“I hoped, that is, we both did, that you would have Leonora as your travel companion.” He paused for a moment and his brow creased ever so slightly. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all. Are you mad? Your ploy has led to the best damn thing I could ever have hoped for. Thank you, Lockwood, and do thank your wife as well, for indeed you have done me a wonderful favor.”
“I’m thrilled to hear it,” Lockwood replied. “Shall we drink a toast to your future wife and both your happiness?”
Philip stood and went to the sideboard where he poured them each a measure of whiskey. He handed one to Lockwood. “To Leonora, our future happiness together, and the best meddling friends a man could wish for.”
#
SNOW BLANKETED THEground when Leonora rose on her wedding day. Her stomach was one big knot from the moment she woke up until she had finished speaking her vows at a nearby church. It eased right after, as soon as Philip kissed her. From that moment on, everything felt just right, as if taking his name and pledging herself to him for the rest of her life was the one thing she’d always been missing.
“Happy?” he asked as they drove back to Lockwood Manor after the service. She sat by his side in one of the Lockwood carriages and with her fingers tightly twined with his.
“Ecstatic,” she assure him. “Indeed, I never thought such happiness could exist.”
He reached up under her chin with his free hand, tilting her head back just so, until her eyes met his. Her heart leapt in response to the tenderness filling his gaze. It stirred a warmth to life inside her and curled around her body in the most comforting way imaginable.
“I thought it would take much longer,” he said, baffling her slightly with his soft pronouncement. “But it has struck me today, more suddenly and forcibly than anything else ever has, that I love you, Leonora. I love you so much it hurts. Right here.” He placed their hands against his beating heart. “In just two weeks, you’ve become the focus of my every thought, the one singular person I need by my side, the only person I cannot imagine living without. You are my world, Leonora, and I will endeavor to make you the happiest woman there is. You won’t have cause for regrets. I promise you that.”
“Regrets?” The notion that he’d considered she might one day wish she had not gone through with the wedding pained her in ways that only confirmed how she already knew she felt about him. “I love you too, Philip. Indeed, I believe I have for several days, though it didn’t quite—”
His kiss was immediate, demanding, and possessive. It made her forget all else, the movement of the carriage, the chill still lingering in the air in spite of the blanket covering her lap and the hot brick at her feet. All that existed was him, her, them. They were one now, joined in the eyes of the Lord, and nothing they did with each other from this moment forward would be considered improper.
It was a liberating feeling, to toss away all restraint and simply enjoy the luxury of kissing her husband. His hand crept over her knee, pressed into her thigh, and caused her to gasp. “Are we almost there?”
He grinned with what could only be described as devilish delight. “You do realize that when we arrive, there’s the wedding breakfast, followed by the handing out of gifts, and then the Christmas dinner, perhaps a game of charades, and—”
“We ought to turn this carriage around,” she grumbled, “and find a room at a local inn.”
“That would certainly speed the consummation along,” he said with a chuckle, “but I daresay your sister would be slightly miffed since we were initially invited here to celebrate Christmas.”
Leonora flattened her mouth. “You’re right.” She glanced at him. “How can you possibly be so calm and collected when I feel as though I am strung like a bow?”
The edge of his mouth lifted, and then he bowed his head to whisper in her ear, “Because we are married now. Our wedding night is inevitable, even if we do have to wait a few hours in order to get started on it.”
They were the longest few hours of Leonora’s life, but at least now she and Philip were able to show some affection publically. So when he presented her with a book about rose propagation that he’d purchased in Sheffield, she conveyed her thanks with a kiss. A gesture which he reciprocated when she gave him a bottle of brandy.
“There’s one more thing,” he said once the rest of the Christmas presents had been exchanged. He pulled a rolled up piece of paper tied with a red silk ribbon from inside his jacket.
He handed it to Leonora who untied the ribbon and unrolled the paper with mounting curiosity. She sucked in a breath when she saw what it was: an offer from him to invest in her business, which would grant her five hundred pounds in ready funds if she accepted. “Are you serious?” She could scarcely believe it. This would help her pay the rent for the next year at least as well as cover the cost of new products.
“What is it?” Caroline asked and Leonora handed her the paper. Her sister frowned. “Are you saying your business was struggling?”
“The man who owns the building raised the rent. I wasn’t sure if the shop would survive,” Leonora explained.
“You should have said something,” Caroline told her. “We would have been happy to give you a loan. Would we not, George?”
Lockwood nodded. “Of course. That goes without saying.”
“I know,” Leonora told them, “and I appreciate that, but it felt as though I would be admitting defeat if I did so.”
“You wanted to succeed on your own,” Philip murmured. “I can understand that, but there’s nothing wrong with accepting help when you need it.”
“You’re right.” She took his hand and squeezed it to show her true appreciation. Never in a million years would she have asked this of him, but he was offering, as her husband and partner. “Thank you, Philip. I’m extremely grateful.”
He smiled, leaned in, and kissed her cheek. “And you, my love, are so very welcome.”
“There’s nothing to stop Mr. Becker from raising the rent even more,” Leonora told Philip later when the two of them were finally alone in the bedchamber where they’d be staying until they returned to London together.
