Agatha’s lips had puckered into an O of astonishment. Richard laid a hand on the binder as if trying to read it through osmosis.
“How very clever of you both,” he said, and I couldn’t tell if he meant it. “Thank you for the additional reading. I shall do it at my own convenience and get back to you.”
Agatha, who had clearly assumed he’d tell us to get stuffed, jerked her head between us and her brother like a ticked-off chicken.
“I assume that concludes your portion of this agenda, Rebecca,” Richard added.
“Actually, there is one more thing,” I said. “My sister is getting married, so Nick and I will need to be on hand for that. Probably in November. I wanted you to have advance notice. She’s also expecting a baby.”
“Goody, I love babies!” Elizabeth chirped. “Hearing that makes me broody.”
“Indeed,” Richard said. “Perhaps, Rebecca, this is one instance in which you should use your sister as inspiration. Certainly, no duty of yours is more important than delivering this family its next heir.”
Nick opened his mouth to say something, but Richard was quicker.
“Moving along,” he said. “I’ve been briefed on Frederick’s whereabouts. He was in Afghanistan by last reports, and safe, but I won’t hear more until the mission he’s undertaken is over, or unless he’s forcibly evacuated.”
“I still cannot believe you let him go,” Agatha scolded.
“He’s been expertly trained. And it’s very difficult to say no when your child is motivated to do good in the world,” Richard said, although I noticed that his lips had gone white. “I suppose you’ve never run up against that situation with Nigel.”
“Nonsense,” Elizabeth said, leaning across the table to pat Agatha’s hand supportively. “I’m sure his campaign to legalize ecstasy is going to revolutionize the club scene. And create jobs.”
Agatha frowned hard at the table. “The situation is just very frightening,” she admitted. “I’m worried about him, and I don’t like it at all.”
Nick handed her the handkerchief he always carried. “Neither do I,” he said. “But Freddie made a choice, and I trust that he and Father knew what they were doing.”
No one but me could see how hard his other hand was gripping the seat of his chair.
* * *
In a burst of traditionalism, Lacey and Olly had decided to get married before the baby was born. Once Lacey’s twelve-week scan confirmed that everything was progressing well, Mom flew over for an extended stay, moving into a lovely bright three-room suite on the first floor of Apartment 1A that Nick and I had set aside for her specifically. It was a relief to have her within reach as we braced ourselves for the fearsome Bridezilla we’d always assumed Lacey would become.
“So,” Lacey told us as she kicked back in a chevron wing chair in Mom’s den and undid the top button of her jeans. “I’m not sure if you’re going to like what I have in mind for this.”
“I do think it might be a bit too chilly in November to do it on a yacht,” Mom said.
Lacey rolled her eyes. “I haven’t wanted to get married on a yacht since I was fifteen. I’m not asking Good Charlotte to play the reception anymore, either.”
“I don’t even know what that means,” Mom said.
“Anyway, there are all these specific rules about where you can have a wedding in England if it’s not in a church,” Lacey continued. “But neither of us is religious, so a church definitely isn’t happening no matter what. Sorry, Mom.”
“That’s all right, sweetie,” Mom said. “It’s your wedding, after all.”
“And I technically had two church weddings, so it all evens out,” I piped up from my perch on the window seat. Outside in the courtyard, Nick was getting out of his car, elegant in a dark blue suit. It was delightful to realize that seeing him from afar still made my heart skip.
“We’re leaning toward a really basic civil ceremony at the registry office, and then a small party afterward,” Lacey said. “And that’s it. No fuss.”
“Say what now?” I said, turning away from ogling my husband. “I’m sorry, is this the same person who made a wedding guest list that had four hundred and fifty names on it when she was nine?”
“You went as a bride for Halloween three years in a row,” Mom said.
Lacey covered her face with her hands. “People change!” she said. “Bex always said that if she ever got married, she’d be barefoot in cutoffs in someone’s backyard, and that didn’t happen, either. All I want is to hug the people I love. And to not serve lamb because the smell of it makes me want to puke right now.”
“I don’t know,” I said, tapping my lip with my pointer finger. “You’re also wearing Birkenstocks today, which you have always hated, so it is possible that you have lost your mind.”
“You clearly have,” Lacey shot back. “Mascara and eyeliner? When you’re off the clock?”
“It makes my eyes look bigger!” I protested.
We both started giggling. On some level, it did feel as if we’d pulled a fraternal-twin Freaky Friday without anyone else noticing.
“It’s going to be perfect, Lace,” I said. “Small and simple sounds beautiful.”
“Exactly. Besides, it’s the marriage that matters,” Mom said. “My wedding was a nice day, but my marriage was a great life. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you girls.”
Eleanor was substantially more confuzzled.
“She’s getting married…in a room?” she asked, wrinkling her nose.
“I mean, technically a church is also a room,” I said.
“It’s so ordinary.” Eleanor turned the word over in her mouth less like an insult than a marvel. “I’ve never been to a wedding like that. Won’t it look like some sort of business conference? Is there even an aisle? She might as well get married in Heathrow.” She tilted her head. “I should offer my presence. To make it festive.”
I laughed, and Eleanor looked offended.
“Did you seriously just say that?” I asked. “You
