Buried Jewellery Box. Reseda Shaykhnurova

milord.”

      “See, what you have done?” Ralph snapped at his sister. “You could not keep your mouth shut!”

      “I am sorry, Father!”

      “Everything will calm down, dear, do not worry. You and your brother should go to bed now.”

      Melody sullenly walked up the stairs. Her brother followed her.

      “They would have found out soon anyway Ralph,” she said, going up to her room. “Georgia wrote me. She had heard how George boasted about that to his blacksmith when they were harnessing his horse.”

      The young man did not reply, just slipped into his bedroom and locked the door.

      In the morning, he gave his consent to the marriage. The newlyweds’ preparation work began. It took the two families a whole month to select wedding styles and fabrics, the chapel and the priest, as well as the venue of the festivities. Georgia and Melody did not participate in the debates, preferring each other’s company, away from the bustle.

      They liked to be alone in the beautiful garden of Melshem Hall, fenced by brick walls and stone fences, overgrown with creeping roses and other flowers. Approaching the bower, the girls swept the flowerbeds with lavender and rosemary with their fluffy skirts, rising plume of fragrance. Miss Melshem attended some flowerbeds with irises and peonies herself. The farther flowerbeds with white and red petunias belonged to her mother. The young ladies enthusiastically shared their secrets and plans.