“I wondered at that. There is such wonderful light in the space, it would be good to make the most of it.”
“And which wallpaper do you think?” Margaret asked, looking more closely at the book in her hands.
“I’m not certain. Perhaps this?”
As she was flipping through the book again for the right match, the door burst open.
Margaret was halfway out of her seat before both of them realized it was Matthew. But there was certainly something different about him.
Perhaps it was the brilliant smile on his face or the way he seemed to be positively bursting with energy. The way he quickly crossed the room toward Diana and practically dragged her out of her chair before he’d begun to speak.
“I have found it! It is perfect! You must see this! Prepare the carriage!” At that last he strode back to the door and stuck his head back into the hallway. “Prepare the carriage!” he repeated and there was some small bustle as a servant raced off to see to it. “Come now, Diana, let us go.”
“Mathew, Mathew, what in the world … what have you found?” She asked, wondering vaguely if he had completely lost his head.
“The house. It is the perfect house,” he managed to get out. “And we must go now to see it,” he added impatiently.
“If it is so perfect, how have we not seen it already?” she asked, confused. “We have already looked at every house available within miles of our current residence.”
“It was not for sale. But I persuaded the owners,” Matthew explained with a wink, of all things!
“And how did you convince them to leave their house?” Diana raised an eyebrow, though she was unable to keep herself from smiling.
“Well, the owners are an elderly couple with no children of their own, and I helped them see that there’s no reason for them to have a house so large. They agreed when I made them a rather generous offer. Just wait until you see it.”
The carriage was waiting out front, and Matthew helped her into it without further ado. Then they took off.
“How did you stumble across this perfect house?” Diana asked, caught up in his excitement.
“I had business in town, as you know, and on my way back I happened to be watching the countryside.”
“Not something that you would regularly engage in,” she replied and he acknowledged that with a slight shrug of his shoulders.
“Well, I was watching anyway and I happened to see a little lane that led to a large townhouse. And it all looked very cute and comfortable. I just had to have a closer look. So I had my driver take a closer look and even from the outside I could tell that it was an excellent opportunity for us.”
“What is it about this house that’s so perfect?” She asked, glancing outside the window and wondering just how long it would take to get there.
“It looks perfect on the inside. The rooms are just right for everything that we need and there’s a garden out back and it’s the best of every house we’ve looked at.”
She couldn’t help but laugh at the infectiousness of his smile and his excitement. Clearly, he did think this house was going to be just right for them, and she could only hope that he was right.
In fact, as they hurried toward his ‘perfect’ house, she debated the idea of telling him it was perfect even if it wasn’t. Had nearly resolved to tell him that she loved it even if it wasn’t what she’d always wanted when they stopped before the place.
And she was mesmerized.
“Oh!”
That brilliant smile lit up his face again, and he helped her out of the carriage, giving her plenty of time to look over the front of the house, to assess its location, with London not far and the house set back just the right distance from the road, with a gate and large windows across the front…
“Just wait until you see the inside,” he told her, and the way he grabbed her arm and dragged her forward was almost childlike. The way Arabella used to drag her about to look for woodland fairies in the garden or the way Marigold used to drag her to the kitchen for extra sweets after tea.
There was an excitement in him that she had never seen before.
Diana laughed aloud but hurried after him, nervous but excited to see the rest of the house.
At first glance, it seemed perfect. The front entrance was large and full of natural light, and it was brilliantly designed with tall ceilings that would make anyone who saw it more than pleased.
“The place is furnished, but of course, they will take the furniture with them,” Matthew informed her.
