Page 43 of Sands of Sirocco
Ginger fought a wave of fear.“How utterly romantic.Please don’t talk like that.”Her throat tightened.She could hardly imagine the many dangers he had yet to face.“Marriage with a backdrop of riots seems graceless.”
He held her hands.“Love is the only remedy to death and destruction—the only thing that reminds us what we have to live for.”Noah kissed her, pushing a tendril of hair from her face with a gentle touch.“You taught me that,rohi.I would rather live one day amid war as your husband than a thousand years of peace without your love.So marry me.Here.And later, if your family wishes it.I’ll marry twenty times so long as you’re the one standing with me.”
She wanted to marry him.More than anything.But what would her mother say?She searched his gaze.“But don’t we have to go to the consulate?”
“We’ll do that later when we’re able to have our marriage be in the open.Today, I’ll settle for marrying you in the church.I can keep the paperwork until you’re ready to share it.”
He seemed to have thought the whole thing through more than she gave him credit for.“But—”
“I’m not taking no for an answer.”He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand.“And you’ll find that when I’m determined to get what I want, I do.”
Had he concocted this scheme today?Her excitement grew.“Oh, I never doubted that.”She leaned forward and kissed him.“You’re mad.This is mad.And I love you.”
“Then you’ll do it?”Church bells tolled and they both looked up at the path, past the ruins of the old fort.The famous churches of St.George and the Hanging Church were around the corner.
She cocked an eyebrow at him.The bells continued to echo against the stone walls, the warm winter breeze enveloping them both.“It didn’t seem like you were asking my permission.”
“Always.It doesn’t count if you don’t say yes.”
Her heart felt strangely light.“Then, yes.”
He squeezed her hand.“Good.”
As he led her away from the more famous ruins in the fort, she tried to wrap her mind around Noah’s proposal.
What if we haven’t thought this through enough?She didn’t know how she would break the news to her mother.Especially now that her mother seemed so interested in setting her up with William.
She doubled her steps to keep up with Noah’s stride.He looked striking in his uniform, and it was the way she always thought of him.This wasn’t the way she’d ever pictured her wedding—racing hand in hand with him down the narrow streets of Coptic Cairo while protests broke out over the city.
“Which church are you taking me to?”She peered around as they headed into an ancient pathway between buildings.
“The Church of St.Barbara.It’s not like the other churches here in the fort.The exterior is unassuming, but it’s one of my favorites.”
“A Catholic church?”She’d never even set foot in one before.“My father may roll over in his grave.”
Noah gave her a rueful expression.“Unfortunately, the church won’t consider our marriage valid unless I’m married by a Catholic priest.And since we’re currently neglecting the validity of our marriage through the government, we may as well have it through the church.”
“You’re Catholic?”She shouldn’t be surprised.He was Irish, after all.But it was among the many things she probably ought to have known about him before she’d agreed to marry him.
This would do nothing to warm her mother to him.She bit her lip.Well, it wouldn’t be the first scandal she’d faced.She hadn’t planned on a return to society life at any rate.Would the priest mind she was Anglican?
Noah continued to lead the way through the narrow streets.It only felt as though they’d walked a block when Noah slowed in front of a nondescript building.She surveyed a small sign on the exterior.She couldn’t read Arabic.“This is the church?It seems so hidden.”
“And yet,” Noah held open the wooden door, “it’s lovely inside.”As they entered, her heart pounded.
Noah led her through the back of the church, which appeared to have only one sanctuary.“Wait here,” he told her.“I have to find the priest.”
She frowned.“And if he says no?”
“He won’t.I’ve already arranged it.”
Her eyes drifted toward the altar as he left.The church was distinctly beautiful, though small.A few rows of carved wooden benches sat in front of the altar, marble columns flanking them.The architecture was warm, distinctly Coptic.
She avoided the gaze of the saint depicted in an icon near to where she stood.Catholics believed firmly in the need for confession, and she’d committed so many sins, especially in the past year.What atonement was required of her?
“That’s St.Barbara.”Noah’s voice came from behind her, and she startled.He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to rest against him as they stared at the icon together.“The scene depicted is when her father locked her in a tower for refusing to marry any of the young, wealthy aristocrats he preferred for her.”
This time she looked at the serene expression of the saint more closely.The story was one she could relate to.She relaxed into Noah’s arms, her worries dissolving.“Did she end up marrying a mysterious soldier at night instead?”
