“If that’s the way you feel, then of course I’d be honored to do the wedding,” Vicar John said. “It would mean the world to me, Bridget. You’ve been such a vital part of this orphanage in the time I’ve known you, and it’s wonderful to see you embarking on the next phase of your life.”
“Thank you,” Bridget said. “I really can’t tell you how much it means to me.”
“And your husband-to-be is all right with it?”
“He’s happy with whatever I want,” Bridget said.
“Then he’s a good man. Now I’m even more pleased to be marrying you,” Vicar John said with a smile. “Shall we open the wine and toast in celebration?”
They went to the kitchen and handed the bottle to the cook for opening. Vicar John took down two glasses, which were soon filled, and he handed one to Bridget. “To the beginning of your beautiful new life,” he said.
She clinked her glass against his. “I want everyone here at the orphanage to attend the wedding, if possible,” she said. “I consider you all to be my family. I’d even like to have the children come, if you think it can be managed.”
“I’m sure we can find a way,” Vicar John said. “It would be lovely for them to see a wedding. But what of your actual family, Bridget? Surely, you’ll want to tell them what’s happened now? I know you resisted the idea of letting them know what was happening when you went off with the duke in the first place, but you can’t possibly keep it to yourself now that you’re going to be marrying him.”
“No, unfortunately, I can’t,” Bridget agreed. “The truth is that if I thought I could move forward without speaking to them, I would probably do it. But I do want my father’s blessing to marry, just to make this as tidy as possible.”
“Do you think you’ll get it?”
“I have no idea. I plan to visit my parents with Reeves in a few days’ time. I’ll let them know everything that’s happened, andthat I plan to marry. I really can’t imagine what they’ll say about it. They were so sure I would never find a match. That’s the reason my father turned me out of his house in the first place.”
“I should think he’d be pleased,” Vicar John said, sipping his wine. “After all, a marriage to a duke has got to be the kind of thing he’d want for his daughter, especially since he gave up hope of any such thing ever happening. He’ll be glad to know that you found someone after all.”
“Maybe,” Bridget said doubtfully. “I think it’s more likely he’ll be angry. He doesn’t like being wrong, and when I walk into his house on the arm of a duke, he’ll have to concede that it was a mistake to give up on me. He’ll have to accept that I was never a failure, and that I managed to do for myself what he couldn’t help me to do. He’s the one who failed.”
Vicar John beamed at her. “I’m so grateful that you realize that,” he said.
“I also worry about how Reeves might be treated,” Bridget said. “I’m sure my father will see him as a walking coin purse, or an opportunity for social advancement, and not as the man I’ve come to love. I hope he doesn’t say anything rude to him.”
“Even if he does,” Vicar John assured her, “your duke cares for you very deeply. I’m sure he’ll stand by your side no matter what the two of you face when you see your parents. I just hope it goes well for you, Bridget, because you deserve the happiness you’re finally getting after all this time. I’m so glad everything is working out.”
The kitchen door opened, and Reeves came in. “Well, Emma is playing with a group of children out there,” he said as Vicar John reached for another glass and poured him some wine. “She wants to know if we can come back here every weekend.”
“And what did you tell her?” Bridget asked eagerly.
He laughed. “I told her we would have to see,” he said. “I know you’d like it if we came back that often, though.”
“So would I,” Vicar John said. “And so would the children. The more you’re able to come by, Your Grace, the happier everyone will be—though I’m sure your busy schedule will make it difficult. We’ll look forward to seeing you as much as we possibly can, though.”
“I was just talking to Vicar John about the wedding,” Bridget said. “He’s agreed to perform the ceremony for us. Isn’t that wonderful?”
Reeves smiled. “I can’t tell you how much that means to Bridget,” he told the vicar. “Thank you so much for agreeing to it. I want her to have everything she wants—both at the wedding and in our lives moving forward.”
“And that’s how I know you’re worthy of marrying her,” Vicar John said with a smile. “Believe me when I tell you that if I didn’t think you a worthy husband, I would be refusing outright to perform this marriage.”
“I do believe that,” Reeves said. “And I’m grateful to know that she has someone in her life who would intervene if he thought she was marrying someone who didn’t deserve her. Bridget means the world to me. All I want is for her to be protected.”
He put his arm around her. Bridget leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, a small smile stealing across her lips.
She had never believed that she would find anything like this. She’d never imagined that she could be this happy.
But it had happened. Happiness had found her at last, and she knew she would never let it go. She would live out the rest of her days with Reeves, with Emma, and she was sure she would never for a moment stop feeling grateful for every good thing that had come her way the day she had found Emma huddled up in the pantry of the orphanage.
CHAPTER 38
“Ican see that you’re nervous,” Reeves told Bridget, reaching out and taking her hand. “There’s no need to be.”
“You can’t say that,” Bridget countered. “You don’t know my family.
