“The engaged couple were reuniting,” Alice said with agrin.
“Yes, of course.” And then she saw the box Alice was carrying. “And is that what I think it is? I recognize the name on thebox.”
“Yes, it is,” Alice said and turned to Emily. “Would you like to try iton?”
“Oh, yes,please.”
Emily retired to the Duchess’s bedroom and changed. When she returned both Alice and the Duchess were in awe and could not immediatelyspeak.
“Oh, my dear child. How absolutely lovely you look, I think you are the most beautiful bride I have ever seen.” Then she turned to Alice. “You were lovely, too, ofcourse.”
“But not as lovely as she is,” Alice said, beaming, and then she went to her bag which she had put on a nearby table. She rummaged inside and came out with a wide flat box. She placed in on the table and opened it up, taking out a beautiful but simple sapphire and emeraldnecklace.
Emily gasped as Alice leaned in to fasten it around herneck.
“Oh, Alice…” Emily barelyspoke.
“This is your wedding present from Chester and me.” Then whispered, “But this is not to wear for thewedding.”
Then the Duchess stood and tsked. “No, no.” And she went to her bedroom and returned with a large inlaid box, set it down and began to sort through itscontents.
“Here, my dear, this is a more appropriate necklace for the new Duchess,” and she produced a multi-tiered diamond and ruby necklace with a large central diamondpendant.
As the Duchess approached to hang it around Emily’s neck, Alice whispered again, “I knew she would produce the Cavanaugh necklace if properlygoaded.”
“My dear, I am loaning this to you for now. But upon my death, it shall beyours.”
“I trust that will be a very long time from now,” Emily said as the Duchess hung the necklace around her neck and Emily turned toward the mirror to gaze at herself in her finished wedding gown and the beautifulnecklace.
The Duchess stood next to her gazing into the mirror. Then patted Emily on the shoulder and said, “Now then, why do you not change and then we shall get down to the business of planning an autumnwedding.”
* * *
As promised, Mark took Emily aside after lunch and they retired to his study. Emily was surprised to find she was a little nervous being alone with Mark, even though they were engaged. She realized it would take some time to become used to being intimate with a man. But Mark soon put her at ease by taking her hands and staring into her eyes with the most dedicated love. She caught her breath andsmiled.
“Mark, I have missed you so much while you were inGermany.”
“And I you. What kept me going was knowing that my errand was to serve you, and I believe you will be pleased with theresults.”
He leaned in and gave her a sweet delicate kiss that conveyed at the same time both his desire and his respect for her. Then he stepped back while still holding one hand. They continued to gaze at each other until he let go of her hand and turned to hisdesk.
“As lovely as it is to drink in your beauty, we must address your future. And that includes not only your performing future but also your future as my wife and the Duchess ofEdgerton.”
Emily settled into a chair facing his desk as he sat down and pulled some papers out of a leathercase.
“First let us address my meeting with Herr Darmstadt.” He handed Emily a paper. “This is the proposed European tour. As you can see there are three and twenty performances scheduled in eighteen different cities. And the pieces you are to perform are listed under the name of eachperformance.”
“Oh, Mark, this is most impressive and I can see I have a lot of work ahead ofme.”
He smiled. “You do. And oh, that reminds me… Was Alice able to help you with Mr.Butler?”
“Most certainly.” She explained their meeting and pulled out several papers from her bag and handed them to him. “This is the agency contract which I would like you to review before I sign it. And this is my final UK performance list. And as you can see, I have arranged it so there are no performances until well after the wedding. However, I shall need to practice diligently from now until I start the tour, even before and after thewedding.”
“Of course, I expected that.” He studied the papers. “Excellent. I will review the contract. And I am happy to see there is a generous amount of free time scheduled after the wedding. But I will get to that in amoment.”
Mark put her papers down and picked up several pages tied together. “And this is your contract with Kroner-DuPont. I have studied it in minute detail and you should be very pleased.” He offered it toher.
She waved her hand, refusing it. “I trust your examination of it, Mark. I am afraid, I am not very good at studying contracts. And seeing you are my soon-to-be-husband, I should like to leave those details toyou.”
