She looked at him, tears streaming down her face. “What do you want?”
“I want to be with you. I care not where. If you wish to go home, I would follow. I would follow you anywhere. Without you, I have no home.”
She turned her head, listening. “They’re calling for us. I’ve never had sisters or a big family.” She took a deep breath and one last look, as if she were committing every sight, sound, and smell to memory. The sound of the great horseless carriages and the smells made Christian clench his jaw.
She took his other hand in hers and looked up at him, love in her eyes. “You are my home. Shall we?”
Christian came to sitting on the floor of the chapel, Ashley in his arms. He looked up to see everyone standing around them and the priest on the ground beside him.
“He fainted,” Edward said.
“We’ll tell him he had too much to drink before the ceremony,” James said as William and Robert helped the priest to his feet.
Christian pressed his lips to Ashley’s. “Wake, my wife.”
She blinked a few times and focused on his face, smiling. Christian felt his heart open wide. They had each other, the love of their family. Nothing else mattered. They were complete, and Christian would spend every day of the rest of his life telling her how much he loved her.
“Thank goodness we only have family at the wedding,” Lucy said.
Melinda added, “Can you imagine trying to explain what happened?”
William clapped Christian on the back. “Watching you vanish, I was more scared than when I fought my first battle. We could hear the sounds but could not see what made them. All I could think was that this is what Lucy had come through to be with me. You are a brave man.”
Christian was overcome. He wiped his eye. “Dust. I have dust in my eye.”
“You can put me down now,” his wife said.
“Nay, I wish to keep you close.”
“Well, as long as you put me down when we get inside. I’m starving.”
Christian laughed, carrying his wife out of the chapel and into the hall, where they would begin their new life together.
Ashley laughedas Christian kicked open the door to the bedchamber. Candles flickered around the room like some kind of fairytale. There was juniper tied with ribbon and wine waiting for them. Her sisters had outdone themselves.
“My Lady Winterforth.”
He laid her down on the bed, staring down at her, and while Ashley had boyfriends in the past, being in love made everything feel like it was the first time.
“Not only are you beautiful outside but you have a beautiful heart, my love.” He removed her shoes, smiling when he saw the embroidery on the tops of her stockings.
Ashley grinned. “Melinda thought it was funny to embroider little swords and hearts on them.”
He kicked off his boots and climbed up on the bed, stretching out next to her.
“If you ever left me, I could not breathe. When you started to go, you took the air with you. You are the air to me, Ashley. Don’t ever do that again.”
“I saw you there with me. And I knew we belonged here, with our family. I will never leave you. We’ll grow old together.”
He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I will keep you safe, treasure you, and love you.”
She wiped her eyes. “Don’t make me cry. It makes my face all red.”
“As you wish.”
And they spent the night loving each other, knowing they had the rest of their lives together to learn what made them both sigh with pleasure. As the night deepened and turned to dawn, Ashley curled up next to her husband and fell asleep, perfectly content.
CHAPTER 27
