Chapter Thirty-Two
Eve was excited over the event which lay ahead.Will and Hattie, the newlyweds, were coming to the Saunders home for a family dinner.With Freddie no longer in her life, she could enjoy evenings of social interaction without the worry of offending anyone under the Rude Rules.
Will had finally found contentment and peace back in England.Hattie had captured his heart, and he had freed hers to love again.Theirs was a union which offered hope for all.
Her own relationship with Freddie may have ended in disaster but knowing love existed between other couples gave Eve the comfort her wounded heart sorely needed.Somewhere, someone was waiting to capture her heart and hold it for himself.
She finished dressing and was downstairs waiting when her brother and his new bride arrived.
“Eve, my sister, how lovely to see you,” said Hattie.
Eve smiled and hugged her.
Will handed their coats and hats to a footman and escorted his wife into the family drawing room.The look of contentment on his face stirred Eve’s heart.She had never seen her brother so happy.He almost glowed.
“Ah, there you are.My two favorite newlyweds,” announced Charles.With arms open wide, he embraced Will and Hattie as one.Adelaide and Caroline soon joined the happy gathering.
“Where is that snow-haired lump of my brother?”asked Will, when Francis did not make an appearance.
“Francis sends his apologies.He and Harry received last-minute invitations to a party at Carlton House, and they felt it would not be good form to refuse an invite from the Prince Regent,” said Charles.
Eve was proud of her younger brother.He was starting to make a name for himself as a canny businessman; the receipt of invitations from select parts of London society were becoming a regular occurrence.There was never a shortage of others seeking to add to the coins in the bottom of their pockets, by seeking the advice of someone on their way up in the world.
The family gathered around the couches and chairs, which were set out in a semi-circle.Will and Hattie sat hand in hand, close to one another on one of the smaller couches.Every time Hattie looked up at her husband, he squeezed his wife’s hand gently.
Two footmen entered the room.One was carrying a tray laden with champagne glasses, which he set down on the table in the middle of the arranged furniture.A second footman placed two bottles of champagne on the table, before the two men quietly left the room.
Will rose from the couch and picked up one of the bottles of champagne and worked at freeing the cork.Eve recognized it as being a particular and expensive French brand.
Charles and Adelaide looked at one another and rose from their seats.
“Gosset.Is there a special occasion?”asked Charles.
A loud bang echoed around the room as Will finally managed to free the cork from the bottle.With champagne bubbling out, he hurriedly filled the glasses.
Hattie rose from the couch and picked up two of the filled glasses.She handed one each to Adelaide and Charles.“We have news.”
It didn’t take more than a second for the look on Adelaide’s face to change from one of slight interest to tearful joy.She flustered around for a moment, before thrusting her champagne glass into the hands of her husband.She pulled Hattie into her embrace.“Oh, that is magnificent.You have no idea how long I have wanted to be a grandmother.You are a wonderful girl.”
Will turned to Eve and Caroline, who were also standing and handed them both a glass of champagne.“I am going to be a father,” he said.
Caroline promptly burst into tears, while beside her, Eve did some rough calculations in her head.Will and Hattie had not been married that long.
She made a mental note to interrogate Hattie further at some point.She suspected the relationship between Hattie and Will may have begun some time before they went public with their courtship.
“Congratulations.That is wonderful news.I promise that Caroline and I shall endeavor to be the absolute best aunts we can be, and if we fail terribly we shall make certain to spoil your progeny and therefore keep our failures hidden,” said Eve.
Caroline laughed through her tears and nodded.“Yes, our corruption of your offspring shall be subtle but irrevocable.”
Eve gave her sister a friendly pat on the back.
Hattie moved closer to Will who put an arm around her, pulling her in close.He kissed her fair hair and said, “I told you they would be excited.”
The joy on Hattie’s face made Eve’s heart flutter.Hattie deserved all the happiness in the world.She had brought a light back into Will’s life that Eve had feared would never return after the death of his first wife.With a baby now on the way, a new happiness would fill their lives.
Eve yawned.The champagne and supper of roast beef and vegetables had left her sated, but tired.
The evening had been filled with laughter and unrestrained joy.Adelaide and Charles spent the best part of the night teasingly calling one another Grandma and Grandpa.The glint in her mother’s eye had shone bright all throughout dinner.
