Elliot glanced at Harrison, knowing he wouldn’t dare kiss his new wife in such a way in front of witnesses, so he opted for something else instead. He lifted Ophelia’s hand to his lips and kissed the back. She smiled a little, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“The ceremony is complete.” The priest smiled and stepped back.
Elliot stood woodenly for a second, scarcely able to believe it was done.
In so simple a morning, have my monetary woes gone? Will Grace and I be safe again?
“Margery, is the solicitor here yet?” Ophelia asked, turning to her friend. Margery pointed to the door where the two solicitors stood, waving documents in the air to show they had made all the arrangements. “Good, then would you give my solicitor this letter, please? Ask him to deliver it to Gertrude.”
As Miss Blakely hurried off, Elliot looked at his wife, noting the way she was chewing her lip with nerves.
“What is in the letter?” he asked.
“My goodbye to her. It explains what I have done and why. I am rather glad I will not be there when she has to read it. I imagine there would be fireworks, and maybe a pot of tea knocked over,” she jested, attempting to smile but it still didn’t last long.
Is she worried about what we have just done?
Elliot felt an urge to comfort her and offered her his arm.
“Shall I take you to your new home, Ophelia?”
This time, when she smiled, it seemed genuine.
Chapter 10
“Well, that was…” Elliot struggled for the words as he and Ophelia sat in the carriage. They waved goodbye to their friends as the carriage pulled away from St Catherine’s church.
“Strange?” Ophelia offered as she turned to face him.
“It’s almost not enough of a word.” Elliot shook his head.
“How about quiet, awkward and rushed?” she tried with a smirk.
“Yes, they would all do.”
At his words, they laughed together. It was a freeing moment, as if the shackles of awkwardness that had laid over them in the church had been dispelled. Deciding he did not want there to be a distance between him and his wife, Elliot crossed the carriage and sat beside her.
“Are you happy with what we have done?” He needed to hear the words, to be sure of it.
“I am.” She nodded. “It is a good decision. True, we may not know each other all that well…”
“We have time to know each other now.” He took her hand, thinking it would be a way to comfort her, but what he hadn’t expected was that spark that passed between them again. Ophelia clearly felt it too, for she gasped as she looked down at that touch. “We both have time to explore this feeling, as well.”
“With more touches? More kisses?” Ophelia asked, that mischievous smile still in place.
Oh, she is tempting.
Elliot leaned toward her, finding he couldn’t resist.
“Perhaps.” He hovered his lips over hers, seconds away from taking that kiss.
“When he suggested we kiss in the church, you only kissed my hand,” she reminded him with narrowed eyes.
“I see that upset you.”
“Upset? No… well, maybe a little.”
“I could hardly kiss you as I kissed you the other night, could I? Not in a house of God.” He shook his head a little, then returned to hovering his lips over hers. There was a tension in the air, filled with this need to press his mouth to hers. “And if I had kissed you at all, it would have probably gotten out of hand.”