She was still looking around in awe. “This place is fabulous. When Lucy told me about it, I don’t know what I was expecting. But not this. This isn’t a house. It’s a castle!”
He smiled at her in that indulgent way he used to smile at me when I said things that he later told me made me sound like an American tourist.
He gave her a tour of the downstairs, and I made him show her the double walls of paintings that still tickled me. He had so many paintings that he had specially designed walls that opened out displaying a second level of artwork.
While Jen was marveling over a Monet, William came in. “I believe Lochlan’s arriving.”
Rafe excused himself and made his leisurely way out the doors that led to the back terrace. But obviously, we weren’t going to stay inside while the excitement was happening. Jennifer and I hurried behind him. We were in time to see a black helicopter land on a grass field that was part of the landscaping, but had probably been kept like that precisely for helicopters to land on. No doubt Rafe came and went that way too, when it suited him.
Lochlan Balfour emerged from the helicopter. He wore dark jeans, a turtleneck T-shirt, and a blazer. He carried an attaché case. While we watched, a second man emerged and unloaded a suitcase. William hurried out to help. Lochlan, meanwhile, strode forward towards us, lifting one hand in a wave. The sun caught his hair, glinting gold.
Jennifer leaned closer and whispered, “I feel like I’m in a James Bond movie. You did not warn me you were surrounded by rich, powerful, gorgeous men. I might have to sit down.”
I’d become so used to them, I’d almost forgotten what it was like at first. Wait till she saw them together. Dark and light and both incredibly good-looking. Introductions were soon made, and then we sat out on the stone veranda. It was beautifully shaded with wisteria but still felt open and airy, and we had the most beautiful view of the grounds. Olivia had outdone herself. I knew she’d been working night and day and had even hired some extra helpers to make sure the gardens and grounds were at their best for this very special day that was coming up. Naturally, talk quickly turned to the wedding. William, presumably having sorted out the luggage, came out and offered drinks.
“Champagne, I think,” Rafe said, looking at me. He knew my weakness for champagne. I turned to Jennifer, who seemed to also think that was a spectacular idea. From the speed at which one of the vintage bottles of champagne that were kept in Rafe’s cellar appeared, perfectly chilled and with four crystal wine flutes, I suspected that he and William had already talked this through. William popped the cork, poured the wine, and then Lochlan raised his glass. “If I may, I’d like to propose a toast to the happy couple. This is an Irish toast that seems appropriate.
“May joy and peace surround you
Contentment latch your door
And happiness be with you now
And bless you ever more.”
He ended it by saying, “To Lucy and Rafe.”
Jen echoed the toast, and then we all sipped our drinks.
“I hear you’re from Boston,” he said to Jen. “A lovely old city.”
“It is, though not as old as Oxford.”
I was really impressed with how cool Jennifer was, considering that sitting down with a tech mogul like Lochlan Balfour wasn’t exactly an everyday experience. But we didn’t talk about him or his businesses or computers. We talked about the wedding, mostly, then a little about current events.
We ended up staying outside for lunch and moving to an outdoor table. William served steak tartare to the vampires. The raw beef didn’t look appetizing to me, but at least they could eat with us. William said to Jennifer, “I asked Lucy, and she thought you’d prefer something cooked. This salmon was flown down this morning from Scotland. It’s served with a light dill sauce.”
“Looks delicious,” Jennifer said. And it was.
After lunch, Rafe said, “There’s a very curious alchemy text I’d like to show you, Lochlan. Get your opinion on it.”
Jennifer, who’d obviously grown very comfortable with the company and maybe even more outgoing than usual thanks to the champagne, said, “Ooh, is that part of your work? I’d love to see it.”
Rafe paused only for an instant before saying in his usual suave manner, “Of course. Come along.”
So the four of us trooped into his office, where he had all the most modern tools of his trade and any number of valuable volumes kept in a temperature-controlled case. He brought out the alchemy book that we’d found so puzzling.
Lochlan turned a couple of pages, looking as puzzled as I had. “But this is modern, surely?”
Obviously, Rafe didn’t want to suggest that it had a spell on it since I hadn’t had a chance to tell him yet that my old friend had also turned out to be a witch. He said, “What else do you notice about it?”
Lochlan turned a few more pages. “It’s more obscure than most alchemical texts. Of course, I remember what Paracelsus used to say. Everything is poison, it just depends on the quantity.”
Oh dear. Of course Lochlan could have known Paracelsus personally, back in the Middle Ages or whenever he was around practicing alchemy. But this really wasn’t helping Jennifer’s first impression of my fiancé and his best man.
As brightly as I could, I said, “Why don’t we leave you two to it? I
