As they walked toward the entrance of Ardtara, Grace noticed that the entire entrance to the grand house was simple. A long drive with a green lawn and the house framed on each side with grand evergreen trees. Very stately. From research, she knew it only had nine luxurious ensuite bedrooms and the dining room was walled with rich wood wainscoting more than halfway up the tall walls. A huge skylight brought the evening light into the dining room to make it feel warm and cozy.
Quinn and Grace were welcomed as they entered the dining room. Grace was so busy taking in all the rich decor she hardly noticed anyone else in the room. It was a grand house, both inside and out. The ceiling to floor windows at the back of the dining room looked out onto the garden area. Pathways wound through the grounds for guests to stroll while they stayed at the county house.
The two were seated near the window and Quinn ordered a bottle of wine from the extensive wine list. It was a chenin blanc called Stormy Cape from South Africa. Grace didn't know that much about wines, but she knew what she liked and trusted Quinn to choose something that would compliment their meal. Their meal started with some cubed melon with strawberry and berry jus, and was followed by filet of Hake and seared scallops. Along with the fish was a wilted spinach, courgettes, pommes puree, with a lemon butter sauce. The meal was something that Grace would never have expected. It was delicious, but not over down with too many elaborate sauces, or additions.
Dessert was the perfect compliment to the meal. They both had the apple and cinnamon crumble with hot creme anglaise. Quinn seemed a bit uneasy as the dinner progressed. Conversation was general and not much more than Grace and Quinn had daily on the phone. Grace knew better than to ask more questions, as she knew there would be no answers. They did talk about the country house and it's decor being so different than the cottage. Grace mentioned a few things that she noticed at the country house where the cottage could be updated similarly and it would make the cottage look just a little more elegant.
After dinner Quinn guided Grace out to the garden in the back where they could walk some of the pathways and enjoy the landscape. The day had turned into early evening and the sky had a beautiful rose and blue colored glow. Summer would be over soon and before long the gray skies of winter would settle into this Northern Ireland county. As they walked along, again Quinn seemed to be unsettled, almost nervous, but Grace was so busy enjoying the landscape that she barely noticed. Along the pathway was a beautifully carved wooden bench where they stopped to sit for a bit. They sat close with Quinn's arm around Grace's shoulder.
“Grace, you know I care for you very much,” Quinn started nervously. “No, let me rephrase that, I love you very much. I've had plenty of time to think about things while I've been in Dublin and I've always come to the same conclusion.”
Grace was not sure what was to come, but she knew this was serious and decided not to interrupt Quinn. All kinds of worries were flying through her mind, most of them starting with “what if”.
Driving up to Swatragh every weekend is just not going to work for me. I don't want to be that far away from you. I have a business to manage and need to work on expanding that business. It looks like I might have the opportunity to expand my business into the Swatragh area and still manage the office in Dublin remotely. I have made plenty of contacts while I was in Dublin to start this expansion and things are looking pretty good.” At this point Quinn's heart was pounding and he was at the point of no return.
Grace's emotions were all over the place now. Nervous herself, but cautiously ecstatic at the idea that Quinn might move to Swatragh.
Like all great scenes, Quinn reached into his pocket as he turned to look directly at Grace.
“Grace,” he started nervously, “I don't think I can do any of this without you.” As he opened the small box he had pulled from his pocket, the nervousness disappeared and Quinn finished his comment with, “Will you marry me?”
Grace was stunned. Happy could not express her emotions as she leaned over to Quinn and threw her arms around him. After a moment Quinn pulled her gently away.
“Well? I did ask a question,” he responded to Grace's excitement looking for an answer.
“Yes, why yes, of course I would love to marry you. And I love you too.” Grace could hardly believe this was all happening. And was in awe as Quinn place the engagement ring on her finger.
“I know that usually it takes months to plan a wedding and all the activities around it, but both you and I are busy people with businesses to run. You asked why I brought you here to Ardtara. Not that I would want to step over any plans you may have, but I thought this might be the perfect place to have our wedding and reception. Of course, if you want something different, that's fine,” Quinn finished.
“Have you chosen a date too?” Grace laughed as she listened to Quinn's plan.
“Oh, no, of course not, but a fall wedding would be perfect,” he smiled as he finished.
“Then a fall wedding it is,” Grace smiled back.
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