Chapter 32

Percy scooped Anna up into his arms and swung her around and around, his joy overwhelming. He kissed her, he held her, he gazed at her in disbelief that she loved him, and he loved her. If anyone had told him just a few days ago that he would be capable of feeling such lofty heights of euphoria, he would not have believed them.

“Anna?” he said, as he set her back down on solid ground and pulled the sides of his greatcoat tighter around her.

She smiled. “Yes, my love?”

My love… His heart soared at the precious words.

“I realize we are supposed to have a courtship, and there are procedures and expectations for this sort of thing, but after all the years we have known one another, I hardly think it necessary in our situation.” He paused. “As such, would you do me the greatest honor of being not just my greatest love, but my wife too?”

Anna blinked as if, somehow, she had not anticipated that. “I suspect you will have to ask my brother first.”

“But I do not want to marry your brother,” he teased, grinning.

She smacked him lightly on the arm. “I have waited eight years for this, Percival; I can wait at least ten minutes more while you ask permission of my brother.” She gave a small, shy shrug. “In truth, I rather like some of the procedures and expectations. Goodness, the banns will shock more people than the scandal sheets!”

“If your brother gives his permission, will you marry me?” He needed to hear it from her first, needed to know that his future would have her in it, standing at his side.

She nodded. “Nothing would make me happier, Percival.” A smile spread across her face as she added, “Although, I might also have to see your residence, so I know what I am getting myself into.”

“You are too cruel.” He pretended to clasp his chest, chuckling. “Fortunately, you are already headed in the right direction.”

With a smile, he took hold of her hand and led her toward the carriage he had arrived in. At the door, he knocked.

“You may come out now,” he said.

Dickie practically kicked the door open, eyes wide as he all but shouted, “Well? What is the news? Do not leave me in suspense!”

“I think it is Max I must address,” Percy replied, glancing at Anna. “That is correct, is it not?”

She nodded, smiling wide.

Max muscled Dickie out of the way, his gaze darting to the intertwined hands of the couple standing before him, before his gaze flitted to the smiles on both of their faces.

“What is the meaning of this?” he asked, sounding confused.

Percy steeled himself. “I love your sister, Max, and she, in kind, has just confessed to me. There were… misunderstandings, which is to be expected between the two of us, I suppose.” He straightened his posture. “And as your father, God rest his soul, is no longer with us, I should like to ask you for Anna’s hand in marriage.”

“I knew it!” Dickie cheered, clapping his hands together.

Max stared at his brother. “You knew?”

“I have eyes, Max. It was obvious! The only thing that was not a certainty was these two buffoons figuring out for themselves.”

Max looked back at Anna. “Are you… truly in love with Sinclair?”

“Completely,” Anna replied, leaning into Percy’s side.

Max ran a weary hand through his hair. “And you truly love Anna, Sinclair?”

“Beyond all doubt,” Percy answered, giving her hand an encouraging squeeze.

“I think I need to sit down,” Max said, perching on the edge of the squabs. “I thought you could not stand one another, and now… When did all of this happen? When did it change?”

Anna and Percy glanced at one another, but it was Anna who answered.

“Neither of us can tell you that, but all we know is that it happened slowly and abruptly, all at once.”

A faint hint of a smile tugged at the corner of Max’s mouth, as he gave a dramatic shrug. “Well then, I am certainly not going to stand in the way of love. If this is what you both want, then you have my heartfelt permission… though you will forgive me if it takes a couple of days for me to comprehend it.”

“Of course, Max,” Anna said, turning her gaze up to Percy.

He smiled back down, wishing he could kiss her once more, but that would have to wait. But as she had said herself, they had waited eight years for this moment; they could wait a short while longer for their lives to begin, as they saw fit.

“But what are we to do now?” Dickie asked, a twinkle in his eye. “Do we return to Granville House so that Anna might see her dismal new residence? Do we return to Harewood Court, to revel in luxury? Or do we journey on to Westyork, so that Anna might shriek to at least three of her friends that she is to be married at long, long, long last?”

Percy gave a small shrug. “That is up to my Catchweed. Long may she stick to my side.”

“Then, I shall need a moment to decide,” Anna said, grinning as if she already had her answer.

* * *

“This is what you call a ruin?” Anna protested, turning a slow circle in the middle of the entrance hall. “Oh, you have all been deceiving me, all this time! I should have known.”

Percy marveled at his beloved, who seemed to light up the lingering shadows of his childhood home. Her smile, her candor, her cheerful spirit, her enthusiasm; they left nowhere for the darkness and the ghosts to seek shelter. She was too bright, too full of life and love for them to even compete.

“You really ought to see it in the daylight before you form your final opinion,” Dickie remarked, but he, too, seemed delighted by his sister’s radiance.

Anna scoffed. “Nonsense. Considering I was expecting to see no roof, maybe only a wall or two still standing, and everything else taken over by weeds and pigeons, I am very pleased indeed.” She beamed at Percy. “And now that my dear Percival is to have himself a wife, there shall be funds enough to repair anything that is slightly disheveled.”

“You are a luckier gentleman than you realize, Percy,” Dickie teased. “Anna’s dowry is a mighty one. After her first three years of being woefully unsuccessful, it felt necessary to help her chances.”

“Dickie!” Max chided, shaking his head. “That is not something that needs to be discussed at present. Indeed, what we should really be doing is celebrating! Let us open those crates we brought and begin at once, for this is nothing short of a miracle.”

Anna feigned outrage. “I am glad to discover you had such faith in me.”

“Who says I was talking about you?” Max flashed a wink.

At that moment, two figures appeared at the top of the staircase, rubbing their bleary eyes, looking as if they had just awoken from a deep slumber. Norman and a beautiful young woman with red hair and a complexion almost as ghostly pale as Anna’s. Another woman hurried into position behind them, her eyes barely open.

“Is that her?” asked the red-haired woman, clasping her hands together. Victoria, presumably.

Norman shrugged. “I do not know. Percival, is that her?”

“It is,” Percy replied proudly. “I took your advice. Is that her?”

Norman laughed. “Indeed. Percival, this is my Victoria.”

“And this is my Anna,” Percy said, thrilled beyond belief that he now got to call her that.

“My beloved Norman has been pacing ever since his brother left, praying that it would be good news!” Victoria cried, hurrying down the stairs to greet Anna. “I said she would be exceptionally beautiful, Norman, did I not?”

Norman nodded as he descended. “You did, my darling.”

“Goodness, then you must be terribly disappointed,” Anna jested, putting out her hands to take hold of Victoria’s. “You, however, must have had to fend off the attention of kings and princes. I have never seen more beautiful hair in all my days!”

Victoria grinned. “Everyone always says that red hair is very unlucky, but I beg to differ, for I have my beloved.”

“And everyone always says that moles and freckles are unsightly, but my beloved informed me that they bring good fortune, and he is about to be a particularly wealthy man.” Anna winked at Percy and returned her attention to Victoria. “Tell me everything of yourself. Leave nothing out. For if we are to be sisters, it is my fondest wish for us to be close.”

Victoria laughed merrily. “Oh, I am certain we shall be firm friends and closer than sisters.” She pulled Anna toward the drawing room. “Come, let us leave the gentlemen to their discussions and begin this friendship of ours. There is wine to be had and stories to be told.”

They disappeared into the drawing room, and though they closed the door behind them, their laughter drifted back through into the entrance hall. The sound warmed Percy’s heart, for he knew that nothing was dearer to Anna than her friends, and if she and Victoria formed a strong bond, perhaps it would encourage Percy and Norman to do the same. Making up for lost time.

“How does it feel to lose your wife before you have even married her?” Dickie teased, as all four men stood watching the closed drawing room door.

Percy smiled. “Everyone knows that no member of the infamous Spinsters’ Club will ever love their husbands as much as their friends. Any man who falls in love with one of their number must be content to play second fiddle.” He chuckled to himself. “As such, I am pleased that she is making new ones.”

“So that you might play first violin sometimes?” Max grinned.

“Precisely.”

Percy was somewhat relieved that Max seemed to have come around to the idea of his sister and his best friend falling in love and getting married. He had worried that it might take weeks, delaying the eventual wedding, but Max appeared to be rather happy about the whole thing after the carriage ride back. Although, that might have had something to do with the contents of Dickie’s hip flask.

“You must come to the wedding,” Percy blurted out to his brother.

Norman’s eyes widened. “I… would be delighted.” For a second, it looked like he might cry. “We could even… have a double wedding?”

“Anna would kill you both,” Max interjected.

Percy laughed. “Indeed, as lovely as the idea is, she has waited long enough for a wedding day. I could not make her share it.” He offered Norman an apologetic look. “But it will be pleasant for us both to share in your wedding day with you, and for you to share in ours.”

“Listen to us all,” Dickie said, putting his arms around Max and Percy’s shoulders. “Who would have thought this day would come, eh? We used to talk about hunting and shooting and riding and how we might escape our wives when we were married, but now… I think you are truly enmeshed in this family, Percy.”

Max nodded. “You have always been one of us, but now you will be bound to us by law and by blood. A true brother.” He glanced at Norman. “You too, of course.”

A lump formed in Percy’s throat as he looked down the line at Max, Dickie, and Norman. All he had ever wanted was a family who cared for him, a family where he belonged, and in one summer, he had gained everything he had ever dreamed of and so much more. Including the one thing he had never dared to dream of—a love like that of his mother and father. A love that would not be forgotten about.

Anna was his family now, and in a moment of contented silence, he vowed to nurture their love for the rest of his days, tending to it like the precious, miraculous gift that it was. Like an orchid planted in a long-ago garden, a beautiful, lasting legacy for the generations to come.