Page 103 of A Bluestocking’s Secret Courtship

“Truly, just like that?” He drew back. “Should I bend a knee first?”

She shook her head. “I prefer directness. It’s more efficient.”

He laughed and pulled her back into his arms.

Forty-one

“Are you certain you don’t mind sharing your wedding day with Jonathan and me?” Evangeline asked Sophia.

“I think it’s lovely and wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Her sister checked her reflection in the long oval looking glass in the corner of Evangeline’s bedchamber, turning to see the back of her pale blue gown. It was understated compared to the elaborate ballgowns she’d worn during the London Season, but the simplicity was elegant.

“I think you are lovely,” Evangeline said. “Your groom is lucky another gentleman didn’t woo you before he came to his senses.”

“Impossible,” Sophia said. “It was always Crispin for me.”

Their lady’s maid from home pinned the last of Evangeline’s curls and stood back to admire her work. “If I may speak freely…”

“You never require permission,” Evangeline said.

Joy had been with them for years, and she was like family.

“Both gentlemen are very lucky. You are kindhearted, brilliant young ladies.”

Sophia came up behind Evangeline to rest her hands on her shoulders and leaned forward to meet Evangeline’s gaze in the looking glass. “She’s attempting to soften the blow of choosing Regina over us.”

“Miss Sophia!” Joy blushed to the roots of her light brown hair.

Sophia winked at Evangeline and stood up straight. “I’m only having a bit of fun. We’re grateful you chose to stay with Regina and Aunt Beatrice. Regina will be occupied with the baby, and it is no small task keeping our aunt out of trouble.”

“It is not,” Joy mumbled.

Evangeline chuckled, recalling Sophia’s stories from their voyage to Greece. Their aunt had bumped her head multiple times going below deck, nearly fell overboard when she tripped on a coil of rope, and entered the wrong cabin twice, surprising the ship’s surgeon during his bath. If Evangeline didn’t know about her aunt’s poor eyesight, she might believe Aunt Beatrice had developed a tendre for the man.

True to her nature, Aunt Beatrice barged into the bedchamber without knocking. “Parson Tewksbury has arrived, and he is impatient to return to his holiday adventures.”

Joy bobbed a curtsy. “I’ve finished their toilettes, ma’am.”

“Splendid, because their future husbands would be halfway to Rome by now if they were walking a straight line instead of pacing the courtyard.”

Evangeline stood to check her own reflection. She had chosen the white gown with yellow trim she had been wearing when she and Jonathan stopped the thief on the docks. Last night, as they had lingered in the courtyard and discussed the future, he confessed she had reminded him of a beam of sunshine the first time he saw her.

“Is Jonathan nervous?” she asked.

“More eager now that he has Charlie’s blessing,” Aunt Beatrice said.

That morning, she and Jonathan had approached her uncle and great-aunt together to announce their intentions and request their support. She held Jonathan’s hand, and his tremors had unexpectedly calmed her nerves.

Her uncle had put Jonathan through his paces with tough questions until Aunt Beatrice interrupted.

“We trust our Evangeline to know what is right for her, don’t we Charlie? No more interrogating the nice young man.”

Uncle Charles had deferred to his aunt as he had done throughout Evangeline’s and her sisters’ childhood.

“Are you ready?” Evangeline asked Sophia.

“More than ready.”