Page 23 of The Baron's Return
She nodded, her sense of certainty continuing as she took his hand and allowed him to help her down.
He’d surprised her when he offered to walk her down the aisle. Once again, she would be forever grateful for his show of support. If her father had been well enough to travel to London, he likely would have boycotted this wedding. He could no longer force her hand, but that didn’t mean he would support, or respect, her wishes. Still, she wished that her brother could have been here.
This would be a small, private wedding. Aside from Holbrook, Gemma, and Miss Phillips, the only other guests were the Marquess of Lowenbrock and his wife. Amelia was standing with her while the marquess was acting as Cranston’s best man.
She looked up at Holbrook. “Is everything ready?”
He nodded. “I sent the footman inside to inform them your carriage has arrived. They should be ready for you.”
From the way he scanned her face, she guessed he was looking for any sign of doubt on her part. It felt strange that this man, whom she’d known for less than a year, should care more about her feelings than her own father had shown when he’d forced her to wed the man of his choosing.
She smiled at him. “Then we shouldn’t keep them waiting.”
She placed her hand in the crook of his arm, and together they entered the chapel’s vestibule. As he’d told her, they were already waiting for her. The footman who’d accompanied the carriage held the inner door open.
Unlike with her first marriage, she felt only a sense of anticipation. She was finally getting what she’d wanted all those years ago when Cranston was courting her. She could only hope it wasn’t too late.
As they made their way up the short aisle, her gaze remained fixed on Cranston. Gideon. There could be no other man for her, and she made a silent vow to make the most of this second chance. He was only marrying her because of Gemma, but she would do everything in her power to make him happy. Cranston might never come to love her again, but it would be enough if he was content in their marriage. She loved him enough for the two of them, and she would make this work.
When she reached the front of the chapel, Holbrook handed her over. Before turning to face the clergyman, she took a moment to scan Cranston’s face. But he kept his features carefully neutral, and it was impossible to decipher what he was thinking or feeling.
When he repeated his vows and placed the ring on her finger, she finally detected a hint of emotion. It was fleeting, and if she’d blinked in that moment, she would have missed it, but it was enough for her. For that look told her that he, too, was remembering their past. He was thinking about the wedding they should have had a long time ago.
When the service was over and they’d signed the register, he took her arm and they began their walk back down the aisle.
She leaned toward him, and he lowered his head to catch her whispered words. “You won’t come to regret this.”
His eyes met hers for several seconds before he looked away. He said nothing as they left the chapel.
Chapter 14
You won’t come to regret this.
Those were the first words she’d spoken to him after they were officially husband and wife, and he wasn’t sure he believed them. He wanted to, but a part of him hated the fact that circumstances and their shared past had conspired to force him into this marriage.
But he would do it again to become a part of his daughter’s life.
He was intensely aware of Abigail’s presence in the confines of his carriage. He tried not to think about the kiss they’d shared and how much he wanted to drag her into his lap and get started on the wedding-night celebrations.
She looked like an angel with her blond hair and gold dress, and he wanted nothing more than to debauch her. Ruin her for any other man.
Instead, he held his tongue as the carriage took them to his town house, where a short wedding breakfast would be held. He’d considered omitting the practice altogether since theirs was hardly a typical marriage, but he wanted to see Gemma today. She’d be going home with her governess afterward and would move into his house on the morrow. So if he wanted to spend any time with her today—and he’d made a point to see her every day since their introduction—he needed to invite their wedding guests back to the house.
There were also matters he needed to discuss with Abigail, but that would have to wait. He couldn’t start the conversation on the carriage ride, and they’d no sooner arrived at his home than people began spilling out of their own carriages.
There was his friend John and his wife, of course. He knew that Abigail had grown close to the Marchioness of Lowenbrock in the short time they’d known one another.
Not that long ago, he would have assumed John’s wife was trying to punish him in some way by seeing to it that his life was as uncomfortable as possible. But somehow he’d softened recently because he honestly didn’t think Amelia had it in her to act with such malice.
And that fact worried him. His life was spinning out of control. He was starting to question long-held beliefs that all members of the opposite sex weren’t to be trusted. That they could lead you to think they were deeply in love with you and then turn at the drop of a hat and cast you aside with casual cruelty.
He’d thought that somehow John had managed to find the only honest woman to be had, and given the man’s disposition for rescuing damsels in distress, he counted his friend fortunate not to have fallen into the snare of someone who would manipulate him for her own gain.
But then Ashford had married Mary Trenton. He liked the woman well enough, had found her to be clever and levelheaded. Still, he’d been concerned that his friend was headed for heartbreak of his own when they were courting.
That hadn’t happened. Instead, the two seemed genuinely to care for and, dare he admit it, love one another. And if Miss Trenton—or rather, the Viscountess Ashford now—had any nefarious motives, he had seen no sign of it.
And now there was Abigail. The Earl of Brantford had managed to unearth things about the past that Cranston hadn’t known. Circumstances had come to light that made him question everything. He needed to speak to the woman who was now his wife, and he itched to send everyone away so he could do that now.
