But she kept this more cutting remark to herself.
Her father moved to push open the door, and Vanessa took a deep breath. This was it. Her wedding.
The door opened, and her father led her out onto the patio. Down below, the Duke of Thornfield stood in front of a wooden trellis. To his right stood Kingsley in his role as best man. And opposite them waited Lady Forthwell.
In the middle stood the Archbishop of Canterbury, who smiled benevolently at Vanessa as she walked with her father down the steps and up to the trellis.
“Lady Vanessa,” he said, bowing his head to her. “I am very glad to be here today. When His Grace told me of the love between the two of you, I was overjoyed to be able to grant a special license and marry the two of you today.”
Vanessa’s eyes flickered to the Duke’s. He was not looking at her but was fixated on the Archbishop.The love between the two of you.Well, that was a farce if she’d ever heard one.
“Thank you for accommodating us so quickly,” she forced herself to say, smiling tightly at the Archbishop.
“Anything for His Grace,” he said, nodding at the Duke. “Now, shall we get started?”
“Yes,” the Duke said, a little brusquely, and at last, his eyes met Vanessa’s. “Yes,” he said more gently, and she couldn’t help but notice the softness in his gaze. “It is time we were married.”
The Archbishop raised his bible and began to intone, “Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today, in the sight of God and these witnesses, to join together in holy matrimony this man and this woman…”
She and the Duke were facing each other now, and as Vanessa looked up into her soon-to-be-husband’s eyes, she could no longer hear what the Archbishop was saying. She had eyes and ears only for the Duke, whose expression was softening with every moment.
It wouldn’t be right to say that he looked warm and effusive, but there was something tender in the way his eyes focused on hers, in the set of his lips, and in the way he took her hand at one point during the ceremony.
It was as if he was telling her that she was safe now. And for the first time since he had announced his intention to marry her, she believed him.
At last, the Archbishop declared them husband and wife, and the three onlookers burst into a round of applause.
“Oh, how marvelous!” her mother cried.
“Ladies and gentlemen… the Duke and Duchess of Thornfield!” Kingsley said, throwing his hands up.
Vanessa laughed at this then smiled shyly at the Duke. He didn’t smile in return, but he did raise her hand and press his lips against it.
At once, she felt the kiss go through her, all the way from the back of her hand to her heart. She shivered, and she knew that he felt it. His eyes glittered for a moment, and Vanessa felt her stomach hitch.
She didn’t know exactly what it meant, but she did know one thing: there was something that drew her to the Duke, something that told her this was not going to be a marriage on paper only.
Chapter Eleven
“It will be a journey of several days to my estate outside of Lyme-Regis,” the Duke of Thornfield said as he sat down opposite her in the carriage.
Vanessa looked up, pulling her shawl more tightly around her shoulders. It was cold this early in the Season, and she hadn’t eaten much at the wedding breakfast. The whole experience had been far too surreal for her to be able to stomach food.
“I had not realized that was where we were to spend the honeymoon,” she said. “I had thought we would stay in London for a few days at least.”
“I am eager to be out of the city,” the Duke explained, looking away out the window. “There are certain elements in this city I wish to escape.”
“You mean Lord Langdon?” she asked cautiously.
“Lord Langdon among them,” the Duke said, still not looking at her. He reached up and thumped the top of the carriage, and it lurched forward. Vanessa took the moment to lean forward and look, one last time, at the townhouse where she had spent her childhood. Her parents stood on the doorstep, waving, and she waved back.
Neither of them, she noticed, had been able to summon tears, and she herself did not feel sad to be leaving their home. There were other emotions swirling inside of her—fear chief among them and even a flicker of excitement at the new life that awaited her—but she wasn’t sad.
“I know it must be hard to leave your childhood home,” the Duke said from across from her. When she glanced up at him, he was watching her closely, as if trying to gauge her emotions.
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I was just thinking the opposite, in fact: that I am not as sad as I expected myself to be. My life with my parents was not easy.”
“Why not?” he asked. Vanessa hesitated. His expression was not particularly welcoming of confidence, but he did sound curious.
