“Please never, ever ride her in such a race again. You nearly gave me an apoplexy.”
Julia gasped as Eddie chuckled beside her, while her mother once more looked utterly perplexed.
“I, ah…” Julia had no idea how to respond, but Eddie pulled her tight against him.
“I will make the promise for you, my lord,” he said. “Though I don’t think we’ll be able to keep her from training, that’s for certain — or from the odd race against her husband.”
“That, I can stomach,” the Earl said before he and Eddie stepped together in the center of the room and shook hands.
Julia watched them feeling as though she was currently within a dream. Never had she imagined that her parents would be so agreeable to her marriage to Eddie. She supposed she had underestimated them and their own thoughts on love.
“Now,” her father said, “When would you like to be married?”
* * *
Their marriage tookplace as soon as the banns could be read and the St. Albans residence had packed and returned to London. Julia was pleased that her brothers were in attendance, as were, of course, her closest friends, who she couldn’t imagine life without, and pleasantly, Maybelle and Will, newly married themselves.
They had been provided just enough time for Eddie to find the home in which he had always dreamed of living, but had never thought would be possible — or not, at the very least, for years to come.
And then two nights before the wedding, Julia’s father had given him what he described as the best wedding present yet.
“You are cleared of all charges,” Lord St. Albans said over a pre-wedding dinner. “And you are free to race again.”
“Wonderful,” Eddie said with relish, though his countenance then turned slightly more somber. “And the poisoning of the horses? Was it ever determined who did such a thing?”
“Totnes,” St. Albans said with a pained expression. “He provided the information on Valiant not only to take revenge upon his former friend — Torrington, who had once confided in him — but also because he owns Thunderstruck and had hoped to have a better chance at winning. He attempted to poison the other horses but hired a fool who knew not what he was doing, thank goodness. Now, enough of all of this. I must ask you, Francis, whether you will now take on my offer to jockey?”
“Anytime I am not riding Orianna,” Eddie responded, though Julia shot him a look at that, as she was perturbed they had made the decision without her regarding the end of her jockeying days.
“Don’t fret, little one,” Eddie had whispered in her ear later on before he left for the evening. “We’ll find somewhere for you to race — as yourself.”
She would hold him to that, she vowed. She was already envisioning a race of entirely women, or perhaps, once again, jockeys…
But first, she had another promise to make — a promise of forever.
The wedding itself was a blur — a blur of faces, flowers, lace, crowds, and the pastor sealing them together as husband and wife. Not so long ago, all had seemed so desperate, Julia mused — and now all of her dreams had come true.
“It does happen,” her friend Phoebe had said following the ceremony with a shrug and a grin toward her husband Jeffrey, while Elizabeth shook her head in disbelief.
“For some,” Elizabeth added. “You are the lucky ones.”
“Your time will come, Elizabeth,” Julia murmured, but her friend simply smiled at her, though Julia could see the pain in her eyes.
“Perhaps,” she responded, though she fled when the Duke of Clarence came over to congratulate Eddie and Julia, seemingly quite sincere. Julia wondered at the Duke — had he actually been interested in her, or had he simply played a role, looking to help the two of them come together? In truth, she would likely never know, but there was something unspoken in his gaze, and he seemed, perhaps, a slight bit too smug.
Following the wedding breakfast and a day with their families, Eddie finally escorted Julia into what would now be their home.
The house was simple in comparison to the manors Julia was used to, but never before had a house filled her heart with such joy. She had visited previously over the past few weeks, adding her own touch to the building, but to walk through these doors, knowing that she didn’t have to leave, that she and Eddie would now make this place theirs, together — it had an altogether different feel.
“Oh, Eddie,” she said, flashing a grin toward him as he shut the door behind her. “It’s perfect.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” he said, removing her cloak for her, his fingertips brushing against the skin of her neck as he did so before he hung it on a hook beside the door. “For so is my bride.”
She flushed, turning to him suddenly rather nervous, knowing that tonight she would finally know what it was to feel the love of a man — the man who loved her above all others.
“Eddie…”
“Shhh,” he said in a gentle command, placing a finger to her lips. Then before she anticipated what he was doing, his arms came underneath her legs and back, and he swooped her up and carried her up the stairs.