Revelation of Hearts (Stacey and Shane Mcleod, #3) (14 page)

We met again a few days later, at lord Farnsworth’s home. I wanted to speak with her then, but there was no opportunity to do so.”

“Who is Lord Farnsworth?” Lora asked. 

“He is Mrs. Grant’s uncle, I believe. She was the hostess at his dinner party.”

Lora frowned and said, “You mean Annie is some lord’s niece?” 

“Yes, I believe so,” Richard said. “You didn’t know this? I understand her family is connected to royalty in some way. I don’t think she wants public knowledge of this banded about.”

“Have you had a chance to talk with Stacey about all of this?” 

“Yes, some. Stacey and Shane came for dinner before she left for the states back in April. I took them upstairs to look at some family paintings. When she recognized two of them, I asked her how she knew certain things about them.  That was when she told me who she was married to in her dream.  I became quite weak in the knees and my heart started palpitating quite rapidly. Shane was concerned about my well-being. He had me to take a lie down and rest.  They promised to come back after the honeymoon and we would talk further.  To make a long story short, Stacey was concerned about me.  Shane came to visit often.  We talked and became friends. Subsequently I was invited to their wedding and met you, my darling.”

Lora put her hand on the side of Richard’s face and said, “That was my lucky day,” and kissed him.  Then she asked, “May I see these paintings?”

Richards took Lora upstairs.  He showed her the portraits of Rodric Hampton as a young man and the one of his great granddaughter, Katherine as a young matron. “I don’t understand, what do these people have to do with Stacey? I imagine they’re your ancestors?” 

“Yes, they are,” Richard said, “But a bit more than that. This young man was Stacey’s best friend in her dream. He lived to be sixty-nine years old. Stacey said I looked remarkably like him when he was in his sixties. This young woman here in the portrait was Rodric’s great granddaughter.  She was five when Stacey passed over, as she puts it. This lady married a Spencer. I am descended from the female line of that family.” 

“Let me get this straight,” Lora said. “This young man, Rodric is half brother to the man in the painting with his wife and children?” 

“Yes, that’s correct. His name was Eric Fitz-Morgan. He was the seventh earl of Dun-Raven.”

They were standing and looking at the portraits when Wilkes appeared and asked, would they prefer eating in the sitting room or the dining room?  Richard told him, “Right: put it on the buffet Wilkes, we’ll serve ourselves. You may take your leave. We’ll muddle through.” 

Wilkes looked at Lora and said, “Very good sir, thank you.  Should you need further service, we’ll be right downstairs.”

Lora waited until Wilkes was well out of hearing distant, then said, “I get the distinct impression, Wilkes is uncomfortable with me here.”

Richard laughed and said, “He would be mortified if he knew you sensed his discomfort. He prides himself on his manners.  Give him time darling, both he and Mavis will be your strong advocates.”

Chapter-22

Richard’s family

As Lora and Richard ate, they talked more about Stacey’s dream and Richard’s ancestors.  Richard told her about his grandmother Bothwell and his great aunt Agnes Hargrove. “Aunt Agnes never married. She was too independent to take orders from any man. I remember her with great fondness,” Richard said with a laugh. “She smoked long brown cigarettes and she could out ride, out curse and out shoot any man around. When she was a child, she saw Annie Oakley. From that day on, she wanted to be like her. My grandmother wasn’t as devoted as Aunt Agnes, but after Grandfather died, she was a force to be reckoned with also. After Grandfather Bothwell passed on, Grandmother went back to Hargrove manor to live. My sister Carla and I loved those two old women. The manor house was crumbling about their heads, but they took no notice.

Our father forbid us to go to the manor house, but Grandmother ignored him. I remember she came for us one summer when I was nine. Father told her we couldn’t go to that rattle-trap-pile of rocks. Grandmother told him, “Get out of my way Marshall or I’ll have Agnes come shoot you.” 

Father knew her well enough, that he knew she meant it. Away we would go to the country in her old automobile.  She drove like a mad woman and we loved it.  She and Aunt Agnes would play hide and seek with us in that big rambling house.  I have fond childhood memories of that old place. We were allowed to be children there, but when we came home all decorum was to be observed.”

“I would loved to have met those two women, they sound like Texas women. Is the old manor house still standing?” Lora asked.

With some sadness in his voice, Richard said, “No, to my sorrow it isn’t. It would have taken a ton of money to have restored the old place. It was in great disrepair. Aunt Agnes lived there alone after Grandmother died.  She and Carla were very close, but Carla married and lived in France. After Aunt Agnes died, Father sold the place to the county. They built a motorway through the property, only the paintings were salvaged. Aunt Agnes give them to Carla. She in turn gave them to me a few months before she died. She also gave me a journal about our ancestors. This is how I know who the people in the paintings are. Carla did a family search on them a few years back. Before I met Stacey, I had no idea where Dun-Raven castle or Hampton keep had been located. There are many old tumbled down castles in this country.”

Sunday, was Wilkes and Mavis’s day off. Lora went down to the kitchen to make breakfast.  She felt in unfamiliar territory. She had met Mavis and sensed hostility. Maybe that was too strong a word.  Maybe proprietary, would describe her attitude better. “Well,” Lora said to the walls. “Kitchen today you’re mine.”  She found sausage, eggs and cheese in the refrigerator, so in no time at all she had a breakfast fit for a king or as it so happened, fit for a knight.

As Richard came into the kitchen, he asked, “What smells so good?”

Lora kissed him good morning and sat him at the kitchen table.  She served him sausage, omelet, toast and coffee.  As they were eating Richard asked, “Do you like it here darling?” 

Lora took his hand and said, “What’s not to like? You’re here, that’s what makes it a home to me.”

“I do realize Mavis is a bit protective of her domain. Will you be able to put up with her blatant possessiveness?” 

Lora laughed and said, “Yes, I will give her time to get used to me, before I punch her in her snobbish nose.” 

Richard looked a bit aghast, and then said, “Right!  Then I leave you to it.”

Lora smiled, but said nothing more. Richard felt she was jesting, but wasn’t sure. He thought; perhaps he should speak to Mavis, but on second thought, perhaps it would be sagacious to let them sort it out between themselves. Yes, that would be best he decided.  He just couldn’t imagine Lora letting the help or anyone else insult her in her own home.

Chapter-23

Friends and family

Stacey and Shane had just finished supper. He was late getting home tonight. Stacey had the food ready to put on the table when he walked in the door.  He was now sitting on the sofa with his sock feet propped on the coffee table watching a cricket game.

Stacey had just finished cleaning up supper dishes.  She came to where Shane was comfortably sitting.  He patted his legs for her to sit on his lap.  She slid her skirt up a few inches, and then straddled, facing him with one leg on each side.  He put his head back and grinned at her.  She kissed his forehead as she was taking off his tie, and then hung it around her own neck.  She kissed each of his eyelids as she said in a seductive, exaggerated French accent, “Ahh monsieur, let me make-a-you-more-ah-how you say..., comfortable.  She kissed the corner of his mouth as she unbuttoned a shirt button, and then kissed his nose.  Shane gave her a big smile this time.  He loved it when she played her little games with him.  She put her hands on her hips and said, “Ha, monsieur, you lauff at me, after I make-a-you-ze-most delicious French cuisine.”  Shane gave her a questionably look. She said, “Ah monsieur, ze French fries!” 

“Ah yes,” he said, with a smile. “How beastly of me to forget.” 

She put her hands on each side of his head, kissed his right ear and said, “I vant bary much to make love to my hus’ban, it has been two veeks.” 

Shane smiled and said, “Mademoiselle, it has been more like two days than two weeks.” 

“Ahh,” she said. “Two veeks or two days, what is the difference when you are mad for your hus’ban.”

As she kissed his other ear, Shane asked, “How would you like for me to tease you this way?”

With a smile on her face and a Texas accent, she said, “I’d like it!”

Stacey was just kissing his lips as the doorbell rang.  She looked at Shane and asked, “Are you expecting someone?” 

He patted her leg and said, “Did I forget to tell you Hugh and Annie are stopping by?”

Stacey playfully slapped his arm and said, “Yes, you forgot.” She stepped off his lap and slid her skirt back down. 

Shane said, “Why don’t you answer the door, while I situate Willie.”

“Well, don’t situate him to far,” Stacey, said. “As a famous man once said, “I’ll be bach.” 

Shane laughed at her and said, “I’ll count on that.” 

Stacey opened the door for their friends to come in. “What took you so long?” Hugh asked.

“I was trying to seduce my husband,” Stacey said.

“I’ve told him, time and again, to leave other women alone or there would be nothing left for you, but would he listen?” Hugh said shaking his head.

“Sweetie, don’t listen to my husband, he’s a fool.” Annie said. 

“Yes, I know,” Stacey said, “but a loveable one.” 

Hugh said, “Listen here, little Miss Texas miss, did you bring this bloody hot weather with you?”

Stacey looked at him innocently and asked, “What hot weather?”

Hugh shook his finger at her and said, “Don’t toy with me girl. We Brits are noted for our stiff upper lips, but in this heat, even they are starting to melt.”

Stacey started laughing. Hugh was satisfied. That was what he had set out to accomplish.  Shane and Annie smiled at one another. There had been a time when Hugh had not trusted Stacey.  She was a young college girl and he was sure she was using his friend as a summer diversion. Now, after the survival of a long distant romance and two marriage ceremonies, he was finally convinced that Stacey truly loved Shane.

“Do y’all want iced tea, wine cooler or beer? Also, I have banana pudding in the refrigerator.”

When Annie said, “I’ll have iced tea.” Stacey glanced at her.  She knew Annie loved wine coolers. Annie shook her head at Stacey, not to say anything. 

“You wanna help me in the kitchen, Annie?” While they were getting cold drinks for the guys, Stacey asked, “What’s going on with you two?” 

Annie whispered, “I think I may be pregnant, but I don’t want to tell Hugh until I’m sure.”

Stacey hugged Annie and said, “I am so happy for you.  How far do you think you are?” 

“Maybe six weeks, however, this heat is not helping.”

“Not helping what?” Hugh asked. He had walked into the kitchen just as Annie said that about the heat.

Quickly Stacey said, “The work at the dig. We’re in the shade of the grove, but it’s muggy hot just the same.”

As they took the drinks in, Annie told Stacey in a whisper, “You do think fast, thanks.”

The four friends talked and visited for a couple of hours.  The main topic was the weather.  Europe was experiencing the worst heat wave in recorded history. Many of the elderly and the very young were dying. In France alone, there were thousands that succumb to the heat.

The twentieth of July, was a Sunday.  Shane had asked Stacey, “Where do you fancy going for your birthday?”  Shane had been thinking along the lines of a nice restaurant or club.  He was more than surprised when Stacey said the amusement park.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yes, but if you’d rather not, we can do something else.” 

“Absolutely not. If you want to go to an amusement park, then an amusement park it is.”

“Don’t you like amusement parks, Shane?” Stacey asked.

Shane chortled and said, “Yes, sweetheart, as I remember, I liked them very much. I haven’t been to one in some years.  I think I was perhaps sixteen or seventeen the last time I went.” 

“Well for goodness sake,” Stacey said. “You’re long past due then.”

Stacey and Shane had been at the park about and hour, when Stacey’s cell phone rang.  It was Aunt Lora. “Today is your birthday darling, what would you like to do to celebrate?” 

“We’re doing it,” Stacey said and then asked, “Would you like to join us?”

When Stacey told her where they were, Lora asked Richard, “Would you like to join Shane and Stacey in celebrating her birthday?” 

Unsuspecting Richard said, “Of course, where are they?”

With a smile on her face, Lora said, “The amusement park.” Ignoring Richard’s protests she said, “We’ll be there darling, where shall we meet?”

Not ten minutes later, Stacey’s phone rang again.  This time it was Annie with the same question.  Stacey gave her the same answer and invited them to join them.  Stacey said, “It’ll be fun, Aunt Lora and Richard are joining us too.”  They all agreed to meet at the ice cream stand just inside the entrance.

Annie and Hugh arrived first. Hugh was a bit skeptical about the whole thing. He asked, “What are we, a pack of bloody children?” 

“Stop your grumbling Hugh. If you wanna’ be an uncle to our kids the practice will do you good. Ours will be amusement park kids.”

Richard and Lora arrived shortly after Hugh and Annie. As they devoured ice cream, Richard admitted he had never before been to an amusement park. 

Stacey hugged him and said, “Well my new uncle, you’re in for a treat.”

At the end of the day, it was a tired, but happy group that said, ‘goodbye,’ at the gate. 

Richard told Stacey, “Thank you for inviting us. I can’t remember having a better time. I feel like a young man again.” 

Lora took his hand and said, “Okay, young man, let’s go home. I have plans for you while you’re still young.”