Page 69 of An Unbending Lady for the Desperate Earl
“Neither did you, untilhecame along. I’m starting to wish he never had.” Benedict grinned, to show he did not mean it. “If I see any of that kissing nonsense in my office, I may have to kick you out.”
Victoria chuckled. “I promise, never in your office.” She turned to Christian. “Come on then, husband-to-be—let us return to London.”
She pulled herself up onto his horse, and he got up behind her. His arms slid around her so he could pick up the reins, and she leant back against his chest, enjoying the solidity of him. And, in truth, the mere joy of his presence. This was precisely where she wanted to be.
As Christian turned the horse around, and headed toward home, she found herself thinking of the events that had led her to this unexpected bliss. So many moments that, if they had turned out differently, would have prevented this from occurring. She hated that women had suffered, and that fear had been spread across high society, but she could not deny how glad she was that it had allowed her to find Christian.
Maybe, after all the good she had done in London, she had finally been granted a reward. One she had never asked for, nor anticipated, but one she was all too happy to receive, nonetheless.
I love, and I am loved… and that has to be worth the hardship and loss I have endured.
As they trotted along the forest road, her eyes gazed out toward the trees. A rustle nearby attracted her attention. A second later, a rabbit darted out from the undergrowth and scampered across the path. And yet, she wondered what had disturbed it. Was her father watching her, at that very moment, knowing it would be the last time he set eyes on her?
I love you, Papa. I hope you find peace. And I hope, in time, you will forgive me.
Only then would her joy come full circle.
Epilogue
Christian waited anxiously at the altar, glancing back over his shoulder to observe the congregation. Four months had passed since they had left the farmhouse behind them, and the world had been restored to a sense of normalcy. The arrested miscreants had all been sent to trial, after Victoria had interviewed them, and they had all been given satisfactory sentences.
Although, the mystery of who the mastermind was continued to be just that—a mystery, likely never to be solved. Whoever he was, his minions hadn’t given up his name. Perhaps, because they had not known it. Either way, there had been no further kidnappings, and society had started to recover from the chaos that had threatened their way of life.
Just then, the organ began to play, reminding him of why he was here. Everyone stood and turned as a delicate figure in white entered the church. Benedict walked beside her. As her surrogate father, he had taken on the honor of giving Victoria away. And he couldn’t have looked more pleased. In fact, Christian almost thought he saw tears in the gruff man’s eyes.
A whisper of awe made its way through the church as Victoria made her way toward him. She was a vision, angelic and radiant, as she had been the first night he had seen her in finery. She walked elegantly down the center aisle in a gown of white silk and cream lace, which accentuated her shape. Honestly, she took his breath away. But then, she took his breath away every day, even in her plain garments and that cloak that she had not been able to relinquish.
As she drew closer, coming to stand in front of him, he had to resist the urge to lift her veil and kiss her there and then. Benedict would have frowned upon it, and he didn’t want to incite his somewhat father-in-law’s ire.
“You look beautiful,” he whispered.
“I feel like a clown,” she whispered back, chuckling. “I can hardly walk!”
He smiled. “Then I shall carry you.”
“You will do no such thing,” she protested, though the shake of her shoulders told him she was amused.
The reverend began to speak, and the congregation sat, but Christian barely listened to a word that was being said. He couldn’t distract himself from his bride, not even for a moment. It took all the concentration he had, to speak the vows when he was instructed, until the service was complete, and they had been bound together in holy matrimony. Truly, Christian almost missed the part where they were pronounced man and wife, for he was in the midst of grinning like an idiot.
“You may look upon your wife,” the reverend urged, with a knowing smile.
Christian lifted the edges of her veil and grinned with pride and joy. “There you are.”
“Who else did you expect? Helena?” she replied, chuckling. She and Helena had become firm friends since their return from the farmhouse, much to Christian’s chagrin. Each time he entered a room where they were both present, they giggled at his expense, and Helena seemed to delight in regaling Victoria with tales of his childhood, and every misdemeanor he had ever endured.
“Very funny,” he chided.
“I am only teasing.”
He smiled. “I know. I should not have expected you to beentirelyserious, even today.”
“Ah, you know me all too well, my love.”
He tilted her chin up gently. “You are my love, Victoria. And I love you, with all my heart.”
“As I love you.”
Together, they walked the length of the aisle to the rapturous applause of the congregation. Stepping through the door of the church, they paused in the cool Autumn air, letting the breeze nip at their cheeks. It was the perfect Autumn day, with the sky clear but cold, and the sun shining brightly, but without the balmy heat of the Summer. The trees surrounding them were filled with bronzed leaves, turned red and orange and russet in the changing of the season. A few fluttered down, loosened by the wind.
