinned me with one of her glares. “Sarcasm doesn’t suit you, dear.”
I bit down on my tongue. “Yes, Grandmother.”
A footman and maid interrupted with the tea service and a plate of biscuits. After I poured for us both, she glanced around. “It can’t be here. The place is at sixes and sevens. Best have it at Steele House. You can hold the ceremony in the drawing room and the wedding breakfast in the ballroom.”
“Well, I’d…Warwick would need to approve.”
“I imagine it won’t take much convincing. He’ll approve anything you propose.”
“Why is everyone so sure he’ll agree to anything I suggest?”
Her gaze softened. “Because the man’s in love with you.”
I sighed. “Yes, he is that.”
“So, how can I help?”
To my surprise, she offered excellent suggestions. After a half hour or so, she took her leave as there was much for her to do. She departed with her cane in one hand and a list in the other, no doubt already preparing to mobilize her Dowager Battalion.
I stood in the quiet drawing room thinking of where we were.
Cosmos had taken his place at the head of the family again.
Claire would learn Rosehaven. Fox would return to school.
William was home. Holly and Ivy would remain with Cosmos and Claire.
Laurel, Chrissie, and Petunia were coming with me. Grandmother was arranging my wedding.
And Warwick was somewhere in London obtaining the license that would make it possible.
For years, I had held the Rosehavens together with both hands, terrified that if I loosened my grip, even a little, something would fall. We’d stumbled and sometimes, despite my best efforts, fallen, but we’d always come right again.
Taking a deep breath, I let it all go.
I was going to marry the man I loved. And, for the moment, that was quite enough.