Page 15 of A Bride for the Rakish Duke

She raised her hand in a wave. “Nora! I am so pleased you could attend!”

“It is a beautiful day for it,” Nora replied, tilting her head up at the ominous rainclouds. “Truly, I would not have missed it.”

Lord Lambert turned his nose up at the sight of the woman. “You should be inside, Miss Jessop.” He glanced at Emma. “Indeed, you shouldbothbe inside. We cannot enter until you are seated.”

“My Lord, I am acting as guard for this fine occasion,” Nora replied with a sly smile. “There have been a number of brokenhearted ladies sneaking around. I have been chasing them away, most diligently, so there is no disturbance to the proceedings.”

Lord Lambert sniffed. “I see no one.”

“Because I am exceptionally good at my work,” Nora replied, grinning.

Brokenhearted ladies?

Lydia did not know how to feel about that or if Nora was merely jesting. Then again, if the old scandal sheets were to be believed, her future husband had not been short of admirers. It was just finding one who would commit to marrying him that had been the problem.

But that will cease when we are married, will it not?

She shrugged away the thought, knowing it would only lead her wayward mind back to the dim library and the press of lips against hers. Indeed, it would not matter if her husbanddidtake lovers; they would not be married for long if she had her way. And she very much intended to.

“Emma, Miss Jessop,please!” Lord Lambert urged.

Emma patted his shoulder. “Calm yourself, Father. We are going. We would not do anything to delay this momentous moment.” She shot Lydia a pointed look, letting her know that the offer of escape would be available until the very last second. “You look beautiful, Lydia.”

With that, Emma put her arm around Nora’s shoulders, and together they disappeared into the church.

Once the doors had closed, Lord Lambert turned to Lydia. “Promise me you will not run, Lydia. I know I should not doubt you, and I do not, but… it would be remiss of me not to saysomething. I am aware that this has not happened the way you might have liked it to, and?—”

“I have no intention of running, Papa,” Lydia assured.

He smiled and exhaled deeply. “I knew you would not disappoint me, dearest one.”

I might yet.

Lydia smiled back, putting one foot in front of the other, walking toward her fate, which, with any luck, would be very fleeting indeed.

William was the last to look in her direction as she entered the church on her father’s arm. A little rude, she thought, but then she was not marrying him because he was courteous and kind. She was not even sure if he liked her, and she certainly did not like him very much.

Yes, he was obscenely handsome and looked doubly so as he stood in a haze of rainbow-fractured light that streamed through the stained-glass window above him as if he had paid the heavens to shine on him at that exact moment for dramatic effect.

His dark curls were rakishly tousled, falling over the left side of his face in a manner that made her fingertips itch to brush them aside. And his wolfish gray eyes were breathtaking to behold, when hefinallydeigned to look at his bride, while his seductivelips curled into a half-smirk. Perhaps he was as surprised to actually see her there as her father.

You need personality to go with those fine looks if you want to sway me,she told herself as she began to move toward him, urged by the light tug on her arm.

The congregation stared as she had known they would. There were whispers and snippets of gossip, and not all of them were kind.

“Shemustbe with child,” someone remarked in a hushed tone. “There is no other reason for such a hasty wedding.”

“She does notlookwith child,” another voice replied.

“It is a simple thing to hide in the early days.”

Lydia’s face throbbed with embarrassment, uncertain of whether to put her bouquet away from her belly or over it or if it would make any difference at all. Gossips would still gossip, and she could not deny that such a rushed marriage looked suspicious.

Her father seemed to relax once she was past the halfway point of the aisle, his posture straightening, his grip on her arm loosening. He even wore a smile as he led her the rest of the way to William, who seemed to have invited a gaggle of former conquests. The farthest three pews on his side of the churchwere filled with women, some weeping, some muttering to their companions, all of them trying to catch his eye.

“I thought you said you could not find a bride,” was the first thing Lydia said to William as her father passed her hand into his. “We are not yet wed if you would prefer to choose from that veritable crowd of willing alternatives.”

William’s smirk faded, his hand tightening on hers. “Ihavechosen.”

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