Weylin said, “You may be the first to congratulate us, Brodagan."
A smile split her swollen face. “My soul from the devil! You've nabbed yourself a fine lord, missie. And not a drop too good for you either,” she added to Weylin. “So it is to be the middle-aisle jig. That's all right then. I'll leave you to it, but mind you don't let your joy get the better of you."
She left with a swish of starched aprons, her steeple wobbling uncertainly.
"Quick thinking, Weylin,” I complimented.
"I have not been a politician all these years for nothing. I know when a colleague must be appeased. You will miss Brodagan."
"Yes, like Brodagan will miss Mr. Snaggle Tooth. If you are not hard enough on me at Parham, I can always come and visit her, to receive a scold."
We settled in comfortably. Weylin said, “What was that you mentioned to Andrew about a Mr. Bradford, and a Kashmir Jewelry Shop? You did not tell me about him, when we were sharing our disgrace at Tunbridge."
"You gentlemen have to learn the art of politics. Ladies are born possessing it.” I confessed all my little lapses, while he was still in the first throes of being engaged. His arm was around my shoulder, his fingers playing with my hair.
When I had confessed all, he said, “You will make an admirable Whig hostess, my dear. The very soul of discretion. That is French for crooked as a dog's hind leg."
"Thank you, sir. Now, to change the subject, it is the copy of the diamond necklace that first brought us together, and we still don't know what Barry was doing with it."
"Andrew explained that to me. Barry had a copy made when Margaret decided to sell the original. She planned to wear the paste necklace, to conceal having sold the original. She was not happy with the copy, and said the necklace was stolen instead. Barry just tossed the copy in a drawer and forgot about it. And I, for one, am very happy he did, or I would never have got to know your delightfully warped character."
"I am happy, too, for us and Andrew. It has taken a quarter of a century for the tale to reach this satisfactory conclusion. Three lives have been impoverished by Margaret's betrayal."
"Let it be a lesson for us. I don't know how they could have hidden their joy from the world when they fell in love and married. Folks say love and a cough cannot be hidden. I can only conclude they did not love as we love, Zoie. I feel like hiring a platform and announcing our wedding to the whole parish."
"An advertisement in the journals will serve the purpose,” I said, but truly I felt the same as Weylin. “You need not hire a platform, but when I give you our first son, I want fireworks at Parham."
His fingers tilted my face to his. “There will be fireworks at Parham long before that, my dear, if I have anything to say about it."
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