Rafe opened his mouth to question this plan. Then he caught himself. Instead, he took a seat in the benches and stared numbly forward, trying to understand how he, the infamous Devil’s Own, had arrived at this moment in his life: sitting in a chapel, in a storybook castle near Charming-Something, Kent, possessing opinions on bunting.
Good God.
Word of this could never escape these walls.
Daphne charged ahead, sweeping down the center aisle in a flounce of ribbons. “Let’s see. We’ll place fabric bows to festoon the end of each bench. That’s one, two . . .”
“Twelve,” Phoebe said.
The youngest of the Whitmore sisters had seated herself in the pew in front of Rafe’s and pulled a loop of string from her pocket. While the plans went on around her, she worked her fingers through the string and began to make figures with it. Like a game of cat’s cradle, only more elaborate.
“Twelve rows,” she said. “Four-and-twenty benches.” She stretched her fingers wide to reveal a lattice of string shaped like a row of diamonds.
Rafe slid closer and stacked his arms on the back of her pew. “You’re good at that, aren’t you?”
“The string or the counting?”
“Both.”
“Yes,” she said.
Rafe watched her, intrigued. Of the three Whitmore sisters, Phoebe was the one he’d never had much chance to know. She’d been a small child when he and the marquess had their falling-out, and he’d avoided family gatherings ever since. He guessed this string fancy of hers must explain her pet name.
“So four-and-twenty bows,” Daphne said. “And then a swag for each window. How many windows, Phoebe?”
“Fourteen. With thirty-two panes in each.”
Rafe said quietly, “You didn’t even look up.”
“I didn’t need to.” Phoebe peered at her string through a fringe of dark hair. “With numbers, counting, shapes, chances . . . It’s always like that. I just know.”
Now there was a sensation he couldn’t identify with. Learning had never come easily to him.
“What’s that like?” he asked. “To just . . . know things, without trying.”
She looped her fingers through the string. “What’s it like to have the power to knock a full-grown man to the ground?”
“It means I have to be careful how I carry myself. Especially around new acquaintances, or people I don’t like. But it’s useful in certain situations. And sometimes, highly satisfying.”
For the first time, her glance flitted in his direction. “Then I don’t need to explain it.”
As Rafe watched, she stretched her fingers wide to reveal a new figure. The arched opening in the center matched, precisely, the proportions of the stained-glass window before them.
Then she let her fingers slip from the string, and it was gone.
Daphne came to stand before them, making calculations. “So if we need two yards of bunting per swag and three-quarters per bow . . . Come along, kitten. Don’t force me to find a pencil and paper.”
“Forty-six yards,” Phoebe said.
Clio laughed. “You mean to order forty-six yards of fabric? Are we decorating a chapel or swaddling an elephant? What with the carvings and the stained glass, it’s a lovely setting as it is.”
“Anything lovely can be made lovelier,” Daphne said. “Don’t you recall what Mother always said?”
From the look on Clio’s face, she did recall whatever it was their mother always said—but not with any particular fondness.
Bruiser cleared his throat for attention. “Right, then. Carrying on. The chapel will be lovelier. And Miss Whitmore will be the most lovelier part of all.”
“ ‘Loveliest,’ Montague,” Daphne corrected.
“Yes, of course. Loveliest.”
Clio looked doubtful. If not miserable. And Rafe knew he was to blame. He’d been an idiot yesterday, kissing her, then telling her it was nothing. Hardly the way to increase a woman’s confidence.
He pulled Bruiser aside. “This isn’t working. You said you could make her excited about the wedding. You promised dazzle.”
“She’ll be dazzled, Rafe.”
He took another glance at Clio. “I’m not seeing it yet.”
“Give it a moment, will you?” Bruiser went to Clio’s side and gently steered her to stand at the end of the aisle. “Just imagine, Miss Whitmore. The rows filled with your family and closest friends. Even better, your vilest enemies. All of them waiting, in breathless anticipation, for you to make your grand appearance.”
“My grand appearance?”
“Yes. In a flowing gown with an exquisite lace veil.”
In the chapel’s small vestibule, there was a narrow table with a lace runner and a small vase of flowers. Bruiser whisked the lace runner from the table and tucked it into Clio’s upswept hair, creating a makeshift veil to cover her face.
Rafe could see her smiling behind it. Smiling at the absurdity, no doubt—but any smile was better than the morose expression she’d been wearing all morning.
“And a bouquet.” Bruiser plucked the flowers from the vase and put them into her hands. “There now.”
She held them away from her body. “They’re dripping.”
“Never mind that. Imagine a velvet carpet spread out before you, strewn with rose petals. And your sisters will precede you as you walk down the aisle.” Bruiser moved first Daphne, then Phoebe into place in front of Clio. “Go stand at the other end, Rafe. Just to the side of the altar. That’s where your place will be.”