“Kent?” Mary frowned.
“Grandmother will live in the small Kent dower house our father originally assigned to her,” Cecily explained. “She has accepted that Holt House must be sold, even if she accepts little else.”
While shocked by her son’s revelation about his elder brother’s death, Lady Holt’s capacity for self-deception seemed unlimited and her devotion unbroken. She had left Greyhaven Park still maintaining that Lord Holt could not be blamed for anything and that the Duke and Duchess of Greyhaven had been plotting against her darling boy.
Cecily had not been surprised. Lady Holt had favored her youngest son over her elder son in life, and only continued this after her elder son’s death. It was easier for her to blame Charles for not paying off his younger brother’s gambling debts than to blame Preston for drunkenly hounding his brother and his wife to their deaths.
“I hope you ruin them both!” Mary hissed, proving that Cecily’s earlier concerns over her soft-heartedness were unfounded. “Uncle is a murderer, and he stole everything from us.”
“Not everything,” Cecily demurred, taking her hand and squeezing it. “We always had each other.”
“Thank you for looking after me, Cecily,” Mary sighed, laying her head on her sister’s knee. “I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
Stroking her sister’s hair, Cecily smiled and looked again at Nathaniel, finding him watching his daughter with sharp attention. Basking in her father’s approval, Lilian played and sang with joy tonight.
Cecily understood how both Mary and Lilian felt. After so many years, she also knew how it felt to be cared for, and she enjoyed it. Without Nathaniel, her life and Mary’s would have fallen apart, but now their entire future stretched out before them.
On the other side of the room, Patrick stood watching Mary with an affection that Cecily appreciated. She wondered when the two of them would finally announce their engagement. Patrick could soon be posted with his regiment. What were they waiting for?
As the music came to an end, all the adults applauded loudly, and Lilian bobbed numerous happy curtsies to her audience before Miss Osborne managed to take her away to bed. For the first time in her life, she went without a fuss, only stopping to hug and kiss her father and then Cecily.
“Will you play again for us next week?” Cecily asked the little girl, who responded with enthusiastic agreement and a hug before she skipped away, chattering to her governess about the new pieces she might learn next.
“Well, don’t the two of you have some news for us?” Nathaniel prompted once the door closed, his amused eyes fixed on Mary and Patrick. “If you’re trying to hide it, you’re not doing it very well.”
“I’m not trying to hide anything!” Patrick protested, flushing. “We are engaged, I think, aren’t we?”
Mary nodded, blushing a similar shade. “We are engaged,” she confirmed, lifting her hand to show Cecily the ring she had already seen.
“But Mary won’t set a date,” Patrick blurted, his handsome face confused. “I wanted to tell you, and there is no reason not to, but Mary?—”
“Oh, it’s not that simple, Patrick. Don’t you see?”
“Well, no,” Patrick admitted, looking entirely nonplussed. “I’ve joined the army, I’ve bought a house, I haven’t been drunk or gambled since the night we ran away together. I love you, and you love me. We could get married next week. Why don’t we just do that? Your uncle can’t object anymore.”
“It’s just…” Mary bit her lip and shook her head. “Oh, I thought you’d see because you’re due to be posted soon and there isn’t much time.”
“That’s all the more reason to find a church and do it now, surely?” Patrick pointed out, sounding baffled.
Cecily felt rather the same way.
“Come on, young lady, out with it,” Nathaniel said with a laugh. “What are you waiting for? You’re clearly waiting for something.”
“I did want us to elope,” Mary admitted, glancing shyly at Patrick. “I thought if there wasn’t much time, you might suggest it again.”
“But we don’t need to elope,” he responded, still confused.
“But it’s so romantic, and I want to see Scotland,” Mary sighed longingly.
“How can we elope if our families know about it and agree to our union?” Patrick asked, foolishly still trying to reconcile the irrational with reason.
“Oh, for God’s sake!” Nathaniel laughed, regarding them with great amusement. “Let’s all go to Scotland for a holiday. Patrick and Mary can ride ahead and pretend they’re eloping. I’ll even pretend to chase them across the border if it helps.”
It was utterly ridiculous yet perfectly sensible, and Cecily could not think of any reason to object.
“Let’s do that,” she said, matching his enthusiasm. “Mary and Patrick can sneak around the house as if they’d been planning it for a week or two, then head off in one of the smaller carriages. We’ll give them a head start and pursue them in one of the larger carriages with Lilian and Miss Osborne.”
Mary giggled and looked at Patrick. “You must steal me away again,” she told him with mock solemnity.
