“Perhaps tonight, if you want. Right now, you need to rise and dress. Wear your best garments.”
“Are we visiting someone?”
“Only the minister, but it is customary to look our best when we marry.”
It took a moment for his meaning to penetrate. “I did not agree to marry you.”
“Indeed you did, last night.”
She searched her sated, foggy mind. Had she, in the throes of passion, actually said that? “I don’t remember it.”
“Davina, twice I left you because, as a gentleman, I could not, should not, take you. Do not pretend that you did not understand that if I ever did, I would be obligated to marry you. You came to me last night fully aware of what it would mean. I even found enough sense to ask you outright if you understood. Now, wash and dress and we will seek out the old man.” He stood. “That is one good thing about Scotland. No banns, no license, nothing much except the exchange of vows.”
“But I did not accept your proposal.”
“Yes, darling, you did. You made your decision when you seduced me last night.” He bent and kissed her, then left.
She stared at the door after it closed. She should probably be angry, or astonished. At least a bit of indignation was in order. Instead, the first thought that entered her still-dreamy mind was that she might have that amazing experience again. Or even a better one, now that the first time had been dealt with.
She rose and padded into her dressing room and began washing. When she saw remnants of blood on her thighs, she smiled. Memories invaded her mind so much that the washcloth on her skin became a sensual stimulation.
She might get with child. She might already have done so. The notion provoked neither fear nor panic, the way it should with an unmarried woman. She had seen them, those girls trying to hide the bulge, worrying that their families would cast them out. More than once, her father had played the role of mediator with girls and their families, because such things couldn’t be hidden forever.
She would like to have a child. She had never expected to, but the idea warmed her. She could raise a child on her own, she was sure. No, wait, she would not have to. Brentworth said they would marry today. If she had a boy, he would someday be a duke. And she would be a duchess.
Did she want that? She wantedhim, that was all she knew. Wanted that intimacy and the rare knowing that comes with it. The safety and comfort within his embrace had seduced her as surely as the pleasure. Of course she wanted more of that. Only a fool would not.
And the rest? She knew this required clearer thought than she had mustered, but she did not care. Still half-drunk from the heady experiences of last night, in a stupor of contentment, she dressed and went below.
He waited there. He had done for himself faster than she had. To her surprise, Miss Ingram also waited in the coach, and Mr. Roberts paced his horse around the drive.
“Witnesses,” Brentworth said. He handed her into the coach. “Even Scotland requires them.”
She settled in next to Miss Ingram. That lady gave her one long look of sly approval, then turned her attention to the view out the window. “Well done, Miss MacCallum. Well done indeed.”
Brentworth rode with them. Davina had a hard time not staring at him. Was he real? Had she woken for certain or did she still dream? A thick disappointment formed at that idea, one that reassured her that if this was real, she did not mind at all.
At the church, Mr. Roberts dismounted and went in search of the minister. He came out of the house and waved them in just as the old man emerged and headed to the church.
Davina did not walk into the church beside Brentworth. She floated. Everything still felt different. The whole world seemed soft to her, like an invisible cloud cushioning her mind. A very comfortable cloud that made her happy and subdued.
Only while she took the final steps before the vows, did she think about the consequences of this match. The ones other than wealth, luxury and pleasure.
“Will you still help me to learn if the last baron was my ancestor?”
“Either way, we will learn the truth if we can.”
She walked a few more paces. “If we learn that he was, will you interfere with my starting a pharmacy and infirmary here?”
“If your plans are sound, I don’t see why I would. We will bring in physicians so you do not put yourself in harm’s way, though.”
Three more steps. They were almost there. The old minister smiled indulgently at her.
“Will I have to pretend I never cared for the sick, and saw things no proper lady should see?”
He stopped walking, turned to her and took her hands. “I do not expect you to be other than you are, Davina, or to play some role that is not in your nature so that society is appeased. The Duchess of Brentworth does not conform to the world. The world conforms to her.”
He smiled and handed her forward, and they stood side by side. They spoke the vows that would change her life forever.
