“Tommy,” the sister asked her brother, “do you think mother will …
There was a loud knocking at the front door and Diana was jarred from her concentration .
“Oh Lord, who can that be?” she asked as she rose from her desk and headed downstairs to answer .
“Oh, Adam… Come in if you like,” she said, not very welcomingly. “I thought you were coming at teatime .”
“I could not wait any longer to see you. Did I catch you at a bad time?” Adam asked. He was carrying another bakery box. “I brought you some wonderful eclairs. I thought if you wanted some tea now we might …”
Diana wanted to say something rude for being interrupted, but she remembered that Adam was now her fiancé, and he was doing the family a large favor by arranging the loan for the family to save their home. So… she took a deep breath and said, “Tea would be lovely. And how are you this fine day, Adam ?”
Adam gave her a big smile as he put the box on the kitchen table as she filled the kettle .
“Should I go and invite your mother? And your father? Is he in ?”
“You might ask Mother if you like, but Father is at his college rooms for a tutorial, I believe .”
“I shall be right back,” Adam said, as he went to fetch her mother .
Alone for a brief moment, Diana scowled and felt frustrated at having so little control over her own life these days. What with her responsibilities with the family, and her new work with Robert, it seemed almost impossible to hope for long stretches of concentrated writing time .
Then just as Adam returned with her mother, the kettle boiled and she poured the water for the tea .
“Ooo, look another bakery box,” Mother said turning to Adam and giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “My dear boy, you are too kind to us. You are certain to spoil us and add inches to our waists,” she said as she patted her stomach .
“Eclairs, Mother. I think we should split one .”
“Very sensible, but not much fun. I shall have a whole one if you do not mind .”
Diana handed plates to Adam to serve them. “Just half of one for me .”
“And I shall have the other half,” he replied as he served the eclairs .
While Diana served the tea, Mother remained standing. “I cannot leave the gallery unattended. I will take my tea with me if you do not mind .
“Not at all,” Diana said .
Mother left and Diana and Adam sat at the kitchen table .
“I was thinking about our honeymoon.” He looked up to see her reaction. “Papa suggested we go abroad. What would you think about Italy or Greece ?”
Diana did not want to think about such things when she had so much to do on her book .
“I hope you are not going to make a practice of just dropping by whenever you want,” she snapped. “I have a writing deadline on my new book and I must set regular hours to work undisturbed each morning .”
Adam seemed shocked by Diana’s outburst and did not speak for a moment or two .
“I had no idea… I am so sorry. I… I… just assumed as we were engaged …”
“Married or not, I need my time alone... I cannot just have …”
Adam stiffened. “Diana, do you want this marriage or not? If not, I should like to know. If you do not care for me then I feel it is only right to disengage from our relationship. I must say, I have felt all along that you are only marrying me to secure the loan for your father. Is that not so ?”
Diana felt the sting of truth in his accusation and wanted to defend herself when there was knocking at the front door .
“Oh, for goodness sake. Who can that be now?” she said angrily, as she rose to answer the door .
She forcefully flung the door open and there were Abigale and Kitty with broad smiles .
“I hope we are not disturbing you, Abigale said .
“But we have a new letter from Nephew Brandon and we thought you might like to have us read it to you,” Kitty added .
Diana was nearly at her wit's end and snipped, “Oh, ladies, this is not at all a good time. And what would make you think I would have any interest, whatsoever, in more boring news from your moronic nephew .”
Adam had come up behind her and heard her scathing remark. He put his hand on her shoulder, “Diana… how could you say such a thing ?”
The sisters were horrified and flustered. They turned to leave but turned back .
“Oh, Miss Diana we had no idea …”
“We did not know you felt that way …”
“Be assured we shall never invade your privacy again,” Kitty said, still in a tither .
Adam spoke up. “Ladies, please forgive Diana, we were having a little argument as you arrived and she was upset with me and unfortunately she took it out on the two of you. I am certain she did not mean a word of what she said .”
The sisters were weeping by now and they turned and fled down the garden path .
Adam turned to Diana. “How could you say such a mean thing to those two lovely and lonely sisters? You should be ashamed of yourself. Those letters from their nephew mean the world to them and you were so cruel .”
Now Diana burst into tears, “Oh, Adam. I am so ashamed—truly. I was absolutely horrible. I will find some means to apologize. But not right now. I am too upset .”
“Come on,” Adam said, taking her arm and leading her back to the kitchen and sat her back down at the table .
“This has been a rough day, has it not?” he asked .
Diana stretched her arms across the table and lay her forehead on her arms .
“It has been a trial and I have been inexcusable—to you and to the dear sisters. Can you , at least, forgive me ?”
“Of course, I can. But we must still address the central issue between us. Do you want to marry me?” he asked firmly. “The issue needs to be resolved .”
With her head still on her arms she turned to him and asked, “Can we deal with this later, please. I am too upset to have a rational discussion .”
Adam stood. “Very well then, I shall leave you alone to compose yourself. But we must speak about these things soon. And if you decide you still want to marry me, think about where you might like to go on the honeymoon. The sooner we can book the trip the better .”
“Yes, Adam,” she said turning away from him with her head still on her arms .
*
D iana spent a restless night with very little sleep. She could not believe she had behaved as badly as she had with both Adam and the Goodwin sisters. And when she finally got out of bed she felt fatigued and wretched .
She stumbled down to breakfast to find her father at breakfast reading through his latest manuscript. He looked up as she came into the kitchen .
“Good morning, daughter .”
“Father…” she said collapsing into a chair and staring blankly into space .
“I ran into Master Adam yesterday afternoon and he gave me a note and asked me to give it to you.” He fumbled in his coat pocket and produced the envelope. “Here you are, my dear,” he said, handing it to her .
Diana opened the envelope and read ,