Page 67 of Making the Marquess Mine
“Wait.” Susanna held her breath. He came to a stop halfway to where the tables were scattered. She scanned the guests as he did, searching for Diana. “There.” She pointed. “That is Mr. Marlow.”
“What?” Charlotte came to stand next to her. “Where?”
Her friends surrounded her to get their first glimpse of the man from the letters. But Susanna searched for Diana. She knew Miles’s aunt was here, where had she gotten off to?
“Susanna, why is Mr. Marlow here?” Miles asked.
“Because I invited him of course. I was very disappointed to learn that he had not gone to see Diana as I had encouraged him. So, I wrote to him to tell him about how the two of us had reconciled and invited him to help us celebrate. I also said that Diana of course would be here, and that he was fool to miss the opportunity to see her again.”
“Don’t you think you should have warned Aunt Diana that you had invited him?”
“Shush! Look, there she is.”
They all watched as Diana rose from a table at the far end of the garden. She hesitated for several moments staring in the direction of where he stood. Then she rounded the table and began walking toward him. Mr. Marlow spotted her, and he walked toward her until they met in the center of the lawn.
They stood looking at each other for several long moments before Mr. Marlow took her hand and bent to brush a kiss across her knuckles. Diana dipped her head and they spoke to each other, although they were too far away to hear what was being said. Mr. Marlow never let go of Diana’s fingers. Then he took her hand and tucked it into his elbow and the pair strolled away toward the rose garden arm in arm.
Miles’s arm snaked about her waist and his lips nuzzled her neck, his beard tickling the spot below her ear. “Job well done, my love. But perhaps that can be your last plan for a while?”
Susanna snuggled against him. She glanced over at Sophia and Mr. Evans. “Perhaps…”
The End
