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“In Bath!” they said in unison, then laughed.
“But as to when,” Will went on, “that will be for Miss Whittleton to say. There is a house to be made ready for us in Hertfordshire, and the usual matters of clothes and a carriage and so forth.”
“As to that, my advice would be not to wait a moment longer than is absolutely necessary,” Mrs Dalton said. “For a girl straight out of the schoolroom, there is a case to be made for waiting a little while, but otherwise, the sooner the better. With a licence, you may be married in a matter of days and have all the leisure in the world afterwards to arrange the house to your satisfaction.”
“Oh, no licence,” Eloise said, smiling. “Aunt Beth would consider that very shabby dealing. No, it must be the banns, I fear.”
“A month, then,” Mrs Dalton said, smiling. “If you can bear to be apart for a month, the banns would be acceptable.”
“We will not be apart,” Will said. “I intend to escort Eloise to Bath and stay there until we are married, for who knows what might happen if I go away from her even for a month? She might find someone she likes better, you know, and then where would I be?”
“Indeed I might, so you must certainly stay by my side until we are wed,” she said, laughing. “For otherwise, you will have to kidnap me, and carry me off to Gretna, and think of the inconvenience.”
“By Jove, yes!” he said. “Much better to go to Bath with you.”
“I wish we could all go to Bath,” Stepmother said wistfully. “Hertfordshire will be sadly flat after the excitement of town.”
“There is not a great deal of excitement in Bath either at this time of the year,” Eloise said. “The season is over there, too, so there are no assemblies until November.”
“Oh, but there are people… and shops, and the Pump Room, which is quite a wonder, so it is said,” Stepmother said. “There would be company there, and I do not quite like to bury the girls away in the countryside for the rest of the year.”
“Aye, the girls would like it better,” Pa said, thoughtfully. “I know Will and Johnny will want to be at home for the start of the shooting season, but there’s no reason why we shouldn’t go to Bath for a few weeks. Where should we stay, Miss Whittleton? I suppose it’s too late to find a house to rent, but there will be hotels and such like, eh?”
“If you want a house…” Mr Dalton said thoughtfully, looking at his wife. “Do you think Leo…?”
“Yes — of course. Mr Fletcher, my brother-in-law Leo Audley has a house in Bath which he never uses at this time of year, since he is always on his estate in Shropshire. He keeps a full staff and no doubt would be glad to have a temporary tenant to keep them occupied.”
“What sort of a house is it?” Pa said. “I’d like Mrs Fletcher to be comfortable. But then I imagine your brother-in-law’s house is not too shabby, eh?”
The Daltons laughed. “Not too shabby at all, sir,” Mr Dalton said. “I am certain that Mrs Fletcher will find the Royal Crescent very comfortable.”
“Oh… the Royal Crescent?” Stepmother said. “That would be very acceptable. Very acceptable indeed.” And she beamed happily.
The rest of the Fletcher family walked home from the Armitages’, but Will ordered the carriage so he could take Eloise back to Marford House, and enjoy a precious few minutes alone with her.
At first, as the carriage rattled over the cobblestones, they were absorbed in the wonder of long, sweet kisses, but when they eventually drew apart with sighs of pleasure, Eloise rested her head on his shoulder.
“Did you mean it?” she said softly. “You will not stop me selling my music? And dealing with it myself?”
“Not now that I understand how important it is to you,” he murmured. “I worry about it, naturally, for it is a husband’s duty to protect his wife from worldly affairs. I went to see him, you know. Your publisher. Ogilvy.”
She sat up straight abruptly. “Oh, Will!”
“I did not mention your name, naturally. All I wanted was to see what sort of a man he might be, this fellow you are dealing with. I never got involved with Pa’s businesses, for I was too busy enjoying myself then, but he always said that one needs to look a man in the eye to know his character. I wanted to look Ogilvy in the eye.”
“And did you?”
“I did.”
“And what did you think?”
“That he seems a straightforward sort of man. A man you can trust, I think.”
Oh.” She was silent for a moment. “You will let me deal with him on my own, then?”
“If that is what you want.”
“And if I want your advice… your support?”
