Gerard wasted no time as he quickly made his way to the garden. The sight of her figure sitting stole his breath away, and he waited for a bit, just watching her.
“You know, where I was, I would stare at the sky every night and wonder if we were seeing the same stars.”
Ellen jumped at the sound of his voice and jumped up to hug him. “Gerard! You are back!”
“There was no doubt about that, Diamond; I could not let you get married all by yourself.” Ellen laughed at that. “How are you? Did you get my letters? How was the journey?”
“One at a time, Diamond, I am back now, and we have all the time in the world.”
“Oh, Gerard! I have missed you so much.”
“As have I; as have I. Come now, let us go inside. We have a wedding to finalize.”
“You still have not answered my questions.”
“I am tired, and I do need a bath. I got all your letters, they quite touched me, and the journey back was smooth.”
“Oh, Gerard!”
“Tell me everything you have been doing; I want to hear it all. How is that dress you finally selected?”
Gerard held Ellen’s hand as they walked back to the Manor, and Ellen chattered excitedly about all the plans for the wedding she had put in place.
“We decided that it would be a joint wedding; Marjorie and I want to get married on the same day.”
Gerard looked at her with amusement. “We could work something out.”
“Oh, Gerard, I was afraid you would not like the idea, and you would say no.”
“As long as I am marrying you, every other thing is fine by me.”
“I love you.”
“You have no idea how much I love you, Diamond. No idea at all.”
“Lucky for you, we have all the time in the world for you to show me just how much.”
As Gerard leaned in for a kiss, he murmured, “Now, that can be arranged.”
ChapterEighteen
The birds were chirping loudly, and the sun was shining. The wedding bells were heard far and sundry around London. It was the wedding day of the Duke of Grant and Lady Marjorie Conolly and The Earl of Ridlington and Lady Ellen Bamber.
The wedding started early with the choir singing. The church where the service was to be held was filled to the brim with high dignitaries and members of theton. It was the wedding of London, and they had spared no expense. The Countess of Bath moved around, checking to be certain that everything was in place, and the wedding was proceeding accordingly.
Ellen Bamber sighed. She was in her chamber, looking down below to see how busy everyone was. For a moment, she felt instant panic, and she wished her mother was here to reassure her. She swallowed tears. She had never thought that her mother would not be there to watch her wed. Since her mother moved to the Dowager House, they had not seen or heard from her. As her lady’s maid adjusted her gown, she looked at her reflection and was pleased with her choice. With a lace covering and a square-cut neckline with a size that fitted her figure, she knew that she looked beautiful in it and could not wait for Gerard to see her. She sighed again and then stood next to the window, wondering what Marjorie and the rest were doing—if they were as anxious as she was.
She had barely finished when the Dowager Countess came in. “My Lady.” Ellen curtsied, but the Dowager Countess held her up.
“I would not have wanted anyone else than you for my grandchild.”
Ellen nodded. She had been warned not to cry so as not to ruin her makeup, and she wondered how she was going to succeed with that, seeing as the wedding day had hardly begun, and she was like this. She kept on nodding as the Countess was talking.
“I want you to take good care of yourself. Take care of yourself first so that you can know how to take care of him. Take good care of each other.”
“I deeply appreciate your kind words, My Lady. You don’t know how much they mean to me now. I assure you that we will do that for each other.”
“I never doubted you for a second. Now, I am here to give you something Gerard probably forgot was in my possession.”
