Page 21 of The Meaning of Love
Julian noted that, while Melissa explained how their unexpected engagement had come about and that they’d agreed to allow the situation to stand, this time, she made no mention of her crying off if it proved they did not suit.
The picture she painted was of a somewhat precipitate but otherwise normal betrothal; entirely content, he made no move to amend that view.
Bright eyes wide, Mandy looked from Melissa to him. “But that’s wonderful! Even at Grandmama’s dower house all those years ago, I thought you two would suit, and now”—she spread plump hands—“given both your backgrounds, yours is well-nigh a perfect match all around!”
Julian grinned and glanced at Melissa, catching her flash of chagrin over Mandy echoing the ton’s verdict.
Immediately, Mandy rattled on, seconded by Rufus, and if their eager questions were any indication, both were genuinely thrilled at the news and entirely supportive.
Julian relaxed even further.
Then a spasm of discomfort crossed Mandy’s face. Waving off Rufus’s concern and his offer to help her up the stairs, Mandy claimed Melissa’s arm instead, and the sisters went off, heads dipping together as Mandy continued her interrogation.
Julian, who had come to his feet as the ladies rose, took in the besotted look on Rufus’s face and inwardly smiled. The man was transparently in love with his wife.
When the ladies disappeared into the hall, Rufus turned back to him, and they sat again.
“Are your estates near London?” Rufus asked.
“Derbyshire,” Julian replied. When he married Melissa, Rufus would be his brother-in-law, and given how close Melissa and Mandy clearly still were, it would behoove him to find common ground. “As we drove in, I noticed your orchards. What crops do you grow hereabouts?”
Through the ensuing discussion, both he and Rufus discovered that, in managing large agricultural estates, they shared many concerns and, in fact, had a great deal in common.
“I’m anxious to see whether the corn price will stabilize,” Rufus admitted. “We do a lot of barley, and that always fetches a solid price, but the corn is very up and down.”
Julian agreed. “Not that we have much to sell from Carsington, being that our farms there primarily run sheep and cattle, but my holdings in Somerset and Hampshire have quite decent acreages under corn. It’s hard to plan when one simply doesn’t know what the return will be. I’m hoping with Liverpool as Prime Minister, the push for the Bank to return to the gold standard will move forward—that should help even things out.”
“True.”
Increasingly easy in each other’s company, they continued exchanging views and opinions.
In Mandy’s bedchamber, Melissa had resigned herself to answering the barrage of questions Mandy had waited only until she’d relieved herself and was comfortable again to ask.
Finally, Mandy fixed her with a very direct look. “The one thing you haven’t even hinted at is what you truly feel about this. Do youwantto go ahead and marry Carsely? Do you love him?”
The bald question put Melissa on the spot. She knew Mandy wouldn’t allow any slinking around on the subject; her sister was the sort to face everything head-on. “Well…”
What did she feel? What did she truly want?
Do I love Julian?
“Long ago, I thought I was in love with him, and yes, back then, I would have married him without a qualm. Now…”
When she didn’t go on, Mandy, seated in an armchair facing the window seat on which Melissa perched, huffed. “That was then. This is now. So what’s changed?”
“Us, of course.” She met Mandy’s eyes. “Both of us.”
“In the sense of maturing, yes—you’re both older and, one would hope, wiser—but fundamentally, people don’t change all that much. A person’s bedrock doesn’t change, and if I’ve learned anything through falling in love with Rufus, it’s that those things, the elements that make each person who they are, are the essential foundation on which love grows.”
Melissa let those words sink in, then arched a brow at Mandy. “So you think if I was in love with him once…”
“That it’s very likely you’ll fall in love with him again.” Mandy huffed. “In fact, in your case, it’s more like your love was placed in hibernation, and you’ve finally allowed it out into the sun.”
The image made Melissa smile. After a moment, she said, “Be that as it may—and I admit that more and more I’m inclined to want to go ahead and marry Julian—there’s still a lot he and I have yet to learn about each other.”
Mandy humphed, but didn’t argue. She pushed up from the chair, and Melissa rose and went to help her.
Once Mandy was fully on her feet, she linked her arm in Melissa’s and steered her toward the door. “Just remember what I said—you already know the important things about him, even if you think you don’t. Even years ago, your heart would never have settled so definitely on him if that wasn’t so. All those other things you think you need to know are incidental, superficial, and unimportant in terms of love.”
