He could wait a day for this.
After all, he had been waiting all his life to find Viola.
“Greaves! Greaves!” He strode into the hall, still holding her in his arms. “I need the curricle brought around.”
“At once, my lord.”
Viola sighed. “I had more to do in the kitchen. You shouldn’t have carried me away.”
“You are not going back into the kitchen. Have you gone over the menu and recipes with Mrs. Stringer?”
She nodded.
“Then it is time for you to take a breath, love.”
“Oh, you are wicked.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Why?”
“You called me ‘love’ and now I can never be angry with you.”
“This is what you are to me. Lovely. Loveable. And I am deeply in love with you.”
She sighed again. “I love you, too. Are you going to put me down?”
“No. I like having you in my arms.”
“You are embarrassing Mr. Greaves.”
He turned to his butler and grinned. “Greaves, are you embarrassed?”
“No, my lord. I think you are showing extraordinarily good judgement.”
“See, he does not mind my making a fool of myself over you.” It took another few minutes for the conveyance to be brought around and the box with her gown then safely stowed in it.
Viola had not stopped blushing in all that time, but she would have made more of a fuss if she were truly overset by his behavior. He helped her onto the curricle’s bench seat and climbed in beside her. “Ready?”
She nodded. “Will you merely drop me off or stay and visit?”
“I am at your service. I’ll do whatever you wish.”
She thought on it a moment, pursing her kissable lips. “You have your entire family here. Go home to them.”
“Are you sure, Viola?”
“Yes. I need to spend time alone with my father, assuming he is awake and can talk to me. I’ll sit beside him and read if he isn’t.”
They rode the rest of the way to the vicarage in silence.
One more day and they would be married.
Could her father hold on that long?
CHAPTER 17
VIOLA STARED ATher reflection in the mirror, wondering whether her mother had looked like her all those years ago when she had wed her father. Did she and her mother have the same eyes? The same color hair? How proud her father would have been to stand beside the two women he loved most in his life. In all these years, Viola did not think a single day passed when he did not miss her mother.
But he had never held her death in childbirth against her.
