by Mira Stables
As Graine blushed and Lady Elizabeth exclaimed, he added reflectively, “That was the moment when I knew that you did love me after all. I daresay you would have looked beautiful in sackcloth. But we digress. Three weeks. Time to have the banns called – no need even for a special licence, so you cannot complain of undue haste – and then a quiet wedding at Valminster. Unless you prefer to be married from your sister’s house.”
The date of the wedding having apparently been settled by this determined gentleman, both ladies agreed that Valminster would afford more scope for the necessary entertainment. Lady Elizabeth began to enumerate all the people who simply must be invited, and announced that she would play hostess for her brother, and although the Earl protested that he had stipulated for a quiet wedding, this time he was over-ruled.
“Do you want the family to think that you are ashamed of your bride?” demanded his sister, which put an end to further argument.
“And Beatrice shall be your bride’s maiden,” Lady Elizabeth went on happily, “which will give her a great deal of pleasure and do her a great deal of good.”
His lordship demanding enlightenment on this head was told that it was just the kind of formal appearance that was invaluable for a budding débutante. “She will be in the public eye without being the central figure, and she will have no time to be nervous about her own appearance,” said Lady Elizabeth simply. “Who will you have for your groomsman?”
“Dominic,” returned his lordship promptly. “He is a little young for such a responsible position, but no younger than Bea, and he did more than anyone to bring us about when it began to look as though all was at an end.”
His sister cried out at that. “And who took the children down to Kew and arranged everything so that you could have Rainey all to yourself yesterday afternoon?” she demanded indignantly, forgetting that Graine was unawared of this innocent little plot. But Graine was too happy to care and only laughed when she learned that half the household had been involved, from Susie, who had smuggled out to the curricle a warm pelisse done up in a neat parcel in case the weather should change, to Boulding, whose task was to delay Miss Ashley in the hall until there was time for the curricle to come round from the mews. Even the Earl grinned at the recital of all the topics that his sister had suggested to the taciturn Boulding as suitable subjects for conversation with a young lady supposedly setting out to visit her sister.
But Graine’s thoughts were turning to more serious subjects. The mention of Dominic reminded her that she had not seen her brother since they had visited Valminster together.
“Dominic will be happy for us,” she said thoughtfully. “And though I expect we shall spend most of our time at Valminster, we shall be able to see a good deal of him when we are in Town. That is, if he decides to accept Mr Sutcliffe’s offer.”
“You will see a good deal more of him while we are at Valminster,” retorted her betrothed. “That is, if he decides to accept my offer rather than Mr Sutcliffe’s.”
Both ladies turned to him eagerly. He said slowly, “From a financial point of view his prospects would not compare with those that Mr Sutcliffe can offer. But if he has no real aptitude for business, would those prospects ever materialise? If he comes to me he would be living the kind of life that he likes and making a decent livelihood as well. A couple of years working under Oliver to teach him the ropes and then a spell with Franklin on the Leicestershire estates. Franklin is getting on towards retiring and it’s time we were training up someone to succeed him. Mind you, I make no promises about that – shan’t even mention it to the boy – but I think he’s got the right stuff in him. He likes the country way of life and gets on well with country people. And for a boy of seventeen he’s got a strong sense of responsibility. What do you think?”
“He’ll jump at it,” said Graine quietly, but her eyes glowed with gratitude. “It is just the kind of thing that he will like above everything. He’ll work hard, too. Not only because he likes the work but because he’ll be so determined to prove that he is really equal to it and not just hanging on your sleeve.”
The Earl grinned. “That I can well believe. I’ve met the same sort of pride in his sister, who would never permit me to do anything to smooth her path but always preferred to manage for herself.”
Graine burst into indignant protest. Lady Elizabeth smiled indulgently and, on the pretext that, with a wedding to arrange so soon she had a great deal to do, tactfully whisked herself out of the room.
The Earl was not one to waste opportunity. The door had scarcely closed behind her before he had gathered Graine into his hold. She looked up at him trustfully. There was a slight delay while he kissed her, as he said, properly, as opposed to the chaste salute that he had dropped upon her cheek when he came in from his ride. Graine chuckled and announced that she did not think much of his notions of propriety. But since she then added thoughtfully that she very much enjoyed his kisses, proper or not, he was not noticeably dashed down.
Presently he returned to some semblance of order. “It is hard to have to leave you, my darling. But as Elizabeth so truly said, with a wedding to be arranged so soon, there is a great deal to be done, and as you know, I should really have gone back to Valminster yesterday. Moreover I want to see Dominic before I go back to put my proposition to him. Then he can think it over at his leisure.”
She laughed. “Small need of that! What a pity it is that gentlemen are so undemonstrative. I daresay he will want to hug you, but his notions of proper behaviour will not permit him to do so. I am very glad that I am a female.”
His lordship, indicating that he concurred with this opinion, provided some evidence that all gentlemen are not always undemonstrative.
She snuggled confidingly in his hold. It was in a rather shaken voice that he said, “Almost you persuade me that I am not so ancient after all. Tell me, little love. I promise that I will not bother you with further heart searchings, but just this once. Do you truly feel that I am not too old for you? You are so young, so bewitching. You could have any one.”
There could be only one answer to that. Graine put up her hands to frame his face and tugged gently so that he stooped to her. She kissed him full on the mouth, the first time that she had done so uninvited, and into the kiss she put all the love and the longing that she had suppressed for so many weary weeks. As his arms closed about her, his lordship knew, once and for all, that he was not a day too old. He was exactly right.
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