Aunt Dora replaced the Tarot on the shelf. “If you ever need me, you know where to find me, dear.”
***
Laura stood as the dressmaker pinned the hem of a new ensemble. Made for her trousseau, the promenade costume was of flowered silk and lace appliqué. After it fit to her mother’s satisfaction, they drove home in thecarriage.
Lady Parr turned to Laura as the carriage left the crowded London streets. “I haven’t explained what you might expect from the marriage bed.”
Laura grimaced. “Oh, Mother, you needn’t.”
Her mother’s glance was sharp. “You and Lanyon haven’t…”
Laura didn’t know when they might have found the opportunity. She turned her ring on her finger. “He’s been most respectful.”
Her mother nodded. “I was sure a man of Lanyon’s ilk would never overstep the line. But if he’d gone back to Cornwall without a commitment we might have lost him.”
Laura flushed. Did her mother see her like a business arrangement, as her marriage to Father appeared to be? Did she feel any real affection for her remainingdaughter?
“Men expect their wives to be accommodating in the bedroom,” Mother continued. “You must endure, Laura, no matter how little you wish it. It is Lanyon’s right as your husband. It would be most unwise to refuse him.”
Refuse him? Laura had no intention of it. “Didn’t you ever enjoy that with Father?”
Lady Parr cleared her throat. “In the first few years, it wasn’t entirely disagreeable. I hope you will find it pleasurable. It is an act for the procreation of children. Once that is done…” She glanced away. “I have a booklet you might like to read.”
“It’s really not necessary, Mother. You don’t need to prepare me. Lovemaking was often spoken of in some detail at Cambridge.”
“Of that I have no doubt,” Lady Parr said dryly. “I’m surprised you came home untouched.”
“Your maid was with me, Mother. No doubt Agnes gave you a running commentary on everything I did while I was there.”
“She said you spent a good deal of time with a lecturer, a Mr. Farmer.”
“He is a friend. A group of us gathered together over luncheon to discuss the lectures.” Laura had written to her university friends and advised them of her marriage. They had all sent her their best wishes. She had not heard from Howard Farmer, however, and wondered why. She’d been aware that he found her attractive and felt rather awkward aboutit.
Her mother snorted. “A poor professor who would always work in some university town would not have suited you, Laura. You would have become bored very quickly.”
Laura was relieved when the carriage turned into their street and the conversation ended. To distract her mother, she talked about the flowers chosen for the church. She wanted to retire to her room and think aboutNathaniel.
Chapter Five
Rain clouds threatened on the day of the wedding, held at St Margaret’s in Westminster. Laura’s mother expressed her displeasure, but even Mother had no control over theweather.
Laura was thrilled with her gown. It was not what her mother wanted, but her parent was in a conciliatory mood and agreed to the style Worth proposed. The gown of ivory champagne satin damask had a floral pattern in satin on the boned bodice, with short sleeves of Micheline lace. Laura’s hair had been drawn back into an elegant chignon and cream rosebuds adorned her veil. Her bouquet was of cream roses and pale pink peonies. Cousin Georgina, Laura’s matron of honor, and Phoebe, another cousin, held up her long train. Both women wore deep rose pink, their wide-brimmed hats laden with pinkroses.
Three hundred guests including the prime minister and other notables attended. Laura walked down the crimson-carpeted aisle on her father’s arm to the strains of the “Bridal Chorus” from Wagner’sLohengrin.
Handsome in his gray morning suit and top hat which matched his eyes, a boutonniere in his lapel, Nathaniel stood at the altar with his best man, Horace Tothill, an old friend from university, and his two groomsmen, Ambrose Chesterfield and Phillip Dunn. Nathaniel’s side of the church was filled with friends and associates, as he had no relations; he was an only child and his parents were both gone.
“You are breathtaking.” Nathaniel’s silver-gray eyes and dazzling smile banished her nervousness.
Laura handed her bouquet to Georgina and took her place beside him. With a squeeze of her hand and an encouraging murmur, her father stepped away. In a sonorous voice, the ministerbegan.
When the ring slid on her finger and they were pronounced man and wife, she smiled into Nathaniel’s beautiful eyes with a bubble ofjoy.
Laura clung to her new husband’s arm and laughed up at him as she and Nathaniel emerged from the vestry.
The rain, which had been threatening, arrived as they attempted to leave the church. Everyone scattered as the downpour filled the gutters. Filthy brown water overflowed and spread across the pavement. Laura hesitated on the step, holding up hertrain.
Nathaniel scooped her into his arms. He ran across the wet pavement and deposited her in the carriage, then followed herinside.
