Chapter 23

23

The train to Dover was a merry affair. Lily purchased soda bottles and sandwiches and biscuits while the boys were buying tickets. She pulled them out of her bag as a surprise. They made a happy meal, swapping little triangles of cucumber and ham for butter and tomato amongst each other.

They'd fought the odds, and they'd prevailed. There was no more earl; the two brothers were freed. But Andrew kept looking at Lily with a sense that he was gathering up his nerves.

Indeed, after they'd finished their meal, Andrew gestured her to the back of the car.

The railcar thumped along. The sun was beginning to dim. Andrew's hair was slightly mussed; the tips caught the red rays of the sun, turning it to gold.

"Lily," Andrew said. He said only that word, but the way he said it—as if he were terribly nervous—made her frown.

"What? Is something still wrong?"

"It is not yet right," Andrew said.

"Isn't it?" She searched through what she knew. "There's no earl. Both you and Alan are free. Your brother is rid of his odious guardian; now that he's no longer the earl, you have no need to isolate yourself at his estate. Alan still has a fortune from his mother, and the government has officially ended the earldom. To top it all off, Alan's awful uncle will pay the price. What is there left to do?"

Andrew dropped to one knee. "This." He looked up at her. "Lily, when I spoke in front of the Lords, I said we were engaged. It was forward of me; I should never have said such a thing without your consent. And so I must ask—will you marry me?"

"Why must you ask that?" Lily squinted at him. "Are we not already engaged?"

"Um." He put his hand in his pocket. "I feel there were things missing before my declaration to the lords. Such as getting you a ring. And my asking you."

"Why is it necessary for you to you ask me?"

"It is generally considered customary." Andrew made a face. "One gets the consent of the lady one wishes to marry. Doesn't one?"

"Not always." Lily rubbed her temples. "Sometimes, the lady gets the consent of the man. Have you forgotten that I asked you last night?"

He stared at her. "You didn't."

"I did."

"You said…you should like to be married to me." Andrew blinked.

"And you said yes," Lily replied. "Once again, I ask, are we not engaged?"

"I…" Andrew had radically misunderstood that conversation. "I suppose we are, then? I thought you might be annoyed that I'd announced the engagement without asking you."

"Silly." Lily smiled at him. "Now stand up and stop worrying."

The inn was crowded the next evening. The whole story—or at least, the version of the story wherein Zhu Wei Na, the Princess in Exile and now a legally, although not actually, existing person, had already appeared in the newspapers. Everyone had crowded around to hear the tale.

Alan sat on the table, explaining his part. "I'm sorry," he said to the gathered masses, "that I lied to you all about who I was."

"It's no bother." Jeremy patted his shoulder. "We knew."

"How?" Alan blinked.

"Because you gave us a false family name."

"False? What on earth made you think that ‘Wilderhampsher' was fake? It's so quintessentially, stupidly British sounding. All that whole bunch of syllables all scrunched together?"

"That was the problem." Jeremy shook his head. "You should have spelled it out like that, and then told us that it was pronounced ‘Walsher' or something like that."

"Dammit!" Alan shook his fist. "The ‘Worcestershire' rule! The Mousehole rule! I've cocked it up completely."

"Mowzel?" asked someone behind them. "I've never heard of that one. How's it spelled?"

"Mouse hole," replied Jeremy. "Next time, make a better fake identity. This is a lesson that I also had to learn."

"Even just the Thames," Lily exclaimed. "What's the h for? Why doesn't it rhyme with ‘shames'?"

This was the way things were supposed to be, Andrew thought. He was here with Lily; they were together in Wedgeford. Nobody was an earl.

Not that Andrew was finished yet. He was still guardian to a young man in possession of a small fortune. They would have to speak about Alan's future plans for his schooling, where he wanted to stay when not at school, what he wanted to do with his life.

They would have to talk about Alan's friend George, and what George would want. And they had yet to tell Wedgeford of their engagement.

In the midst of all the merriment, Alan saw Mr. Bei walk into the inn. He was using his cane more heavily today. There was a somber, determined look in his eye. He crossed the room, skirting around guests, and thumped his way toward Andrew.

Oh, no. Andrew swallowed. Mr. Bei looked like he possessed knowledge that nobody else did. He'd figured out what Andrew and Lily had done and he was angry.

Slowly, the din lowered.

"Andrew," growled Mr. Bei. "I have put up with your seedlings and plants for years. But this time, you have gone too far."

"Ah…" Andrew looked around the room. "Perhaps, uncle, we could talk about this matter somewhere else? It may be too delicate for this crowd. Especially at this volume."

"Why?" Mr. Bei pierced Andrew with a look that was impossible to understand. "Everyone will know soon enough."

"Not so loudly?" Andrew begged.

Mr. Bei took another step toward him and lifted his cane.

"Ah, come on Bei," someone shouted. "He's done enough already."

Lily materialized from the crowd. "Ah gung," she said sweetly, "please remember?—"

Mr. Bei whirled around, looking at the inn through flashing eyes. "Do none of you know what this fool has done?" Mr. Bei pointed at Andrew. "I doubt any of you will be so complacent after you hear. Andrew Uchida, you absolute, treacherous snake."

"Yes?" Andrew quailed.

"You," Mr. Bei said, thumping his cane against the ground, "are growing long beans in your garden."

There was a moment of silence. Then the crowd began to murmur. "Long beans?"

"Actual long beans?"

"I thought we didn't have any of those in Wedgeford."

"I can't believe it—we have long beans!"

"Right." Andrew laughed in relief. "Those! Are those a problem?"

"You absolute scoundrel," Mr. Bei said. "I have dreamed of those for decades, and I had no idea."

Before he could say anything else, Mr. Bei enfolded him in a hug.