“Whatever for?”
“For the way you stuck with this marriage even in its darkest days. I have never told you before, but your mother and I?—”
“Marina!”
Marina whirled around at the sound of the familiar voice and was delighted to see her sister, skirts hiked up, running across the garden toward her. Phillip walked behind her side-by-side with Olivia’s new husband, the Viscount Thomas Baker. Despite his impressive title, Marina found him to be reserved and quiet, a trait which complimented Olivia quite well. The girls wrapped each other in a strong embrace, laughing breathlessly over their excitement to see one another.
“I could not be happier to see you, Olivia,” Marina admitted. “I assumed that you were still away.”
“I was! I woke early one morning with the strangest feeling that I could not really miss my sister’s return to the Hayward Estate, so I woke Thomas and had him prepare to bring us back. I think that he will be quite happy to be home. Paris was wonderful, but he is really much happier at home than…anywhere else.”
“I can understand,” Marina laughed, her eyes flickering over to Phillip, who was much the same. “Have you a dress with you suitable to wear to this evening’s ball?”
“I do,” Olivia smiled. “I did a great deal of shopping on my honeymoon,” she sighed dreamily.
“You must tell me in great detail how everything has been since the wedding, but I believe it is nearly time to eat.”
The Linfields, Harringtons, and Haywards came together in the dining room at the Hayward Estate. Marina sat at the head of the table on one side and her husband on the other, as usual, but she could not help but marvel at how lively their dining room became when their loved ones were seated all around them. Emily and Nicholas argued quietly in between courses and stuffed their faces as soon as a plate was presented to them. Kathrin and her brother chattered excitedly to Thomas about the new opera house that had become popular in London. And Olivia had not paused to breathe in her retelling of her adventures in Paris. Phillip, from across the table, caught his wife’s eye, and they shared a meaningful smile. Theirs may not have been the most traditional family, but it was theirs, and they would not have had it any other way.
After their early dinner, the ladies retired upstairs to dress for the ball, Emily and Nicholas were taken to the nursery, which for now was made up just for them, by their governess to retire for the evening. And Phillip recruited the Earl, Thomas, and Mr. Harrington to come with him to open the Estate for the festivities. The first ball of the season would never again be hosted at Glastonbury. Phillip and Marina had taken up the mantle, and tonight would be the first ever ball hosted at Hayward Estate in more than two decades.
Marina was the last to arrive at her own party, hastily coming downstairs to find Phillip. She looked as though she were in distress, so he took her hand and pulled her away to a corner where they could neither be found nor heard.
“What is it? What has you so troubled?”
“Phillip, it’s awful.”
“What is?”
“The window on my balcony.”
“Yes, what of it?”
“It was opened. I do not know when or who opened it, but there is—come and see.” She tugged at his hand, trying to lead him up the stairs, but he held steady, the corners of his mouth curving upward in his amusement.
“Is it particularly urgent? You are missing your own ball.”
Marina narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice, leaning closer so she could whisper to him. “There is a grasshopper in my rooms,” she hissed.
Phillip’s head fell back with the force of his laughter, turning his wife’s face sour as though she had been betrayed by him. “Please, Phillip, before it has the chance to hide.”
“You think that the grasshopper is right now looking for a hiding place in your room so that it can jump out and terrify you in your sleep?”
“I have heard less sane things before.”
“Go, Marina. The guests are arriving. I will tend to your grasshopper and come and find you.” Marina gave him a swift, appreciative kiss on the cheek, then disappeared. Phillip watched her leave, admiring the simple elegance of her dress and hair. She had wound her hair up in a loose bun, an occasional stray curl decorating her face like a frame. The gown itself was a cream color with pale blue trimmings and embroidered, beaded flowers.
He thought that she looked just as beautiful as the night he first saw her in the garden at his uncle’s home. They had come a long way since then, and he was eager to one day, years from then, look back onthismoment and think of how much his marriage had grown since.
When he returned from his task, he found Marina where she always was—next to Kathrin, away from the crowd, talking about their guests.
“Your Grace,” he greeted, bowing his head to Marina. “Miss Harrington.”
“Good evening, Mr. Hayward,” Marina said with a wink. “To what do we owe the pleasure of your interruption?”
Phillip saw Kathrin hide her smile behind her fan and chuckled, extending his arm to Marina. “I have come to collect my wife for our first dance of the evening.” Marina giggled, excused herself from Kathrin, and allowed Phillip to lead her to the dance floor where other couples were also gathering for the next dance—a lively quartet. The music swelled, and Marina and Phillip danced and laughed together. They danced again and again until they were both spent and at last retired to the garden.
The music from inside floated out the door with them, painting the bright, clear night with more fancy than usual. They found their way to Marina’s favorite hiding spot, and Phillip pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and resting his chin on the top of her head.
