The morning of Joseph’s wedding, Tinsdale chose for Natalie a pale-yellow dress embellished with an abundance of frothy tulle and delicate lace. It was an abomination!
Glancing away from her image in the looking glass, Natalie glared at her maid and insisted the dress be removed from her person at once. This would not do. She wanted to look…sophisticated. The dress Tinsdale had selected made her look naïve and pretentious.What was Tinny thinking?
“But you look so pretty, dearie.” Tinsdale frowned as she brushed at the gown and fluffed the skirts.
“Tinny, I look like a wedding cake. You of all people know I wish to draw as little attention to myself as possible.” Even without the abominable dress, she would be subject to unkind scrutiny and vicious gossip. This was to have been her wedding, for goodness’ sake! In that instant, Natalie knew which dress she would wear. She had purchased a particular gown as part of her trousseau. It was made for a married woman.
She located it herself and presented it to Tinny. “I shall not be an object of pity,” she asserted. “But we must hurry. Papa doesn’t like to wait, and I’ve no wish to anger him more than I already have.”
Not an inch of lace adorned the new ensemble. Made up of autumn browns and reds, the French gown was sophisticated and sleek. It did not flounce. Rather, it swirled. The tones were muted, and Natalie was satisfied with the effect in the mirror as Tinsdale buttoned long gloves just past her elbows. Looking from side to side, she examined her hair in the mirror and then dismissed Tinsdale. After the maid departed, Natalie added a touch of paint to her lips and then dabbed at them with a handkerchief.
She felt like a different woman. It had been an entire week since she’d appeared in society, and she’d spoken to no one outside her family except for that dreadful man! She shivered at the memory of his nearness, his heat when she’d swept past him. There had been an anger burning behind his eyes, and despite his feigned kindness, he’d seemed dangerous indeed! For the remainder of that day, she’d thought of little else but the encounter. And he’d had the temerity to offer her his escort! Papa would have had an apoplexy!
Shaking her head, Natalie pushed the memory aside.
Today, she needed all the confidence she could muster. With one final glance, she took a deep breath and went to join her family.
And then a thought hit her.
What a very different morning this would have been if she had not jilted the duke. The mere idea was enough to make her shudder.
As sister to the groom,Natalie sat behind her parents in the second pew on the right side of the church. She was not alone. Her three other brothers, Darlington, Stone, and Peter, sat protectively beside her.
The Earl and Countess of Ravensdale had been blessed with four sons and one daughter. Natalie was the youngest, and Joseph was the brother closest to her in age. And today he would marry. He would leave his family and cleave unto his wife. Natalie swallowed the lump which had formed in her throat and felt her eyes well with unshed tears.
Watching the bride walk down the aisle, Natalie had the oddest feeling, as though she were attending her own wedding in another person’s body.
The bride carriedNatalie’sflowers,Natalie’sribbons decorated the pews, and the music vibrating from the large organ at the back of the church played the hymnsNataliehad chosen. Not one detail of her meticulous planning was discarded.
But Natalie had even more cause for discomfort. Her ex-fiancé and his new wife sat in the pew just across the aisle. In an ironic twist of fate spun by the universe specifically to embarrass Natalie, the bride, Glenda Beauchamp, was niece to the Duchess of Cortland. Although recently married, the duke and duchess had not yet left for their own honeymoon. Of course, they would not. Lilly, the duchess, was like a mother to Glenda. She would not miss the girl’s wedding.
Natalie watched as Lilly raised her hand to her eye to capture a stray tear. The duke noticed as well and, with a tender look, discreetly placed a handkerchief in his wife’s hand. The smile she bestowed upon him was full of love.
And then the duchess glanced toward Natalie. She was one of the only guests to not look away when Natalie met her eyes. Her watery smile, instead, held an abundance of gratitude. Natalie felt her own expression soften and tipped her headever so slightly in acknowledgement. She’d done the right thing. Of course she had!
Her former betrothed, Michael Redmond, the Duke of Cortland, was not unattractive or unkind in any way. She esteemed him. She even respected him.
But there had been nopassion,noromancebetween them whatsoever. And as their wedding date neared, this deficiency grew to matter more than everything else.
Not to mention he was in love with another woman, Lilly Beauchamp.
And thank heaven for Lilly! Although Natalie’s mother said she ought to be angry with the woman her former fiancé loved, Natalie was not. In fact, she would forever be grateful to her. For seeing the duke and Lilly, so very much in love, had infused Natalie with the courage to cry off. Cortland might never have ended their engagement, left to do so on his own. She had done him a great favor. She’d done them both a great favor!
No doubt other women would not have released the duke. They would have seen the chance to become a duchess as the opportunity of a lifetime. But Natalie did not.
She would never regret it; of that, she was certain.
She turned to watch the proceedings at the altar.
She would not cry. Shecouldnot cry. Too many people watched her. They would think she regretted her decision. It took all her self-control to keep her chin up and a polite smile on her lips. She was Lady Natalie Spencer. She needed no one’s pity.
“By the power invested in me, I now pronounce Mr. Joseph Spencer and Miss Glenda Beauchamp, by the joining of hands and the giving and receiving of rings as witnessed by God, to be man and wife…” The bishop raised his hands in prayer over the couple as he ended the ceremony, and Joseph, bending forward, placed a chaste kiss on his bride’s lips.
Natalie’s mother sniffed and pressed a handkerchief to hermouth. Natalie’s father, of course, was stoic and controlled. Or so he seemed. He loved all his children and was likely filled with both sadness and joy seeing Joseph marry. In the moment before Joseph and Glenda turned to face the congregation, Natalie watched as her father’s jaw clenched. He was not unaffected.
And then the bride and groom were leaving the church, and it was all over. Not allowing Natalie to mingle with the rest of the congregation following the newly married couple outside, Peter—ever the protective brother—took her by the arm and escorted her through a side door and into a waiting carriage.
She would not attend the breakfast.
