“A high honor,” Matthew quipped.
“Indeed,” Wick echoed.
“Now, Sunny,” Andrew said, “I’d like to see you shoot an arrow through the loophole of at least one axe to prove that you are truly worthy of my mama.”
25
To say that she was nervous would be a gross understatement.Mantheria was terrified behind her wedding veil.Marrying Sunny was the ultimate step of faith into the unknown.She loved him.Of that she was certain, but everything else was a mystery.Would she welcome more than kisses?Would he be happy waiting for intimacy until she felt comfortable offering it?How would Andrew adjust to having a stepfather?He was fond of Sunny, but that was before he was an authority figure over him.
All these thoughts nearly paralyzed her feet.
“I was nervous on my wedding day, too,” her father said, patting her hand that was holding his arm.“I wasn’t sure that I was making the right decision.But in my many years, I’ve learned that absolute certainty in life doesn’t exist.You have to make the best choice you can at the time and live with it.Don’t let your doubts rule your actions.When the footmen open the door to the chapel and you see Sunny, if you don’t feel right about it, we will turn back around.But if you see him and you realize how much he loves you and how much you love him, I think perhaps you will be the one dragging me down the aisle so that you can marry him.”
“Is that how you felt when you saw Mama’s face?”
Papa laughed and shook his head.“No.I couldn’t see her face at all.She had on the most enormous white wig and a shocking amount of lace.Still, I trusted my father and my own choices.And I have never had cause to regret it.”
“My last marriage was not a happy one.”
Her father lifted her opposite hand to his mouth and kissed it.“I know, my precious daughter.And your unhappiness has been ours as well.But it is best to leave the past in the past and to move forward with hope for the future.”
She leaned onto her tiptoes and pressed a kiss against his weathered cheek.“You are very sage today, Papa.”
“Sage is just another word for old,” he retorted.“Neither of us is getting any younger.Should I signal the footmen to open the doors?”
Mantheria took a deep breath and allowed her chest to fill with hope.“Yes, Papa.”
He nodded, and the double doors were opened to the chapel that was part of Hampford Castle and her home growing up.The pews were fuller than she had ever seen them before, between Sunny’s family and friends and her own growing family.She wanted more children with Sunny, and she was certain that he would wait for intimacy with her during her sickness and nausea.He never pressed her for more than she could give him.
Her eyes met Sunny’s, and the smile on his face took her breath away and made her insides feel warm and sticky.He was not an everyday sort of handsome; he was the man of her dreams.Papa was right.She could not let her doubts rule her decisions.Sunny had stuck by her through thick and thin.In the happy times and the sad ones.He had always been there for her, even when Mantheria had felt all alone in her marriage.With Sunny, she never needed to be alone again.
Standing beside him was not Wick, but Andrew.He was wearing a new suit, and his chest was sticking out as if he was pleased as punch to be chosen as a groomsman.Sunny stole another piece of her heart by including her son in their ceremony.Andrew was looking taller and older than ever.She wanted to keep him as her little boy forever.Perhaps that washerAchilles’s heel.She didn’t want Andrew to grow up and move away from her.But that was life, and now when he finally did, she would not be lonely.
Mantheria would have her very own personal sunshine.
Her father escorted her to Sunny, who held out both hands to her.Mantheria happily placed her fingers in his.Papa gave her a kiss on the cheek through the veil and then sat down on the front row with her mother, who was already crying.Mama was not usually an emotional person, but she had fretted about Mantheria’s unhappiness for years.She hoped that her mother would never need to worry about her again.
Sunny’s mother could do that.She sat on the opposite bench and wore all black, but at least she wasn’t hiding her face under a mourning veil.Universal approval was not possible, and Mantheria was learning not to listen to the malicious little voices of society, but rather to her own heart.
Her friend Mary’s husband, Chaplain Wallace, gave a beautiful marriage ceremony, and Mantheria felt as if she held her breath until she and Sunny both signed their names to the marriage certificate and the church register.
It was done.
Mantheria was married again.And she was a duchess for the second time.But the man beside her made all the difference.
Holding hands, they passed through the flower-strewn aisle where her family began to toss rice at them with brutal accuracy.Little pellets hit their faces, and Sunny began to run.Mantheria let him lead her to the door, where she pulled him to a stop.
“Kiss me, Sunny.”
He gently pulled her into his arms and whispered, “Anything for you, my duchess.”
His lips brushed hers lightly, but Mantheria wanted more.She put her arms around his neck and tugged him closer.He deepened the kiss as the cheers in the chapel became louder and louder.But not as thunderous as the beating of her own heart.
They walked back down the aisle and outside the chapel, where they were met with more cheers and a great deal of rice being thrown at them.
“Should we run for it?”Mantheria asked her new husband as more rice pelted her lovely rose gown.All her siblings had excellent aim.
Sunny raised his eyebrows.“To the wedding breakfast?”