Anna said thoughtfully, “Indeed it does. And you make a good point. Considering our various needs in moving forward I am willing to agree to a late autumn wedding. Does that sound suitable?”
Dorothy was ecstatic. “Oh, yes, yes. October?”
“Late October.”
“And can we make all the arrangements for a triple wedding in that time frame?” Maria asked.
“I think the three of us are capable of arranging that. If we put our minds to it and make it our priority,” Anna concluded.
“Then let us start with the dresses…” Dorothy suggested. And Anna wrote it on her list.
“I have my mother’s dress,” Maria said.
“But my dear, you deserve your own. Your mother’s dress must be horribly out of date. She was married in the last century. The fashions have changed drastically since then,” Dorothy insisted.
“Perhaps. A new dresswouldbe nice.”
Dorothy threw her hands up in the air. “The wedding dresses shall be on me,” she exclaimed. “Let us take a trip to London, the three of us together. Let us have our dresses properly made.”
“Can you get away for a few days?” Anna asked Maria.
“Well, as I shall no longer be mistress of Creassey, I guess you will need to answer that yourself, Lady Creassey.”
“I shall allow it,” Anna said bowing and laughing after taking another sip of champagne.
“Very well, that is settled. Now, the flowers.”
“We can discuss that later,” Dorothy said.
“Then we need to decide on food, the guest list—oh my, guests for three weddings. That is going to be enormous.”
“Well your and my guest lists will be almost the same—except for the extended Stewart family. We are only adding Maria’s.”
“True. And accommodations for the guests. Maria, will you be able to put some of them up at Creassey?”
“Of course, I am fairly certain we can accommodate all of my guests.”
“That does help. Now, let me see, what else do we need to consider? We, of course, will hold the weddings here, if that is all right with you, Maria.”
“I believe you have more room than we do. That sounds perfect. What about a budget? Three weddings will not come without significant cost,” Maria asked.
“We plan to cover that. Since both Dorothy and I are getting married adding one more will not increase the cost very much,” Anna said crossing that item off her list.
Maria took a deep breath. “Can you believe all of this? Just a few weeks ago there was only Dorothy’s wedding to be thought of.”
“And that almost fell through,” Dorothy said. “My brute of a fiancé nearly ruined everything.” Then she smiled. “But he is really very sweet and I forgave him.”
With lunch being finished, Anna stood and said, “Then, shall we retire to my study and begin working on what is left to do?”
* * *
The triple wedding had become the sensation of Wiltshire. Everyone was talking about it and the social circle was eagerly waiting for their invitations. However, many were to be disappointed, as the three brides had decided to keep the guest list to the very closest family and friends.
Not on the list was the Duke of Crauford, even though he was the father of one of the grooms. However, Percy’s mother was being invited. She had never stood up for Percy in his battles with his father, but Percy felt it was important to have at least one member of his family present.
The Duke’s health had suffered greatly after Percy’s rebellion and refusal to marry Anna. The Duke barely spoke to his son anymore and he spent his days holed up in his study, taking his meals there and fending off increasing requests for payment on his debts.
Percy found him there one morning soon after the announcement of his engagement to Maria.
