Page 6 of The Pleasure in Persuasion

Lily scoffed as she began scrubbing the dishes clean. “Can you honestly see a man like Mr. Carstairs running an inn? Tending to the guests’ needs? Making repairs?”

Her grandmother’s silence was answer enough.

“Besides,” Lily continued, “we don’t need a man’s help. We manage quite nicely, the two of us.”

“And what about when there is only one of us left? What will you do when I’m too old to help? Or when I’m gone altogether?”

The thought sent a shard of panic through Lily’s chest, and she turned to her grandmother as if to answer, though what reply she meant to give she did not know. In the end, it didn’t matter, for Gran spoke before she could.

“I was married to your grandfather for fifty-one years,” she said, a wistful smile touching the corners of her lips. “And we took over the running of this inn nearly thirty years ago when his parents decided they no longer wished to work.” Her misty brown eyes met Lily’s. “I’ve enjoyed running this place, but I wouldn’t have liked it half so much if I hadn’t had Henry by my side.”

Lily smiled, though her heart twisted at the thought of her grandfather and the hole he’d left behind when he died suddenly in his sleep just last April.

“Grandfather was an exceptional man,” she said softly.

“Yes, he was,” Gran replied. “He was kind and wise. Someone I could talk to and rely upon to help shoulder the burdens. I want that for you, Lily. A husband who will be your partner in every way.”

Lily sighed and reached for a square of linen to dry her hands. “Grandfather was matchless in nearly every way, but even if another like him exists, it’s unlikely I would meet him here in Little Bilberry.”

“Unlikely, maybe, but not impossible.”

“Nearly impossible.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do,” Lily said firmly. “Besides, I have no need for a husband.” She crossed to the table and wrapped an arm around her grandmother’s shoulders, bussing her cheek. “I have you, Gran. And I’ve decided that you are going to live forever.”