“I shall write you the cheque this very evening to show my good faith,” Robert said .
“I assume you wish to have your solicitor review the documents?” Sir Cecil asked Diana .
Diana looked up at Sir Cecil. “I trust you, Sir Cecil. Your contract for my other novels passed the inspection of my solicitors, so I have no reason to think this would not as well.” She turned to Robert. “I am ready to sign if you are, Robert .”
Robert felt a welling up of deep affection for Diana. She looked radiant in the light of the fireplace. Her rosy cheeks and lips were heightened by the fire’s warmth. How pale and insubstantial seemed all the other ladies Amelia had sent his way compared to this most lovely woman .
“Of course, I will be happy to sign my contract and issue the cheque right away .”
“Excellent,” Cecil hailed. “Then it is not too early to start thinking about launching The Adventures of Hudson Harding in London and around the country sometime in the early autumn.” He turned to Diana. “You realize you will need to be the public face of the book, and you will be required to be in attendance at all promotional functions .”
“Oh, I did not think about that .”
“Of course, all of your expenses will be covered during these events .”
“It is not the expense. It is the time I must take away from my writing,” she said a little apprehensively .
“But it is for the good of the book. And, of course, for your portion of the royalties,” Robert reminded her .
Sir Cecil added, “And Robert, leading up to the public events, I suggest you and Miss Diana spend time together so that you can prepare her when it comes time to present your book to the public .”
Robert smiled at that thought. Any time spent with Diana would be a great treat indeed .
Chapter 10
T he next day after the dinner party, Diana realized she had a lot of work to do—not only on her book, but also with the wedding, getting the leasehold renewed, and working with Robert on the presentation of his book .
That morning at breakfast, Diana looked up from the breakfast table as her father came in and sat opposite her at the table. Mother came over with a soft-boiled egg in an egg cup and placed it before Father .
“There you are, my dear, just as you like it,” she said .
“Thank you, Mother .”
“Father, I forgot to give you the cheque for the advance last night .”
“You have that already?” he asked. “I thought you needed to submit the contract to our solicitor for review ?”
“I do not believe it is necessary. I trust both Sir Cecil and his Lordship. We signed the agreements last night and Robert gave me the check for the down payment. So, it is time for you to contact Mr. Hardy about the loan for the balance on the leasehold. It is important that you get that all arranged before the deadline .”
“When will you be seeing Adam again?” Father asked as he tapped on the top of his boiled egg to remove the shell .
“This afternoon. He is coming by at teatime .”
“Let me think. I believe I have a tutorial this afternoon about then. But I can rearrange it if you think it necessary for me to meet with Adam .”
“Not at all, Father. I can get all the information I need for you to proceed from Adam and I can pass it on to you later .”
“Very well .”
“But if you would, on your way to the college, please deposit the check in your account, then we should be ready to move once we are ready to sign the new leasehold .”
“What a thoughtful and capable daughter you are, my child. I sometimes get so caught up in my wooly head that I tend to let important things slip through my fingers .”
Diana placed her hand on top of her father’s, and then said gently, “Yes, I know .”
After finishing her breakfast, it was time to return Miriam’s borrowed dress. She wrapped it in tissue paper and folded it carefully and carried it to the Sinclair’s house .
Geoffrey answered the door .
“So you have not been shipped off to the army, I see,” Diana teased .
Geoffrey leaned in close and said softly, “Almost as bad. I am to be apprenticed as a shop assistant. Me—retail, can you imagine? And an apprentice… how difficult can it be to sell shirts, ties, and stiff collars? Why an apprenticeship? Now if I were selling expensive jewelry… then maybe. But undergarments and socks…? Please .”
Geoffrey noticed that Diana was carrying a parcel wrapped in tissue paper .
“It is for your sister. It is the dress she lent me for the dinner party .”
“Oh, the party. How did it go? Did the Earl sweep you off your feet and whisk you to some enchanted land ?”
“Geoffrey, stop being silly and tell me where your sister is .”
“She is out. Shopping for our supper I believe .”
“Then let me hang this up in her armoire .”
Diana pushed past Geoffrey and started up the stairs, but Geoffrey followed .
“Have you set the date for your wedding yet? What are you doing about a dress? Have you met the rest of Adam’s family? Does he have brothers and sisters?” Geoffrey kept pounding away at her with questions .
Diana went to Miriam’s armoire and hung up the dress, then she turned to Geoffrey. She reached over and pinched his nose .
“Ouch, that hurt,” he protested .
“That is because you are a Mister Nosey.” She turned from him and started back down the stairs. “I must work. I have much to do before the Earl’s book comes out and my publisher wants my new novel as soon as possible .”
“Do you think we can get a signed copy of his book?” he asked as he pursued her to the front door .
“I think that might be possible. But would you read it ?”
“I might. Does it have naughty bits ?”
“I would not know, Geoffrey, I have not read it yet. Say hello to Miriam when she gets back and tell her the party went well .”
“Bye,” Geoffrey waved as she went back toward her house .
Back home she stopped by the gallery to make sure the orchid was watered, said hello to her mother, then headed to her room to start writing .
Her first order of business was to compose a sample chapter of her new book for Sir Cecil. He wanted a Christmas theme so she set to work writing that chapter .
The snow was nearly a foot deep the week before Christmas as the twin brother and sister headed out of the grimy front door with the few gifts they had managed to scrounge from the trash heap. They had wrapped their gifts in pages from an abandoned newspaper they found on a park bench. The ten year-old brother and sister …
Diana struggled with who the gifts were for… then she knew …
…were on their way to their grandmother who had taken to bed several weeks ago and her wracking cough still prevented her from getting out of bed or going outdoors .
The two had also managed to find two cheese rinds and half a loaf of stale bread from behind the grocers on Killdare Alley. It was not going to be a very merry Christmas, but it was better than nothing and they smiled as they passed the carolers in front of the china shop .