Letitia regarded this man, holding her on the fine carpet floor of his apartments as he slipped that glorious ring on her finger.
“I can’t help but feel we must rush to the altar, having come so close before only to be thwarted.”
Anthony smiled, glad she was thinking the same thing as him. Letitia truly was his match, his only love. “I’m glad you feel that way because I’ve made some plans…”
Epilogue
“Where’s your veil, mydarling wife?”
Letitia looked about the bedroom, trying to recall where she’d lost the thing after tripping over it all day as they’d exchanged vows and received well wishes.
“Never mind, come here,” said Anthony, holding out his arms to her as he sat on a leather chair beside the fire.
“Why did you want the veil?” she asked, settling into his lap.
“So I could wear it while consummating this marriage, at long last,” he said, his fine lips twisted in a teasing smile.
“In that case, we should pause our coze and hunt for it,” she returned slyly.
“Perhaps I had a vision of wrapping your nude body in it before taking you on our bed.”
She hummed, wishing she’d kept better track of it.
The logs burned merrily, as if they too knew a miracle had happened: a lord had married a fallen woman before thetonand God, in one of the most fashionable churches in the capital. It simply was not done — until it was. And now they could spend the rest of their days together, and in love.
But this brought forth a point of disquiet.
“I’m afraid I didn’t like some aspects of the marriage vows,” said Anthony, dipping a finger into his wife’s neckline and admiring how her bustle looked on his lap.
“Did you hope to pledge that you will obey me, too?” asked Letitia with a wry smile, referencing the promise she’d made to obey her husband, and the lack of a similar requirement for him.
“Oh, I think you’ll enjoy obeying me, my love,” he said, a wolfish grin on his lips. “And I’ll always obey your orders, vows or not. You are not merely my wife; you are my only love.”
“You have a way of giving a wife ideas…”
“My complaint was of a more existential nature,” he said, sitting up a little straighter.
“Was it now?” she asked, surprised by the serious tone in his voice.
“One bit in particular caused me grave offense.”
Letitia raised her eyebrows. Anthony hadn’t exactly been a theologian at any point in the past, so where this was coming from, she didn’t know.
He ran a hand up her thigh, then back down, considering his words. “The bishop said things like ‘so long as ye both shall live’ and we pledged ‘till death us do part,’ but I don’t like it, not one bit.”
“Is that so?”
“I don’t want to pledge my troth to you for this lifetime only, Letitia. Those vows seem insufficient for the promise I wish to make to you.”
Their hands met atop her lap.
“Then we should make new vows, shouldn’t we?” she asked, glancing towards the bed.
***
Anthony slid into his wife, mindful of her comfort, and slowed before pushing fully inside.
“Doing well?” he asked, peppering Letitia’s face with kisses.
