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Mrs. Whittaker sighed wistfully. “All is well, girl. All ye’ve to worry about is gettin’ down the aisle to His Lordship. There’re soldiers all about the place to keep yer safe—honestly, ye’d think it were a queen’s weddin’ or somethin’.”
“Thank you for everything you’ve done.” Rose smiled at the housekeeper. “I know you didn’t approve, to begin with, and perhaps you still don’t, but I’m still grateful for the preparations you’ve made.”
Mrs. Whittaker walked to Rose and placed her hands on the younger woman’s shoulders. “If yer to be the new Ladyship, then I’ve to treat yer like yer already are. Ye’re right, I didn’t think it were right, but… I’ve seen the way His Lordship lights up around yer, and that’s worth swallowin’ me own pride for. I’ve not seen him like that since he were a child. If yer the one he loves, and yer love him in kind, who am I to stick me nose in where it ain’t wanted, eh?”
“That means a lot, Mrs. Whittaker.” Rose dipped her chin to her chest, overcome with emotion for what the day would hold.
“Ah, don’t think nothin’ of it.” She took the dress down from its hanger and smiled. “Now, what do yer say we transform yer into a bride worthy of bein’ a Countess?”
Rose chuckled. “I think that would take longer than a few hours, Mrs. Whittaker.”
“Nonsense,” the housekeeper protested. “To me, yer already look like Her Ladyship.”
* * *
A few hours later, Dorian waited anxiously at the altar for his bride. Hudson stood at his side, doing his best to calm the groom down, but Dorian knew he would not feel any serenity until Rose was here beside him, and they were saying their vows to one another. Only then would he permit himself to feel happy. Only then would he permit himself to revel in the joy of the day.
Everyone is smiling. I did not expect that.He observed the congregation, made up solely of staff and felt his heart warm at the sight of their enthusiasm. Had he chosen to marry Rose in London, with other members of the peerage present, he knew it would be a much dourer affair. But it appeared that, despite their thirst for gossip, the household was pleased to see their master getting married, at long last.
Just then, the organ began to play, and the congregation rose; the rustle of fabric the only sound that could be heard above the music, as Dorian waited breathlessly for Rose to make her entrance.
Let me see you. Just let me see you, and I will be able to breathe easily again.The chapel doors opened, and Rose stepped through, bathed in golden sunlight from the world beyond.
“My goodness,” he whispered, for he had never seen a more angelic vision as she moved toward him, no father at her side to hand her to him.
A long, white skirt of gleaming silk moved like pooling liquid along the aisle, while a gauzy veil covered her face and intricate lace capped her sleeves. He noticed tiny daisies and cow parsley and a few discreet flashes of minute blue cornflowers, embroidered across the bodice of her dress, and smiled for the first time that day. For she had brought the meadow with her, thus chasing away all of those bad memories of the rider and the blade.
“Is it too late to ask if I may marry her in your stead?” Hudson whispered. “She looks… radiant, Captain.”
Dorian grinned. “She does, does she not? And yes, it is much too late, for she will soon be my wife, and I shall be the happiest gentleman in all of England.”
Even the congregation seemed enraptured by her, most of the women clasping their hands together in delight as they saw her, while the men clutched their caps and hats and their eyes twinkled with collective envy. A few of the laundry maids were weeping happy tears, and Dorian could tell that Rose was smiling beneath her veil. Her entire demeanor looked joyful.
Before long, she was standing before him, and the priest took his place to begin the ceremony. Too excited to resist, Dorian reached out and took her hands in his, giving them a reassuring squeeze. His heart grew to twice the size as she squeezed them back, her touch sending a swell of euphoria through him.
I am already the happiest man in all of England, perhaps the world, because of you, my doe…With her here, in front of him, he knew there was nothing in this universe that could dampen his happiness.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, in the sight of God, to celebrate the union between—” The priest had only just begun, when the chapel doors exploded open, and a hooded figure marched in and stormed toward the altar. Dorian span around in alarm, already reaching for the concealed blade beneath his sleeve, with Hudson jumping in to raise his fists when the figure threw back his hood.
Dorian froze, for though the gentleman’s face had aged, and his formerly dark hair was now salted with whitish-gray, he was unmistakable. After all these years, a ghost from his past had finally come back to seek vengeance. A ghost he had thought to be gone from England’s shores for good.
And suddenly, it all made sense: the attack, the letter, the watcher in the woodland. This old friend turned enemy had come for his pound of flesh, at last.
