“Clyde.”
The single word was softly spoken from the balcony above, and they all looked up. Vera Magruder stood on the balcony and had heard the entire conversation.
“We have discussed this,” Vera said tightly. Her face was stiff, and it was impossible to judge her mood, but her words were a quiet order directed at her husband.
A pause stretched as Clyde stared up at his wife, some form of unspoken communication flying between them. At last he turned to Luke, his face still hard.
“My wife thinks you proved yourself by staying in jail instead of betraying Marianne. She thinks Marianne can depend on you, but I don’t. I think you’re only in this to score another point by winning my daughter away from me.”
“Give him a chance to speak,” Vera ordered from the top of the staircase, and she turned her attention to Luke. “Continue.”
Hope took root as he spoke directly to Vera. “Marianne can depend on me to stand by her side, even when times are difficult. I will work to rein in the animosity within my family. I want to look forward, never back.”
He turned his attention to Clyde, searching for the words to undo three generations of hostility, but those magic words didn’t exist. He reached into his heart and simply told the truth. “The past can’t be changed, but I am willing to walk away from it. Trying to settle old scores with new malice is a losing proposition for all of us. I love Marianne. I won’t keep battling your family, even if a marriage between me and Marianne never happens. It’s over. You’ve won.”
Clyde’s eyes narrowed, his face turning speculative. Marianne was shaking in her boots beside him, and Luke felt just as helpless, but the ball was now in Clyde’s court.
Clyde broke his challenging stare to glance up at his wife on the balcony, then to Marianne, then to Luke.
“I haven’t always been the best or most honorable of husbands,” he finally said. “But I want better for my daughter. I am selfish enough to demand more in a son-in-law than I have delivered in my past.”
Luke’s heart pounded hard, and it was a struggle to control his breathing. Was Clyde about to bend? The pitiless look on his face was as cold as always, but there was no mistaking his words.
Clyde looked at Marianne. “Is he the one you want?”
She nodded.
“Why?” Clyde demanded.
Everyone in the room, including the laborers, turned to listen to her. She swallowed hard and began.
“He’s made me want to be a better person,” she whispered. “A better Christian, a better daughter. He’s the one who insisted we come back to ask your permission when all I wanted was to run away to San Francisco. Papa, when I’m with Luke, I have the courage to do anything, even when it isn’t easy. I think the family and the future I can build with him will be hard and challenging and full of joy. I couldn’t ask for more.”
Luke’s heart felt like it would burst. If Clyde wasn’t standing five feet away he’d scoop Marianne off her feet and whirl her in circles.
Clyde still wasn’t looking at him. His mouth was downturned as he watched Marianne carefully. “This isn’t going to be easy,” he warned. “Your grandfather will snarl and fight. Andrew and Delia will be even worse. But you have my blessing.”
He extended his hand to Luke. The relief crashing through Luke made it hard even to return the handshake. Clyde’s face was full of skepticism and annoyance, but also a hint of respect.
They could build on that.
Thirty-Six
FOUR YEARS LATER
“We survived,” Marianne said to Luke in happy exhaustion as the train arrived back in Washington, DC. Visiting her family in Baltimore was always a challenge, but their four-day sojourn had gone well.
The goal had been to take a new set of family photographs, now that Tommy was openly recognized by her parents. Bringing Tommy into the family had been the last straw for Andrew and Delia, who moved to Atlanta. Marianne missed Sam terribly, but the move was probably best for everyone concerned. Andrew had never truly been forgiven for his role in exposing Marianne’s illegitimacy. All hope of Clyde ever returning to Congress was lost when news of Tommy’s birth became public, but Vera came through the firestorm with flying colors. She welcomed Tommy into her home for regular visits, even though it hadn’t been easy.
Respect, humility, and forgiveness were the bywords she and Luke had lived by in dealing with her family, and at last it was beginning to bear fruit. Luke would never be bosom buddies with Clyde, but things had gotten easier since Marianne and Luke’s daughter was born five months ago. Clyde doted on his first granddaughter, and little Rosie was a perfect topic for Clyde and Luke to chat about during these family reunions. They were now able to be cordial with one another, and it was enough.
Rosie currently slumbered in her basket on the floor of the train compartment. Marianne glanced out the window at the station platform, eager to find a carriage and get home, but her gaze snagged on a familiar figure among the bystanders.
“I wonder why Gray is here,” she said.
Luke ducked to peer through the window. “I have no idea,” he replied, a hint of concern in his voice. Gray wasn’t the sentimental sort who took off work to meet a train, so it was a little worrisome. Luke draped the slumbering Rosie over his shoulder, leaving the baby basket and their luggage for the porter to unload.
Marianne’s concern eased as Gray smiled in greeting when they reached the platform. “Back in one piece, I see,” he said, shaking Luke’s hand.
“To my horror, little Tommy now looks up to me like a big brother,” Luke said. “The prospect is terrifying. I’m not sure I’m up to the responsibility.”
Gray never tired of teasing Luke for his reluctant evolution into a responsible uncle and father. Gray and his wife now had three children under the age of four, and Caroline had a son the same age as Rosie. Caroline and Luke still seemed to be going through all the major stages of life in tandem. They got married in the same year, and their first children were born within a day of each other.
Gray led them to a waiting carriage and held the door for them. “Caroline is throwing an impromptu party, and I was ordered to bring the two of you straight to her house. I hope you aren’t too tired. A nanny has been hired to look after all the children, and Caroline will have my head if you don’t come.”
“What a shock, Caroline is throwing a party,” Luke teased. “What’s the occasion this time?”
Gray clapped him on the shoulder. “It’s a surprise. But don’t worry, you’ll like this one.”
“Do we need to go home and change?” Marianne asked. One never knew what to expect with Caroline. She threw charity galas and formal parties all the time but was equally comfortable hosting a summer picnic on the grass.
“Come as you are,” Gray said. “People are already gathering, and we shouldn’t be late.”
Luke wasn’t happy about the diversion. “The elm trees were planted on the National Mall while I was gone,” he said. “Four hundred American elms lining the park from the Capitol to the Washington Monument. I wanted to see them.”
“I’ve seen them,” Gray said. “They look like twigs.”