Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 129951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
In the end, with all that stuff in the attics, they decided on non-equal thirds.
Except for a few pieces they intended to keep, some of it was being donated to museums, and the rest of it was going to be auctioned, with three quarters of the proceeds going into The Fund, and one quarter to charities the duchy patronized.
That said, Battle told me, the low end of what they expected to get from the auction would, “Make things much easier for Fury and Noble, darling.”
Oh yeah.
We’d picked our top favorites.
Mm-hmm.
Things were progressing very nicely (see? I could do an understatement too).
Just saying, I didn’t think Battle was falling anymore either.
But when it was all said and done, all of what was in the attics was going to go so Prue could reconfigure part of them into her own studio. And Battle was going to reconfigure the other parts into apartments so Scotty and Harry (or whoever was in their positions) could be closer to the house for security purposes. They could then rent the steward’s cottage to increase the estate’s income, and his sisters’ allowances.
Which I thought was a rad idea.
Onward from all of that, I’d taken an afternoon off to clear the cobwebs, and we’d all gone back to Ravenna for another reading (sans Tempie, and not only because she was in London).
Ravenna still didn’t know where Charlie’s letters were.
But she decided it.
In August, Prue and Chassie were going to visit Switzerland.
And spending that time with the clairvoyant decided it for me.
Ravenna was the shit.
Last semi-boring but still not boring (because it was fun) thing that happened: I’d taught Prue and Chassie how to toast bread and make oatmeal (considering there was instant, it was just showing them how to measure milk, and they both already knew how to use a microwave).
We also made pancakes together.
Chassie did all the flipping.
She didn’t mess it up once.
The big stuff:
As mentioned, Hamish had become one with the crew.
Tempie spent more time in London, but they both always came back to The Downs for the weekends.
I missed her.
But I loved how happy she was with Hamish, with Chassie and Prue moving on with their lives, just happy.
And speaking of Chassie…
She and Christian were dating.
Christian, we would come to learn, was not only smart about gymnosperms (don’t ask me, but Christian could chat with Chassie about them for an hour), he’d clued in that Chassie was at the very least shy, so he was taking it slow.
That said, he came to the roast I made every Sunday.
Further, I’d sent a picture of Battle and me to Solène, and she immediately called after she received it.
And when I picked up, she shouted, “Holy fuck!”
I was not surprised at this reaction.
They were coming out next month.
And yes, they were staying at The Downs.
I didn’t have to try too hard to be convincing. I just sent her photos of the place (mostly Chassie’s gardens), and she’d texted, We’re in.
Her response was so swift, I wasn’t sure she’d run it by Alex.
What I suspected was that he was a man in the manner of Battle, so my sister wouldn’t find him hard to convince either.
Another total non-surprise, my agent lost her shit when she saw Prue’s work.
She signed her within days, and they were planning to go out to bid soon for Into the Gilt Frame (they were going to start at the beginning).
Natalie had already given a few editors some advanced looks, and she told Prue what I knew from the beginning.
She needed to strap in, because it was about to get very interesting.
Prue was nervous, excited and anxious.
But she’d soon have objective input into how talented she was.
So she’d soon come to understand that was the bottom-line truth.
And the last bit of news, the weekend after he’d asked me, I moved into Battle’s rooms.
This did not have to do with the better vanity.
It also didn’t have to do with the pink star sapphire topped and tailed with a triangle of three diamonds in a pendant and matching earrings he brought home from London with him that week (and yes, because Tempie had a big mouth, I now had an amethyst tennis bracelet, an emerald-cut amethyst ring, the stone sitting in a band accented with pavé diamonds, and an amethyst and diamond choker, because they matched my wedding outfits—this was a lot from Battle, but I could tell he seriously got off on spoiling me, so I kept my mouth shut, something I found hard at first, but I was getting used to it).
The move to his rooms further wasn’t because I wasn’t a fan of schlepping things I’d need to the south wing, or Battle doing it when we were in my room, or either of us leaving because we needed our clothes or deodorant.
I moved because he wanted me to move.