Page 88 of The Trouble with Tweed

“Of course I will,” she said, happiness lilting her voice.

Then he was on his feet, and she was in his arms. He twirled her as she laughed her delight. He only paused to slide an enormous sapphire onto her finger before he hugged and kissed her so thoroughly her head swam.

Claire had overestimated the effect that her and Michael’s announcement would have on her family. It turned out that she was not the only one with a secret, and her happiness was amplified by the other joyous news that soon set the house into a delightful upheaval.

There was a momentary concern that Dahlia Warrington might put all of her attention toward her own wedding gown, to the detriment of her other designs. In the end, Claire was delighted with her wedding dress. It was stark and simple—luminous silk shantung that hugged her from shoulder to waist and then draped to dust the floor in elegant pleats.

On her wedding day, her hair was pulled back into a sleek chignon adorned with a diamond barrette given to her as a wedding gift by her mother-by-law. But the best surprise was that, when she arrived at the altar to meet her groom, he gave her the cheekiest of smiles.

“Look, my love,” he murmured as he offered her his elbow. “Just for you.”

Claire glanced down and bit her lip to keep from laughing.

His suit was the finest herringbone tweed.

The End.

But every end is a beginning, of sorts. Want to find out what secrets Lily is hiding? Read her story in A Breach in Brocade…

PROLOGUE- LILY

Claire,

By the time you read this, I’ll already be gone. I beg of you—don’t look for me. If you do, it will only cause problems for all of us.

I cannot remain here and wait for a brother who may never be coming home. It pains me to say it, but we don’t know if William is even still alive. I cannot wait any longer. I cannot do nothing—not when I might be able to do something.

I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d talk me out of it. I am frightened, truth be told, but I believe I’m doing what’s right.

I’ve adopted a false name and forged letters of reference in order to take a governess position in the countryside. The family is reputable—and no one our family knows. I promise that I’m safe.

I will send money as soon as I’m able. Give my love to our sisters.

Love,

Lily

P.S. You may tell them I’ve gone to visit Great Aunt Lucinda, if that helps.

CHAPTER 1- LILY

After dithering in front of the polished door for as long as possible, Lily finally gained the courage to reach up and knock on it. Three raps: the first one too soft, the second too loud from nerves, and the third just right. Her fingers clenched with the awkwardness of what she was about to do, but at the crinkling of parchment she relaxed her hands and remembered that she clutched a letter.

"Enter." The voice was low, masculine; the word was clipped.

She had written the letter in case Lord Hayes was not in his study, but of course he was. He was always in his study. Now the folded parchment she clutched was redundant. Lily grimaced and turned the knob, stepping in hesitantly.

Lord Hayes sat behind a massive wooden desk. He glanced up at her in a frowning sort of way, then stared back down at his ledgers. Lily wondered, not for the first time, what he might have looked like if he weren’t always serious, but there was no point in wondering, for she’d never seen him smile, not once.

When she first moved in, she’d thought that perhaps his foul moods were due to some sort of financial problem. It had worried her so much that Lily checked with the housekeeper to ensure that her wages would be paid. After all, money was the only thing that had incentivized her to travel to the far-flung reaches of Northumberland in the first place.

It had taken nearly a week to travel from London to the coastal town of Blyth. Another four hours to travel to Ballam Hall, the family seat of the Viscount Hayes. Though it had been four months ago, Lily still remembered that journey vividly. It has hard to forget being pressed between the stinking populace in one of the faded brocade gowns she’d procured to look the part of a unfashionable but respectable governess.

Her wages had been sent directly back to London to help offset the massive debt that their eldest brother had sunk the family in--debts that Lily thought the new Lord Cavendish had ignored right along with his family.

Except Lily knew now that hadn’t been the truth of things. Apparently her brother William had been blissfully ignorant of the dire straits his sisters were in. He hadn’t even known that their brother Richard had died. If the letter she’d received that morning was to be believed, William was sending a trusted steward to retrieve Lily. She was to meet him in Blyth tomorrow morning.

Everything had changed overnight.