Carrie stepped out of the way so that Charlie and Meg could follow Jonathan down the hallway toward the stairwell, and then the lady-in-waiting trailed until they reached the bottom of the stairs.“Are you certain you’re ready for this?” Charlie asked, pausing in the foyer to turn and face her.Meg nodded. “I assume it’s not the most difficult task I’ll be called upon to complete in the near future.” Thoughts of what it would be like if she had to testify against her uncle in court made her stomach lurch again.“True,” Charlie replied with a shrug. “You are planning on marrying me.”That was enough to make her giggle, and she playfully nudged him in the arm. “That wasn’t quite what I was referring to.”“Nevertheless….”“I’ll just wait for you here, miss,” Carrie said as she stepped out of the way.“You can hav

Once they’d reached the hallway, Jonathan signaled for Carrie to follow them, which she did at a distance. Turning to Meg, he asked, “Are you well?”“I’m fine,” she admitted. “I must admit I’ve never sat in a room full of lawyers before.”“You handled yourself quite respectfully,” Jonathan assured her.When he turned to speak to her, Meg noticed more than the scent of mint she usually associated with him. There was another familiar smell as well, and she realized why he wasn’t quite himself. “Are you feeling well, Jonathan?” she asked.“Yes, of course. Why do you ask?” He held open the back door for her and she was happy for the cool breeze that brushed away the smell of whiskey, a scent she could’ve done without.“I don’t know,” she replied, taking his arm again. “You just don’t seem quite like yourself today

“We can have that lovely orchestra that Josie and Walter used at their daughter’s coming out party, what are they called? The Moonlight Waltz, or something or other. Oh, and when you officially propose at the engagement party, we can do it outside so we can use firecrackers, just like they did at that wedding we attended in France. It’ll be wonderful.”Meg’s fork was poised over her salmon, but her eyes were glued to Charlie’s across the table from her, neither of them even blinking.“Mother, I really don’t think all of that is necessary. At all,” Charlie began, not losing hold of Meg’s eyes.“Please, Charlie. My only son will only be getting engaged once,” Pamela insisted.Meg cleared her throat but said nothing, and rather than taking a bite she moved some of her carrots around on her plate so that it might appear as if she were eating.“Honestly, Mother, I appreciate t

Meg raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? See whom?”He pursed his lips together, as if he wasn’t sure whether or not he could tell her. “I mean a specific sort of doctor who specializes in this sort of thing.”Her other eyebrow shot up. “You mean… a psychiatrist?”He nodded. “I know it might sound desperate. It’s only… I don’t know what else to do. I don’t want anyone to think I’m crazy….”“A psychiatrist would be the one to say that, though, wouldn’t he?”“Possibly,” Charlie shrugged. “I think I’m sane enough to stay out of an institution. I hope I am anyway. But I’ve been reading, and some of the techniques these doctors have come up with might help me. Have you read anything by Freud? Or Jung?”She had heard of Freud but not that other person. “I don’t know much about psychia

Not only was Grace able to make it back in time for the proposed date Charlie had in mind for the engagement party, she made it back by mid-morning the next day to meet with Meg, Mrs. Ashton, and Kelly, along with a team of designers and other professionals Meg wasn’t quite sure she understood the purpose of. There were two older women who were to be responsible for decorations, a middle-aged man who’d be working on Meg’s gown (though he had no idea how he would manage such an extravagance on such a short timeline) and a group of chefs and bakers who would be responsible for the menu. Meg said very little, mostly listened to Grace prattle on about exactly what she envisioned. It was only when she began to talk about the number of guests that Meg found her voice.“We can easily expect three hundred guests, possibly more,” Grace was saying, as her mother nodded along.“Three hundred?” Meg said, her eyes as large as the dinner pla