Page 371 of From Rakes to Riches

Louisa put an arm around her. “It’s normal to be nervous, dear.”

“It’s not normal to be frightened,” Meriel said. “You don’t have to go through with this, Vic. We’ll tell him you changed your mind.”

“No.” Victoria gently pushed Louisa away and stood on her own. “I’m fine. I know him; I trust him.”

“You know his lies,” Meriel pointed out.

Victoria stared at her and softly asked, “Why are you saying these things?”

Meriel bit her lip, such a familiar gesture in their family. “Because I feel terribly guilty that you were driven to something that you never wanted in the first place. It’s not right.”

“But it feels right,” Victoria insisted, more for her own benefit than her sisters’. “It is as if…God gave him to me for a reason. I’m not fleeing. Mama is already inside.”

“But—” Meriel began.

“Hush,” Louisa said, her hand on Meriel’s arm. “Her decision is made. Are you ready, Victoria?”

“I’m ready. Do I look suitable?”

Victoria wore a cream-colored gown draped with lovely bridal lace. The color managed to make her hair look more vivid than it normally did, and hide the paleness of her skin.

“You look beautiful,” Louisa whispered.

Victoria squeezed their hands. “Thank you. Now you both go on ahead.”

They opened the inner doors to the church and walked down the aisle. Lord Thurlow didn’t smile, but he studied her in a way that could not be termed dismissive. She had noticed that hedidn’t seem to mind looking at her, and it made her feel rather…good.

The best man at his side, Lord Wade, gave a cheerful grin when he saw her sisters, and something inside Victoria relaxed the tiniest bit. Lord Wade seemed like a man who accepted life as it came to him, and didn’t worry overly much about anything. If he was a common example of theton, she should not be so anxious. There must be something good-natured about Lord Thurlow, to have such a happy friend.

And then it was her turn, and she walked up the aisle alone. She was the focus of every stare, few in number though they were. She’d once spent her whole life hiding from such notice, hugging the walls at long-ago parties, retreating for hours alone in the music room. But not anymore. She would be the wife of a viscount, and she would not embarrass him.

Her sisters looked determinedly cheerful, her mother worried. There was an older gentleman in a wheelchair who watched her with a scowl, and she knew that this must be the Earl of Banstead, Lord Thurlow’s father. He was thin, hunched, pale with the pallor of sickness, not looking like the inspiration for so much gossip.

And he was obviously angry about the wedding. Of course he disapproved—she brought nothing to the marriage but herself. She tried not to look at the old man, but his feelings were palpable, pressing in on her. She would be living in the same house with him.

The ceremony itself was brief and echoed strangely in the empty church. Victoria remembered little of the words; all she could do was stare into the impassive eyes of her betrothed—her husband.

Then it was done. He kissed her cheek, and she was married.

The two of them rode alone as husband and wife in Lord Thurlow’s enclosed carriage back to Banstead House. Victoriaheld her pink roses and stared blindly out the window, thinking about that simple kiss, and how inhaling the scent of him had actually been pleasurable.

He cleared his throat. “I am pleased that your sisters could attend.”

“So was I,” she said, glancing at him.

He was watching her with a look she couldn’t decipher. Was it…relief? That didn’t make sense.

“You’ll have to forgive my father,” he said. “He is an old man whose pain has clouded his thinking. It was wrong of him to display his unwarranted feelings.”

She would start out her marriage with as much honesty as she could. “My lord, he has every right to be angry. I am quite certain I am not the sort of woman he planned for his son to marry. Perhaps you kept me away from him deliberately?”

“Does that bother you?”

“It is understandable. Being told the truth up front would have helped.” She waited for a response, but he said nothing. “Did he try to talk you out of the marriage?”

“Yes.”

She winced. She had wanted honesty, after all.

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