Will dropped his lips down close to her ear. “You’re not.” He whispered. “I chose every single item you are wearing. Every. Single. One.”
Rose gasped as his lips suddenly kissed her ear through the veil.
“As for that dress,” his eyes roamed her half-open décolletage. “I wanted to be sure of a good view throughout.”
He brought his eyes up to capture hers as he stood before her with a huge grin.
“And not long from now,” he whispered to her, “I am going to enjoy removing every single stitch of what you are wearing.”
Then he pulled away from her, looked directly at the vicar, and said, “We are ready.”
Rose blushed deeply beneath the veil, but she was sure only he could see. His eyes were sparkling at her as he squeezed her hands repeatedly, and the vicar began to recount the words of the traditional marriage service. Rose was not following any of it. She only managed to say the right words at the right time when prompted. All she was thinking was,I’m marrying Will Browning, over and over again. And then Will lifted the veil from her face, and she heard the vicar say, “You may now kiss the bride.”
In front of all their loved ones and friends and Ernest Barrington, Will bent and seized Rose’s lips with his, letting his tongue run along the soft seam of her lip as he pressed her to him. Letting her go after a few seconds, as they turned to the beaming congregation, he whispered, “How long until we can get out of here?”
But there was no going anywhere for some time. Everybody wanted a piece of them. They were spun from person to person for hugs and kisses and declarations of congratulations.
Tara looked at Rose, spellbound, and kept saying, “Auntie Rosie is a princess.”
The Countess of Denbigh approached Rose and hugged her, saying, “Thank God that is over. I cannot take any more of this emotional cauldron.”
Rose looked at her curiously. “You don’t know how hard it can be to get men to understand something that is staring them in the face.”
“Oh, I do,” Rose laughed. “And I assume we are talking about the same man.”
They both turned to look at Will across the clearing, who was staring at them. He raised a quizzical eyebrow, and they laughed.
Maud Browning took Rose in her arms and then started crying. Grace rushed over to see what was wrong and admonished her mother. “Mama, you are going to ruin her dress.”
“I can’t help it,” Maud said. “If your father could see her now.”
Rose threw her arms around both of them. “We are back where we should be, and he will know that.”
* * *
Will had arranged a champagne reception next to the river.
John came up behind him, unnoticed, as he was sipping on a flute, and clapped him on the back. “You must be the luckiest devil that ever lived,” he said. “You have more lives than a cat.”
“Maybe,” Will agreed, smiling. “But I never want to push my luck like that again.”
“You know she is not nobility anymore,” John laughed. “You just demoted her.”
“I wouldn’t care if she was a scullery maid,” Will said, laughing. “All that would matter was she wasmyscullery maid.”
Will saw Ernest making his way towards them, holding something wrapped in brown paper. He smiled at John and handed the package to Will.
“What is this, Your Grace?”
“A wedding present, of course,” Ernest smiled.
Will began to tear at the paper. Inside, he found some sketching paper and a packet of sharpened pencils. Bemused, he looked at Ernest.
“You need to start drawing,” Ernest said with a wide grin. Will narrowed his eyes and shook his head slightly at Ernest.
“You need to design your new coat of arms!”
“Your Grace?” Will was completely overcome.