Courtship

Part 61

With excited, noisy people showering rice on them as they exited the reception hall, Rafe and Marina laughed, ducked and slowly made their way toward a waiting car. The throng followed them.

"Well that went well don't you think, Mrs Harlington?" Rafe slid along the rear seat, when Marina shuffled along. She could see her sisters and grandmother standing on the other side of the car. Her grandmother was talking to a woman Rafe said had been his nanny at one point. Marina's lips twitched, they were up to something. Those two biddies were up to something. They had been seated on the same table and spent quite a bit of the reception talking animatedly. Marina just hoped it wasn't about Marina and Rafe, for who knew what her grandmother was concocting. Before she got too distracted trying to figure out what those two elderly women were talking about, Marina scooted across the rear car seat. When Marina had nearly reached that side, Isabelle rapped gently on the glass window. When she reached the other side of the car, Marina rolled down her window and blew a kiss toward her sisters and Cara. They were rather tearful! What were they crying about, this was one of the happiest days of her life! Marina saw Georgiana nudge Isabelle. Isabelle took a couple of steps forward. Isabelle leaned toward the open car window and without saying a word handed Marina a small box. She wished they had managed to get it well before today. But it hadn't been easy getting it back in the first place, and just sheer luck that they'd even managed to get it back today.

"What's this?" Marina asked as she took hold of the small box, as her eyes sent signals of recognition to her brain. It couldn't be. She blinked at the box.

"You know." Isabelle replied and ducking her head in through the open window she gave her sister a kiss on the cheek before she stepped back.

Rafe closed his door and looked toward Marina who was still looking out at the window, "Ready?" He asked, as he leaned forward slightly and caught sight of her family on the other side of the car. They all looked emotional. Even his nanny looked emotional.

Marina nodded automatically as his question registered. With one last wave to her sisters, and with them waving tearfully in response, she reached for the window button. As the automatic window rolled up, Marina looked at the small box she held in her other hand. "What's that?" Rafe asked with puzzlement when he saw her intent focus on the box. He did up her seatbelt. Then slid back into his seat and clicked his seatbelt into place. The driver having checked in his rear view mirror got a nod from Rafe. The driver set the car in motion. The car inched past the throng, driving along the driveway at a snails pace as they exited the reception venue.

"Belle, gave it to me. Just now." Marina murmured and continued to stare at the box. She knew this box. She thought she did. She never expected to ever see it again.

"Aren't you going to open it?" Rafe asked gently, wondering why she was hesitating.

"I know what it is." She whispered. Marina took a deep breath and flipped the box lid open. Her eyes misted.

That wasn't the reaction he had expected. "Marina?" He looked from her to the box. "What's the matter?" Her lips trembled. She sniffed. Rafe delved into a pocket, and retrieved his handkerchief, which he handed to her. Marina exchanged the box for the handkerchief. Rafe studied the signet ring that lay nestled on a claret presentation cloth. He looked back at Marina. There was a blend of sadness and happiness in her eyes. The ring had significance. He did not push. She would tell him, in her own time. Marina used his handkerchief to wipe at her tears, hoping that her waterproof mascara did its job, because the last thing she wanted to happen was for her to arrive at the hotel they were staying at overnight, looking like a panda.

She exhaled a couple of times. Trust her sisters. And no doubt her grandmother.

"That's my dad's ring." Marina whispered seconds later, her voice husky with emotion. Rafe looked at the ring with some measure of growing understanding. She sniffed. "We sold it." She looked over at him, "You know, back when we needed the money." She whispered, not sure just how much their chauffeur could hear. With her eyes on his she mumbled, "I was heartbroken when we sold it. But Belle said we had to. So we did."

Rafe understood her tears. Obviously this ring was a family prize possession that had had to be sold at that difficult time. He would give her sisters and grandmother a big hug when he saw them. They had found a way to retrieve her father's ring. A ring that meant a great deal to Marina given her reaction to having it returned to her.

"I wonder how they managed to get it back." Marina frowned. It was nearly a decade ago that the ring had been sold. "It can't have been easy to find, or get it back. How did they do it?" She looked over at the ring, and kept shaking her head in wonder. She knew she had wonder women for sisters, but this was exceptional!

"They know it meant a lot to you. I guess they will have done everything they could to trace it and buy it back." He said, a matter of intuition. What he had come to see over the last few months was just how smart these women were. He'd only had a couple of weeks to get to know Georgiana. But he'd spent some time with Isabelle, Cara and Nan. And he knew that family was important to all three and that they would find a way to help each other no matter what. But he like Marina wondered how they'd been able to get the ring back. He could see, given it had this impact on Marina that the ring was of significance. No doubt her sisters had thought so too. That's what would have mattered to her family.

Marina's forefinger brushed over the simple gold signet ring, as memories of years gone by swept through her mind. This ring, amongst all the jewellery they had sold, had been the item to bring her to tears back then. Just as it was now. It had a lot of history.