Page 106 of Never Leave Me
“I want our marriage to be official here in the present, so there’s no question in anyone’s mind that you’re my wife.”
He didn’t have to say the words, but she understood what he meant. He wanted to have a certificate and witnesses so that when he died he could leave her Chesterfield Park. “I don’t care about anything but you. You’re all I want.”
His eyes brightened, and his smile inched higher.
Somehow, her response had made him happy. Was it possible she could bring him even more joy during his last hours on earth? If making their marriage official would do that, how could she deny him?
She caressed his cheek. “Yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yes, I’ll marry you again, Harrison. Today. Now.”
With each winding stair up the tower, Harrison’s lungs burned.
“We can have the wedding anywhere, Harrison.” Ellen ascended next to him, her arm linked in his. The nurse, Drake, and the priest followed behind.
He couldn’t get out a response past his breathlessness. Maybe they should have had the ceremony in the sitting room or someplace easier for him to navigate. But he couldn’t think of a more romantic spot than the tower—especially since that was one ofthe first spots they’d stood together side by side the morning after their healings.
As they reached the top and stepped out, Ellen gasped. The sky with the setting sun was streaked with a garden of colors to rival the tulips below. “Oh Harrison, it’s amazing.”
He watched Ellen’s face, soaking in her beauty, a sense of wonder filling him. How was it possible that this stunning woman loved and wanted him? He wouldn’t let himself think about the fact that they’d waited until much too late. Instead, he was determined to live the remainder of his life with no regrets. It was how he should have lived all along. But better to recognize his failure too late than not at all.
She slipped her arm around him, and he drew her into the crook of his body. For a long moment, they stood silently as the sky put on a display that no wedding planner could ever replicate.
His breathing began to even, and he managed to drag in the damp May air filled yet with the sweetness of Chesterfield Park’s gardens. “We watched the rising sun together here. And now it’s only fitting we should watch it set here too.”
When her blue eyes peered up at him with a keen sadness, he wished he could take back his words. “What I meant is that this is the fitting place for us to seal our vows.”
“I agree.” She gazed out again, blinking back tears. She smiled too brightly and then turned to face him. “I’m ready.”
The priest took his place in front of them. The older gentleman had come within the hour, wearing his clerical collar as well as a silver cross on a long chain.
The nurse remained by the doorway, but Drake stood at Harrison’s side. The butler was as stoic as always, his chalky skin pale in contrast to his dark suit. But his eyes were warm and approving. With Drake’s help, Harrison had groomed and donned one of his best suits.
Ellen had changed into an elegant, form-fitting gown that was the same shade of sky blue as her eyes. With Marian’s simple strand of pearls and her hair coiled up into a fashionable twist, she was as lovely as if she’d spent hours getting ready for their wedding rather than a mere thirty minutes.
As the priest began the wedding ceremony, Harrison held Ellen’s gaze, seeing in her eyes the memory of their wedding only a few nights ago. Although he’d offered to give her another wedding ring from among his family heirlooms, she wanted to keep Marian’s.
Within minutes, the priest concluded the ceremony. “In the presence of God and these witnesses, Harrison and Ellen have given their consent and made their marriage vows to each other. They have declared their marriage by the joining of hands and by the giving and receiving of a ring. I therefore proclaim that they are husband and wife.”
Together they placed their hands onto the priest’s Book of Common Prayer, and he joined their right hands. “Those whom God has joined, let no one put asunder.”
At the final pronouncement, tension eased from Harrison’s shoulders, a tension he hadn’t known was there. Their marriage was legal and binding. Now upon his death, Ellen would have everything that belonged to him. Not that she needed it. She already had a fortune of her own. Even so, he could think of no one else he wanted to inherit all his earthly goods.
The priest closed his book and smiled at them. “Now Lord Burlington, you may kiss your bride.”
Ellen lifted her face to him, and he was amazed all over again that she’d declared her love for him. “This was the part of our first wedding ceremony that I missed.”
Surprise and delight ricocheted through him. “You did?”
She nodded with a shy smile.
“Then let’s rectify that right now.” He wrapped his arms around her, drew her closer, and dipped in, letting his lips fuse with hers. Even as weak as he was, the kiss kindled fire in his blood, combusting desire deep inside. Tonight might possibly be his last night on earth. And he couldn’t think of a better way to spend it than with his beautiful bride.
He had half a mind to pick her up and carry her down to his bed. But his manners as a nobleman held him in good stead. He needed to thank the priest for coming on such short notice.
With a final kiss, sealing the promise of more to come, he drew back, breathless again, but with happiness spilling through him.
