He considered himself very fortunate to have found a bride who was as sweet, kind, and beautiful as Beatrice Montgomery. Or, as she was soon to be, Beatrice Dunham.
He had been anxiously pacing his study yet again as he waited for her to reappear, but she met his gaze with a look that somehow steadied him. It promised she would be with him through this, no matter what, and made him less afraid of the future.
After all, if she was willing to marry him without knowing all the reasons for his urgent marriage, surely she would understand about his curse when she found out.
She drew nearer, a smile beginning to reach the corners of her eyes as she approached and looked him over. He had changed,too. He’d argued that it wasn’t a formal wedding, and Jenkins had argued that was all the more reason for him to wear his finest clothes. Seeing Beatrice wearing his mother's gown, Alexander was glad that he had allowed his butler to send him upstairs to change.
“You look very handsome,” Beatrice said with a smile as she approached. Her cheeks flushed as she said the words, as if she wasn’t quite sure if she should be so familiar with him.
“So do you,” Alexander admitted before realizing what he'd said. “Beautiful, I mean. You look beautiful.”
He wasn’t sure how to be so familiar with her, either. But her smile at his words was big enough to light the whole room.
“Thank you,” she said. “Are you ready for this?”
“Are you?” he asked, searching her face for signs that she wasn't—that she knew what she was getting herself into, that she wasn’t going to back out of the room and run screaming to town, declaring that he was a madman who had tried to trap her into marriage. But she stood firm, a smile on her face, as there always was.
Somehow, his lack of smiles hadn’t run her off yet.
“I am ready,” she said.
Alexander offered his arm, holding his breath until she took it.
They were doing this. It was actually happening.
He was about to marry the librarian in the hopes of preventing an evil sorcerer from taking over his estate.
“Thank you,” he said softly as he began to walk her toward the door.
“Of course, my lord,” she said. “Though you should know, I'm only doing it for the books.”
He looked down at her in surprise, and she gave him a wink.
Oh, she had been teasing him. He wasn’t used to people teasing him, but perhaps he would have to get used to it.
He’d seen hints of this side of Beatrice, but marrying her would certainly allow more of her playful side to come out than the brief visits from before, when she was merely his employee.
“Well then, I suppose it's a good thing we have the priest waiting for us in the library,” he said.
She froze, her breath catching as she looked up at him with starry eyes.
“The library?” she asked, a smile on her lips.
“The library,” he confirmed. “If I must marry you in haste, with no one to see you off, I thought maybe you would enjoy the comfort of having books by your side.”
Her eyes began to mist over.
“That is one of the most thoughtful things anyone has ever done for me,” she said softly. “Thank you, my lord.”
“It's Alexander now,” he reminded her.
Beatrice colored slightly.
“I will try, but it may take me some time to remember to address you so informally,” she said.
“Even though we are about to be married?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Even though we are to be married,” she admitted. “You have been my employer for two years now; that is not something I can forget so quickly.”
