Satine had been relaxing for the past couple of days, not exerting herself, and it seemed to be having a good effect on her. Maybe Harry had been wrong. Maybe she wouldn't die after all. And the coast of England was in sight. They'd be in Dover soon, ready to plan their wedding. Life was definately good, Satine thought, enjoying the fresh air. She jumped slightly as Christian snuck up behind her, sliding his arms around her.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" he asked, kissing her. "Yes it is," she answered, twisiting around in his arms. "We'll be there, soon. I wrote my friend, James, that I was coming home the day before we took off. He'll be waiting at the docks for us and then it's a romantic horse-drawn carriage ride to the estate." He explained. "Come on. We'd better get ready for when the ship docks," he said, pulling her gently to their cabin.
"Christian! You're home!" Christian grinned at the familiar voice, pulling Satine along as he ran towards it. "James! You old scoundral!" The two friends hugged. "And this must be the lovely Satine that you wrote to me about, sayin' you hoped she'd say yes when you asked her to come with you. Welcome to England, my lady," James said, kissing Satine's hand. Satine just blushed. The people of England certainly were friendly, she thought.
Christian chuckled. "You'll think your lady after Satine and I get married," he said. James raised an eyebrow at his friend. "You? I didn't think you were the marrying kind, not after the girls you rejected that your father tried to get you to marry." "Well I wasn't in love with any of them. I am, however in love with Satine." James grinned. "I know how it is. So when's the cerimony?" he asked. "Christian and I haven't discussed that yet," Satine said. "All we do know is that we want to have a private cerimony, just family and friends."
"Unfortunatly, Christian, I do have some bad news for you. You father died a couple of weeks ago. Peacefully, in his sleep. Said the entire estate is to go to you, and left instructions that I was to let you know he wanted you to be happy, and realized, in the end, how important love is to you. He really just wanted the best for you, Christian, you know that." "Yeah...I know..." Christian answered, still in a bit of shock.
Satine hugged Christian, not knowing what to say. He hugged her back, holding her tightly. "I'm sorry I had to greet you with such bad news, my friend," James said. "Come, share my carriage with me. Let my driver take you and your bride-to-be back to the estate. After all, you're the Lord of the estate now. You need to be there to take care of things." Christian only nodded, still a bit numb, as James and Satine helped him to the carriage.
