‘You always look beautiful.’ The words were genuine and not patronizing. ‘I – I never had a daughter as you know, but it would have been wonderful to indulge her if I had, especially with her trousseau. I confess I got a little carried away when I was choosing items – there are more for you in my rooms if you would like to come and see them tomorrow. I – I thought with you going to Italy and it being so hot—’

Rose came forward and took the garments, laying them carefully on her bed before she said softly, ‘They’re exquisite, Arabella. I wouldn’t have known what to choose or where to go.’

Arabella was visibly relaxing. ‘I didn’t want to do anything to offend you.’

‘You haven’t, I promise.’

‘I got some things for Betsy too.’ Arabella smiled at the wide-eyed figure in the bed who had been watching the proceedings with great interest. ‘I’ve never had a granddaughter before and it was such fun to shop for you both.’

There was a lump in Rose’s throat. Arabella’s kindness coming on a day when she had been feeling wretched was almost too much. Not so Betsy. She jumped out of bed and ran to Arabella, throwing her arms round Arabella’s waist as she said, ‘Thank you, thank you. Can I see my things tomorrow too?’

‘Of course.’ The two women smiled at each other over Betsy’s head. ‘But for now why don’t you help choose a dress for your mama to wear tonight to welcome Uncle Alexander home?’

There followed a lovely few minutes for the three of them, and when Rose was dressed in a pale blue silk gown that showed off her figure perfectly, it wasn’t just Betsy who stared in wonderment. ‘You look utterly delightful, my dear,’ Arabella murmured. ‘Alexander won’t be able to take his eyes off you.’

She was right. He couldn’t.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The next days proved hectic, not so much concerning the wedding arrangements because Arabella was taking care of that, but because Rose was busy at the bakery every day going through everything with Daisy to make sure the business would tick along smoothly when she was away. She popped along to visit Amy and the baby for an hour every evening before Alexander collected her and Betsy to bring them back to Highfield, and she’d told Amy and Daisy that she’d decided to live at the Hall because Alexander felt it was the right thing to do once they were wed. Which was true, just not the whole story.