She looked askance at him. “Thank you. Though I don’t think I’ll be able to appease anyone, but then again, that was never my intention.” She winked at him before mounting up.
He settled onto his own horse, and they continued north.
Arriving in Gretna Green well after sunset, he found them a room at a decent inn and left Lissa to wash up.
Striding toward the blacksmith shop, the place he was told he could get married, he frowned. The building was dark—as well it should be, since the blacksmith had finished his work for the day hours ago. Still, Anthony knocked on the door. When no one answered, he started to head back toward the inn, nervous that they would need to wait yet another night.
“Looking to get married, lad?” An old man across the road stood outside a croft smoking his pipe.
Anthony changed his path and walked toward the man. “Yes, I was. Will the blacksmith marry us this evening?”
The old man studied him from beneath bushy eyebrows. “Aye, for a price.”
“I’d be happy to pay the price. Can you tell me where I can find him?”
“I can do better. You go fetch your lass, and I’ll have Mungan meet you over there.” He gestured with his pipe toward the blacksmith’s place.
“Thank you, sir. I am much obliged.”
The old man chuckled. “Any sassenach that comes to our village at this time of night to get married is bound to be besotted. I’m just helping love along.”
Anthony smiled. “That I am.” Giving the man a short bow, he strode toward the inn.
As he stepped into their room, he found Lissa trying to button the back of her dress. “Here, let me.” He stepped up behind her and buttoned the red, very wrinkled dress up to her neck.
She turned around, a self-deprecating smile on her lips. “It’s not the height of fashion, nor in good condition, but I thought it better than the trousers.”
He spoke without thinking. “I’m not marrying your clothes. I’m marrying you. I will buy you whatever clothing you wish once we’re married.”
Her smile faltered. “I believe you already bought me, as your mistress, much clothing, like this dress.”
He did not want her as his mistress. He never had. She was his friend and now his betrothed. He loved her. He didn’t wish her to think of herself in such terms. “True, but only for a part you played in an investigation, much like when you dress as a young man. It does not mean you are one.” He held his arm out toward the door, anxious for her to be his. “The blacksmith is even now getting ready for us. Are you ready?”
She took a deep breath and nodded, but didn’t say anything as she walked past him.
He opened the door for her, and they descended the stairs to the main floor. The quiet hum of conversation greeted them as they passed by the main dining area and walked outside into the moonlit road.
“It’s so quiet.” Lissa’s words were barely above a whisper.
“Most of the villagers are home after their toils of the day. I’m sure come morning, there will be plenty of activity here.”
They approached the blacksmith’s, and Anthony could see the old man had been true to his word, as light shone from within. He stopped before the door under the single lantern and faced his soon-to-be wife, taking her hands in his. “Lissa, I know that you are unsure about this step. I promise you, I will do all in my power to care for you and protect you. I don’t ever want you to regret marrying me.”
Her dark gaze roamed his face. “Long ago, what seems like a lifetime, I thought to marry Etienne. It never happened. The war took him and life became survival. You arrived and became my friend. So much has changed. What that young woman dreamed for then is far different than what I look for from life now. I do know that I can trust you, and that’s why I will take this step with you.”
The tension in his chest lessened and he kissed her, the woman he loved, the woman he respected, the woman he’d never let go.
When they parted, she smiled at him.
Feeling as if they’d already said their vows, he opened the door and took her inside.
*
The next morning,Anthony woke and stretched before reaching out for his wife. The ceremony had been brief, the blacksmith presiding with his wife and the old man from the street present to bear witness. Anthony and Lissa returned to the inn for dinner and consummated their marriage not once, not twice, but three times.
Even with his eyes closed, he smiled. He had a wife. And such a lovely, passionate, and clever one at that.
When his hand found nothing but cold linens, he opened his eyes.
