Page 21 of Estelle’s Ardent Admirer (The Bookshop Belles #1)
CHAPTER 21
Wedding Bells
N o sooner had they closed the shop door behind them than Joshua started marching up and down in front of them, shaking a solid finger in their faces. Phoebe stood to the side, leaning against one of the bookshelves looking rather as though she might faint.
Estelle’s sisters remained behind the counter with weary expressions. Joshua had clearly been giving them a hard time and they’d had to deal with him alone. Well, not alone, as there were three of them, but they’d dealt with him without her. They were still standing, the bookshop was still standing.
And then she realised, they really had dealt with him. Together. And all three of them were standing tall, a united front. Confident, mature women who could stand tall against this bully.
Joshua shouted at Estelle, “You have scandalised us too many times. This will not do!”
Felix looked to Estelle first, to make sure she was happy with him stepping in and assisting.
She beamed at him and nodded, ‘Yes please.”
“I was not aware of any public laws that forbid a soon-to-be married couple from showing affection,” Felix said, his tone cool.
“Not you,” Joshua shouted, then waggled his finger into Estelle’s face. “Her!”
He was so close she could see something stuck between his teeth from his last meal.
Felix cleared his throat, stepped between Joshua and Estelle and kept his voice dangerously low. “You will not speak to the future Mrs Yates and Baroness Ferndale in such a way. If I had my way, you would never have permission to speak to any of us again, no matter the tone. You are a prig who took advantage of my grandfather’s grief to inveigle yourself into a position you are ill-equipped and lack-tempered to handle, that a... a blind donkey could perform more competently.”
Shocked, but obviously recognising the foolishness of shouting at Felix, Joshua clenched his jaw and muttered something under his breath.
Felix added, “You will treat my future wife with respect, or you’ll have to answer to my grandfather… and to me, and you’ll find my fist in your face if you ever dare shout at her again.”
Estelle touched her hand to Felix’s bicep and appreciated the strength underneath his shirt. He turned to her and said penitently, “I probably went too far again, didn’t I?”
Estelle tilted her head in thought, then said, “I think you were just right.” Then she squared her own shoulders and borrowed some of Felix’s strength to bolster her own as she faced Joshua, making her tone honey-sweet. The stick and the carrot, she thought; Felix had made threats and now she could offer a gracious way out for Joshua. In a cool tone, she delivered a not-very-veiled threat. “It would be such a shame, and deeply embarrassing to you and Mrs Baxter, to be turned away from the wedding celebrations at Ferndale Hall.”
She’d never spoken to her cousin like that before. Her heart raced with the nerves rushing through her body. Having Felix beside her gave her the courage to achieve almost anything. But there was another important thing she needed to say to Joshua.
“You will walk me down the aisle, as the head of the Baxter family in my father’s absence. You will be on time and you will be exceptionally well behaved. Is that clear?”
He screwed up his mouth as if he wanted to verbally attack her again, but Felix stepped forward, fists clenching at his side, and Joshua hastily spluttered out a simple, “Fine.”
Felix moved back, reaching for Estelle’s hand.
“But I won’t enjoy it,” Joshua said, obviously wanting to get the last words in.
A laugh escaped Estelle. She had plenty of responses she could give to her cousin, but it wasn’t worth it. There seemed to be so little Joshua did enjoy - other than shouting at Estelle and her sisters - that she almost felt sorry for him. She glanced at Phoebe, who hadn’t said a word throughout the exchange.
“And do you have anything to add, madam?” Estelle asked. “I thought not,” when Phoebe quickly shook her head. “Miss Yates is very keen for me to join her committees, and I understand you keep trying to get invited onto them. I have no idea why nobody has thought to invite you, truly. You would be so good at hosting the meetings. I do so look forward to working with you, Phoebe.”
Louise snorted with laughter.
Phoebe looked as though she was sucking on a lemon, but she forced a semblance of a smile and nodded. “Of course, Estelle,” she said.
“You may leave now,” Estelle said, opening the door to the street to show them out.
Estelle watched them go, as she and Felix together closed the door on their cousins.
Felix smiled warmly down at her and said, “We make an excellent team.”
“That we do,” Estelle agreed, and wrapped her arms around him for a glorious kiss.
Her sisters cheered them on from behind the counter. When they pulled apart, the three younger women ran forward and smothered the pair of them with a hearty embrace.
“Is the wedding back on?” Louise asked.
“Yes,” Estelle said. “And thank you for helping me see sense.”
Her ears filled with cheers and cries of, “Thank goodness!”
At the end of that very long and emotional Saturday, Felix helped his staff into the carriage. Louise gave the maids some Minerva books from their lending shelf as a token of appreciation.
Bernadette gave Felix another bottle of tonic for Lord Ferndale. “I will visit him when you’re in Ireland, to make sure of his health.”
“That is so good of you, Bernadette, you put my mind at ease.” He bent to kiss her cheek fondly. “You shall see us in church tomorrow, please all join us in the Ferndale pew. Mrs Poole, too, if you’re not otherwise busy.”
Mrs Poole blushed at being singled out.
Estelle had already kissed Felix farewell inside the bookshop, so that she would not become carried away and create another spectacle in public. Nevertheless, she felt the pull toward him as he was about to climb onto Hannibal. “You have my thanks,” she said, then dropped her voice low so that only the two of them would hear. “And my heart.”
“I shall always treasure you,” he said, giving her a soft kiss before he mounted the horse.
The sisters waved Felix off and turned to go back into the bookstore, Estelle catching Crafty as the cat tried to sneak out between their ankles.
“Oh, no you don’t, madam! Far too late for all that nonsense anyway, unless I miss my guess. Have you all noticed how plump she’s getting?”
“Kittens around the end of August, I believe,” Bernadette said wisely. “You’ll be in Ireland!”
“And we shall deal with the kittens as well as we’ll deal with everything else that comes up in your absence,” Louise said, putting her arm around Estelle.
She sighed with happiness and said, “Felix did promise to help find them homes…”
“Crafty is such a good mouser her kittens are always in demand,” Marie said. “Although perhaps Lord Ferndale and Miss Yates would like one, for the Hall? Did you see a cat there, Estelle?”
“I didn’t. I shall be sure to ask if they would like a kitten,” Estelle promised, thinking that she would rather miss having Crafty around, once she removed to Ferndale Hall. A kitten would be nice, though she hoped it would not inherit its mother’s habits of leaving half-disembowelled offerings in inconvenient places!
Friday, the day of Estelle’s wedding to Felix, dawned with bright sun and a few thin clouds in the sky.
Joshua walked her down the aisle stamping his feet and muttering all the way, his face a thundercloud. Under his breath he said, “You won’t be here to protect your sisters while you’re in Ireland.”
Estelle smiled and acknowledged the many parishioners seated in the church. Friends from across Hatfield and distant relations they had not seen since the last big family gathering. Many dabbed their eyes with emotion, overcome with joy for her. “My sisters are more than a match for you,” she told Joshua as she kept smiling.
Nothing he said could dampen her mood. Try as he might, nothing could upset Estelle on this most glorious day.
At the altar stood Felix and Lord Ferndale. She had thought her future husband was handsome, but the look of admiration on his face gave him the most beatific glow; he could have descended from the heavens. Lord Ferndale raised one eyebrow toward Joshua and the man stopped muttering.
Soon, Joshua gave her over into Felix’s hands and her spirits soared.
Not even the droning from Old Brimstone could dampen their joy. Felix had shown her how to find joy in small things. The more they did that, the more joy they found.
At one point Felix tried to dampen a laugh, when Reverend Millings started thundering on about how it was a wife’s duty to submit to her husband in all things and agree with him in all matters. Estelle thought she’d burst into giggles herself, so she had to look away. Searching for a distraction, her eyes alighted upon her sisters sitting at the front of the church in the Ferndale pew with Miss Yates and Mrs Poole, all of them smiling and wiping tears off their cheeks. Pride filled her at how much her sisters had matured since her father had set off on his travels. Their father might not be here, but he was in their hearts and constant thoughts.
When the vicar asked if Felix accepted the oaths of marriage, Felix’s voice was thick with emotion when he said, “I do.”
No hesitation from Estelle when it was her turn, but her voice wavered a little as she bubbled with happiness and repeated her, “I do.”
They both might cry with joy at this rate. They would start their married life as they intended to go on, perfectly in harmony and utterly, completely happy.
The wedding guests cheered as they took their first kiss as husband and wife. Outside the church, they were swamped with well-wishes and congratulations from everyone except Phoebe and Joshua, who remained well back.
Soon they were in the carriage to take them to Ferndale Hall for their wedding breakfast, and a few days after that they would be on their way to Ireland.
“You can return to the bookshop as often as you need,” Felix said to her as the carriage rolled away and Estelle waved back at the cheering crowd assembled.
“Thank you.” She squeezed his hand, knowing he meant it. She was grateful for his understanding. “But I have a feeling I shall enjoy my new home.”
Felix nudged her. “Our home?”
“Yes,” Estelle said, beaming with joy and kissing him again. “ Our home.”
One week later, Miss Marie Baxter and her two sisters, Louise and Bernadette, along with Mrs Poole, waved off their eldest and insensibly happy sister Estelle and her new husband as they departed on their trip to Ireland.
As their carriage disappeared from view, Marie sighed, looking forward to the quiet of the bookshop.
A little peace and quiet after so much chaos held tremendous appeal. She would need the time to herself to resettle. Too many people and too much excitement had the effect of discombobulating her. A recombobulation was exactly what she needed.
Tomorrow would be their clean-up day, so there would be no customers to worry about; no extra people to deal with.
If fortune smiled upon them, trade in the shop might be quiet today as well.
A girl could dream, couldn’t she?
Correspondence was now a task she completed at the front counter, along with her usual accounts and bookkeeping requirements. Estelle had nothing to worry about, as Marie was excellent at managing her paperwork in between customers, and Ruth was learning fast how to assist customers when they came into the shop, often only interrupting Marie when a sale needed to be completed.
Louise maintained Crafty’s scratching post and checked behind the counter for entrails each morning, bless her. That was a task none of them had wanted to take on. Mrs Poole had eventually made them draw straws to keep things fair.
Marie flicked off the seal of a letter and stepped over to the window to read the spidery scrawl. She pushed her glasses higher on her nose, squinting at the paper and turning it this way and that to try and decipher the words. Goodness, it looked as if it was written whilst travelling in a badly-sprung carriage.
“The entitlement!” she cried out to nobody in particular.
Bernadette poked her head into the shop. “Everything all right?”
Marie looked at Bernadette over her glasses and shook the letter at her. “Have a read of this. The entitlement of some customers! It’s unbelievable.”
“What’s wrong?” Bernadette said, quickly scanning the page before she said, “Oh!”
“Yes, Oh! I’m not going all the way to Cumbria to personally deliver this man’s books, even if he is an Earl!” Marie shook her head, taking the letter back and dropping it on the desk. “What an absolutely ridiculous idea!”
We hope you’ve had a wonderful time enjoying Estelle’s romance with Felix. Turn the page to read the prologue of book 2 in The Bookshop Belles , Marie’s Merry Gentleman .