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Terryn knew very little about Marcus's grandfather; he had died when she was very young, before her mother and brothers even. She nodded in agreement, not wanting to broach any sort of uncomfortable subjects. "Well, I suppose in that way we are more important in such endeavors. We get to play the part of the quiet woman, men fall for our ploy whilst they plan and argue amongst themselves, and we reap the benefits." It didn't hit her until afterwards that she was speaking to her grandmother-in-law now. She seemed like just another shrewd woman that Terryn could relate to.

"And I daresay he will enjoy meeting you." The earl nodded as she turned the wine bottle to face the label towards Marcus. "This was made in the vineyards, as is everything I hold in my cellar apart from gifts." He smiled at the memory of the last trip he had taken to the vineyard. It was the past summer, and Terryn had learned a bit of Italian from Frederico's daughter. He figured that she knew more than he did now. "Frederico loves showing people around the vines. He takes an extreme sense of pride in them."

"Always ladylike..." Terryn nodded, though she had a slightly amused grin on her face. "I fear that Marcus might take fright if I began to act strictly ladylike, especially when alone. I daresay our conversations tend to make him believe that he is conversing with an intellectual comrade of his." She wondered, though, where this warning was coming from. Perhaps the old Duke Winters had been a man of less than reasonable moral standards? The Duchess surely was making it seem that way. "But of course, I will try my best. "

The earl nodded. "Oh, most certainly. He treats her like a second daughter whenever we are around. She and his daughter Francesca are as close to friends as I have seen Terryn act with anyone. They are both very intelligent, if not stubbornly willful." The earl chuckled with amusement as he recalled the time the two girls had allowed their fathers overhear them speaking about two males named Paolo and Gian Carlo that they were madly in love with. Turned out that they were the names they had given to the kittens Francesca's cat had just given birth to.

"My gown? Oh, yes." Terryn nodded, glad that at least she was leaving it up to her. "I would like to wear my mother's. The one I wore to the ball when Marcus and I met." She mused on this for a moment, a thought just now striking her. "Ummm, I was wondering, if this does not seem too forward. If you and my father were such close friends, and I know that I remember having met you before, why did you never introduce me to Marcus or his brothers before?" She had met plenty of young nobles as a child, but had any of them been the young Winters boys? She would have thought that her father would have mentioned it to her if that was the case.

Lord Arvin rather enjoyed this thought. "Well, I think that might be a rather fitting plan. The vineyard's castle is more than large enough for us all, and your grandmother needs to get out more often. All she does is sit there drinking tea and telling me how you are always off having escapades." He laughed quietly at this. "She just thinks it to be uncivilized, going about in coaches all over and getting road dust on her skirts. Says it is man's work." He shrugged. "You already know all that, though, I'm sure."

Terryn nodded. "I see. I suppose it was my own doing then." She wondered if their relationship would have been different if she had met Marcus at a younger age. Odds were that she would think of him more like a brother. She was glad that they had waited until growing up in that case. "Well I am glad for having been acquainted with him when I was."

The earl nodded. "Yes, before she married your grandfather she was always off on adventures with her father. I remember taking her with me sometimes as well. Of course, she and I were practically raised as brother and sister, or else I daresay her parents may have had something to say about it." He thought for a moment. "I believe she even met Frederico's father once."

Actually, it was. Terryn wanted desperately to tell her that, just to see the look on her face, but she wasn't about to let their secret slip. "Well, we did not quite expect it either. It...it was rather a surprise to both of us." A bit of color crept in to her cheeks. "I suppose that is the way love is some times..."

The earl nodded, hoping that perhaps they could make his old friend remember the way she used to be. "I know you may dislike to hear this, but I was never a fan of your grandfather. He pushed away the girl I regarded as my older sister and turned her into a cloyed little shell of a woman." He shook his head sadly. "That is one reason I never really minded Terryn's defiance when it came to marriage. I never wanted her to be changed that way." He looked to Marcus meaningfully. "You understand, right?"

Terryn looked away quickly, catching something unsettling about her mood. "Anyway, is there anything else that needs to be prearranged?" She figured that sticking to business would keep things much more comfortable.

"That is comforting to hear." The earl squinted as the sun began lowering to the point that it was in his eyes. "The hour grows late. I believe we should make it back to your home before the womenfolk get worried." He pushed himself to his feet, draining his cup of wine before shuffling off.

Terryn simply nodded, as she did not want to even think about being the one in charge of planning such things. The wedding band would not be too hard; after all, the local silversmith was an old (very old) friend of her father. One thing did stick her, though. "Clergy? We...well, we already have our marriage validated. This whole show was all just for my father and to satiate the rest of the families. Is it even legal to have two validated marriage certificates?" This wasn't her concern, of course, but she didn't want to tell the Duchess that she wasn't exactly a pious woman of the Church.

The earl sighed, nodding his agreement though there was a smile on his face. "That is true. But then again, where would we be if we had no women to worry about us?" Marcus came up quickly behind him (no surprise there) and he clapped his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "Of course, both Terryn and your grandmother are fearsome when they get worried. I used to fear for my own wellbeing whenever we were young and I was out with friends for a few nights. There were a few times I feared that your Gran would lock me away in the dungeon and not let me out again."

Well, at least she didn't have to worry about the Duchess finding out later on. Terryn wondered what sorts of other things her grandmother in law knew. She would learn eventually. "Well, I suppose...but are we going to need to conduct a large mass? I...I do not know if Marcus and I would want that."

The earl chuckled as he stepped back into the carriage, groaning a bit as his old knees creaked on the way in. "Everyone is mellow compared to her Grace the Duchess Emily Winters." He took his seat and relaxed, setting the wooden jewelry box at his side. He wanted to keep it on him for a little while. "Though she is even calm compared to the young Lady Emily of Avondale. I remember once when we were young, oh I must have been around eight and your grandmother was nearly sixteen, I was convinced that I was in love with her. I even made her an engagement ring of grass and flower stems. She was meeting a suitor that evening and my family was invited. When I heard what the young Baron we were meeting was supposed to be, I shoved him into the wine steward and proposed to her." He shook his head with a childish grin on his face. "Needless to say we never saw that suitor again and your grandmother actually tied me up in the stables, she was so angry."