Part 23 (1/2)
Daphne walked over to him. He hugged her, kissed her cheek. ”I'm glad, Daphne, truly happy you made this decision. And on your own,” the earl murmured in a loving voice.
With the help of two Swanns, Hugo thought, but remained silent. Whatever they had said to her, he would be eternally grateful to those two extraordinary women.
Daphne said, ”Let us sit down, shall we? You see, I have a few ... conditions. I'd like to discuss them with you, Hugo. And you, too, Papa.”
”Conditions,” Charles repeated slowly, a frown crossing his face.
”I'll agree to anything,” Hugo cried, laughter s.h.i.+ning in his eyes. Earlier, he had thought he would explode with desire for her. Now he believed he might just explode with sheer joy. He didn't care what her conditions were, he'd agree to anything. More or less.
”Papa, the first condition is that you and Mama make the announcement of our engagement immediately. I would like to read it in The Times by the middle of next week. No later.” She looked at Hugo. ”Do you agree?”
”Absolutely.”
”I would prefer to get married quickly. As soon as possible, actually. And for a number of reasons, the main one being that Aunt Anne could die at any moment. I don't want my wedding postponed because of a bereavement in the family.”
”But how soon is soon? What do you have in mind, darling?” her father asked. ”Look here, Daphne, I don't want your marriage to Hugo to appear to be a shotgun affair.”
”September. At the latest early October,” Daphne answered. ”Naturally, I would like to marry Hugo next week, or certainly later in August. However, I know the Glorious Twelfth is on the horizon, will be here imminently. And that Mama and you would not agree to August because of the grouse shooting. So September it is. Is that all right with you, Hugo? Does it suit?”
”Anything you say, anything you want, I'm totally on your side,” was his immediate response. He still couldn't quite believe all this was happening, and at two-thirty in the morning, no less.
”I would be happy with a small wedding, Papa. Just our immediate family, and that includes Aunt Lavinia and Aunt Vanessa. Will they come? They're not here much these days, are they?”
”No, because they have busy lives in London,” Charles replied. ”I'm quite certain they will want to be here. I know your uncle Jack wouldn't miss it for the world.”
”If Aunt Lavinia allows him to come ... you know they're a bit off track with each other these days.”
”Daphne, really! That's silly gossip Diedre has planted in your head.”
Daphne shrugged, and sat back. She went on, ”I hope you don't mind, but I don't really think I want to have any bridesmaids, Papa. Just a flower girl. In other words, Dulcie.”
Charles was startled by this statement, and he said in a perplexed tone, ”But DeLacy and Diedre will be hurt, Daphne. You really must have them as bridesmaids, they're your sisters.”
”DeLacy will be happy to walk behind me with Dulcie, but I don't think Diedre will take to that role quite as easily. After all, she's older than I am, and she'll be angry with me because she isn't getting married first.”
”Oh, I don't know about that, my dear, Diedre loves you. Perhaps you have to speak with your mother about this matter. However, I genuinely believe Diedre will be cut to the quick if she isn't a bridesmaid with DeLacy.”
”I really only want a flower girl ... Dulcie,” Daphne said again.
”She's a bit of a handful. We need a bridesmaid to take control of her, you know,” Charles pointed out.
Daphne looked across at Hugo. ”What are your feelings about bridesmaids?”
”I understand you wish to keep the wedding small, Daphne, darling. Still, I think your father is correct, Dulcie might well need someone to mind her during the service. He certainly has a good point there. One you must consider.”
”All right. Two bridesmaids and a flower girl. Now, Hugo, Papa will be giving me away. And you need a best man. I was wondering how you felt about Guy taking on that role.”
”I'd be honored,” Hugo answered swiftly, wondering when she had thought all this out.
”Regarding the church, Papa, I was thinking we ought to use the church here on the estate. I know it's not huge, but it will hold the entire Ingham family and all of the Swanns. They must be at the ceremony, don't you agree?”
”I most certainly do. They've been at Ingham marriages for years. They were at mine, and they should be at yours. Just a thought about the church here on the estate, Daphne. It's not big enough to hold the villagers. So perhaps we should have your marriage ceremony in the village church, then everyone can come. How does that strike you?”
Before she could answer, Hugo said, ”I agree with you, Charles, and there's something else. If I'm not mistaken, the villagers usually have a tea party in the village hall afterwards, don't they? To celebrate the wedding of an Ingham.”
”You're absolutely right, Hugo. It had slipped my mind. I must arrange for that to be given, and at my expense.”
”Holding the ceremony in the village church is a lovely idea,” Daphne interjected. ”As for our wedding reception-” She broke off, looked at Hugo, and continued, ”Shall we have it in the South Wing? What do you think, Hugo? Papa?”
”There's no place better, in my opinion. What about you, Charles?”
”Of course, it's the ideal spot,” the earl agreed.
Daphne smiled at them both, and said to Hugo, ”Now you must decide about the honeymoon ... where we should go. I'll go anywhere with you.”
”I'm so happy to hear that,” Hugo answered. ”How about Paris? One of my favorite cities, and then we could travel to Zurich. My villa is on the lake, and it is very beautiful.”
”I would like that, Hugo.”
Charles said, ”The baby must be born at Cavendon. It is an Ingham, after all.”
”We'll come back for Christmas, Papa. The baby is due in January.”
Thirty-nine.
”Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue,” Cecily said to DeLacy, and then took a small package out of her satchel and placed it on the long table.
The two girls were in the sewing room at Cavendon, Alice Swann's domain on the floor above the family bedroom corridor. It was two days before Daphne's marriage to Hugo, and Cecily was waiting for Daphne to arrive, to have the final fitting of her wedding gown.
”So what is it you got for her, Ceci?” DeLacy asked, eyeing the package. ”Come on, show me, before Daphne gets here.”
”No, I can't, Lacy, I don't want to open it. Mam wrapped it up so nicely with ribbon. But I can describe it.”
”Oh, all right, that will have to do for now.”
”It's a blue silk garter for her leg. My mother told me a blue garter is popular with brides ... it provides the blue without being seen.”
DeLacy laughed. ”How clever. I bought her a lace wedding handkerchief, which is new. Mama is lending Daphne her diamond bow brooch, and that means new, blue, and borrowed are taken care of nicely. I don't know who's giving her something old.”
”I do,” Ceci said, throwing the large white sheet over the wedding gown hanging on a clothes rack.
”You do! Who is it? Who's giving her something old?”
”My great-aunt Charlotte. It's a bracelet, I think.”
”Oh, that's kind of her,” DeLacy responded. ”So that part is settled. Hugo has given Daphne diamond earrings as a wedding present. I think Diedre's green with envy.”