Twins-one boy, one girl. If Catriona had guessed, she hadn't said a word, knowing how important it had been for Richard to travel south for this summer gathering of his clan. But twins rarely obeyed the typical schedules; they'd arrived a month early, small but hale and whole. So the next Lady of the Vale, Lucilla, had been the first ever born outside that mystical Scottish valley. She'd been born here, at Somersham Place, the ancestral home of her Sassenach forebears. Catriona had accepted that without a blink-she'd merely smiled and reminded Richard that the Lady knew what she was about.
And to keep him busy, there was Marcus-a son to train in all the complex management of the Vale lands and the people they supported. That was no longer a job that could be done by just one, so now they had two.
While much attention centered on the twins' red heads, there was just as much lavished on the fair-haired bundle Horatia rocked and jiggled. Christopher Reginald Cynster, Patience and Vane's son, had been born four weeks before, two weeks after Michael had made his orderly appearance. Thus, in common with Michael, Christopher was now an old hand at family gatherings; he yawned hugely, then batted aside his blankets, trying to latch onto a trailing lock of his grandmother's hair.
Everyone watching cooed and smiled delightedly; Christopher took it as nothing more than his due.
Noting his detachment, Lady Osbaldestone snorted. "A Cynster to his toes-already! Always knew it was inherited. Looks to have passed on undiluted." She shook her head, then paused, then she cackled as she turned away. "Heaven help the ladies of 1850."
Honoria checked that Helena and Horatia weren't tiring, exchanged a soft word and an understanding smile with Catriona, pressed Richard's hand, then moved on, looking over the throng, checking all was as it should be.
Having been delivered four weeks before, Patience was fully recovered, up and about. However, since it was his first time, Vane had yet to reconcile himself to allowing his wife out of his sight, indeed, very far from the protective circle of his arm. Honoria found them chatting with the General, Flick's erstwhile guardian, and his son, Dillon; they'd driven across for the day from Newmarket. In that circle, horses reigned supreme. Honoria exchanged speaking glances with Patience, then strolled on.
Flick and Demon were standing with a group surrounding Great-aunt Clara and little Miss Sweet, whom Lucifer and Phyllida had brought with them from Devon. Clara had already asked Miss Sweet to visit her in Cheshire; arrangements were being discussed and plans made.
Elsewhere, Gabriel and Alathea, and Lucifer and Phyllida, like Flick and Demon, were making the rounds, ensuring they met and spoke with all the relatives, all the connections and close acquaintances, who had eagerly traveled to Cambridgeshire for the express purpose of meeting the new wives, and welcoming them and the latest crop of infants into the wider family.
Satisfied that all was well, Honoria spent a few minutes quietly slipping through the shade, noting, as a matriarch should, just where and with whom, and in what manner, the younger members of the family were employed.
Simon was there, growing taller by the hour, or so it seemed. His fair hair shone guinea-gold in the sun, as bright as Flick's. His face was finer boned than those of his older cousins, not as overtly aggressive. But the same strength was there, behind a countenance that was so like an angel's that it would undoubtedly, in time, make women weep. He was not of the Bar Cynster, but he was a Cynster nonetheless-the one who would bridge the gap between Honoria's sons' generation and their fathers'.
In the same group, spread upon the grass like so many tulips, so many blossoms just waiting to fully flower, were Heather, Eliza, Angelica, Henrietta, and Mary. Some younger, some older, but all with the same eagerness for life, an enthusiasm for living, in their faces.
Honoria smiled and strolled on. She turned her steps toward the summerhouse.
The twins greeted her with joy in their faces; the cause of their happiness was not far to seek.
"We're free!" Amanda flung her arms wide, just missing Sebastian as he clambered into Honoria's lap as she sat on the steps in the sun.
Settling him, Honoria leaned back against the archway and smiled at the girls. "True, but now Lucifer's fixed in Devon, and between you and me, I can't see either him or Gabriel or even Demon back in town next Season-I rather think they'll have other things on their minds, if you take my meaning-then what, my dears, are your plans?"
"We're going to go through the ton's gentlemen," Amelia answered.
"Systematically and methodically," Amanda qualified.
"We're not going to rush, and we're not going to be rushed."
"We'll be nineteen next Season, so we have years yet, if we chose to be picky."
"And there's no reason we shouldn't be-picky, I mean. After all, we are talking about the rest of our lives."
"Indeed." Honoria inclined her head in approval. There was so much she wanted to tell them, to warn them of, to guide them, but how could she explain when, for all that they had had two Seasons, they were still so inexperienced, so unaware? "One thing," she said, and knew she had their complete attention. "If you seek love, don't expect it to be simple, don't expect it to be easy. If one thing is certain, it's that it'll be neither.
"If you want love, then by all means seek it out-search for it high and low. You know you'll always have us-all of us-here to help you, but when it comes down to it, love is a matter for each individual heart. No one can tell you, no one can warn you, no one can prepare you for what it will be like. When it comes, if it comes, you'll know it-and then you'll have to decide just how much you want it, how much you're willing to give to let it live."
They heard her in silence; in silence, they digested her wisdom. Honoria looked across the lawn to where her disgustingly handsome husband, he who now stood at the very center of her life, cradled their younger son. Their elder son lay, a warm, heavy weight in her lap.
"Is it worth it?"
She couldn't be sure which of them had voiced the question-Amanda or Amelia; it didn't matter. The answer was the same, now and forever.
"Yes. Many times over, it's worth it, but only if you have the courage to give, and let it live."
After a moment, Honoria stirred. Gathering sleepy Sebastian in her arms, she hefted him and stood, then strolled across the lawn to where she belonged, at his sire's side.
Devil had been watching her; one part of his mind and most of his soul was always with her. Who could have known? Who would have guessed? Not even the joys of twitting his archenemy, not an enemy at all but they so enjoyed butting horns, was enough to interfere with that ephemeral connection between himself and his wife.
"Just whose idea was it," Chillingworth asked, "to elect me an honorary Cynster?"