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Letty slid him a sidelong glance. “Do I truly mean that much to you?”
“Of course you do. How could you even doubt it?”
“Not doubt, exactly…it is just difficult to believe sometimes. Like a dream.”
“Well then, I hope never to wake.”
She stopped, turning to him with a smile. “You are quite the romantic soul, are you not?”
He leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “Do not tell anyone.”
Hand on her chest, she widened her eyes in faux sincerity. “I would never!”
They looked at each other for a beat before they both burst into laughter. They resumed their walk, Letty feeling much more relaxed. Bertram cast her an affectionate glance.
“Just one more week and we shall be wed. Are you at all excited?”
Letty gave him an impish grin. “I look forward to discovering all the secrets of the marriage bed, Your Grace.”
Bertram became mock stern. “Now, now, you mustn’t seem over-eager or thetonmamas will not be pleased.”
“And how will they even know?”
Bertram shook his head. “They have eyes and ears everywhere, never doubt it.”
“What? Including our marriage bed?”
“The very walls have ears.”
She threw back her head and burst into peals of laughter. “I do believe you have completely lost your mind. But do not worry, I love you anyway.”
She only registered the words once they left her mouth and she stopped talking abruptly, the mirth dropping from her countenance. She stared at Bertram who was staring back at her in some surprise.
“Well, I would have liked to say it first but I love you, too,” he declared quietly.
They both began to smile and soon their laughter was ringing through the trees.
* * *
“Yourtrousseauis here, Miss Strange. Have you chosen a lady’s maid yet?”
Letty had moved from the nursery into one of the guest wings but still liked to wander back there when George and Mrs. Haversham were negotiating nap time. She took a seat opposite the governess. “I have not, in fact, chosen a lady’s maid. I hardly have any idea what I would do with one.”
“She will help you to dress and convey your wishes to the housekeeper and make sure you have everything that you need.”
Letty sighed. “She will be underfoot constantly and I do not know how I could live like that.”
Mrs. Haversham leaned forward to squeeze her knee. “She will be whatever you need her to be.”
Letty sighed. “Very well then, how about Minnie?”
“Oh, you will cause an uproar in the kitchens. Minnie is only a kitchen maid. To move up from there to lady’s maid without even becoming an upstairs maid first?”
Letty huffed in frustration. “IlikeMinnie.”
“Well, then select her. This is your choice. You can pick whomever you want.”
Letty nodded, “I will do that. In any case, I shall definitely need someone’s help to get into the wedding gown.”
