Page 107 of Enslaved to the Seduction of a Lady
Epilogue
Luke was shaking as Jenny helped tie his cravat. They had moved into Thomas’ townhouse almost immediately, and they had grown to love it. And then, barely a month later, he was to be married to the love of his life.
“Stay still,” Jenny said, laughing at Luke’s skittish nerves, “or this will never look right.”
“I’m so glad you’re both here,” he said, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “I think I’d be too nervous if I was on my own.”
“You have nothing to be nervous about,” Jenny said, her eyes trained on his neck.
“She’s right,” Thomas said. “You are marrying the woman you love more than anything in the world. You are becoming a gentleman in the truest sense. And everybody loves you! Even the Duke has grown rather fond of you, and in truth I had not thought that possible.”
“Er, thank you?” Luke said, throwing Thomas a quizzical look. Thomas snorted.
“Do you still not know when I am teasing you, Brother?”
No, I don’t.
“Yes,” Luke said, his cheeks coloring, “of course I do.”
“Boys,” Jenny said, eyeing them both. Then she tapped Luke on the chest and looked up at him. “There, all done.”
When Luke had returned to Mrs. White’s house to collect Jenny, she had at first been confused, but when he explained everything that had happened, she had been overjoyed.
Thomas had the both of them in rigorous training from that moment on—Luke in the world of business and lords, Jenny in how to be ladylike. Her speech was much improved, and she was beginning to read and write with fervor.
“My goodness,” Jenny said. “My brother, looking like a lord!”
Luke straightened up and softened as he looked at her, so kind and beautiful and insecure—even if she was not willing to admit it. Jenny and Alison had a long way to go before they became the sisters Luke hoped for, but he knew it would come, with time.
“Do not think of it as losing me,” Luke said. “Think of it as gaining Alison. We will be a family, the three of us in this house. And hopefully, soon, there will be a fourth.”
“You don’t think to takeanotherwife, do you, Luke?” Thomas asked, his lips twisted to stop himself from laughing.
“Not straight away,” Luke said, but then laughed. “Of course not! Alison is enough, plus whatever product of our love we create, of course.”
There was a knock on the door, and a footman called through.
“Mr and Miss Jones, Lord Denninson. The coach awaits.”
“This is it,” Luke said, a grin on his face.
“This is it,” Jenny repeated, their eyes met.
“All right,” Thomas said, standing directly between them. “Save the emotion for the church. Let’s go!”
And then, in a flurry of activity, they were out the door and into the coach, and it seemed that before he had even blinked, they were inside the church.
When the organist started playing, Luke’s breath caught.
She is here!
He put his hand behind him, not looking, but Jenny knew. She reached forward and squeezed his hand, a finalgood luck, andI love youbefore they began. Thomas leaned forward and whispered in his ear.
“It’s going to be wonderful.”
And then he heard the church doors open with a clatter, and he felt the light breeze that rushed in. He tried—oh, how he tried—not to look, to wait for her to reach his side before meeting her eye. But he couldn’t stop himself. He had to see her, his perfect wife-to-be.
She stood, a vision in white and ivory, her arm linked through her father’s as they paused at the top of the aisle. Everyone in the church had turned to look and the air was filled with murmuring appreciation.
