“I’ll find Mother now. Let’s see what she says.”
* * *
Before dinner, Edmund walked in the woods with Diana again. Finding the same welcoming glade as the previous evening, they pressed against one another once more with desire and affection. With time more limited, they did not undress and only pulled obstructing clothing carelessly aside so that he could once more kiss, stroke and fill her until she cried out his name.
Afterwards, Diana rested comfortably in Edmund’s lap beneath a tree, her hair and breasts both in beautiful disarray before him, brushed and stirred by the forest breeze.
“We may not be able to do this again once everyone is well and watching our every move,” he said regretfully as he gazed at her. “While I hope that Percy and your father are both on their feet soon, I will long for you every day that I can’t have you.”
“If I can’t touch you, I will have all the more to look forward to on our wedding night,” Diana murmured, snuggling into Edmund, and kissing his neck.
“We’ll dance together at every ball of the Season, and when I hold you close, you’ll know I’m thinking about making love to you in these woods,” he added.
“Oh yes,” she breathed, closing her eyes, and resting her head on his shoulder. “In the meantime, when I write to you and say that I’m remembering our walks amongst the trees, you’ll know that I’m thinking about the same thing.”
“Do you think Jacob is in love with Kitty?” Edmund asked abruptly after a few moments, causing her to open her eyes again.
“He might as well be, although maybe he’s just kind. Still, Kitty wanted you, not Jacob, you know. I don’t think she’s really noticed him yet.”
“Poor Jake!” Edmund sighed. “However, I don’t think Kitty was really that struck by me. We only just met after all, and she’ll get over a little crush faster than she’ll get over everything else that has happened. I’m glad your mother agreed that Kitty could come to Fernside. I don’t know what would have become of her otherwise.”
“Poor Kitty!” Diana said. “She really has lost everything."
* * *
Richard made such good progress over the course of that afternoon that Esther actually joined them at dinner for the first time since his collapse, leaving Mrs. Bridge reading quietly in the sick room while Richard slept a normal and natural healing sleep.
There was real joy around the table that evening. Percy had also been allowed back downstairs, the bandage around his head and Jacob’s solicitude at his elbow on the stairs the only signs of his accident the previous day.
Jenson brought in a note for Lady Templeton halfway through dinner.
“A message from Hayward House, My lady,” he announced as he handed it over. Lady Templeton glanced around the table as the butler left the room and then opened the letter quickly while everyone watched.
“Kitty has accepted my invitation,” she told them as she read. “She will be ready to depart Hayward House as soon as we can send a carriage for her. Andrew will be returning to India as soon as his passage can be arranged and does not intend to return. Their mother has now been certified by two doctors and taken away… Oh, poor girl…”
She broke off and read silently for a while.
“What is it, Lady Templeton?” Jacob asked tentatively.
“Her private thoughts, Lord Wycliff,” Esther said meaningfully. She would not be relaying them to the table. “Suffice it to say that she feels some guilt about what her family had done, even though she had no part in their actions. Poor, poor girl…”
“Lord Birks’s departure back to India is probably the best thing he could do,” Edmund commented. “There’s nothing left for him here.”
“That’s true, and there’s nothing he can do for his sister by staying,” Lady Templeton added. “Her dowry is entirely gone, along with her family reputation. His presence could only drag her down further. At least here with us at Fernside, she can still have a quiet and respectable life, even if it’s not the one she probably hoped for.”
“I could take my carriage and collect Lady Katherine if it suits you,” Jacob offered. “Perhaps one of the maids might accompany us in case she requires assistance with her packing?”
“That would be truly kind of you, Lord Wycliff, but I was going to send a carriage for her very early in the morning and would not wish to inconvenience you. The sooner she is out of that place the better.”
“I don’t mind,” Jacob said eagerly. “I only wish to be of service.”
Lady Templeton nodded with slight bemusement at his enthusiasm but accepted his offer gladly.
“You and dear Edmund have already been of great service to our family, and we are considerably in your debt. But very well, if you really wish it, then please go ahead. Mrs. Bridge will have Ethel ready to go with you and assist with Kitty’s effects as you suggest.”
Edmund and Diana smiled at one another across the table at Jacob’s evident pleasure in being dispatched to rescue Kitty. Edmund noticed Lady Templeton’s eyes on him once again then and saw a smile at the corner of her mouth. It was definitely time for him to say something to Diana’s parents about their marriage. With a nod to Diana, he cleared his throat.
“Lady Templeton, I wonder if you might have a few minutes to speak to me after dinner, and Lord Templeton too if he’s well enough. There’s something important I wish to ask you both…”