“Oh?” She smiled up at him. “Have you something to tell me also?”
“I do. It is that, finally and without a good deal of pressing from me, she has admitted her affection for Lord Dumfries – and I do not think it will be long before Lord Dumfries admits to his interest in her either!” He chuckled as Nora caught her breath, her eyes widening.
“I expect him to come to call by the end of the week.”
A thrill of both relief and delight spun up Nora’s spine. “How wonderful.”
“She confessed that her hope for our future together were very dim and dull indeed,” Lord Hampshire told her, with a wry smile. “She expected us to tolerate each other, thought we might rub along well together, but there would be nothing more than that. Oh, Nora, you should have seen how her eyes glowed whenshe spoke of Lord Dumfries and the expectation she now has of their connection.”
With a warm smile, Nora boldly reached up and let her fingers brush across his cheek before settling her hand on his shoulder. “It appears that nearly everyone has decided to fall in love, have they not?”
Lord Hampshire’s eyes affixed to hers, watching her with such a steady, full, tender look that Nora’s breath tugged out of her lungs and pulled itself away. The laughter faded, the soft smile on her lips gentling.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. The ache of the year that had separated them sat between them, acknowledged without words.
“I was a coward,” he admitted, leaning closer to her. “I should have come to speak with you, I should have told you all rather than simply writing a few short lines and praying you would understand. I confess that to you, and I beg your forgiveness.”
“Oh, Hampshire.” Nora shook her head briefly.
“You need not ask me for such a thing, not when you already have it.”
The wind picked up as she spoke, stirring the leaves of the trees around them as they stood together in silence, their gaze holding and melding, their hearts healing any final tears and brokenness. When he lifted his hand and cupped her cheek, Nora let out a slow, shuddering breath filled with longing and hope.
“Nora.”
When he bent his head and kissed her, every grief of the past year seemed to fall away. The kiss was soft, tender, speaking of all of his love for her in one single action. Her fingers curled lightly into his coat as he deepened the kiss gently, still unhurried and just as tender. Her other hand went to hisshoulder, his arms encircling her as they shared a moment of love and promise, holding fast to each other as they had desired to do for so long.
When he finally released her, Nora did not step back. Instead, she lingered there, her head going to rest on his shoulder as he held her in his arms.
“I have waited for that moment for so long,” she whispered, her eyes still closed. “There were so many times when I did not know if it would ever be fulfilled. Times when I thought my heart would tear from my chest, such was my agony.”
“An agony now forgotten,” he answered, his fingers smoothing lightly down her cheek again as her eyes opened to look up into his face. “There is nothing to separate us any longer, Nora. We have a shared life waiting for us – and we need only wait a few months longer.”
23
David had attended many weddings before this one and, thus, he had thought he would be suitably prepared for all that was to come. Part of him had believed that, whilst this wedding would be full of great solemnity, it would be so wonderful that he would not have any cause for nervousness.
He had been mistaken.
Standing at the very front of the small chapel, he clasped his hands behind his back and lifted his chin, gazing at the stone façade in front of him and trying to quieten the thump of his heart. Outwardly composed, he took in a deep breath, his waistcoat feeling too tight, his pulse quickening despite his demands that it steady itself.
“You have no need to be anxious.”
David turned his head to see Lord Broadford smiling gently. “I – ” He paused, having wanted to deny this suggestion but seeing the need to be truthful. “I am plagued with what might have been, had I not found the truth about the codicil. If you had not questioned certain matters, if Nora had not urged me to seek out even the smallest wrinkle, then this day might never have come.” He kept his voice to a low murmur, so it blended withthe others in the congregation, all waiting for Nora’s arrival. “I do not know why my thoughts are so dark when this ought to be quite the opposite.”
Lord Broadford smiled. “But you did find the truth, Hampshire. Frederica has found happiness with Lord Dumfries. Nora is more than overjoyed. And whatever doubts haunted you have come to nothing — for here you are, at the front of the chapel, on the morning of your wedding to the woman you have loved for over a year.” Seeing that David was about to speak, he put a hand on his arm. “All is right in every other regard, my friend. Do not allow the shadows of the past to steal what awaits you.”
Turning his head, he saw his beautiful bride coming towards him, radiant as she walked on her father’s arm. Her soft, ivory silk gown swayed gently with every step, her hair pulled back into gentle curls that boasted white and blue flowers.
I will not think of the past any longer,he resolved, his gaze full of her, his heart beating with sheer admiration and love for the lady coming towards him.It holds me no longer. I am given what I have long desired, whether I deserve it or not. I will commit to her and love her with all of my being, heart and soul, for that is all that she deserves, and more.
Her gaze caught his, shining and joyous. David swallowed hard, his quiet thoughts already a vow yet unspoken. Lord Somerset beamed at him, clearly delighted at this final step that would bring David and Nora together as husband and wife. David inclined his head a fraction as Lord Somerset reached him, a sign of his respect for the gentleman and gratitude for the honour that was now to be bestowed on him. He did not reach for Nora’s hand despite his longing, his heart aching with the restraint the ceremony placed upon him. Forced to content himself with her nearness, David breathed in the warmth of her presence as they shared a smile.
He became aware that his hands, clasped behind his back, were fisted — the knuckles white, the tendons standing out like cords. He had been holding them that way for some time, he realised, as if bracing for a blow that was not coming.
He uncurled them. Finger by finger, deliberately, feeling the ache in his joints where the tension had been. He opened his hands and let them rest at his sides, palms out, feeling the cool air of the chapel against his skin.
The gesture was small. No one saw it. But it was, in its way, the most important thing he did that day.
