Page 51 of A Duke in Pursuit of Passion
Ella's stomach clenched at her sister's words, and she realised that, in a way, she was right.
The two sisters hugged then, Ella squeezing her younger sibling tightly before she pulled back to reassure her, "You will find your own happiness."
"Perhaps, one day," Louisa sighed, shrugging her shoulders. For several moments she continued to look melancholy. Then she smiled and added, "For now I am happy to live vicariously through you."
Together they laughed, and for perhaps the first time since their return from Scotland, Ella began to feel their close bond returning.
Stepping back from her, Louisa looked down at her sister's white lace gown and stated, "You look beautiful."
Tears pricked Ella's eyes. She felt as though she had been waiting for this day her entire life. At least, the last three months had felt like a lifetime, especially with her mother determined to make everything utterly perfect.
"Speak for yourself!" Ella insisted, looking down at her sister in her pale pink gown, heavily accented with ivory lace.
"Come, girls!" their mother called from the bottom of the porch steps, and Ella turned to realise the carriage had arrived, led by two white stallions with white feathers decorating their heads. "It's time!"
And so, Ella and her sister hurried down the porch steps, aided into the carriage by none other than Mr Murphy himself.
"My lord sent me to ensure you arrived safely," Mr Murphy said with a smile as he helped Ella up into the carriage beside her father, who was already awaiting them.
"Then I have no fear at all, Mr Murphy. Thank you for being here," Ella said, squeezing his hand as she went. At the last moment, she turned back before sitting and added, "And thank you foreverything."
She only hoped he understood that she also meant everything he had done during their journey to find her sister and his caring for her maid during the moments when she couldn't do so herself.
"There is no need to thank me, My Lady," Mr Murphy assured her with a smile and a dip of his head. "Alice and I shall follow on."
With that, he was gone, and Ella could only sit down as the carriage started to move.
The dirt track that led down to the willow tree seemed longer than it ever had before, and by the time they arrived, Ella felt as though she was cooking beneath the noonday sun. Though it was not an overly warm day, her nerves were causing her to sweat profusely, and she could only hope that Nate was just as nervous.
This private ceremony was just the beginning. To get her willow tree wedding, she and Nate had been forced to agree to a more extravagant ceremony for the rest of thetonfurther down the line. But the moment she saw Nate standing beneath the willow tree that had been decorated with white and pink ribbons, bells and horse shoes, she realised it would all be worth it.
Dressed in his finest suit, he looked like a prince, and Ella happily joined him beneath the tree, guided by her father, who looked as though he was fit to bursting.
"I feel as though we have all waited an age for this," the earl of Partridge announced as he passed Ella's hand over to the man who would soon become her husband. "You take good care of her, young man."
"I most assuredly will, My Lord," Nate said with a dip of his head. Then he turned to Ella, smiling with such happiness that she felt a tear roll down her cheek. She was only relieved she had worn the dreaded veil her mother had insisted upon. Now he wouldn't see her weeping if she was unable to control herself.
It was there beneath the willow tree, in the place where they had first met and where they had spent all of their summer days, that they were wed in a small ceremony with only their parents, his aunt, her sister, and their servants to bear witness.
And Ella couldn't have been happier for it.
*
That evening, after a lengthy day of celebrating with food, wine, and a little dancing, Ella was most relieved to retire early with her new husband.
Though they had kissed upon the completion of their marriage vows, it had not been enough, and by the time they sat in the carriage on their way to their new home in Nottingham – an estate just a few over from her parents that had been gifted to them by his father – she wanted nothing more than to be left alone with him.
It was clear from how he kissed her in the back of the carriage that he felt the same way. The coachman sitting up front, able to see and hear everything they did if he so much as turned to look, did not seem to phase him, and though it worried Ella slightly, it was also thrilling. After all, she was able to kiss her husband without complaint from anyone now.
It was a huge relief when they finally made it to their new home, and Nate helped her down from the carriage. When he pulled her up into his arms with a mischievous smile, she expected him to carry her up the steps and into the house.
Instead, he started to make his way around it, pushing his way through a side gate into the gardens that had already been cleaned up ready for their arrival.
"Where are you taking me?" Ella demanded, clutching her arms tightly around his neck.
For a second, Nate didn't answer her. He just smirked. Then, as he set her down upon a small patio some distance from the main garden, he said, "There is something I wish you to see."
As she turned, following his gesturing hand, she realised a lantern had been left about among one of the flowerbeds as though he had anticipated this happening all day.
