Page 47 of Marry in Secret
“Here’s your job.” Emm passed Rose a thick list of names and addresses. “It’s the list for the cancellation of the ball—all the people we invited and all those who accepted. You’ll need to write to all of them; you know how people change their minds. We can help with the addressing, but the notes of apology will need to be in your hand.”
“You’re canceling the ball?” Rose took the list and glanced at it without really seeing it.
“Unless, of course,” Aunt Agatha said in a withering voice, “you think we should hold a ball to celebrate a wedding that didn’t happen.”
“Everyone needs to be notified to let them know it’s off,” Emm said. “Oh, and Cal, while I remember it, we’ll need to cancel the musicians too.”
Cal grunted and scribbled something on a piece of paper.
Rose stared at her elderly aunt. A slow smile grew on her face as it all came together in her mind. “What a wonderful idea, Aunt Agatha. Thank you. It’s the perfect solution.”
Aunt Agatha lifted her lorgnette and stared at Rose through it. “What are you talking about, gel? What solution?”
“Not to cancel the ball.”
Emm looked up, surprised. “But we must.”
Aunt Agatha sat forward in her chair, suddenly intent. “Unless you’ve decided to be intelligent, that is. Is that it, gel? If the annulment can be hurried through—Ashendon, you can get onto that immediately—and the duke agrees to go ahead with the marriage—we’ll need to speak with him—”
“No, Aunt Agatha.” Rose interrupted her gently. “That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I won’tagree to an annulment. I made sacred vows to Thomas Beresford and I mean to keep them.”
The old lady’s thinly plucked brows snapped together. “But the fellow refused you, said he was willing to let you go. I heard him myself.”
“I know, but he only said that because he thinks he has nothing to offer me. He’s very noble, my Thomas.”
Aunt Agatha sniffed. “Or very clever.”
“You don’t know him yet,” Rose said. “But when you do, you’ll like him, I’m sure.”
Aunt Agatha dismissed that possibility with a sharp gesture. “That remains to be seen. Your insistence on being stubborn and foolhardy is one thing; the matter of the ball is quite another. Naturally we must cancel it, and the sooner the better. Why on earth would we continue with a ball that was to celebrate your marriage to the Duke of Everingham?”
“To celebrate the return of my husband, Thomas Beresford, from the dead?” Heart in mouth she glanced at Emm and Cal, beseeching them with her eyes.
Aunt Agatha snorted. “A ball, for anobody?”
Rose kept her voice even. “As I’ve said before, Aunt Agatha, he’snota nobody to me.” Her aunt eyed her balefully.
George spoke up. “Besides, if nobody’s ever heard of him, all the more reason to introduce him, don’t you think?”
Rose smiled at her. “Exactly.” Dear George could always be relied upon to enter the lists against Aunt Agatha.
Aunt Dottie clapped her hands. “I think it’s a splendid idea. I do so enjoy a ball. Remember the one Edward’s grandfather held for Lily and Edward? Simply delightful. And now another one, in London, and at the height of the season. It will make a wonderful splash.”
“That was the intention, Dorothea,” Aunt Agatha said acidly. “When we were celebratinga duke.”
“How much better,” Aunt Dottie declared, “to be celebrating love, and a man’s return from the dead. Sooo romantic.” She pulled out a wisp of lawn and lace and wiped her eyes with it.
“I think it’s a lovely idea,” Lily said. “Clever, too. It will make it clear to the ton that we are welcoming Mr. Beresford into the family.”
“Are we?” Cal grumbled. “I don’t want to welcome the swine anywhere.”
“Are you sure about this, Rose?” Emm asked quietly. “Not about the ball, but about the marriage.”
“Very sure, Emm. I know I was young when I married Thomas, but truly, he is the man for me.”
Aunt Agatha made an exasperated sound. “But you know so little about him, child—he has no family, no background—”
“You can tell he was well brought up,” Rose said. “His manners are impeccable. And he was an officer in the navy.”
