“Not for merely gold or silver, but for love…” Felix leaned down and gave her the gentlest of kisses, brushing his lips against hers. “There is much I do not know in this world, but if these past days have taught me anything it is that love is the greatest treasure of all, and that there are no limits to what a man or woman will do for it, including myself. Marybeth, when I thought I had lost you, my heart ceased to beat. Without you it became naught but a black void.”
“Oh, Felix…”
“I am resolved not to let such a thing ever come to pass again.” The earnestness in Felix’s eyes caused Marybeth’s heart to skip a beat. Kneeling, he took her hand in his. “Marybeth Wright, would you do me the great honor of consenting to be my wife?”
Marybeth studied his face in joyous disbelief. “Yes! Oh, yes!” she exclaimed, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Felix arose from his place kneeling on the floor and took her into his arms. “I love you,” he murmured into her hair.
“I love you,” she choked out on a sob of pure unadulterated joy.
“Never leave me like that again. Do you swear it?”
Marybeth took his face between her hands and kissed him deeply. When they came up for air, she gazed lovingly into the eyes of the man she loved more than life itself and swore, “Never…”
Epilogue
Three Months Later
Marybeth gazed at her reflection in the mirror. She was pale, but otherwise healthy. She had recovered from her near-death experience under the watchful eye of her seven brothers. They had returned the next day as they had promised, given their blessing on her and Felix’s engagement, then insisted that she return to Enfield with them for the sake of propriety until the wedding. True to their word, they had completely renovated the manor house, removing all signs of the former Lord’s presence.
“You are a vision,” Alexander came up behind her, smiling.
“Thank you,” she murmured, smiling back. She had grown to love all of her brothers since coming to live with them. She would be sad to leave them, but her sadness was overwhelmed by the sheer joy she felt at becoming Felix’s wife.
“I have something for you,” Alexander informed her, moving to stand directly behind her in the mirror. His hands came around her neck and when he pulled them away in their place lay the most exquisite of sapphire necklaces with tiny diamonds and ruby accent stones dotting the periphery. “It was my mother’s, and her mother’s before her. It is a set with the ring Stephen gave you before he died.”
“I cannot accept this. One day you will wed and will wish to give it to your own bride.”
Alexander shook his head. “Nay, it is yours, dear sister. A worthier neck was never born.”
Marybeth turned and wrapped her arms around her brother’s middle in a hug. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“No, thank you. Since you came into our lives there has been a light where once there was only darkness. You will always have a home here with us at Enfield.”
“And you at Arkley,” she answered in turn brushing the tears from her eyes.
“Are you ready?” he asked taking her face between his hands and studying her eyes to reassure himself that she was well and happy.
Marybeth nodded and stood back. She checked her reflection one last time to ensure herself that she had not blotched up her face with her tears, then took Alexander’s proffered arm, allowing him to escort her down to the waiting carriage. She rode to the church, her brothers surrounding her carriage on horseback. They looked daunting in spite of their wedding clothes. They were all so tall and broad, their eyes scanning the landscape for dangers. Marybeth smiled at their fierce protective natures.
When they arrived at the church, Alexander helped her to dismount, then led her down the aisle to where Felix anxiously awaited her. When he first laid eyes on her, his eyes lit up and he broke out into a grin. She smiled back. He was resplendent in his wedding suit, his green eyes glowing with happiness as his raven black hair glowed in the candlelight. A more handsome man she had never seen.
Marybeth floated toward him as if she were walking on air. Alexander placed her hand in Felix’s, gave his blessing, then stood back. The church grew quiet as the minister began the ceremony. They had decided to forgo the large lavish ceremony that a nobleman of Felix’s standing was expected to have in favor of a private ceremony with only their nearest and dearest surrounding them.
Felix’s mother had recovered quickly once she was no longer being poisoned and beamed at them from the first row. Oliver and Mr. Wheatly sat next to her. Marybeth’s brothers stood at the entrance as if standing guard. They were taking no chances that anyone or anything would upset their sister’s wedding day.
The minster recited the vows and they each repeated them in turn. Felix slid a ring onto her finger, his words causing shivers to travel along her entire body as his eyes held hers. “With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
“Amen,” she whispered as he crushed her to him into a passionate kiss of celebratory surrender.
Later that night as they lay sated in each other’s arms, Felix traced the scar on her abdomen. “When I think of how close I came to losing you…” he whispered.
“Shh,” Marybeth placed her finger over his lips. “But you did not lose me.”
“And glad of it I am,” he answered nipping at her finger with his teeth. Marybeth giggled and wriggled against him as his arms came around to capture her pulling her against him.
Sighing in contentment, she nestled against him intertwining their fingers together. The glint of her wedding ring caught in the light of the fire and she smiled. “Say it again,” she whispered.
She felt Felix smile against the back of her head. “With this ring I thee wed,” he murmured tracing the gold band around her finger, “with my body I thee worship,” he rolled her over to placing a kiss on her exposed throat, “and with all my worldly goods I thee endow. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.” As he claimed her lips once more the world faded away.
“Amen…”
The End?
