“Ahhh.” She sighed against his lips and moved her head back far enough that she could gaze into his face. “Thatis what you look like andfeellike.”
“Complete with cruel mouth?” he said.
“Oh yes,” she said, sounding enraptured. “Complete withthat.Grandmama warned me that you might not come all the way up here today and I must not be too disappointed. But I knew you would. You said so in your last letter. It was theonlything you said.”
“Promise me that I will not have to write one more letter after tomorrow,” he said.
“What?” she said. “Never?”
“Never,” he said. “And even that will be too soon. How do you do it, Win? Your letters are always so long and so interesting, though I must confess to having found some of the descriptions of potential wedding gowns a bit of a yawn.”
She laughed gleefully and linked her arm through his. “Come inside,” she said. “It isfreezingout here.”
“Just for a short while,” he said. “My family are all expecting me back at the hotel for dinner.”
He patted her hand on his arm.
—
Winifred bounded out of bed the following morning and threw back the curtains from her window, half fearful of what she might see outside. Snow would not be the disaster it might have been before yesterday. Everyone who was expected had arrived. But driving down from the hills into Bath over snow-covered roads could be perilous, and drive down they must this morning—a whole cavalcade of carriages to convey everyone who was staying at the house.
“Oh,” she said when she looked out. Clear blue sky with not a cloud in sight. Sunshine. Hoarfrost winking and dancing on the grass and turning the bare branches of the trees into a magical wonderland.
“Oh!” she exclaimed again at almost the exact moment there was a tap on her bedchamber door and her mother opened it quietly and peered in.
“Ah, you are up,” she said. “And I can see you have looked out. What a wonderful omen, Winnie. This is the first time we have seen the sun in all of two weeks. Just look at the frost. Could anything be more awe-inspiring?”
She had crossed the room to set an arm about Winifred’s shoulders.
“What a happy, sad day this is,” she said. “Mainly overwhelmingly happy, of course. But sad too that after today this will no longer be your primary home. Tomorrow I will not be able to come in here like this to hug you and wish you a good morning. How we are going to miss you, Winnie. You are such a wonderful daughter. I would not be able to bear it were I not convinced that Nicholas can and will make you happy.”
Winifred turned and hugged her mother close. “He will,” she said, no doubt in her voice. “And I will make him happy. But I will miss you too, Mama.Allof you. How wonderful you and Papa have been to me.”
“How could we not be?” her mother said. “You are our daughter. And always will be. You will remember that?”
“I will not forget for a single moment,” Winifred assured her.
“Come down now for some breakfast,” her mother said. “Before we know it, it will be time to get dressed and leave for the abbey.”
“I could not eat a single morsel,” Winifred said.
“Then it will have to betwomorsels,” her mother said. “You do not want your stomach growling with hunger in the middle of the nuptial service, surely.”
“Oh dear,” Winifred said, and they both laughed—with tears in their eyes. “I will try.”
This was her wedding day, Winifred thought. Herweddingday.
—
Nicholas wore full dress uniform to his wedding. He had not brought his valet with him, but his brother Ben had offered his services. He heaved the heavy scarlet coat snugly over Nicholas’s shoulders and straightened the gold epaulets and draped the various gold chains just so. He rubbed a faint smudge off his highly polished black boots and made sure there were none on the brim of his shako, which would replace the bearskin he had worn at Trooping the Colour. Fortunately, that was worn only on ceremonial occasions. He straightened out the feathers and arranged the chains correctly over the crown.
“If she is not impressednow,” Ben said, standing back for a final, critical look at his brother, “you are in trouble, Nick.”
“She is likely to turn tail and run anyway,” Nicholas said. “When she first saw me in my uniform she saw a killer with a cruel mouth, all that was visible of my face below my bearskin.”
“Who told you that bouncer?” Ben asked. “Women love a man in uniform, as I seem to recall.”
“Winifred is notwomen,” Nicholas said. “She is one individual woman.Veryindividual.”
