“Wait. I’ve got them… somewhere...” Chase cut her off, dropping her hand and reaching into his jacket. The evening sunlight slanting across the altar made his hair appear more a caramel mixture than toffee, and a lock of it dropped along his jaw as he rummaged through each of his pockets. “Here.”
For the second time this afternoon, she nearly swooned.Of course,she had hoped to have a beautiful ring when she married—what woman didn’t?—but she never could have imagined this one.
The center diamond was cut in the shape of a heart, set in rose gold and flanked by two butterfly designs featuring numerous smaller diamonds. Butterflies were… perfect.
She glanced up at him questioningly.
“It almost made me late. I hope it fits.”
“Ahem.” The rector leaned forward. “We will discover that soon enough.”
“I don’t have one for you.” Bethany’s voice sounded little more than a whisper.
Chase merely grinned and, opening her hand and holding his closed fist above it, dropped a thick rose-gold band into hers.
“Oh…”
This wedding was real. It was happening. How could she protect her heart if he persisted in living up to the illusion?
The pastor spoke a blessing over the rings and then asked them to face one another.
“Bethany, I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow.” Chase took her hand and repeated the words as instructed. “And with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you, in the name of God.”
The ring slid on easily but not too easily. It fit perfectly. Just as she’d always found him to be. Perfect in her eyes.
Bethany barely followed what remained of the ceremony, feeling excited, terrified, and as though she was walking on air. Her knees wobbled by the time the rector finally announced them man and wife.
Chase squeezed her hand and brushed his lips along her jaw.
Their first kiss.
Chapter 10
Matters to Discuss
“Congratulations.” Greys was one of the first to step up and reach out a hand. Chase met his friend’s gaze and shook it heartily.
He’d made it through the ceremony, signed the license, and thanked Rector Hodgson and each person who had taken the time to witness his and Bethany’s hasty nuptials. Most of them now mingled in the vestibule or on the front steps of the church.
“Would everyone care to return with us to Well’s Place to partake of refreshments and a small supper?” Lady Westerley asked the guests in general. The ubiquitous pinched look around her mouth had finally eased.
Chase didn’t begrudge Lady Westerley her anxiety—she had every right after the events of the past twenty-four hours.
The nature of the marriage aside, he had very nearly been late, and would have been, if he’d had to rely on a driver.
Upon sitting down with the girls at Farm Street house and announcing his plans to marry, they had insisted that in addition to flowers, he needed to purchase rings. They’d accompanied him to a jeweler, which had taken up most of the afternoon, and after escorting them home, he’d returned to Byrde House where Mr. Smythe had been more fastidious than normal as he’d assisted Chase into wedding appropriate apparel. By the time Chase had located a flower cart, it was nearly four.
But all of it had been worth it.
The pleasure in Bethany’s eyes when he’d handed her the flowers and surprised her with the rings had warmed him in a way he hadn’t expected.
But now her mother wanted to host some sort of dinner…
“Does that meet with your approval?” Bethany stared up at him questioningly.
He winced. “I promised my mother we would return straight away to Byrde House so that she could meet you.” If he failed to return to take dinner with his mother, there would be no telling how she would react. “If you don’t mind, that is…”
His wife’s eyes flew wide, and she began shaking her head.Good God, he had awifenow.
