Page 84 of The Duke's Carriage Window
Then it was gone, and he was drifting back to sleep knowing that his future with Meredith was just as glorious as the dawn.
19
One month later...
Meredith held a bouquet full of Hundred-Leaved roses, their soft pink hue contrasting sweetly with the bright green satin of her wedding gown. She lifted up the roses to inhale their scent and smiled. Warren had said that Darius chose those flowers because they meant sincere love.
Tucked amongst the roses were apple blossoms, which meant he preferred her above all others, and red tulips, which meant he declared his love. Learning the language of flowers had captivated her. She remembered the look on Darius’s face when he had been forced to carry one of the bouquets of her suitors and smothered a giggle.
She took one final moment to check her appearance in the wall mirror of the drawing room. She’d had the modiste design her gown with a beautiful shade of emerald silk that matched the stems of the flowers in Darius’s garden.
“Are you ready?” Warren asked. He waited with her in the drawing room while Darius and the guests had gone outside to the gardens.
“Yes.” She smiled up at Warren. “You are so sweet to give me away.”
“I am delighted by the honor.” He winked at her. “Though I almost had to duel Felix for the chance. He wanted to give you away as well.”
Someone knocked on the drawing room door and Warren called for them to enter. Meredith expected it to be Mr. Chelsea to inform them the ceremony was about to begin, but she gasped at the sight of Prince George standing in the doorway, bedecked in his finest clothes.
“Mr. Burville, I understand you’ve been looking forward to this moment, but would you allow me to have the honor of escorting Miss Montague down the aisle? It would allow me to put to rest anyone else’s poor opinions of this darling woman. If a prince gives her away to Tiverton in marriage, then none can challenge such a union.”
Warren exchanged a glance with Meredith, and she nodded her agreement.
“Yes, of course. I quite agree.” He kissed Meredith’s gloved hand, then walked her to the Prince. “I will be outside with the others.”
The Prince of Wales eyed her dress with approval. The pink roses on her sleeves and the flowers embroidered along the bottom half of her gown made it look as though a garden was growing up her skirts.
“Quite an exquisite design,” he said. “I expected nothing less for the Duchess of Tiverton.” It was high praise from a prince who prided himself on his taste in fashion.
Prince George took her hand and tucked it on his arm as they left the drawing room. A footman was ready to open the doors for them to the back terrace. Meredith’s eyes filled with tears as she saw all of Darius’s servants lined up on either side of the terrace. They wore their Sunday best, and more than one woman dabbed a handkerchief at their eyes, as did one of the footmen. Meredith murmured a thank you to them as they passed into the gardens.
A crowd of forty guests had formed rows on either side of the petal-drenched aisle toward and archway of flowers. All of her suitors were present, including Jordan Evers, who beamed at her as she walked past him. He had sent her a note expressing his delight that she’d ended up with the man who held her heart.
Darius waited for her under the archway of blooms, his eyes soft as he took in the sight of her. Meredith no longer felt shy or out of place in his bold, beautiful world, because it was her world too.
She had come to London without family, connections, money, or even a sense of value in herself. But all that had changed. Her new friends had shown her that even without money and connections, she was valued and cherished. It had taken a little time to believe it herself, but she did now.
I belong here. I belong with Darius.
Had Uncle Ben known that it would come to this? That the letter he had charged her to deliver to Darius would result in such wonderful happiness for them both? Somehow she suspected Uncle Ben might have known that they would belong together.
“This may be a small wedding by some standards,” the prince whispered as they approached Darius, “but I believe all the people who matter are here.”
Darius bowed to the Prince and accepted Meredith’s gloved hand in his own as she joined him and the clergyman. Prince George retreated to the first row of guests as the ceremony began.
Meredith spoke her vows of love to Darius, and he spoke them in return, his eyes never once leaving her face. At last he leaned in to kiss her, and the world faded away beneath the tender press of his lips. It was their first kiss as husband and wife, and it held such a sweet fire that Meredith’s soul would never be cold again.
When Darius raised his head, his grin was so seductive and yet so tender that she knew she would always be loved, always be wanted.
“I belong to you, forever,” he whispered before stealing another kiss. The clergyman cleared his throat and Darius’s friends cheered in the waiting crowd.
Meredith giggled and Darius smiled against her lips before he turned to face their guests.
“My wife and I would like you all to join us in the drawing room for a wedding breakfast.”
She and Darius led the crowd indoors, where Mr. Chelsea had arranged for the wedding cake to be cut and plated ahead of time. Meredith had insisted that the servants would be able to join them for the breakfast as guests. Everyone dined on cake and the breakfast meal that Frances and Meredith had carefully planned out a month ago. By the time everyone was finished, Meredith’s face hurt from so much smiling.
After the breakfast had concluded, Meredith and Darius saw everyone off. The last to leave were Warren and Felix, who had indulged in a bit too much champagne. They were singing and weaving their way across the street toward Kit’s house, where the rest of the rogues of Devil’s Square were going to continue to celebrate Darius’s good fortune. Vincent had even dragged along Jordan Evers to join the other bachelors, insisting the poor man deserved a drink.
