She looked out the window. “We’re not at an inn. What’s wrong?”
He climbed out of the carriage, then came back all smiles. “We’ve found them.”
* * *
“I’m not coming home with you, Geoffrey, and that’s final!” Rosy cried.
Why she’d had to choosenowto assert her independence was anyone’s guess, but much as Geoffrey wanted to take her over his shoulder and treat her like the child she was behaving as, he knew that wouldn’t work. For one thing, Winston looked fiercer even than Geoffrey felt at present.
Perhaps it was time to compromise. “Well, you’re not going on to Gretna Green either,” he said. “Because if I leave you with a broken-down post chaise, what are you going to do about it? The post boy over there doesn’t seem to be having any luck with repairs.”
“We’ll walk to the next inn on the route,” Winston said, taking Rosy’s hand.
“I can assure you, sir, that my sister cannot walk five miles in that gown. And if you carry on toward Gretna Green, I won’t give her a penny of her dowry. Which will no doubt make yourfathercut you off.” Before Rosy started to protest, he held up his hand. “But I do have a proposal that you might both find amenable. A perfectly fair one that will allow the two of you to be married the proper way, in a church with both families present.”
“Let’s at least get back into our more comfortable carriage to discuss it,” Diana said. “We’ve got a picnic basket with plenty of food and drink.”
Winston looked at Rosy. “What do you think, love?”
“I suppose we should hear them out. Papa’s family cut him off, and it hurt him deeply.” Rosy edged closer to Winston and glared at Geoffrey. “But no sneaky business, like trying to rush us back to London in your carriage before we can get out.”
“That would be impossible,” Geoffrey said. “We’d have to turn the carriage around, and given how slow that process is, you could leap out quite easily.”
Even Rosy had to concede the soundness of his logic.
Once they were all situated in the carriage and foraging in a picnic basket for food, Geoffrey presented his idea. “I will approve your marriageifWinston first spends a year working for me.”
“Working at what?” Winston asked.
“Whatever you wish. Stockdon and Sons has projects all over the country. Or, if you prefer, you can work at my estate, learning to be the estate manager.”
To Geoffrey’s surprise, Winston seemed intrigued. “I’ve some ideas about crop rotation I’d like to try out. My father won’t even consider them.”
“I will. I’ve never had an estate. So, if anything, you could showmehow to run one.”
“It’s Castle Grenwood in Yorkshire, isn’t it?” Winston asked.
“That’s the one. I have a project in Manchester I wish to finish first. That’s why I said a year. Because that’s what’s left on the project, and I was thinking you could help me finish it. But if you’d rather play lord of the manor, I’m fine with that..”
“Then we could see each other,” Rosy said, squeezing Winston’s hand.
“No, Rosy,” Geoffrey said. “That’s my one condition. I will help Winston try whatever sort of post I can offer. But I will only do it if the two of you stay apart for a year.”
“A year!” she said.
“That’s the offer,” Geoffrey said.
Rosy looked at Diana. “You understand why a year is too long, don’t you? He’s your cousin!”
“You weren’t supposed to say that,” Winston said under his breath. “We agreed.”
“Diana already told me,” Geoffrey said. “We have no secrets from each other.”
“The year will be up before you know it,” Diana added. “But your brother wants to make sure your fiancé can afford a wife on his income. And Geoffrey wants to give Winston an alternate position to fall back on if the two of you need it.”
“So I’m just meant to stay at home with Mama for a year?” Rosy asked.
“Actually,” Diana said, “I’ll be marrying your brother, so I was hoping you could help me plan the wedding. It will give you ideas for your own wedding in a year.”
