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‘Tease.’ Lance heaved himself up behind her.
‘It’s the only way I know to motivate you.’ She laughed gleefully. ‘Come on. There’s something I want to show you outside. It’s a surprise.’
They dressed and wandered out of the house and across the lawns, arms around each other’s waists. The gardens were in full bloom, a riotous mixture of colour and sweet scents all vying for supremacy in the summer sunshine.
‘Here we are.’ She stopped at the entrance to the maze.
‘My surprise is in there?’
‘Yes!’ She grabbed his hand, pulling him down a long corridor and around a series of bends.
‘You know where you’re going, I suppose?’ He followed after her obediently.
‘I’m starting to find my way around.’
She stopped when they reached the centre, gesturing towards the rose arbour in the corner. Between her and Martin they’d restored and repainted the wood, trimmed the rose bushes and trailed them delicately around the frame. ‘It looked so sad and neglected before.’
‘It was.’ Lance looked sombre for a moment. ‘This was one of my mother’s favourite places.’
She squeezed his hand. ‘Now we can sit here together.’
‘Yes.’ His voice cracked slightly. ‘Thank you, Violet.’
‘You gave me her sitting room. I wanted to give you something of hers as well.’
‘You’ve given me more than I ever deserved. I never imagined that I could be this happy.’
‘Me neither.’ She sighed. ‘This place really is like a fairy tale. I can’t wait to show Aunt Caroline when she comes to visit.’
‘Why don’t you invite her for a house party this summer? And your uncle Ben and all your new cousins, too.’
‘You wouldn’t mind?’
‘Why would I? It would save us all traipsing back and forth to York every weekend.’ He squeezed her hand back. ‘I told you they’d love you.’
‘So you did. It was just hard to believe back then.’
‘You’ve come a long way. We both have.’
‘I still can’t believe that my father refused to let them visit me.’
She frowned and he tugged her against him. ‘Maybe he wanted to keep you all to himself. I’m starting to understand the impulse. But that’s all in the past now. A wise woman once told me that some things are best left there.’
‘You’re right.’ She wrapped her arms around him gratefully. ‘What about Arthur? Will he mind a house party?’
His expression wavered. ‘I think Arthur has his own plans.’
‘He still wants to go back to sea?’
‘I doubt that it would be possible any more. Now his secret’s out, he’d have a job finding a skipper willing to employ a viscount. But he’s still determined to leave.’
‘Then you have to let him.’
‘I know. I only hope he finds someone to make him as happy as I am.’
‘Who would have thought it, a timid mouse and a reprobate?’
‘A kitten and a beast?’
