Holly and Hopeful Hearts
Page 61
It had been Lord Aldridge’s idea. When Cedrica first realized that he planned to pay the dowry he had promised, she voiced her decision to split it between buying care for her father and helping Marcel pay for the restaurant, but Aldridge advised her to think again.
“The Grenfords owe your father a duty of care,” he assured her. “Invest in the restaurant by all means, but not only in the restaurant. You also need a separate income. I suggest money in the Funds for security and then some other ventures that will give a greater return. You must think of your long-term security, cousin.”
Cedrica had quizzed Marcel on his plans and then spent hours collecting figures and doing sums. “But we will need all that money if we are to open this year.”
“We could work another year,” Marcel suggested, “or open a lesser establishment.”
“Or accept investors,” Aldridge suggested. “You and Cedrica to hold the majority share, and no one else with more than…” He pursed his lips as he considered, “five percent. You would have my support. I am confident you will make me money.”
Her Grace agreed, and so did the Laceys and the Suttons and others. In no time at all, it seemed, they had the funds to make over a building to Marcel’s high standards, the rental on a comfortable home nearby, and investments in the Funds, Aldridge’s cousin’s trading company, a woolen mill in Manchester, and a canal building enterprise.
Less than two months after the end of the house party where it all started, Monsieur Marcel Fournier and Mademoiselle Cedrica Grenford were married. Twice. Once according to English practice and law, and again in a small comfortable parlor off the side of the local Roman Catholic chapel.
And now Monsieur and Madame Fournier would say thank you to those who made it possible.
“It looks well,” Marcel decided. “And the dinner, the dinner, my Rica, will be the most magnificent they have ever tasted.”
Cedrica smiled. He said that every night, and every night, his guests assured him it was true.
Out in the hall, the restaurant door opened, and they could hear the portier greeting the first arrivals. In moments, it seemed, they were surrounded by cheerful friends, the men slapping Marcel on the back and congratulating him on making them all rich, the women kissing Cedrica on the cheek and gently scolding her for being too busy to meet friends for tea.
“Mama and I brought you a present,” Aldridge said. “I left it in the hall. Just one moment.” He left the room and returned a moment later with a long, flat, oblong shape wrapped in silk and tied with ribbon, which he handed to the duchess.
“We wanted to give you something useful but unusual, something that would always remind you of Hollystone Hall,” she said.
Marcel, seated beside Cedrica, lifted her hand and kissed it. “I have a wonderful souvenir of that house party, Your Grace,” he said.
The duchess smiled. “Indeed you do. To remind you of us, then, Monsieur. We consulted with Mrs. Pearce, and she suggested that this might be suitable.”
What on earth could it be? Cedrica and Marcel took one end of the parcel each and began to untie ribbons. When Marcel cleared his end of the silk and saw the box within, he began to laugh. Cedrica was still mystified until she finished unwrapping and was able to open the box and see the pearwood mold within, the one with the dolphin shapes that had caused such contention.
“Look, Marcel, at last you will be able to make your ice tower!”
Leave it to Aldridge to have the last word, as he raised his glass of wine. “Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Fournier’s of London. May it, and its proprietors, be a towering success.”
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Meet the Bluestocking Belles
The Bluestocking Belles (the “BellesInBlue”) are seven very different writers united by a love of history and a history of writing about love. From sweet to steamy, from light-hearted fun to dark tortured tales full of angst, from London ballrooms to country cottages to the sultan’s seraglio, one or more of us will have a tale to suit your tastes and mood.
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Acknowledgments
The Belles would like to thank all those who named people and selected objects in our stories, after winning the rights in a Bluestocking Belles contest.
Laurie Bergh named Cedrica Grenford.
Angela Marie Torres won the right to choose one object from six to appear in all seven novellas, and selected a quill.
Lindsay Downs named the maid Elsie in A Kiss for Charity.
Molly Laird named Mrs Laird, Charlotte’s landlady, in Artemis.
Deiatra Dee Deacon Foster named Theodosia Nethercote, orphaned daughter of a vicar, the ladies’ maid in The Bluestocking and the Barbarian.
Catherine Maguire named the dog Linda, in Christmas Kisses, and picked the breed, border collie.
Teri Slabinski Donaldson named Mr. Stanley the butler, and by extension his wife Mrs. Stanley, in honour of her father. This was a prize for An Open Heart, but, of course, the Stanleys appear throughout the book.
Malala Fund
The Bluestocking Belles have chosen the Malala Fund as the charity they support, and to which they donate some of their royalties. Periodically, they take on projects intended to directly support this cause, which exemplifies their personal values and intentions: the right of girls and women to do whatever they choose with their lives.
Twenty-five percent of proceeds from Holly and Hopeful Hearts will be donated to the Malala Fund.
For more information about the Malala Fund and the founder, Malala Yousafzai, winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, go to http://www.Malala.org
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