Page 39 of To Marry and to Meddle
“Diana, stop that, you’ll put me off my food,” Violet said, rolling her eyes.
At this seemingly innocuous statement, Diana’s eyes widened in alarm.
“Don’t tell me you’re enceinte,” she said bluntly, giving Violet a scrutinizing look. Violet was wearing a gown of green sarcenet with sleeves that ended just before her elbows, her dark hair in an elaborate knot atop her head, curls framing her face. She looked to be in good spirits, but otherwise appeared entirely her normal self.
“Good lord, why on earth would your mind gothere?” Violet demanded, setting her teacup down with a clatter.
“Because you are recently reconciled with your husband, and you just mentioned feeling ill!” Diana said with all the shrewdness of a Bow Street Runner on a case.
“I saidyouwere making me ill,” Violet said in exasperation. “That’s quite another thing entirely.”
“If there’s going to be a baby,” Diana said, “I’ll need time to prepare myself for the change.”
“How would it affectyou, Diana?” Emily asked. “Violet would be the one with a baby. Although,” she added, smiling a bit, “I suppose it’s possible that you and Lord Willingham could have need of a nursery sometime soon, too.”
Diana’s face paled.
“Weare taking precautions,” Diana said, shuddering a bit. “There’s no guarantee, of course—we simply have to hope for the best.”
“James and I did that, when we were first married,” Violet said, nodding wisely. “We were so young—neither of us felt quite ready to be parents. We’ve been, er, less cautious, lately,” she added, blushing a bit. “But I do not believe you need to be worried about a baby yet, Diana. I promise I’ll let you know with ample time to emotionally prepare yourself, should that come to pass.” Violet was admirably straight-faced as she spoke.
“Precautions,” Emily repeated. “This is what you referred to, Violet, when you told me a man could—er—”
“Yes,” Violet said, taking pity on her and not making her finish that sentence. “That really was a remarkably well-timed anatomy lesson I gave you at Elderwild.”
“Well, I might’ve had a motive for asking,” Emily mumbled, thinking of the repeated allusions to marriage that Julian had made over the course of the house party. Violet and Diana’s faces broke into identical grins. “But don’t you want a baby, Diana?” she asked, returning to their original discussion.
Diana shrugged. “Someday, I expect—after all, Jeremy has a title, and he’ll need an heir. And a spare,” she added, sighing heavily. “I wouldn’t mind it so much if it didn’t seem to take so terribly long—ladies are with childforever. And if I’m expected to do it at least twice—that’s positivelyyearsof my life I’d be sacrificing. For ababy. Babies aren’t eveninteresting.” She brightened. “I do like children, though. Practical creatures. They tell you just what they’re thinking. I think any offspring Jeremy and I produce will rub along nicely with me, once they’re old enough to speak sensibly and less prone to alarming sounds and smells.”
“What a beautiful picture of motherhood you present, Diana,” Violet said. “Truly, it brings a tear to one’s eye.”
“Ilikebabies,” Emily added, smiling a bit. “You can send yours to me and I will rain affection upon them until they are old enough to be interesting to you, and then I’ll send them home.”
“Perfect,” Diana said serenely. “In the meantime, however, I think I’ll continue taking precautions. The last thing I want is to be ill on my wedding day.”
“And how is the wedding planning going?” Emily asked, pouring another cup of tea for Violet, who could not be trusted to manage this task without half a cup’s worth of tea ending up on the table. “Have you decided when the wedding will occur?”
“They’re calling the banns for the first time on Sunday,” Diana said, smiling smugly. “I must confess, the thought of Jeremy standing in St. George’s, before all of theton—or at least whichever ones are in town at the moment—is the happy image that lulls me to sleep most evenings.” Her smile turned wicked. “Except for the occasions when he himself makes a concerted effort to lull me to sleep, instead.”
“I wouldn’t have thought you the sort to get terribly excited about a wedding,” Emily said.
“Oh, I’m not,” Diana said, waving a dismissive hand. “I’m considering not even purchasing a new dress, and just wearing one I already have. But it’sJeremywho makes it all so entertaining. I’ve already asked his tailor to send over the most appalling fabric samples he can find, for this waistcoat I’ve promised Jeremy I’d make him wear.”
“Promised,” Violet repeated skeptically.
“Threatened,” Diana corrected cheerfully. “And I’ve grown fond of suggesting more and more outlandish ideas for the wedding, just to see what he’ll agree to. Now that I’ve said yes, he’s afraid to argue with me.”
Violet and Emily let out incredulous snorts.
“About wedding matters, at least,” Diana amended. “He seems perfectly content to quarrel about everything else, of course.” Since quarreling was Diana and Lord Willingham’s primary way of expressing affection, from all Emily could tell, this was reassuring to hear. “But in any case, we’ve settled on the sixth of November for the wedding. Invitations should be going out soon.”
“Oh, I can hardly wait,” Emily said, clasping her hands together. “I love weddings.”
“And yet you yourself were content to be married in the morning room at Elderwild,” Diana said mournfully. “Thus depriving us of whatwould have been a truly sensational scandal, ifEmily Turnerhad marriedJulian BelfryinLondon, of all places.”
“Are wetalkinglikethisnow?” Violet asked. Diana flicked a crumb of scone at her.
“It was for the best,” Emily said, thinking of her meeting with her parents a few weeks earlier. “Our marriage has already caused enough of an uproar—best not to court scandal by rubbing society’s faces in it with a big wedding, I suppose. Especially given that I’m meant to be improving Julian’s reputation, not further blackening it.” She could not stop a slightly melancholy note from creeping into her voice as they returned to their original topic of conversation.
