“She is in a much better mood than last night,” Alfred said.
“Her son is getting married. She is bound to be overjoyed.”
“Are you being truthful when you say you have made your peace with Lady Honoria’s departure?”
“I would not want her to feel obligated to marry me. I thought a lot about it last night, and perhaps marriage is an area where duty should not hold dominion.”
Alfred tilted his head back and arched his eyebrows.
“Why, brother, perhaps there is hope for you yet.” A wide smile spread across his face. Nathaniel gave a small shake of his head and rolled his eyes.
“So, given that today is a day of romance, are you intending to make any overtures to a certain guest of ours?” Alfred asked.
Nathaniel felt a sudden prickle of tension running through the core of his body, making his clothes feel even more uncomfortable.
“I don’t think today is a good day for that. I don’t think any day is.”
“Brother, she won’t be here forever. I would hate for you to live with regret hanging over you like a shadow.”
The words echoed in his mind. Every time he was alone with Charlotte, things seemed to go awry somehow, but today of all days, he was willing to show a hint of vulnerability to his brother.
“I believe she is already married to her work,” he said, suggesting that if things were different, he might have asked her.
“She has not been made to choose yet. The least you can do is give her a choice, and yourself a chance.”
As Alfred said this, an excited murmur arose from the crowd. Each row turned their heads, one at a time, giving the impression of a ripple surging through water. At the far end of the aisle, Mary appeared on Edmund’s arm. She walked slowly toward the altar.
“By God, she’s beautiful,” Alfred whispered, his words imbued with deep emotions.
“Yes, she is,” Nathaniel murmured, but he was looking past the bride. His gaze fell upon Charlotte. Her head was dipped a little, and her slender arms were held in front of her, her hands clutching a colorful bouquet. Nathaniel’s breath caught in his throat as he stared at her.
In all his life, with all the balls he had attended, with everyone he had met, he had never seen such a vision of loveliness. Every step she took made his heart flutter. The way her dress flowed down her feminine figure made something twitch in the depths of his soul. She stoked a fire in his heart. The sun seemed to glow with greater intensity. Everything seemed more urgent.
It felt as though she were walking to him.
All of his instincts were sent into overdrive, and it took all of his self-control to remain where he was.
As she grew closer, the details of her face became more apparent. All attention should have been on the bride, for she was the star of the day, but Nathaniel could see nothing but Charlotte. He marveled at the arch of her eyebrows. He traced the angle of her nose. He stared at her lips.
The lips with which he was intimately acquainted, unbeknownst to anyone else present. When his gaze fell on them, it was as though he was standing before her again, the air sizzling with tension, her breath warm, her lips soft, her kiss passionate.
He was a strong man in every sense of the word, but as these thoughts and sensations tumbled through his body and soul, he knew he was just one touch away from crumbling.
Charlotte held a kind of power over him, something that no other possessed. She had taken something with that first kiss. He had given it freely with the second. Suddenly, the thought of never kissing her again filled him with such sorrow that he could have wept.
“You are beautiful,” Alfred whispered as Mary joined him at the altar.
“Take good care of her,” Edmund said with a wink.
These words jolted Nathaniel out of his trance. Edmund shook his hand. Charlotte curtsied and then turned away. For the briefest moment, their eyes met, and it almost destroyed him.
Lydia followed, and there was a suppressed smile, a knowing look. Had Charlotte confided in her? Did she know anything? Did she know everything?
Agatha made a show of hugging Alfred tightly, which delighted the crowd. Clara then stood beside Mary and did not move.
“Clara darling, you have to go and sit with Charlotte,” Mary said softly.
“But I want to stay here with you,” Clara pouted. Mary and Alfred gave each other an anxious look. Nathaniel stepped in, bending to his knee so that he was at eye level with Clara.
