I ended up talking to the lawyer and Nina again, making sure things were in place for us to leave. Mr. Woodward assured me he could handle routine matters, and Nina assured me that 'the house will stand without our presence'.

Which didn't really answer what would happen to it all. Or what I needed to do. Or anything, really, but it meant we could go back to Iris.

I let Hieronymus handle that — he decided that starting out early would work best. So I barely got any sleep before Michael was driving us back to the airport, and we were on our way home.

Then I had plenty of time to think, though I slept too, trying to catch up. Staring out the window in the airplane was a good way to let my mind sort through everything.

I wasn't sure where to start.

The flight attendant was ready to call me 'Ms Susan' again, but I was getting more used to 'Lady', so we went with that.

I was nobility. I was 'Lady Montague'. Viscountess. I'd even gotten the nerve to ask Mr. Woodward about it: There were no real practical effects, but…

I would still be Lady Montague if I divorced Hieronymus. I'd wondered. Apparently, that stuck.

Not that I was planning on doing that…

I could still feel his presence in my mind, just on the outskirts of my thoughts. Somehow, that was reassuring. I could see how it could be uneasy, or intrusive, or lots of things, but somehow it wasn't. He was there, a mere thought away, but not impinging. Just present.

I could tell how he was feeling, generally. Seated next to me on the airplane, his hand on mine, he was… content. It wasn't anything spectacular, just there. He wasn't looking for anything else. He was probably thinking about classes or something, but it wasn't something I'd find without delving deeper.

For the moment, he had everything he needed.

So did I, for that matter, but I was still worrying about the rest. My parents had accepted the story I'd spun for them — but what would they really think of Hieronymus? Were they really ready for their daughter to get married?

And what about the house? And the money, and everything else? It was my responsibility, even if I couldn't do much about it. Both of us had said the money didn't matter, but were either of us ready to turn down being rich? Hieronymus had always been rich, even if he didn't look it. Would he know what it meant?

For that matter, what did I know about money? I mean, I was class treasurer, but that mostly meant signing off on a few things over the course of the year, and helping to run a few fundraisers.

Which led to 'the condition': I wasn't ready for a child. I was still in school! But… would I be ready? In a few years? Did I want to be ready?

Hieronymus would make a good father, I could see that. I just didn't know if I wanted to be a mother.

And then… There was the few words we both seemed to avoid.

But we'd both said them. Neither of us said them plainly and straight out, but we'd both said them. And meant them.

His hand still on mine was enough to say it, really. Neither of us wanted to move them.

When exactly had that happened? It wasn't recent, not for either of us.

A part of me wondered what would have happened if I'd introduced Hieronymus as my husband, back when my parents met him. Back at the start of the school year. I don't think Hieronymus would have denied it. Or argued that it was 'in name only'.

My mom had seen right through me. She'd known I didn't just look at him as a teacher. I'm kinda glad she hadn't been able to see the other way.

We'd spent a lot of time pretending we weren't in love, hadn't we? Even to each other.

That was changing now. Whether I wanted it to or not.

For now though… I squeezed his hand, and went back to looking out the window at the clouds.

It was past curfew by the time we made it back - we'd stopped for one last meal together on the way in. Not the Glen, but not McDonald's either. A nice little restaurant, about two towns away.

So I was trying to be quiet when I got back to the dorm. It didn't really help. "Susan! You're back!"

"Yeah, I'm back. Finally." I said, collapsing onto my bed — though still sitting.

"So… how was it?" Ellen asked.

I found myself glaring at her, as the tone she was using implied she thought more had been likely to happen than just a funeral. "The funeral was nice — not that I understood a word of it. Very 'high church': the whole thing was in latin."

"And everything else?" She pressed.

"The plane ride was fine — first class, both ways. We didn't end up staying in a hotel: We own an old manor house — a castle, really — and stayed there. Separate rooms." I said the last to Ellen, who looked suitably chastised.

"How was the house?" Virginia asked.

"Nice, from what I saw. We didn't really take time to sightsee, although he did take me to a unicorn glade."

"You got to see unicorns?" Virginia was impressed.

I nodded. "And pet them. They are…" Words still failed me.

"Unicorns are real? You didn't have to go to Otherworld to see them?" Ellen asked.

"Well, duh, they are real." Virginia replied. "Though…"

I put my hands up. "He didn't take me to Otherworld. Trust me, he's the last person who will break that rule. There are some… hidden areas, in England. Places where it's safe for magical creatures." I wasn't sure what the rules were on mentioning Underhill. I should probably ask.

"Really? Do you think you could take me to see them? I always wanted to ride a unicorn, ever since I was a little girl."

I smiled. "I think we can do that, sometime. Hieronymus said he used to ride them…" I trailed off.

Apparently my face was enough to tell her that I'd realized there was a problem. "What?"

I felt myself starting to blush. "Um… Unicorns are very strict on who they will let touch them…"

"What do you mean? If they let you pet them…" Her eyes went wide. "Oh. You mean that part of the legend is true too?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I could pet them, but Hieronymus couldn't… Though that doesn't mean they won't let you see them."

Virginia was looking back and forth between us, and finally slapped her forehead. "They only let virgins touch them! Duh! I knew that!" She shook her head.

Ellen glared at her through a blush. Virginia just laughed back. "I'll have to tell Donald he cost you a childhood dream."

Ellen blushed harder.

I stepped in. "Anyway, we didn't stay long, and there was a lot of paperwork, as well as the funeral itself. So there really wasn't much else."

Aside from the will, my parents, and everything else…

I took a deep breath. "We did have to come up with a story that doesn't involve a manus for how we got married." It got both of their attention.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I'll tell you, just in case it comes up… We decided to tell people it's an arranged marriage. His father and my grandfather pledged to unite their families, after my grandfather saved his father during World War II. It was supposed to be their children, but my father was married by the time Hieronymus was of age, so they almost forgot about it. Until they realized he was still single and I was getting old enough… So they 'arranged' for me to come to Iris Academy, and then sprung it on us."

Virginia nodded. "Sounds reasonable."

Ellen nodded as well, but she managed to put something else together. "Um, wouldn't your parents have to know about it, in case anyone checks with them? I mean, it sounds like something they would have known about."

"Yeah… We told them. With the aid of a memory spell." I said.

"Oh."

"It's a lot less reliable than a 'forget' spell, and harder too, I think — Hieronymus collapsed at the end of it." I tried to reassure her.

"It's ok, I can see it's not the same thing as trying to hide who you are from them, you just needed to explain one thing…"

"Exactly. And I had to be part of the spell — with a danger of burnout on any of us. Or all of us."

No one wanted to say anything to that. "So, did you learn anything about Graby that you can share?" Virginia asked, after a moment of silence. Her tone said 'gossip'.

I shrugged and thought a moment. "I met his… Well, not his mother, exactly, but probably the woman who raised him. A brownie, who's the cook at the manor — has been for generations, from what I gather."

"And how was she?" Virginia wanted to know.

"A character. You'd like her. Hieronymus thinks she's playing dolls with the Grabiners."

That got her attention. "Tell me everything."

Which let me tell them about her scolding Hieronymus, until we all realized it was late and we needed sleep.

Author's Notes: And we are back to Iris Academy. My only real comment on this chapter is that I hope I made it reasonable to *not* have offered the memory-spell to Ellen. Introducing it could have made a plothole with much of the game, if the memory-rewrite spell was as easy as the memory-erase spell.