Addie looked flabbergasted, verging on alarmed as Toni pointed out, “You have your engagement ring. Is there anything else you need?”
“You. Only you.”
“Scandalous creature,” Lady Dove chastised. “Why don’t we do the ceremony after dinner this evening? I’d hate to see poor Miss Wight be debauched.”
Toni didn’t look away from Addie. “You aren’t invited to watch. Propriety, Lady Dove. You will upset my bride with such scandalous speech.”
Addie giggled.
Lady Dovetsked and walked away with a huff, calling to someone. “Fetch William for me. Tell him to get out the ministerial garb. We are to have a wedding tonight after dinner.”
When they were alone, Toni lifted Addie’s hand and kissed the air just over her knuckles. “Walk with me somewhere private? As we are engaged, Miss Stewart, I see no harm in it… unless you worry for your virtue.”
Addie gave a single nod.
They stepped outside, descended the stairs, and stood for amoment in strange silence, but a servant appeared. “The gardens are that way, Darbyshire.”
Toni led Addie to a remarkably well-maintained garden. The last of the year’s roses and a few other flowers still blossomed, even though leaves were turning and there was a definite chill in the air. Wrought-iron benches were scattered around. In all, it was lovely, even if Toni’s flower identification skills were only adept enough to declare the flowers “roses” and “not roses.”
“Do you mind fake-marrying me?” Toni asked after a few moments. “We can spin it as a promo event, and then note that in reality I slept on the floor.”
“Fake-marrying…” Addie echoed.
“I should’ve asked you if you minded. Do it up right.” Toni decided then and there to make a show of it. “May I borrow your future engagement ring?”
Mutely, Addie slid the opal off her finger and gave it to Toni, who dropped to a knee and held the ring out.
The shiver Toni felt was surely just because of the October chill. That was all. It wasn’t anything more.
“You’re the first person to warm my bed over several states and two continents, the only woman in the last year and a half, and Ilikeyou, Adelaine Stewart.” Toni felt a flicker of panic at just how real her words were. “You’re brave and beautiful, smart and unforgettable. You’re funny, and you’re a wonderful lover. Will you do me the honor of being my bride for the weekend?”
“I will,” Addie whispered. Her hand shook as Toni slid the fire opal onto the spot where her wedding ring would belong.
Toni stood, realizing that they had watchers, and in a low voice, she said, “I fully intended to ravish you, fake bride of mine, but we’re in the 1800s today, so I can’t even kiss you the way I want to right now.”
“I am yours, Lord Darbyshire. Wholly and completely yours,” Addie said in a regular volume. Her voice quavered as she added, “You have protected me from the moment we met while abroad tothis moment, and nothing would make me happier than spending my life with you.”
Smiling at how well she’d resolved their room problem, Toni offered Addie her arm. Speaking lowly, she praised Addie, “You role-play beautifully, love. I look forward to spiriting you away after our fake nuptials.”
After their walk, they were directed inside for dinner. Their absence from predinner mingling had been excused with murmurs of “young love.”
Dinner itself was a tedious affair with too many courses, many of which were not historically authentic. An opener of fresh figs draped with prosciutto and parmesan cheese was followed by a cold soup, which was followed by an appetizer of asparagus branches, and then the first entrée was presented: seared salmon with a lemon-dill sauce and accompanied by roasted root vegetables.
In all it was far more food than Toni ever ate, and that was before the dessert—jelly cakes, strawberries, and cream. After that was the dessert wine, Madeira from Portugal or sherry from Spain.
During the entire meal, Toni was in a strange blend of professor and author persona, answering writing questions and sharing historical tidbits, but through it all, she couldn’t stop staring at the ring she’d slid onto Addie’s finger.
It’s not a real engagement.
It was her ring already.
It’s a fake wedding.
But when Toni was a kid, marriage between two women was illegal, and it felt strange to even pretend to marry Addie. Not that Toniwanteda real wedding, of course. She wasn’t built for that, and Addie deserved someone who could give her the sort of wholehearted love she deserved.
But I can pretend for the weekend.
The thought of it made Toni feel a tightness in her chest. This was the only wedding she’d ever have, and it felt right to have it with Addie.Shefelt right.
