“But, Mary.” Her mother's voice was firm. “We have not discussed your wedding night yet.” Fiona helped Mary on with her stays, which only distracted her a little. “As your mother it is my duty to explain the mechanics.”
“You are making it sound like an engineering project, Mama.”
“And in many ways it is,” Mrs. Clemens said with a lighter tone. “I can show you the diagram your grandmother gave to me when—”
“Mama,” Mary said, stepping into her wedding gown. “I know you mean well, but I think I am well apprised of the subject already. Cassandra explained everything.” She left out the part about when she had done so.
Mrs. Clemens expelled a deep breath, and it occurred to Mary that she was relieved to hear this. “Well then,” she said while Mary pushed her arms through the sleeves of her gown, “I shall wait downstairs for you, then. Just don't be too long. We must depart within the hour.”
Mary's heart fluttered. In another two hours she would be Caleb's wife. The thought caused her to smile while Fiona did up the buttons at the back of her gown. The maid dressed Mary’s hair next, styling it in a simple chignon held in place by diamond-tipped pins.
When her parents had gifted them to her, she'd wanted to refuse, but they'd insisted she look the part of a high society bride. Seeing how much it meant to them, Mary had relented. She was now forced to admit that they did flatter her overall appearance.
Standing in front of the cheval glass, Mary thanked Fiona for her assistance, smoothed the skirt of her gown one last time, and exited her bedchamber. With a deep inhale, she turned onto the landing and started down the stairs.
Her mother gasped and her father stared.
“You look incredible,” Emily said.
“Like a princess,” Cassandra agreed.
“So you think he’ll approve?” Mary asked.
“If he doesn’t, there’s something wrong with him, and I’ll protest the nuptials myself when the vicar allows it,” her father said.
Mary grinned. “There will be no need for that, Papa. I am confident Camberly will be pleased with Fiona’s work.”
She was right. Caleb’s eyes brightened with deep appreciation when she entered the church half an hour later and made her progress up the aisle. Griffin, who stood at his side, whispered something in his ear, but there was no indication that Caleb heard him. His entire focus was on her.
“A diamond of the first water,” he murmured when she reached him. “So stunning I can scarcely believe I get to take you home with me.”
Modesty clutched at her heart while the hint of desire clinging to his words swept through her like surging floodwater. “How fitting that I am to marry you then,” she whispered right back, “for there is no handsomer gentleman about, and none I would rather go home with.”
His chest expanded and when she accepted his arm, she could feel the tightly honed muscles contracting beneath her touch. Starting forward, he kissed her cheek as they went to face the vicar. “I love you, Mary. With all my heart.”
“And I love you, my unconventional duke.”
19
It tookan eternity for the ceremony to end, or at least that was how Caleb perceived it. Ever since Mary walked into the church, he’d been entranced, and when she’d said there was no one else she’d rather go home with, his mind had filled with every wonderful detail of what that entailed. But it wasn’t just the wedding itself that stopped him from getting on with the part of married life he looked most forward to at the moment. There was also the wedding breakfast hosted by Mary’s parents. To announce they would not be attending would be badly done after all the effort, but when the cake still hadn’t been cut three hours later, he felt it his right to suggest they did so quickly.
“I think there was a deliberate effort to see how long I would last before simply hauling you off like a marauding pirate,” he said to Mary when they were finally alone in his carriage. They were on their way to the Clarendon Hotel where they would spend the next couple of nights before heading off to Montvale Manor, the estate where they planned to open their orphanage and build their cottage.
She laughed. “Yes. This entire day was designed to test our patience, but I am glad of it, you know. At least for the sake of our friends and families, who were all so excited to be in attendance.”
“I am sure we’ll also look back on it with fondness one day and savor the memory. After we have had a chance to consummate our union in at least a dozen different ways.” His arm wound around her waist when she gasped and blushed in response to his words. He was being wicked, he knew, but she was his wife now which meant he could say such things without any apology. But there was one thing he ought to consider… “Are you nervous?”
“A little, I must admit.” She dropped her gaze and studied her lap where her hand was holding his. “It would be strange if I weren’t, I should think.”
“It will be a new experience for you,” he told her slowly while stroking the back of her hand in tiny movements intended to soothe. “But I have every intention of making it as pleasurable as possible for you. After all, I don’t want to frighten you off after one attempt, or we’ll never manage the dozen different ways of making love I just mentioned or produce the five children you have asked me to give you.”
Her cheeks turned from pink to scarlet, but she laughed, then smiled with girlish bashfulness in the most endearing way imaginable. “I think you may secretly be a rake,” she teased.
“Only when I am with you and we are alone,” he assured her.
They arrived at the hotel moments later. A footman lowered the steps and opened the door so Caleb could help his wife down, while another took care of their bags. Caleb was pleased to see that the room in which they would stay had been prepared exactly as he had demanded. Roses stood in full bouquets on every available surface, along with recently lighted candles, a bowl of fruit, a tray of sweetmeats, and a bottle of perfectly chilled champagne.
The footman who’d helped with their bags pointed out the bell pull in one corner and departed. Exhaling slowly, Caleb locked the door and turned to face his wife who was busy untying the green satin ribbon of her bonnet.
