She couldn’t help herself. Standing on her tiptoes, Louisa pressed a kiss to his cheek. ‘And you are in mine.’
Epilogue
Wick walked into the dimly lit Hampford Chapel. He didn’t think his body could take any more joy. Filling one side of the pews, he saw Mrs May, all the maids, the butler, the footmen, the grooms, the gardeners, the keepers and Merrell, the head animal keeper. They had all come to support him.
Wick’s father didn’t believe in making his employees attend church. He left the matter of their souls entirely to themselves. The fact that every single one of them had chosen to attend his wedding warmed his soul.
Vases of red roses lined the aisle and adorned the altar. His little sisters must have been hard at work all morning. He sincerely hoped that they didn’t want him to kneel in front of Louisa now.
The other side of the chapel was more sparsely filled. Grandmother Stubbs sat in the front row with Andrew perched on her lap. Behind them were Helen and Becca, holding their kittens. Miss Perkins was handing Frederica a handkerchief. Wick was floored—he hadn’t seen Frederica cry in years.
Matthew and Sunny stood at the front of the chapel by the chaplain. They were both his best men. When he reached their side, they shook his hands. Mrs Berry, the chaplain’s wife, began to play the organ.
Wick looked at his best friend and prayed that someday he too would have a happy ending with Mantheria, even if he didn’t know how. But life was full of surprises and second chances, he’d discovered, and sometimes being a wreck brought you to the right shore.
Behind them was a large circular stained-glass window of the archangel Michael slaying the dragon. It wasn’t the most romantic of illustrations for a wedding, but the soft coloured light that it shed into the chapel felt holy.
Then Louisa entered the chapel on his grandfather’s arm and all other thoughts fled his mind. She followed Mantheria, her matron of honour, and she was holding a bouquet of red roses, but none were as bright and as brilliant as her own red curls. Her dress was seafoam-green, and on her shoulders was the delicate lace shawl that Mrs Barker had made for her.
Slowly, she came towards him, and with each step his heart grew fuller. When she reached him, Louisa let go of Grandfather Stubbs’s arm. They turned to face each other and Wick couldn’t help but smile at his beautiful bride. Louisa beamed back at him and she practically sparkled.
The Reverend Berry, the Duke’s elderly personal chaplain, opened his book and began the ceremony. Wick heard maybe one word in ten. His eyes and concentration were on Louisa. He did, however, manage to say ‘I will’ at the appropriate moment, as did Louisa.
‘I pronounce that they be man and wife together, in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen,’ Mr Berry said.
Wick could wait no longer. He swept Louisa into his arms and slanted his mouth towards hers. Louisa’s lips were warm and insistent against his. The kiss ended to the sound of cheering.
Matthew clapped him on the back. ‘Well done. But you’d better sign the register to make it all legal.’
Mantheria handed Wick a pen. He signed his name:Lord Simon Anthony Peregrine Stringham, Marquess of Cheswick.
‘That’s quite a mouthful,’ Louisa teased, taking the pen and signing her own name beneath his. ‘I think I shall stick to calling you Wick. But you can call me the Marchioness of Cheswick.’
‘Or my wife.’
She beamed at him. ‘That would be accurate too.’
They left the chapel arm in arm. Once out of the holy place his sisters descended upon both him and Louisa with hugs and kisses and kittens.
Andrew tugged on his knee breeches. ‘Up, Uncle Wick.’
He laughed and swung the boy up to his shoulder.
Frederica punched his arm. ‘I told you that Louisa was a lady. You should have trusted my instincts from the first.’
‘Well,Ithought she was a princess,’ Helen said loftily, her long snake Theodosia curling around her right arm.
Becca smiled. ‘And I thought she was beautiful.’
Wick kissed the top of his sister’s head. ‘Thank you, Becca, my heart.’
‘I suppose Louisa is your heart now,’ she said with a laugh, and followed Helen and Frederica to the Great Hall where a dessert table that had been set out.
Turning, he watched his grandmother kiss Louisa on both cheeks and his grandfather give her a bear hug. His grandfather leaned heavily on his cane as he pulled a document out of his pocket.
‘Wick wanted to ensure that your inheritance remained your own after your marriage,’ he said in a gruff voice. ‘And thanks to Matthew’s devious talent with words it is thus. Louisa, your mother’s money is still yours in a separate estate overseen by the Chancery Court.’
Louisa’s green eyes widened and she looked at him. ‘You have done that for me?’