Page 93 of Romancing the Rifleman
She swiped her thumb beneath her eyes.“Extremely happy.”
He rocked back on his heels.“Good.In that case.”He offered his arm to Diana, and much to her astonishment, slung an arm around Harrington’s shoulders.
Marcus led them toward the turquoise parlor.Diana could hear a hum of conversation behind the gold-and-white gilded doors.She drew their party to a halt.“Marcus, what’s all this?”
He smirked, then nodded for James to open the door.“Your wedding breakfast.”
Round tables draped in pristine white cloths had been scattered throughout the high-ceilinged room.Crystal glinted before each place setting, and Diana saw that Marcus had pulled out the family’s best china, a set of Sèvres porcelain rimmed in blue and gold and adorned with hand-painted roses.
Diana did not have long to admire the décor, because they were immediately mobbed by Harrington’s entire family.Even Freddie, whom Diana had only met on a handful of occasions, as he was still in his final year at Eton, had come down to London for the occasion.It was startling to see that little Freddie was now as tall as his brothers.
While Fauconbridge enveloped Harrington in a bear hug, Marcus’s wife, Cecilia, strolled up to Diana with a baby in her arms.
Diana leaned forward.“This must be little Griselda!”
“We’ve been calling her Zelda,” Ceci explained.“Here, take her.She is the most agreeable creature.”
Diana made a sound of pleasure as Ceci handed little Zelda over.Beneath the three yards of lace she wore, Diana saw she had a mop of honey-colored curls and the same fine, dark eyes as Ceci.She thought Zelda might protest being taken away from her mother, but the baby immediately returned Diana’s smile, reaching a tiny hand up to touch her aunt’s cheek.
Diana leaned in close to nuzzle her perfect head.“Your Aunt Diana is going to teach you to fence.We shall practice until you are every bit as ferocious as your namesake.”
Marcus strolled over, holding Alaric in his arms.“Isn’t she marvelous?”He smiled at his wife.“I know you will think me conceited, but truly, Cecilia and I produce the most outstanding children.”
Diana gave him a wry look.“Conceited?You?”
After a few minutes, Ellery began ushering the guests toward their seats.Zelda and Alaric were taken off for their own luncheon, and Diana and Harrington took their places at a table in the front of the room, flanked by Marcus and Ceci on one side and Lord and Lady Cheltenham on the other.
Marcus stood, a glass of champagne in his hand, and directed a pointed look at Aunt Griselda.“Someone brought it to my attention—several times, might I add—that I ought to have given my sister a wedding breakfast on the day of her nuptials.”
Aunt Griselda raised a shoulder, her expression unapologetic.“So what if I did?It is true.”
Chuckles swept across the room.Once they had subsided, Marcus inclined his head.“As usual, my aunt is correct.I am glad now to have the opportunity to correct my oversight.”He raised his glass.“Please join me in offering my heartfelt congratulations to my sister, Lady Diana Astley.I also wish to formally welcome my new brother-by-marriage, Lieutenant Harrington Astley, to the family!”
Glasses were raised and cries ofhear, hearfilled the room.Diana slanted her eyes toward her husband.His smile was bashful, and when he looked up, his brown eyes were shiny.She reached beneath the table, caught his hand, and squeezed, and then she thought that she would never, not if she lived to be a hundred, forget the way he looked at her in that moment.
The meal was everything that extreme wealth and exquisitely good taste could provide.The food was French, the wines cost more than most men made in a year, and the desserts were decadence itself.
After the meal, Harrington approached her brother and shook his hand.“Thank you, Trevissick.Truly.That was the nicest wedding breakfast I’ve ever attended.It really means a lot to me.”
Diana’s breath caught.Marcus hosting this wedding breakfast seemed like an olive branch.She hoped it meant that he was finally accepting her marriage to Harrington.
Still, it seemed too much to hope that Marcus would truly give him a chance.
Marcus rolled his eyes.“I’m trying to decide which is more insufferable—all the pranks you used to pull on me at Eton, or this obsequious drivel.”
Diana’s heart sank.Harrington blinked but held his composure.“You don’t wish for me to be… polite?”
“I would much prefer for you to be amusing.”Marcus beckoned a footman bearing a bottle of brandy.Much to Diana’s surprise, he poured a glass and handed it to Harrington before pouring another for himself.“My wife informs me that, all evidence to the contrary, you have a rather fine wit.If we’re to be stuck together for the next fifty years for every conceivable holiday and social occasion, then I must insist that you make use of it.”
A grin stole across Harrington’s face—his real grin, Diana noted.He took a sip from his cup.“So, I was thinking—now that we’re brothers, I suppose I ought to call you Marcus.”
Marcus said, “Absolutely not.”But Diana recognized that smirk.He was enjoyinghimself.
Hope flared in her heart.
Harrington shook his head.“Don’t be that way, Marcus.This is a happy day for you.”
Marcus narrowed his eyes.“Is it really?”
