Diana smiled. “You certainly do.”
Sir Cecil still did not seem to be convinced. “It could ruin my publishing house, Robert. I do not think I could support this idea.”
“Then what about if I bought an interest in your publishing house and published the book myself under my own name?”
“Oh, my… Robert. Then we would all go down in flames,” Sir Cecil said nervously.
“I doubt that Cecil. I have a hunch that the scandal that you fear will, indeed, cause a firestorm. And that will create an enormous amount of publicity and the book will fly off the shelves. It will become a cause célèbre. The issue will be wildly debated and finally, it will become accepted as the new normal.
“And I am willing to guarantee any losses you might incur due to the scandal. After all, I have just made a very profitable deal from the sale of my land for the canal. And I am willing to wager all of that profit on the success of my book with me as the recognized author. Now, what do you say, Cecil?”
“Well, I have to say, I am warming to the idea. And do you still want to buy into the publishing house?”
“I do. Why not make a profit on my book as the author—but also as the publisher.”
“Hmm. Not so sure I want to give up an interest in my publishing house now. You are far too confident and most likely will be successful,” Sir Cecil chuckled.
Robert turned to Diana. “And how do you feel about this? It means exposing us both as frauds for deceiving your readers and the public.”
Diana considered that a moment and answered, “Actually, I think the story might make an interesting book in itself. We could write a roman à clef novel together that would explain the deception in fictional terms. Everyone would have such fun with trying to figure out who was who in the story.”
“Oh, now I like that,” Sir Cecil said. “That has enormous potential. And we could become known as the publishing house that dares to stretch the boundaries of convention.”
“And once we are married, we could be known as the daring couple that defies all,” Robert said going over and picking Diana up and embracing her. “We are going to become danger incarnate.”
“Ah, the perfect slogan for our new campaigns,” Sir Cecil said standing up and raising his arm in the air like he was waving a sword.
Chapter 30
Mother stood in the doorway to Diana’s room as Diana was going through her books deciding which to take to Balfour and which to leave behind.
“Mother, you are hovering. Did you want something?” Diana asked.
Mother wiped a tear and stifled a sniffle. “I do not understand why you are packing to leave so early? The wedding is still a month away.”
Diana turned to her mother, “Because I am trying to prepare in stages. I am not leaving home until just before the wedding. I have explained that already.”
“But it seems like you are eager to leave us,” she whimpered.
Diana went over and took her mother in her arms. “I am eager to be married, but I am not eager to leave you. Can you understand that?”
“I suppose so,” Mother said, as she withdrew from Diana’s embrace and blew her nose.
“And remember I am always only a short drive away. It takes no more than half an hour for me to come back for a visit. And you both are welcome to come and visit at any time.”
“I know, but seeing you packing is making it seem so real and so final.”
“I am not packing I am simply organizing my books. Now run along, it is time to open the gallery.”
Mother turned to leave but stopped and put her hand on the door frame, “And if there are grandchildren?” she said hopefully, “Then they can come and visit?”
“Of course. And you and Father can come to Balfour and stay as long as you like. I was thinking we would have a set of rooms that was just for the two of you. You could come and go as you like. It will be just like a second home.”
Mother smiled. “Oh, now that does sound nice. I would not need to cook there, would I?” And she finally left.
Diana looked at her writing table. It was small because it fit unobtrusively in her small room, but at Balfour, there was abundant space and she could have as large a desk as she wanted and would have her own study just for writing. But she felt a pull as she contemplated leaving this cherished desk behind, and decided it should go with her.
Diana decided it was time to visit with the twins and, as she was leaving, she passed by her father’s study and he called out.
“Diana, dear, might I have a word?”
Diana went into his study. His desk was piled high with stacks of books, manuscripts in various stages of completion, and a dozen or so papers from his students that needed to be read. There were also four or five cups of unfinished tea scattered around the room.
“Yes, Father. And how are you this morning?”
“Somewhat discombobulated,” he said, waving his hand over his desk. “I never seem to get caught up with anything, do I?”
“I am on my way to see the Sinclair twins, is there anything particular you wanted to speak to me about?”
Father stopped and needed to consider that. “Yes, there was something. Now let me see, what was it?” He perused his desk looking for the answer. Then he remembered. “Ah, yes, it was about the wedding. Come sit with me for a moment.”
Diana pulled up a chair next to his desk.
“Your mother and I have been discussing what to give you for a wedding present. She wants it to be a surprise, but I want it to be just right. I know there is not much we could afford to give you that the Earl does not already have. There will be many expensive gifts from all of Robert’s wealthy friends and we cannot compete with that. So, I wanted to get your ideas about what might be something special that would be meaningful to the both of you that other guests might not be giving.”
“What about that wonderful quilt that grandmother made by hand? It would always be there to comfort both Robert and myself and would constantly remind us of you.”
“But that does not seem to be enough as a wedding present?” Father said. “Certainly it should be something more significant than an old used quilt?”
“Oh, no, Father. The value is not in what is spent in money, but what is given in love.”
Father blinked several times and wiped his eyes. “Very well, I shall suggest that to your mother, although I might need to convince her that is what you really want.”
Diana went over and kissed her father on the forehead. “It is. I assure you.”
* * *
As Diana walked over to visit with the twins, she realized this might be nearly the last time she would have time to visit with them until after the wedding, as things were about to get very hectic at Balfour with the approaching weddings and Christmas.
The twins’ mother greeted Diana and sent her to the dining room where the twins were working at the dining table. When they saw her, they let out a yelp and tried to cover up what they were working on.
“Oh, you have ruined the surprise,” Miriam wailed.
“I am sorry. I did not see anything,” Diana said, covering her eyes.
Geoffrey said, “It does not matter. We have to give her these early anyway.”
“Yes, that is true. Very well, you may look,” Miriam instructed.
Diana uncovered her eyes and saw that the twins were making Christmas tree decorations.
“We cannot really afford a bought wedding present, so we are making these for your Christmas/wedding tree. I hope you like them,” Geoffrey said.
Diana inspected the beautifully made ornaments made from heavy felt cut into the shapes of stars, shields, birds, and Christmas trees. Then they were taking apart old costume jewelry and sewing them onto the felt along with sequins and decorative fabric trim.
“Oh, these are beautiful. Can you have these ready by the middle of December? I want to use them on the tree we will be setting up in the main hall.”
“Yes. They should be re
ady in another week or two.”
Diana went over and gave each one a hug. “You are the best friends anyone could ever wish for.”
“Do you want to help us?” Geoffrey asked. “I know this is your gift, but this is s-u-u-c-h a lot of w-o-r-r-k.”
Diana laughed. “I would love to. Just show me what you want me to do.”
As they settled into work, Diana asked Geoffrey, “How is the teaching going?”
“Got dumped.”
“What? Oh, Geoffrey, whatever for?”
“They said the kids I was teaching were smarter than I was. I believe that was a total lie, but I think it is a rather great excuse and I rather like the idea.”
“So now what?” Diana asked.
“We are considering submitting him to a mental institution as he seems to be totally useless,” Miriam said.
“Not so,” Geoffrey complained. “I am very good at raking leaves, digging in soil, and sleeping.”
“I have an idea,” Diana spoke up. “Robert tells me the man who takes care of his conservatory is looking for an assistant as he plans to retire in a few years. Is that something that might interest you? I could ask Robert to talk to him about it.”
Geoffrey sat up straight and looked very alert. “Oh, yes, I should like that very much. And I would actually be paid for that?”
“I believe so. It is a regular job.”
“He might just be very good at that,” Miriam added. “If I can ever get him out of the house.”
“You would have to get to Balfour from here each day. Can you do that?”
“How long is it to walk?”
“At least an hour.”
“What… Both ways?”
“I am afraid so.”
“Maybe I could just sleep in the stables and come home on the weekends.”
“No, there are quarters for the staff. If that would suit you.”
“But then you would be my mistress and I would need to address you as My Lady.”
“We will see about that. Do you want me to talk to Robert about it?”
“Yes, please,” Geoffrey said beaming.
* * *
Robert and Diana were sitting in the window seat of her new study at Balfour. They had been working together all afternoon preparing the room for her. Workmen had been painting, rehanging paintings and installing new drapes to her specifications. Even her favorite little desk from home had its new place of prominence by a window with her favorite view of the park.
Darkness was coming on earlier each evening as the month of December progressed toward the solstice. Diana was wrapped in Robert’s arms as they watched in silence as the light faded away and the thin slice of a new moon was just appearing.
Robert had just returned from London where he had been busy negotiating with Sir Cecil and his partner for the purchase of his share of the publishing house. “Tomorrow or the next day, when you have a moment, we will need your signature on a number of papers regarding the transfer of my book back to my name so that we may republish it.”
Diana turned her face slightly toward him. “Are you excited about that?”
“I am. And what would you think, instead of taking a regular honeymoon, we rent a villa on the Amalfi coast of Italy and spend a few months writing our first book together? I was thinking of a title—The Truth Behind the lie, A Tale of Literary Deceit.”
“Oh, my… Not sure about the title. It sounds so ominous.”
“But it would sell.”
Diana laughed and then sighed. “My poor readers will be so confused.”
“There will be plenty of time to rehabilitate your reputation with your loyal readers. But I think we should write this book together as we were both co-conspirators.”
Diana chuckled. “Very well, but it must also be a romance—our romance. Then it will really sell.”
Robert laughed. “What would I do without you?”
“Well, fortunately for you that is nothing you need worry about.”
Diana snuggled up closer to Robert as it began to cool down. He put his arms more tightly around her.
“And I was thinking, now that we are about done with your study we should take a look at redecorating the nursery. How does that sound?” he asked.
“I think that is a splendid idea, however, it is not something we need to rush into until after we get back from Italy.
* * *
Diana was standing by with a basket of tree decorations from the twins as several of the household staff positioned the Christmas tree perfectly in the great hall. Amelia was directing the operation with her usual charm.
“No, no, no, you lug-heads. It is still crooked. More to the left. No, idiots my left.”
The men were struggling to adjust the tree by tilting it in its stand. But Diana put down her basket and went over to the tree and folded a piece of paper, inserting it under a leg of the stand, and the tree was perfect.
“There now, we can begin the decorating?” she asked smiling.
She went over and linked her arm with Amelia’s and asked, “And what wonderful family decorations do you have for the tree?”
“We have the most charming candle holders. And for a tree this size we will need to have hundreds. You should see when they are all lighted. It is pure magic.”
Diana presented her basket. “And these will be the new family heirlooms—our wedding present from my dear friends the Sinclair twins. All hand made.”
Amelia picked one up and examined it. “Most charming,” she said acidly, dismissing it back into the basket.
“Amelia,” Diana said gently. “These are lovely decorations. Please do not be dismissive of my friend’s work. It is most impolite.”
Amelia turned and scowled at her. “If they were up to my standards of quality, there would be no need to be impolite.”
“And if you were up to my standards, I would not have to mention this,” Diana replied.
Robert had appeared just in time to catch this interaction. He came over and picked up one of the decorations from the basket and examined it. “Did I hear you say these are our wedding present from the twins?”
“Yes, they are.”
“You must personally thank them for me. And tell them how charming they are and what a great contribution they have made to both our Christmas and weddings.” He then went over and placed the first ornament on the tree. Then he turned to Amelia and nodded toward the basket. “And would you like to hang the next one?”
Epilogue
It was Christmas Eve and most of the wedding guests had already arrived. Because the wedding was tomorrow, it had been decided that Christmas would be celebrated this evening. There had been a number of Christmas services in the small Balfour chapel throughout the day for the guests who wished to attend.
The house was alive with activity. There were so many guests, the dinner table stretched the whole length of the large dining room with place settings for one hundred. But that was only half the party, so another dining table had to be set up in the library to accommodate the overflow.
All the great public rooms were alight with hundreds of candles and great roaring fires warmed the mingling guests. Garlands of evergreens decorated each room which also had a Christmas tree. Servants were busy keeping the guests plied with mulled wine and cider, as well as eggnog and champagne. A small orchestra was playing carols in the great hall with the large Christmas tree which had all the small candles blazing. Sithens was masterfully overseeing the entire operation of the household staff—managing the dinner and the before dinner drinks.
Robert had donned a Father Christmas suit and beard and, with Diana at his side, was passing amongst the guests handing presents to everyone. They finally came to Diana’s parents who were chatting with the twins.
“Ho! ho! ho!” Robert said, pulling at his fake beard. “What have we got here?” he asked as he poked into his gift bag. “Oh, nothing. You must have been very bad boys and girls.”
They laughed. But D
iana reached into a smaller bag she had and said, “Oh, look what I found. Here is one for the Brownings. And here is one for the Sinclair twins.” She handed them each a present with their names on it.
Mother opened their present. Inside was a door key. “What is this?”
Diaries of a Heartbroken Duchess: A Historical Regency Romance Collection Page 85