"Oh, Mr. Hannish." Without thinking, she hopped up, flew into his arms and hugged him tight.
He was about to wrap his arms around her when a shocked Sassy backed away.
"Forgive me, I…"
"There is nothing to forgive. Now, off with you, tomorrow will be another full day." He watched her quietly close the door behind her and shook his head in disbelief. "Twenty-one? She is but five years younger than I."
*
There was plenty of work for everyone and then some. Carved sofas with bear claw feet, armchairs, colorful French tapestries, oak plant stands, needlepoint footstools, beds, and dressers began to arrive. It was not nearly enough, but it was a start.
Next came wooden crates filled with expensive household additions, such as framed pictures, lamps, small bronze and gold statues, hand painted vases, silver coffee sets, candelabra, more porcelain wash basins with matching pitchers, serving trays and enough Sterling Silver utensils to feed a gathering of fifty. Hannish even managed to order carved jewelry boxes to put on the dressers, and golden eagle bookends for the day when he could secure more books. He spotted a check mark next to a figurine in his catalog, assumed McKenna had marked it and ordered that too.
Indeed, there was plenty for everyone to do and the first week passed quickly for everyone, except Hannish. McKenna had asked Prescot to bring her as many outdated newspapers as he could find, and that evening, Hannish was not surprised to find her reading them in the downstairs sitting room.
"Do you know everything about everyone in town now?" he asked, choosing to sit on a settee next to her."
"Not quite, I can find no mention of our Mister Charles Whitfield having done anything interesting in the past six months."
"Perhaps he has been away."
"Perhaps so. I should pay a visit to his mother some afternoon. She asked us to dinner, but I begged to postpone until after Olivia arrives."
"Would you like me to take you?"
"Protect me, you mean. I can manage, Mother taught me right where to hurt a lad."
Hannish chuckled, "I am sure she did and I remember seeing her do it once. Perhaps I should go in any case. It will do me good to get out of the house." He picked up one of the newspapers she discarded and began to read it. "Am I to expect an announcement soon?"
She wrinkled her brow. "What sort of announcement?"
"The one about your engagement?"
"Oh that. I wondered when you would ask."
"Care to tell me about him?"
"You will like him. He is beyond a doubt the most unsightly man I have yet to see. He has saggy cheeks, wears his hair far too long and…"