You,she thought.I love you.And that terrified her. She said yes.
CHAPTER 34
Much to the horror of many society members who weren’t invited, the marriage of Lady Monmouth to the Earl of Coulter was to be a small service held in a church on the outskirts of London.
Two weeks had passed since the day Sophie had said yes, and there had been nothing more from Jack Spode, which did not mean he wasn’t watching her, only that Patrick’s protection had kept him at bay… for now.
True to his word, he had arranged a special license, and today they would marry, and Sophie felt ill with nerves.
Am I making the right decision?
“Fee looks pretty,” Timmy said as he and Doddy stared up at her. Boy and dog were now inseparable.
“And you look handsome,” she said, bending to kiss the top of her brother’s head.I’m doing this for him and Letty, she reminded herself. Plus, she was to marry the man she loved, even if neither of them had spoken about how they really felt.
“Hello, I’m here.” Amelia appeared in the doorway with red-rimmed eyes and a wobbly smile, which told Sophie she had been arguing with her mother again.
“Melia,” Timmy said, running to her. They had met twice now, and her brother loved Sophie’s friend, especially when she read to him using funny voices.
Sophie hugged her gently using her good arm. While she was healing, it still ached. They had told people she’d fallen and damaged it because the truth was something they had no wish to share.
“Now, let’s get you changed into your dress,” Sophie said as Jenny appeared.
Letty had insisted they have new dresses even if there were only two weeks to get them made. “It is your wedding after all and I want you to feel like a bride should,” her sister-in-law had said.
Jenny helped Amelia out of her ill-fitting green dress and into the pale blue one she’d had made. The transformation was instant. Where her dresses usually hung off her body, this one hugged it. The soft material accentuated her figure.
“Sit now, Miss Logan, and I will do your hair,” Jenny said.
Letty arrived when she was finished.
“Oh my, look at you three,” she said, coming into the room in a pretty dress of forest green. Her eyes went from Sophie to Amelia and then Timmy. “Amelia, I hardly recognize you.”
“Because my dress actually fits and my hair is not scraped back from my face,” she said, looking in the mirror. “I look very different.”
“Perhaps you can talk to your mother about changing your dresses,” Sophie said, happy to think about something other than her upcoming nuptials.
“She will never listen,” Amelia said with a fierce expression. “There is only one way to do things, and that is my mother’s way.”
“Well then,” Letty said. “We’ll discuss that no further on such a happy day. Will she be attending?”
“No.” Amelia shook her head.
“Right, then, let us be off,” Letty added, holding out her hand to Timmy, who looked handsome in a blue suit.
The day was overcast, and her nerves climbed as they rolled through the London streets. Timmy chatted with Amelia, and Letty held Sophie’s hand.
Patrick had been a constant visitor in the days since her accident. He took Timmy for walks and spent time with all of them, taking tea. They were rarely alone, and she was sure that was deliberate on his part, because she may use the opportunity to back out of their marriage.
“We are here,” Letty said as they stopped outside the church forty minutes later.
Sophie saw a few carriages lining the road before the old stone church.
“Come along,” Letty said, stepping out with Timmy.
Sophie smoothed the skirts of her ivory dress and took the flowers Amelia handed her.
“You are beautiful, Sophie, and I know there are things you haven’t told me about with regards to your sudden wedding and the rumors you also didn’t discuss with me?—”
