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“He said you wrote,” Chloe mused, remembering what Leo had told her of that day. “He left London as soon as your note arrived.”
“I am glad for it.” Arthur tapped her chin, urging her to raise her head a little. “This smile has been a long time coming, Chloe.”
“Thank you, Father,” she said and reached up to kiss him on the cheek.
“Come, let us get you to that church.” He waved a hand to the open-top phaeton carriage and held open the door for her. Taking her father’s hand, Chloe stepped up and into the carriage.
Behind her, Rosaline was there, fussing with the train of her gown and helping her up. The next person to follow was Maeve. As the two bridesmaids for the ceremony, the women kept rearranging Chloe’s skirt until it was perfect.
“Oh, Chloe! It is so beautiful,” Rosaline gushed, trailing her fingers over the skirt of the dress and the white lace. “I do not think I have ever seen a wedding gown quite like it.”
“I agree,” Maeve said from where she sat on Chloe’s other side. “Very beautiful.”
“Do you think Leo will like it?” Chloe asked, releasing one of her hands from her bouquet to lay it flat to the bodice of the gown.
“Do you even need ask?” Maeve said with a laugh and sat back on the bench behind her. “Besides, he would love you no matter what you wore!”
Chloe laughed too as she looked down at the gown. It was a dress she had worked on herself, most meticulously, and spent hours in the creation of it. Determined to keep it a secret from Leo until today, she had worked on it mostly at night, with candlelight alone to create the stitches.
The golden brocade across the bodice was embroidered with more golden thread, creating a repeating pattern of roses and flower stems. The threading was very detailed and had taken Chloe hours. The sleeves were capped short, with more golden lace, and the skirt was cream, overlaid with a chiffon-style, sheer covering. In the sunlight, it seemed to glow and glisten. Chloe smiled as she stared at it and fussed with the skirt.
The first design she had done for the dress was the night after Leo had asked her to marry him. He had nearly seen that design, walking up behind her as she had worked on the drawing in the sketchbook that he had gifted to her, she’d had to slam the sketchbook shut rather hurriedly in order to hide it from him.
Smiling at the memory, Chloe turned her eyes on the bridesmaids’ gowns. Both made of a soft pastel peach material, they shimmered in the sunlight.
Looking ahead, Chloe watched as the Duke hurried away from the house and into another carriage at the front. Having left Nathan at the house, he was rushing to the chapel, to take his place as best man.
“How are we doing for time?” Chloe asked as her father stepped into the carriage and took his place opposite her.
“We are fine for time,” Arthur assured her. “Even if we were late, I do not imagine Lord Felton would be in a rush to leave the church.”
Chloe smiled at his words and sat back. Her friends must have sensed her nerves for Maeve took one of Chloe’s hands and linked their fingers together, and Rosaline patted the wrist of Chloe’s hand that clung to the bouquet.
“Are you ready, Chloe?” Arthur asked, gesturing forward.
“I’m ready.” Chloe nodded so eagerly that Maeve and Rosaline laughed on either side of her.
“Driver? Drive on!” Arthur called to the man in the driving seat. Within seconds, the carriage pulled forward away from Maeve’s house and through the grounds.
“Thank you for this, Maeve,” Chloe said to her friend. “I cannot tell you how shocked Leo and I were when you and the Duke offered to host the wedding.”
“Our pleasure!” Maeve declared with eagerness. “You should have seen Benjamin and I when he first suggested the idea. I believe I started dancing around the sitting room at the suggestion, prompting Benjamin to laugh rather loudly. Nathan thought it was a game and copied me.”
Chloe laughed at the idea, for she could picture it perfectly.
“You are my dearest friend, Chloe,” Maeve said, squeezing her hand. “And now we are to be sisters.” Her words made Chloe’s smile grow wider. “What better way is there to welcome you into the family?”
“You are so kind to me,” Chloe whispered. They leaned against one another, bumping shoulders as they had so often done over the years.
“It would have amused me to know when we first met and were so young that you would one day marry my brother, though,” Maeve added after a minute of silence. “I cannot believe I never saw the signs.”
“Ha! How often has the Duke teased you about this?” Chloe asked.
“Too much.” Maeve looked to the heavens, as if pleading with God himself for help with the words. “He thinks me quite blind.”
“Did you really never wonder?” Chloe asked, curious to hear the answer.
“Well, there was a moment, once.” Maeve returned her gaze to Chloe. “Some time ago, when Benjamin and I were courting. I remember watching the two of you together and thinking there was something in the dynamic between you that had changed, but then . . . I half wondered if it was in my imagination.”
