With one last motion, the earl forced the girl to drop her hands. “See. Not so bad.” Quimbly tilted her chin up and turned her face in Vincent’s direction with some satisfaction.
Vincent swallowed hard.
Her beauty stunned him. His soon-to-be wife.
Cobalt blue eyes glared at him.
The clergyman Lord Quimbly had summoned rose from where he’d planted himself earlier. “Are we ready to begin, then?”
Keenan had promised to make Quimbly’s daughter a duchess as an ante in a game of cards. And then he had lost. If Vincent didn’t make good on his brother’s promise, the Pemberth title would not only be penniless but without honor as well.
Vincent nodded.
A small cry came from the girl, who’d dropped her gaze once again.
“My lady.” The collared man gestured to the defiant young woman. “You stand here, beside His Grace. And Lord and Lady Quimbly shall act as witnesses.”
The girl’s mother nudged her forward until she was standing beside Vincent, her reluctance so strong he would swear he could feel it burning along his side.
Vincent dropped his gaze as well, ashamed to be a part of such a sordid affair.Damn you, Keenan.
He barely made out the words on the book the vicar clutched before the man opened it and began performing the ceremony.The Book of Common Prayer.
Not much godliness going into this marriage.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God…”
Vincent glanced sideways in time to see Lady Lila raise a handkerchief to her mouth.
She clenched her hands so tightly, her knuckles appeared white, and he was almost certain that she was crying. Should he put a halt to the proceedings? All of this was quite beyond his realm. He’d be far better at comforting his livestock than an unwilling bride.
“I require and charge you both, as ye will answer at the dreadful day of judgment when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed....” The clergyman’s tone was even and steady. “For be ye well assured, that so many as are coupled together otherwise than God's Word doth allow are not joined together by God; neither is their matrimony lawful.”
Would her mother stop the ceremony? If Lady Lila was so disinclined to marry him, why did she not speak up herself?
Quimbly was the only person in the room who appeared satisfied with the proceedings.
“Your Grace, Vincent Sebastian Lucifer Saint-Pierre, wilt thou have this woman to thy wedded wife, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honor, and keep her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both shall live?”
Vincent swallowed around a huge lump that had appeared in his throat. “I will.” He’d never taken a vow he did not feel confident he could keep.
He glanced down at the woman standing beside him.
Until that moment.
“And my lady, Lila Catherine Breton, wilt thou have this man to thy wedded husband, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Wilt thou obey him, and serve him, love, honor, and keep him in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto him, so long as ye both shall live?”
The room fell uncomfortably silent until his bride jumped. Vincent suspected a sharp elbow had landed on her ribcage at the same time her mother shot her a stern warning look. Lady Lila responded in a thin voice, “I will.”
Quimbly mumbled something in satisfaction. When asked about rings, it was her father who handed them over.
His bride’s icy cold hand trembled as she slid the cool metal circle upon Vincent’s finger. He noticed how small and delicate her hand was compared to his.
The remainder of the ceremony passed in a blur.
The next thing he knew, he’d signed his name on a license and Quimbly was showing the clergyman the door.
Vincent had planned on staying the night at Bryony Manor initially but having already spent more time than he’d prefer in Quimbly’s company, he decided he’d rather take to the road and stop at an inn along the way.
