‘The Elmswood Coven, finally reunited,’ Estelle said gleefully.
‘We’re not at Elmswood,’ Eloise said. ‘We’re in London’s top restaurant.’
‘And we’re about to eat a dinner cooked by London’s top chef.’ Phoebe beamed around the table. ‘What’s more, our coven has doubled in size. Who would have thought, when Uncle Daniel arranged Eloise’s marriage, that we would all four of us make a love match? I think we owe him a huge vote of thanks.’
‘Thank you,’ Daniel replied, ‘but if anyone is due a vote of thanks it’s Kate. If she hadn’t proposed marriage to me none of us would be here.’ He lifted his champagne flute, tilting it at his wife. ‘To Kate, who has made all this possible, and who has made me the happiest man in the world.’
‘I’ll happily toast the first part,’ Alexander said, ‘but I’m going to have to lay claim to being the second.’
‘Actually,’ Owen said, kissing Phoebe’s fingertips, ‘I beg to differ.’
‘Lads, lads...’ Aiden said, laughing. ‘Can we not all agree that we’re equally happy? Owen and Phoebe. Daniel and Kate. Eloise and Alexander. And Estelle—my lovely Estelle—and me.’
‘I’ll drink to that,’ Alexander said. ‘And Eloise and I have another little celebration to share with you. We are expecting the arrival of a sister or a brother for Tilda in the autumn.’
‘Well, now, since we’re sharing good news,’ Estelle said, when the toast had been drunk and the cheers and the questions had subsided, ‘Aiden and I have something wonderful to tell you too.’ Estelle’s beautiful smile softened. ‘We have not one but two new arrivals expected. Only yesterday we had the papers. We’ve adopted twins. A little boy and girl, just four years old.’
Phoebe jumped up from her seat to throw her arms around her twin. ‘I am so happy for you. I am so very, very happy for you.’
‘And so am I,’ Kate said, reaching across the table.
‘Oh, Estelle.’ It was Eloise’s turn to hug her sister. ‘Tilda will be so excited. Two new cousins at once. That is wonderful.’
‘I hope you and Uncle Daniel will find time to visit us and meet our twins before you go,’ Estelle said. ‘We are expecting to have them at Cashel Duairc some time next month.’
‘We don’t set off on our next trip until June,’ Kate said, touching the beautiful pendant that she always wore—a very special gift from Daniel, with his precious turquoise as its centrepiece. ‘It’s a short visit to some of the Spanish islands in the Balearic Sea. The flowers at that time of year are supposed to be beautiful, though I’m not looking for specimens so much as ideas.’
‘Kate has ambitious plans for a new kind of wilderness garden—a mixture of desert plants and English flowers.’
‘No one wants to hear about my horticultural endeavours, Daniel.’
‘Your garden is becoming quite famous, actually,’ Eloise said. ‘“The entrancing gardens created by the explorer Daniel Fairfax and his botanist wife, who travel together to the remotest parts of the globe in search of exotic new specimens...” Or something like that is what I read recently.’
‘I wouldn’t exactly call Europe a remote part of the globe,’ Kate said.
‘But we are off to India next year.’ Daniel grinned at his wife. ‘Kate wants to grow tea.’
‘My news isn’t nearly as exciting,’ Phoebe said, when the laughter had once again died down, ‘but if you are not all rushing back to your homes tomorrow I was hoping you would come to the official opening of my new restaurant.’
‘Another restaurant?’
‘Where is it?’
‘It’s one where no one pays,’ Owen said. ‘It’s near St Giles, actually, and it’s more of a free kitchen than a restaurant.’
‘It was Owen’s idea. I am always saying what a shame it is that so much of the produce at Covent Garden goes to waste. At the end of the day the unsold produce is left to rot.’
‘If you can make cakes out of grass, I said to her, surely you could make something tasty and delicious out of discarded fruit and vegetables.’
‘Yes, but I couldn’t sell it—I mean, who would pay to eat leftovers in a restaurant, even though the leftovers I make are utterly delicious. As you’ll see in a moment, when I serve dinner.’
‘Now, that will be just like the old days,’ Eloise said wryly. ‘Mouldy cauliflower ice, anyone?’
‘That would be rather too much like the old days—which is why I’m only pulling your leg. But I’m serious about my charity kitchen,’ Phoebe said. ‘We open tomorrow, and it’s first come first served. Will you all come and help?’
‘An invitation I think none of us can refuse,’ Kate said. ‘A final toast. Here’s to all of us, who each rather conveniently married the person we love without realising it. Cheers!’
If you enjoyed this story, be sure
to read the other books in the
Penniless Brides of Convenience miniseries
The Earl’s Countess of Convenience
A Wife Worth Investing In
The Truth Behind Their Practical Match
And why not check out Marguerite Kaye’s
Matches Made in Scandal miniseries,
starting with
From Governess to Countess