The Visitor (46 page)

“Are you still awake?”

“Yes, Cassie, come in.”

Cassie climbed onto Lizzy’s bed, her own gown and robe in place, and settled against the headboard with her. Lizzy set her book aside and turned to her.

“Are you pleased with the date?”

“Yes. It won’t be so warm in late August, and that was my only concern. Do you think Morland is happy with it, Lizzy?”

“Yes. His aunt explained things to him, and he was very understanding.”

“I’m glad.”

Lizzy waited, wondering what was really on her mind. She soon found out.

“Lizzy, do you think about your wedding night very often?”

“Almost every time I climb into this bed.”

“Do you truly?”

“Yes. Did you think you were the only one?”

“I guess I did. Are you at all nervous?”

“A little. It’s hard to imagine after the kissing.”

“I can’t even imagine the kissing.”

Lizzy smiled.

“Has Morland kissed you?”

“Yes.”

“And?”

Lizzy laughed a little. “At first I was so surprised that I barely knew what was happening, but then I realized I enjoyed it very much.”

Cassandra thought about kissing Tate and felt herself blush.

“I’m going to blush the entire service, Lizzy,” Cassandra whispered, quietly outraged. “And every moment of my honeymoon. I’m certain of it.”

Lizzy laughed. “I don’t think you will, and besides, you won’t have eyes for anyone but Tate, so you won’t notice who sees your red face.”

“Where will you and Morland honeymoon?”

“I haven’t asked him yet. Has Tate told you?”

Cassandra nodded. “Just tonight. For a few nights we’ll be at the home of friends—the owners will be in London—and then on to Weston-super-Mare.”

“To the sea! How fun.”

“We’re going to sea bathe.”

“That will be wonderful.”

“I shall have to add a bathing costume to my list of clothing.”

In a moment, the women were talking about their trousseaus and the fact that Lizzy still had to find a wedding dress pattern that she liked.

They did not speak on the subject of wedding nights again, but as each woman settled into her own bed for sleep, it returned as an issue in both of their minds.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Thornton Hall

“A double wedding, Mari!” her sister-in-law announced with enthusiasm. “Isn’t it marvelous?”

“Yes. I can just imagine the activity at Newcomb Park.”

Oliver, the youngest of the Palmer clan, came looking for his mother just then. He toddled along wanting into Lydia’s lap, his cousin Catherine not far behind him. Once the little ones were comfortably ensconced in their mothers’ laps, thumbs in place, the women continued to talk.

“How is Judith?” Marianne wished to know. “Has everyone in the church family figured it out?”

“They would have to have poor eyesight not to notice. She’s beginning to think she’s carrying twins.”

“I had a dream of that sort when I was expecting Catherine. One was a baby and the other was a pig. It was the most horrific sight. I was afraid to go back to sleep for hours.”

Lydia found this highly amusing, and her burst of laughter startled her young son, who had been falling asleep in her arms. This made the scene even more amusing, and both women shook with their efforts to hold in their giggles.

Marianne glanced down at Catherine, who was smiling around her thumb, finding her own amusement over her mother’s shaking and laughing. Marianne’s smile was very tender for her daughter, and she bent her head to press a kiss to the soft, tiny brow.

Another one like this, Lord. I hope you give me another one like this.

Richmond

“Did you see the dress?” Penelope asked her nephew three weeks before the wedding.

“Yes. It’s perfect.”

“I’ve worn it before, you know.”

“Yes.”

“That doesn’t matter, of course, but I thought you should know. Everyone is to be looking at the bride on that day in any event, and on your wedding day they’ll have two brides to stare at.”

Morland only nodded, not certain why he was hearing all of this.

“I think it’s wasteful to have more clothing than you need,” Penelope went on, even as Morland knew she had dozens of dresses. “I don’t need a new dress. I don’t go out much anymore, and I can’t see having a new garment for one day.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Morland suddenly asked pointedly, even knowing it might upset her.

“I just thought you should know,” she said, her voice becoming quiet.

“Do you know,” Morland began gently, “that you are all I have? And do you know that I don’t care what you wear to my wedding, as long as I have your blessing and you are there in the church with me?”

“I can’t stand for very long.”

“You may sit for the entire service.”

“I’m going to miss you so much,” the old woman admitted, her face a mask of pain.

“I’m not going far. Lizzy fell in love with Ludlow. We’re staying in Collingbourne so we can be near you, Lizzy’s family, and the church family.”

Tears filled the old, tired eyes.

“It’s bad luck to cry at weddings.”

“You don’t believe in luck.”

The tears would not be stopped.

“Come here, Morland.”

In an act much younger than his years, Morland went to her chair and knelt on the floor. Her arms went around him and held him close as she cried. Morland held her back, thanking God for this strong woman. Sometimes cross in her old age, she had been the first one to talk to him about Christ.

Morland had things to do, but he postponed as much as he could to spend most of the day with her. It was one of the most precious times he’d ever known. And in his heart he determined that he and Lizzy would visit often. As he’d reminded his aunt: Until he married Lizzy, she was all he had.

Brown Manor

Drenched with sweat and gasping for air, Anne Weston listened to the tiny cries of her very small daughter and fell back against the pillows with relief. The pain had been nearly unbearable, but the baby was alive. She was early and tiny. But she was alive.

“How is she?” Anne asked, still with very little breath to talk.

“She looks fine.” Dr Smith’s voice was calm. “She’s no larger than a loaf of bread, but everything is there.”

“Weston? Where is Weston?”

“He was looking pale. I sent him out of the room. Are you ready to see him?”

“Please.”

Weston, who had also heard his daughter’s cries, was frozen in the hallway. He stared at the door, his heart beating furiously, but he couldn’t move.

“Robert,” his mother, Lenore, asked from his side. “Are you all right?”

“The baby cried.”

“Yes,” she agreed with him, her heart filled with tenderness and compassion even as she realized she’d never seen him this way.

The door opened suddenly and Jenny appeared. With that Weston broke from his trance. He went forward into the room, eyes only for Anne, who was smiling at him and speaking. Lenore was close behind him, looking for a sign of the baby even as she waited and let her son go alone to his wife.

Within minutes, however, the four of them huddled together, the baby in Anne’s arms, and looked in wonder at what God had given them. Already asleep, tiny and perfect, Sarah Anne Weston had come into their lives.

Newcomb Park

Charlotte and Barrington had arrived. The wedding was only two weeks away, and Charlotte showed up at the door, announcing her intentions of helping. Her sisters were delighted to see her, and between the three women, plans had shaped up nicely.

On one of her first days there, Charlotte asked her sisters to come to her room and approve her dress for the wedding.

“Try it on,” Lizzy urged her, and the women chatted while she did the honors. They loved the dark plum color and the detailing on the sleeves, telling her it was just right for the season. Charlotte didn’t stay in the dress but changed back into her muslin gown and joined her sisters where they’d made themselves comfortable in the chair and on the bed.

It didn’t take long before conversation shifted to the wedding night.

“I wasn’t afraid, but I was nervous,” Charlotte told them openly. “So was Barrington.”

“Barrington was nervous?” Cassandra clarified.

“Yes.”

Lizzy and Cassandra exchanged surprised looks. Charlotte watched them. It was clear by her sisters’ faces that it had never occurred to either of these women that their husbands might be nervous about this new experience as well.

“Charlotte.” Cassandra all but whispered the next question. “Did everything work properly?”

Charlotte found the question and her sister’s doubtful eyes hysterical and began to laugh.

“What did I say?” Cassandra asked.

But Charlotte was red in the face for laughing and couldn’t answer. She had to put a pillow over her mouth to muffle the sound.

Cassandra looked to Lizzy.

“Why was that funny?”