Page 56 of Desire and Discipline
Where the barrel had come from and why they had been mucking about with it remained a mystery, as did the motives, if there were any. The Duke of Hereford was well known for being a reckless twit who had done many foolish things, but there was no indication he’d had anything to do with the accident. Evie and Anthony were already investigating the heirs in case one had thought to advance his position, and Oliver was doing his best not to overly involve himself in the mess, but of course, he could not keep his hand out entirely.
Though he would today.
“We do not care only because we are used to you.” Susannah chuckled as she shook her head at Amanda. As the oldest, she tended toward indulging Amanda as well, seeing her as the ‘baby.’ “It is rather wonderful, though, is it not? A marquess you nursed back to health, and now, he’s marrying you. It’s like something out of a fairy tale.”
A knock at the door had them all jumping.
“Come in,” Juliana called, stepping in front of Diana. Not that Oliver would be coming to her door right now for anything but an emergency, but Juliana was determined to protect her from bad luck. Susannah might be the oldest, but Juliana still took her duties as an oldersister seriously.
The door opened to reveal Josie, Evie’s cousin by marriage. Dressed in a pink gown with pale yellow trim, the beautiful blonde beamed at all of them.
“Are you ready to go?” she asked as she met Diana’s gaze. “The carriage is ready.”
Was she ready? Ready for everything being a marchioness demanded?
She had spent the last two months learning. From Evie, who had made a study of thetonand could blend seamlessly into any group. From Josie, who had been training to be a future marchioness from the moment she’d married Evie’s cousin, Elijah. From Lily, Evie’s friend who had been thrust into the position of countess not long after her wedding. And from their last friend, Mary, who had also married a marquess. All of them, as well as Oliver’s daughter-in-law, Priscilla, had been enthusiastically supportive of their union and jumped in to help.
She was still not sure she was ready for the position. She was not sure she ever would be.
But was she ready to be Oliver’s wife? To spend her days and nights with him, to bring each other pleasure, to bicker with him for the rest of their lives?
“Yes,” she said. She could not have the man without the position, and while she might never feel ready for the position, she was certainly not going to miss out on a life with the man just because of that. “I am ready.”
Her father was waiting in the front hall, and when he saw her descending the stairs in her cream and gold wedding dress, his hand went to his heart, and his eyes filled with tears. Diana could not help but smile. Both of her parents were so overwhelmed by everything, especially as they had not expected her to ever marry. They were so happy to seeherhappily settled.
Her father’s reaction was mimicked by Oliver not an hour later as her father walked her down the aisle.
The Marquess stood at the end, waiting for her, his dark eyes suspiciously watery as she walked toward him on her father’s arm. Beside him was his eldest son, Elijah, serving as his best man, and then his other two sons, Joseph and Adam. They grinned at her. All of them, along with Evie, had immediately welcomed her to the family in such a way, she wondered if they had seen the writing on the wall long before she had.
“My Lady,” Oliver whispered when her father put her hand in his.
“My Lord,” she whispered back, making him chuckle.
The ceremony sped by in a blur. She could barely pay attention to anything other than Oliver. It felt like she blinked, then Father Nicholas was pronouncing them husband and wife. Oliver pulled her in for a brief but intensely sweet kiss.
Thankfully, their wedding was not a huge affair, which meant their wedding breakfast was not overly crowded. Most of Society had left London at the end of the Season, leaving only the political movers and shakers, of which they did have to invite a few. The shocking news about the dukes had emptied the city further, some for mourning and some who seemed to feel a need to check on their own estates after such a shocking event.
None of that was allowed to pall the festivities today. All the wedding guests fit around the huge dining room table at Camden House once it was fully let out. Since it was a more intimate gathering, they eschewed formality. Rather than sitting at opposite ends of the table, she sat at Oliver’s right hand while Elijah and Josie presided over the other end.
She did keep her eye on Lady Cross, who was seated not far from Joseph and Priscilla. That situation seemed to have resolved itself nicely with Lady Cross serving as mentor to Priscilla and the couple becoming closer rather than driving them apart… but Diana wanted to make sure. It was only because she was watching the lady that she realized she seemed to be unnerved by the man on her right.
Diana had met him in the receiving line after the ceremony—she knew most of the guests but not all of them.
He was a friend of Oliver’s. One who traveled a great deal for business. She suspected he did more than business on his trips and likely returned with a great deal of information for Oliver. Mr. Samuel North, that was it. Wealthy, respected, but not nobility. He’d been perfectly charming during their introduction, but something about him was disconcerting Lady Cross.
Leaning over, Diana crooked her finger at Oliver, who obligingly leaned toward her, causing Amanda to sigh with stars in her eyes. She probably thought they were murmuring sweet nothings in each other’s ears, not realizing that she was asking her new husband for gossip. Ah, well, she would not ruin her sister’s fantasies.
“Is there something the matter between Mr. North and Lady Cross?”
His gaze shot to the couple before he looked away, so as not to be obvious what they were talking about. He coughed, though it sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
“Ah… well. Samuel was one of her suitors before she became Lady Cross,” he replied in a low voice. Diana’s eyes widened. “Rumor has it, he was the one she loved, but her parents insisted that she marry Lord Cross. Samuel was not so wealthy then, and they did not look favorably on him being in business rather than being a lord.”
Which did not make them so different from the rest of theton, no matter that quite a few families lived in genteel poverty. They had the titles but not the funds. Over the years, more and more marriages had been made to cross the bridge, but those unions were never received as well. Thetonwas slowly being forced to dabble in business as well, but they did their best not to discuss such gauche matters. Diana shook her head.
“Poor Lady Cross,” she murmured. Married to a man she did not love because her parents cared more about their position than her happiness. Once again, she was reminded how blessed she had been with her own parents. They had supported the choices she and her sisters made, even though her own choice had been wildly different from what young ladies were ‘supposed’ to do.
On the other hand, here she was, now married to a marquess.
