Page 27 of To Tempt a Scandalous Lord
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Niall wanted to cancel the rest of the items on his agenda to stay in this moment with Lady Lindsay.Alicia. She had accepted his apology of a clumsy proposal and agreed to marry him. His career was safe. For now. But most importantly, she wouldn’t have to weather a scandal and the viciousness of theton.
Alicia rode beside him, all perfect poise and gleaming gold hair in the sunlight. Looking at her made his chest ache. Niall wasn’t sure when he had begun to think of the countess as beautiful, but now he was certain no other woman had ever captivated him quite like her.
If he were to be yoked together in marriage with anyone, he was glad it was with a woman he desired as fiercely as he desired Lady Lindsay…although desire would not aid his career.
Matthews had long excoriated him to find a proper British wife, if only to silence the critics who grumbled of his Scots heritage and bold ambitions. A woman with the connections he could leverage to push through the reforms he labored to produce.
Lady Lindsay lacked those very things. And instead of being worried about this shortcoming, Niall found he didn’t care…which should unnerve him more than it did.
“A wedding at St. Paul’s Cathedral it is.” He coughed into his hand, trying desperately to clear his throat. “Flora and Juliana will be thrilled. Flora married by special license, and Juliana married at a small parish on Ashwood’s estate, so neither had a big Mayfair wedding. They will be delighted to plan our ceremony and wedding breakfast.”
“I would be honored if they did.” She stared at Flora and Amstead in the distance. “Lindsay did not have siblings. His cousins were in Scotland and though they corresponded, they did not visit each other. And my family…well, my family are not a part of my life. I have dreamed of having sisters more times than I can count, and the fact that you have two who would celebrate our nuptials with us leaves me in a bit of awe.”
“They will be thrilled to welcome you into the family. And wait until you meet my nephews and niece. They’ll have you wrapped around their wee fingers in no time.” Niall grasped for Alicia’s same lighthearted spirit even as he stored away the tidbits she revealed of her past. “Just be careful that you don’t allow Juliana and Flora too much control, or they will run amok.”
Her laughter washed away his concern. “I will make sure to speak up when a matter is of particular importance to me. But I suspect I’ll be perfectly content to allow the duchess and Lady Amstead the freedom to plan to their hearts’ content as long as I can play with the children.”
Once again, a silence lapsed between them. A dull pain speared him under the ribs at the idea of Alicia engaging with his family. For the last several years, his life had revolved around his work in Parliament but now she was tempting him with the possibility of more.
Which threatened his objectives. Niall could not afford to be distracted from his quest for party leadership. Becoming familiar with his new wife and planning a family with her would have to remain a future consideration.
“Shall we rejoin your sister and tell her and Amstead that we have agreed on terms?”
“Agreed on terms? How very official…and dry that sounds,” he drawled, nudging his mount in the flanks.
Riding next to him, she laughed. “Is marriage not a business arrangement? I’m sure your solicitors would tell you so.”
“I’m sure they would.” And he needed to remember that. Niall looked at her from the corner of his gaze. “Are you prepared for Juliana and Flora to be overbearing?”
“Oh, I’m certain I will be able to handle them.” A small smile flitted over her lips. “It’s you I’m worried about.”
Niall swallowed back a laugh at that.
As they continued their way down the riding path, Niall replayed his conversation with the woman who would be his bride. A hundred questions he desired to ask roiled through his mind, and that was the crux. His marriage of convenience was suddenly unearthing emotions he did not have the luxury to feel.
Chapter Ten
Alicia stood in the vestibule of the church, her heart beating so loudly she was afraid the guests might hear its echo amongst the rafters. Was she doing the right thing?
Every essay she’d written was done out of a conviction that politicians should be accountable to the public, and transparent in how they worked to benefit the public. And Alicia was about to walk down the aisle and enter into the most sacred of covenants when she had not been transparent herself.
The urge to flee, to toss her bouquet on the sideboard and escape through the back entrance, made her legs tremble, and she screwed her eyes closed until the feeling subsided.
Peeking around the doorframe, her anxious gaze skipped over the pews filled with guests, to the man standing at the end of the aisle. With his dark hair perfectly tousled, his attire impeccably tailored to his broad, strong frame, Niall looked imposing.
He was to be her husband. When she left this church, she would be Lady Inverray, and one day in the future, she would be the Duchess of Kilmorow.
Alicia gripped her small bouquet of lilies of the valley tight in her hand.
But there was no turning back now. The banns had been read, the engagement ball celebrated to great success, and now the interior of St. Paul’s Cathedral was packed to the rafters with thetonelite, ready to see the well-respected marquess finally take a bride.
At that moment, Flora turned in her seat to look toward the back of the church. When their eyes met, the marchioness grinned.
Even if she and Niall were only ever able to be friends, she took comfort in the fact that she would gain a family from this union. His sisters had been welcoming and supportive, and when Juliana had insisted that she and Ashwood would host the engagement ball at their grand Mayfair townhome, Alicia had swallowed down tears of gratitude.
And one day they would have children. That promise staid her nerves and hardened her resolve.
