Chapter Thirteen
With the matter of their visit to Rosemount Abbey agreed upon and settled, the two older women now spent several hours working through their respective social connections.
At one stage, Eve wished she had a pen and ink to map out the interconnected families of England’s nobility.Every family had married into the other family at some point or other.Blood lines crossed over many times down the centuries.By the time she and Adelaide left Rosemount House, Eve had calculated she and Freddie were forty-third cousins, twice removed.Distant enough for her to know they shared little blood.
Eve’s musings over her future with Freddie were set to one side as soon as she and Adelaide set foot inside their home.They were greeted by a familiar and very welcome face.
“William!”Adelaide promptly burst into floods of tears and threw herself into her son’s arms.Will stood, eyes closed, holding his mother, while Eve watched through a veil of her own tears.Will was finally home for good.He was safe.Her brave big brother had been returned to her.
“Francis says he is not moving out of your old room,” Eve said.
Will chuckled.“Yes, we have already had that conversation.Now he is taller than me, he thinks he can push me around.But to be honest, I am happy just to have a room to sleep in.He is welcome to my old space.”
“Where have you been, you wicked boy?Your father said you had some army business to attend to, but haven’t you done enough already for your country?”asked Adelaide.
“Sorry, it was unplanned business that could not wait.It was late by the time I had finished so I stayed at Bat and Rosemary’s last night.”
Adelaide nodded.The Earl and Countess of Shale had been undercover operatives with Will during the war; a special bond existed between Will and his cousin.
Will and Eve embraced.“And I hear you have news of your own,” he said.
Eve looked away, sheepish at the thought her secret love was now becoming public knowledge.“Freddie Rosemount and I have become friends.It is nothing more than that at this moment, but we shall see.”
Adelaide said nothing, for which Eve was grateful.She wanted to keep news of the impending visit to Rosemount Abbey a secret until she had had a chance to talk to Freddie.It was all well and good to start making wedding plans, but when she and he had not even discussed the matter of possible affections held, the idea of marriage was a little premature.
“Speaking of married people, I hear we have much to thank you for in the turnaround in Lucy and Avery’s wedded fortunes,” said Adelaide.Eve gave her brother a second hug.For Lucy.
“I played a small part—nothing more.We menfolk can be blind sometimes to what is in front of us.It was obvious when I met Lucy and Avery in Paris that Avery was in sore need of someone to clear the scales from his eyes.Once he accepted he was already in love with Cousin Lucy, there was nothing left for me to do,” replied Will.
His remarks were typical of Will.From Lucy’s letters it was clear he had been instrumental in putting her and Avery’s faltering marriage onto solid footing, yet he would never seek to claim the accolades he so richly deserved.
“So, when do I get to meet this young man?”Will asked Eve.
“Soon.Your father and I are planning on a small gathering of friends to celebrate your return.Nothing big, as per your instructions.We shall invite Frederick to the gathering,” replied Adelaide.
A prick of worry entered Eve’s mind.Hearing her family openly discuss Freddie was becoming a little too real for her comfort.While their relationship had remained a secret from her parents, she had a sense of control.With their respective parents stepping into the picture, she was going to have to renegotiate the terms of the Bachelor Board challenges with him.
Before he met with her family, they would need to agree on what was to be done with the Rude Rules.It was fun to be rude to strangers—and even Caroline at times—but she dreaded to think what would happen if something untoward was said to one of the senior members of her family.
