Page 19 of Charming Artemis

He straightened his posture a little and looked over at her. “You’ll still love me either way?”

Mater put her arms around him and leaned against him. “I have loved you all your life, my boy. And I will love you always. No matter what.”

Her love had been the sure foundation in his life for so long. When he’d struggled to find his place in the world and in his family, she had loved him. When he’d gotten himself into one bit of unintentional mischief after another, she had loved him. When his memories of his father had dimmed with the passing of years, leaving that gentleman as little more than a vague idea in the recesses of his childhood, when he’d found himself wondering if his father had loved him as much as his brothers were sure he had loved them, Mater’s love had given him reassurance.

When he had needed her most, she had not neglected him. He knew she would not do so now.

“I’m struggling not to feel defeated, Mater.”

“You mustn’t give up before you’ve even begun,” she said. “Promise me you will try.”

It was a request he did not take lightly. He knew he had been a disappointment in many ways, but he had never broken his word to his mother. He didn’t mean to do so now. “I will do my best,” he promised her. “I only hope it will be enough.”

Chapter Seven

Charlie had been present forhis brothers’ weddings. Those had been inarguably happy occasions. But the feeling in Grosvenor Chapel the morning he was to be married was more that of a funeral than a wedding.

I promised Mater I would try.He had repeated that reminder to himself countless times over the past few days. He’d promised to try, and he would not break a vow to his mother.

He did his best to appear happy and at ease while waiting in the chapel for Artemis to join him. Nearly all her siblings and siblings-in-law were there. Her group of close friends, the Huntresses, were as well. They were, to a one, glaring him into the grave.

His family was relatively well represented as well. Philip and Sorrel were in attendance, along with Layton and Corbin and Jason and his wife, Mariposa. Crispin, Lord Cavratt, who was an honorary member of the family, and his wife were present as well. Mater sat in the midst of them all. Harold stood at the altar. The vicar of Grosvenor Chapel was a friend of his and had given him permission to officiate at the wedding. Toss and Newton were there also, along with Sorrel’s brother, Fennel, who was a newer addition to their close-knit group of friends. It was hardly a grand and elaborate wedding with an extensive and impressive guest list. But both he and Artemis had supporters there. Considering the circumstances, that was as good as could be hoped for.

Artemis arrived at last, in the company of the Duke of Kielder. Her father had passed away some years earlier, and her brother-in-law acted in the role of guardian. In this moment, he would take the place of her father.

She and the duke stopped directly beside him. This was the point where a father traditionally “gave” his daughter to her new husband.

I promised Mater I would try.Though his heart was sinking, Charlie was determined to make the best of the situation.

He met His Grace’s gaze, fully expecting the fearsome anger the duke was so infamous for. He saw sternness and immovability, yes, but he also saw a surprising amount of empathy and more than a bit of sadness. Sadness for their forced union? Or sadness at “losing” his sister-in-law?

The duke nodded, then stepped back, leaving an awkward and ill-matched couple to face their forced fate alone.

Try.

One thing Charlie could say for his soon-to-be wife: she was gorgeous. He had, of course, noticed that from the very first moment he’d met her. One could not help but notice. But their animosity had grown so quickly and become so enormous that it had hardly seemed worth mentioning. It was something he could say in the moment that wasn’t a complaint or a prediction of doom.

“You look beautiful,” he said.

She could hardly have looked more surprised. “Thank you.” Artemis didn’t appear necessarily more at ease, but at least she didn’t seemmoreunhappy. “You look very nice yourself.”

“Philip’s valet, Wilson, insisted I not arrive in the raspberry-stained clothes that put us here.”

She nodded. “That was wise. And the waistcoat he chose is both bang-up and appropriate to the occasion.”

“Wilson can always be relied upon.”

It was, quite possibly, the most cordial conversation they’d ever had.

“If you two are ready,” Harold said.

“Patience, vicar,” Charlie said. “We’re discussing fashion.”

“Pardon me,” Harold said with an overblown air of apology.

Artemis actually smiled, something Charlie had not at all expected to see from her on such a difficult occasion. “Somehow the oddity of this is very fitting.”

“Absurdity seems to be the theme of the day, doesn’t it?”

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