Page 87 of The Duke Who Loved a Widow
Arabella stared at her dumbstruck. For some reason, she had not thought about the role she would take on as Duchess of Montbury. Her heart filled with compassion for the dowager who had been mistress of the castle since her marriage and was being so generous at handing over the chatelaine’s chains. She knew they could talk in the future and decide on an approach that still made her soon-to-be mother-in-law feel involved and important at Castle Montbury.
The dowager excelled herself at the picnic, which was served next to the lake. This time, the house staff brought hot food packed into wooden boxes surrounded by straw for insulation. The food was delicious, and everyone declared they should have picnics more often.
Henry and Freddy had a haul of coins, or treasure, to take away from their adventure.
Arabella looked around the party, seeing happy faces everywhere. This had been a day full of fun and memories. Her heart melted as she watched Henry and the joy of life he had found at Montbury.
They all walked back to the castle together. As they arrived, the dowager split off to go and check on those house party guests who had chosen not to attend the picnic and who had been left a cold collation in the dining room.
The boys raced upstairs to find Nanny and ask if Dash could join them in the nursery again. Arabella suspected she would say yes to their request. Tabitha had been given time off as Nanny was more than capable of dealing with both boys.
They gathered together in the smaller drawing room as a family, where there was a smaller cold collation on the sideboard.
She had spent very little time with Robert that day. Their eyes had met several times, but there had been no opportunity to talk. Now the duke stood in front of his family, and the door opened, and Mr Chalston and the footmen brought in strange-shaped glasses and placed them on a side table.
“I wanted everyone to try a special wine, which my friend Madame Clicquot has developed. I think it will be a surprising experience.”
He waited as Mr Chalston poured a frothy wine that overflowed into the glasses. The footmen circulated, handing each person a glass of the strange fizzy wine.
Robert walked over to Arabella and took her hand in his. “Please join my fiancée and me in celebrating our engagement. We brought it forward, so this is earlier than we expected.”
Colonel Lloyd stood up and took over. “Let’s share a toast to the happiness of our betrothed couple.” He raised his glass to sip the new, strange wine.
Everyone followed his lead and sipped from the strange-shaped glasses that Robert called flutes. There were exclamations of surprise as they experienced the exploding bubbles on their tongues and palates.
“I rather like this wine,” said Elinor. “What did you call it again?”
“It’s called champagne, which my good friend Madame Clicquot has developed. I plan to follow her method and bottle some wines in this style from my new vineyard,” Robert said.
Arabella sipped away at her glass, feeling rather light-headed very quickly. Her duke still held her hand and stood so close that she could smell his sandalwood cologne.
“Do you like the wine?” he asked.
“Very much, though I confess to feeling a little light-headed.”
“It is quite potent,” he said, laughing a little.
“It seems to be quite a hit with everyone,” Arabella remarked.
“Then I shall write to Madame asking her to send several cases for our wedding.”
Arabella felt that strange, quivering sensation as he took her hand and spoke quietly into her ear. “Will you dance with me tomorrow, Lady Farrington?” he asked.
“Every dance if you wish it,” she whispered back.
***
Next morning, as she woke at dawn in her feather bed at Castle Montbury, she was convinced there was more noise than usual this early in the day. The last-minute preparations for the ball were underway.
Today, there was a leisurely agenda of dressmaker’s visits, hair, as well as last-minute checking that orchestra, decorations and food preparation were progressing as planned.
How strange, she thought, that I am engaged and Emma isn’t. I so expected her to be engaged to Nathaniel by now. I wonder if she ever got an opportunity to talk with him.
Mr Chalston sent word that Mrs Cribbage had set up her working area and their gowns in her ladyship’s morning room. They would go down later and have their fittings. Elinor had been so efficient with arrangements that today should be quite a restful day.
After dressing in a sensible workday dress of dove grey dimity, she made her way down the great staircase into the castle’s great hall. This part of the building dated back to medieval times, with the additions of wings during the reign of Charles the Second. She loved this ancient castle, which now functioned as a modern family home.
She gasped, realizing this would be Henry’s home, reaching up to feel the pendant around her neck.
