With these new developments and their future more certain, the young lovers had a short period of stability before Mr Preston would make his trip home, before everything would change. Tilly gracefully turned a blind eye, and they now had more freedoms than ever.
Knowing he would leave soon, their meetings became hopelessly romantic, clinging to every sweet word and gesture. For the first time Miranda let herself fall headfirst into love, knowing he was a safe place to land, and she did so completely. She never tired of spending time with him, and she hoped he felt the same. It was in this time she felt they were their truest selves, and every moment was precious.
Stevie and Norman returned from their honeymoon, happy as ever and settling into married life. Despite Miranda spending less time with Stevie, they were delighted to find the foundations of their friendship mercifully unchanged, always picking up where they left off, and Stevie was only too eager to offer a willing ear to every new update on Mr Preston.
In this happy spell Miranda decided that having received so many cakes from Mr Preston, she ought to make a gift of her own for him before he left. Penny had been rigorous with her education, ensuring she developed her skills in ladies' pursuits like the pianoforte and needlepoint and painting. She could play well enough but felt her true talents leaned to her artistic side, so she secretly began work on a drawing of the Hamilton. She admired his devotion to the project, and he had spoken about it enough that she too felt invested in its success. She didn't have as much time with it as she liked, but after adding ink and a wash of watercolour, she stepped back and looked it over, satisfied that it was quite charming.
Meanwhile the real Hamilton, now fully restored, had its grand opening. There was now a small coffeehouse and tavern on the ground level, with lodgings above. The establishment was more genteel than rowdy, and Miranda's father and the local gents quickly became regular visitors, grateful for a fresh watering hole. The cakes they served were especially praised, which tickled Miranda with delight, and the locals remarked that the main street was brightened by the new addition.
All good things must come to an end, however, and when it came time for him to leave, the mood was solemn.
She knew it was silly. He would be back soon, their whole future ahead of them. And yet saying goodbye felt like a great loss.
"You won't even notice I'm gone," he lied.
"You're wrong. I shall miss you terribly. But the thought that our journey is just beginning shall sustain me," she said, with as much melodrama as she could muster.
"Your way with words is so pretty," he said with a chuckle.
He gave her a bouquet of lily of the valley as a parting gift, (a symbol of reunion, as Stevie sagely informed her later), and his eyes widened with surprise when she presented him with a parcel.
"For me?"
"Yes."
He unwrapped her drawing and his face lit up with delight.
"Oh it's perfect," he declared, "I shall hang it proudly in the inn."
They were acutely aware that this lovely perfect afternoon was the last time they'd be alone together for a few weeks.
"Why is this so hard?" she asked as she stood up with him, half laughing, half trying not to cry. A lock of hair fell from her bonnet as she bent her head.
He reached out and tucked it behind her ear, his fingertips grazing her cheek. Their eyes locked and his hand lingered for a long moment, before his fingers brushed her cheek, tracing her jawline down to her chin. It was the sweetest touch she had ever felt. Her face grew hot.
He was achingly close to her now, close enough that his breath warmed her skin, and a moment later his lips touched hers and they were kissing. It was gentle at first, then bloomed into dizzying heights that made her head spin. He smelled like cotton and sandalwood, and his lips were softer and warmer than she expected. It was heavenly.
"I don't want to say goodbye." she murmured when they finally broke apart.
"Then let's not say it."
He pressed a final kiss to her forehead, and she skipped home with the memory of the kiss kingering on her lips.
She was well aware this was scandalous behaviour with a man she had no formal connection to, never mind all the time she had spent alone with him, but by now they had already broken so many rules with no consequence that this hardly felt like a great transgression. She could surely be forgiven this.
She immediately wrote to Stevie, who would just about die from this development.
She was so deliriously happy that she was only slightly irritated about Penny's latest scheme.
"Miranda! Edmund Detorri is due back in town soon, and I have arranged for you two to take a carriage ride around town,"
"Oh mother, not the stuffy gent from the ball. How could you make me suffer like this? Again!"
"I do believe introducing you two at the ball was too much pressure. All I ask is you give him an honest chance. He is recently eligible, Don't be so hostile darling, it is not becoming." She sighed, defeated. "Just one carriage ride, that is all I ask."
"Fine."
