The Legacy of Hope House (13 page)

Chapter Twenty Two

Quentin opened the door wide when he saw Anna standing there. ‘What a lovely surprise. Come in,’ he said, all smiles as he reached for her hand and stepped back, drawing her inside his room.

Anna took a few paces forward, then found herself peculiarly tongue-tied. Her heart jerked as she observed his appearance, still handsome, even with his mop of hair ruffled and his shirtsleeves rolled up.

As he gazed at her, Anna felt a strong need to breathe deeply to steady herself. No point in getting excited about a man who has recently become engaged, she told herself. Even so, all sorts of silly thoughts flashed through her mind, causing her focus to become less acute. She wanted to thank him, but didn’t want to say the wrong thing.

With his usual broad smile, Quentin took her firmly by both hands and gently drew her right into the centre of the room. ‘I think that means you found the flowers - eventually?’ he said, with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. ‘I didn’t want you to have them until after we came home today so I hid them.’

‘They’re gorgeous, and thank you so much,’ Anna said, finding her voice and gazing up at him doe-eyed. ‘But there really was no need for you to go to this troub…’ She stopped as Quentin touched his finger to her lips.

Then, before she could say another word, his arms were about her, drawing her tightly to him. His breathing came fast and heavy as he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her gently. Then his grip tightened again as he literally crushed her body so close to his she could feel every curve of his body. He released her and leaned back to gaze deep into her eyes, only to catch around her once more and pull her to him again. He muttered incoherently as he nuzzled his face in her hair.

Wondering what this was all about, she closed her eyes to savour the embrace she had secretly wished for. It was something she never thought would happen, but here it was, real, exciting, and stirring emotions she had never before experienced.

With the touch of hot lips on hers once more, she suddenly became intensely aware that this was quite different from any other kiss she’d ever had. It was long, sensuous, and breathtaking. When he drew away, he looked at her again, but this time with just the hint of a smile playing around his lips. Moments later, he released her, and looked into her eyes wide with surprise. Then, without a word, he kissed her again and again.

Anna’s reaction to this exhilarating experience was almost one of shock. ‘Quentin, what are you doing?’ she gasped between deep breaths of excitement.

‘Something I couldn’t resist; something I never planned; but something I’ve wanted to do ever since I first set eyes on you, Anna Williams.’ He leaned back at full arms’ length, with his hands on her shoulders. ‘Do I surprise you?’ He narrowed his eyes as he studied her face.

‘Yes. Yes, you do.’ Astonished, Anna drew a tight breath, released herself from his grasp and stepped back a few paces, hardly knowing how to deal with this unexpected move. ‘What about your fiancée? What would she say if she could see you now?’

‘My—fiancée?’

‘Yes. The one you got engaged to recently, that’s who,’ Anna said, hotly scowling at him. ‘Grant let slip you’d had an engagement party. Don’t say you’ve forgotten it already.’

He laughed aloud as he took her hand and drew her farther back into the large room. He stopped, and spun around to face her, but Anna had pulled her hand free and was already backing away, knowing she had to extricate herself somehow from this delightful, but embarrassing situation.

Quentin looked puzzled for a few moments, and rubbed his hand over his chin as he thought. Then he clicked his fingers. ‘Got it. I told Grant I had an engagement party. To go to. It wasn’t mine; it was my college flat-mate’s, and I was invited. Grant obviously misunderstood me.’

He spread his arms defensively, and then moved close to Anna once more. ‘Now look, very very distant dearest cousin of mine, I sincerely regret my uncle’s interest in that old will because of the problem it caused, but I would never have done that to anyone, let alone you, so let’s put it to rest now.’

Then he looked down at her with one of his engaging smiles. ‘On the other hand, if my uncle hadn’t persuaded me to join him for a while, I might not have met you. And meeting you is something I would not have wanted to miss.’

‘So you’re not engaged?’

‘I have just told you—I am not engaged.’ He took both of her hands in his, and looked deep into her eyes. Very slowly, he lowered his head to gently touch his lips to her fingers, and then he folded her in his arms and kissed her tenderly again. ‘That’s for being so beautiful; for being so kind and so understanding.’ He leaned back, holding her at arms’ length. ‘For being you,’ he whispered.

As he released her, Anna was breathless with excitement at the unexpected admission, and Quentin was none the wiser at how profoundly his embrace had affected her. He patted the bed and beckoned her. ‘Sit here, Anna, and let’s talk some.’

‘Talk? About what?’ she asked, taking a steadying breath as she sat cautiously beside him on the bed.

‘Oh, about you, about me, this place, our ancestors, yours and mine. Oh, come on, Anna, we’ve enough to talk about for the rest of our lives—if you will.’

‘If I will… what?’ Anna said, almost choking on her words.

‘Spend the rest of your life with me,’ Quentin said, quite unabashed. ‘Anna, I’ve known you for only a short while, but, I’m madly in love with you. I fell for you the moment I set eyes on you, but I felt the time wasn’t right for me to make my feelings known, and, of course, there were complications - your relationship with David being one of them.’

He curved his arm around her shoulders. ‘Anna, I have to tell you now – I never want to lose sight of you again.’ He looked away for a moment or two, as though contemplating his next words. Then he took a deep breath, and with a pleading look, burst out, ‘Anna, marry me. Please say you’ll marry me.’

She drew the deep breath she needed, and felt glad she was sitting down. This was something she had wished for, but never expected; something she had never dared dream would become reality. And it was so sudden it sent her mind reeling. Quentin had taken her fancy right from the start, but the story about his engagement, and the doubts she’d had about him, had put her off. She had closed down all thoughts of that nature about him; he was unavailable, so that was the end of it.

Then there were her upsetting suspicions about his ancestry as well. But now, there were no inhibitions, no restrictions, and no reason why she couldn’t accept his proposal. After all, this was the man she had considered totally out of her reach. She took a long, hard look at him. Was this man her future? Knowing the answer was yes, she took his hand in hers.

‘Nothing would give me greater pleasure than talking with you for the rest of my life, Quentin.’

‘Let’s tell the world then,’ he murmured into her hair as he hugged her tightly. ‘Anna, you have just agreed to marry me. Your mother and everyone else can wait to hear the news; this is our time now.’ Quentin wrapped his arms around her once again. ‘I feel like I don’t ever want to let you go again.’

Anna laughed. ‘We’ve got a whole lifetime ahead for that sort of thing,’ she said, hurrying to the door and beckoning him to join her. ‘Now I must see to my business, so would you like to come with me?’

Quentin laughed as Anna clutched at his hand and drew him out of his room and onto the large landing. They approached the top of the staircase and went down quietly.

When they reached the last but one step on the stairs, Anna ran her fingers carefully over the painted face of the Colonel, and put her face close to his image. ‘Papa…, where ever you are, I want you to know our good news,’ she whispered. It was only when she heard Liz calling that she remembered Grant was in the house as well.

Still holding onto Quentin’s hand, Anna called to Liz. ‘I’m in the middle of doing something, Liz, so will you fetch the sponge cake from the pantry, cut it and make some tea for you and Grant. I’ll join you later.’

Then she turned her attention back to Quentin and told him all about the gems she had found. ‘The auctioneer says they will auction for a fortune,’ she said, ‘a fortune big enough to cover all my expenses here, and more. And I’ve kept back the best of them.’ Then she squeezed his hand. ‘Be old-fashioned, Quentin; ask my Papa’s portrait for my hand, just for me to hear it,’ she whispered.

Quentin smiled knowingly, and cleared his throat as he faced the painting. ‘Sir, since Anna’s dear father is long departed from this earth, I think it appropriate that I ask you for her hand in marriage.’ He turned to Anna. ‘I feel a bit silly talking to a painting like this.’ Then to her surprise, with a smile he turned to the painting again. ‘And please tell your dear brother George, when next you see him, that his five time great grandson is to wed your five times great granddaughter. It will bring the family close together again,’ he whispered.

Anna squeezed his hand. ‘That was a lovely gesture, and so good to hear,’ she said. ‘This is real, isn’t it? Not a dream?’

‘It’s been a dream of mine for some time, but no longer; it’s reality now,’ Quentin said. ‘So let’s join Liz and Grant for a cuppa; we can do with it.’

Anna grabbed his hand again and hurried to the kitchen.

Liz had just boiled the kettle and made four mugs of tea, when she and Quentin appeared. ‘You both go into the lounge while I cut more cake,’ she said. ‘I’ll bring it in on a tray.’

‘Now I have to tell everything to Mum,’ Anna said, as she and Quentin went through the hall.

‘Everything?’

‘Yes, everything, including our future plans.’ With a look of concern, she stopped and tugged on his arm. ‘Say nothing about going to live in London though. It would upset her to think I’ll be moving away; that news would be best left for a while.’

‘Who said we’d live in London?’ Quentin asked.

‘You said this place was merely a stepping stone to bigger and better things… in London.’

‘Yes, but that was before I fell in love with you—and before my uncle told me he is retiring at the end of the year, and that I could have the practice here.’

‘Oh, Quentin, that’s wonderful. Then London’s not on the cards any longer?’

‘It is not. I’m going to settle down in this cosy little area of Wales with the most beautiful woman I have ever set eyes on.’

He wrapped his arms around Anna just before they entered the lounge. ‘Quite frankly, I don’t care where I go as long as you’re with me, my love.’

‘You two look rather full of yourselves,’ Liz quipped, when they sat down very close to each other on the sofa, sipping their tea.

Quentin took the cue immediately. ‘We’ve every reason to be,’ he said. ‘Meet my fiancée.’ He proudly lifted Anna’s left hand, and kissed it. ‘By tomorrow evening, there will be a token of my promise on this finger.’

‘Wow! Congratulations,’ Liz said, looking quite stunned at the news. ‘So when did all this happen…?’ She stopped mid-sentence as Anna lifted her hand.

‘It’s a long story,’ Anna said, ‘but not now, because we’re about to go and give Mum the news. Look after the place while we’re gone, will you?’

‘Come along,’ Quentin said, ‘let’s get it over with.’

Chapter Twenty Three

When they both arrived at Rose Cottage, Margaret was sitting with her feet up on the stool, enjoying a quiet cup of coffee. She flashed a look of surprise when she saw Quentin, then stared questioningly at Anna, quickly cleared her magazines off the sofa, and patted the seat at her side.

‘Make yourself comfy,’ she said to Quentin, giving him a welcoming smile.

First of all Anna introduced him, and then he took up the story. ‘Mrs Williams, I’ll come straight out with it. I love Anna and I want to marry her, with your permission and blessing, of course,’ he said. ‘It’s as simple as that.’

Margaret jerked up and almost dropped her cup in surprise, but she quickly composed herself. ‘This is sudden.’ For several seconds she just stared at them both. ‘Well, if Anna wants to marry you, that’s fine by me,’ she replied.

‘Now, put me straight. I’m wondering who you are, and what you’re doing in this part of the world, because I can tell from your accent you’re not a native of Wales.’

As Quentin began to give her an account of his life, Margaret quietly assimilated all he said, his words being interspersed by Anna’s, until Margaret lifted her hand in protest. ‘All right. I’ve got the story, and I can see where you fit into the picture.’ She wagged a cautionary finger at him. ‘If you’re the one that Anna wants, then that’s all right by me. So, I wish you both good luck, and a long and happy life together.’

Anna breathed a sigh of relief that everything had gone so smoothly. Next, she needed to talk to her mother about her reluctance to go to the manor house.

‘Will you give Hope House another try, Mum? I mean will you come and stay for a short while and see how you feel about it?’

‘I don’t know. Leave me to think on that, Anna. I promise to give it some serious thought, but I’m happy here in my little home, and I doubt I’d move to Hope House permanently even if you paid me to.’

‘Well, you know so much about hotel management, that I wondered if you’d like the job of overseeing the business there.’

Margaret looked pensive. ‘Well, that’s a different proposition, and interesting. I don’t know about totally accepting your offer, but I tell you what - I’ll stay with you from time to time and show you the ropes.’ She gave a shrug and got to her feet. ‘Now be off with you, because I’m going out with Janet in ten minutes.’

Anna beckoned to Quentin and walked towards the door. ‘Okay, that’s fine, as there’s a load of work waiting at the manor for me. I’ll pop in to see you tomorrow.’

Anna pulled hard on Quentin’s hand as they hurried to the car. ‘To be honest, I want Hope House to ourselves from now on, so I’m not disappointed that Mum is reluctant to go there; it suits me now.’

As soon as they got back, Anna called out to Liz and they all relaxed in the lounge. It was then the events that had happened hit Anna like a sledge hammer, and she burst into tears, probably more from relief than anything else.

Quentin hugged her and she buried her face in his chest as he consoled her. There were still tears in Anna’s eyes as she clutched Quentin’s hand when they all finally drifted off to bed. That night, Quentin shared Anna’s room, but between their lovemaking and excitement, neither had much sleep.

The next morning, Quentin woke first and lifted himself up on his elbow to look into Anna’s peaceful face. ‘You look so beautiful,’ he whispered, as she opened her eyes and drew his lips down to hers.

‘I know what a tough time you’ve had, my darling,’ Quentin said, lifting her chin as he smiled at her. ‘But all that’s behind you now, and there’s a rosy future ahead. As for our wedding, that will take place as soon as you decide on a date.’ He gave her a little squeeze. ‘Be happy, my great, great, great whatever you are.’

Anna already looked brighter. She dabbed her eyes and smiled. ‘How right you are,  I guess it’s time to concentrate on our wedding plans.’ As she gazed up at Quentin, he wrapped his arms around her again and smothered her face with kisses.

‘Yes, my love,’ he murmured, into her hair. ‘Now we can look to our future.’