Page 73 of Lady of Providence
"You don't have to," she said with a smile. "I'm here with you now — forever."
"Except tonight I will have to sleep without you," he said with a sigh.
"You will," she said. "Though for how many more nights, that remains to be seen."
"I suppose we will have to wait an acceptable amount of time."
She shrugged. "You're a duke... can you not find a way to shorten that?"
He laughed then, pulling her against him. "What's this now? Is my proper Elizabeth looking to do something against what might be expected of her?"
"I think I am long past that point now," she said, laughing with him. "Except for the fact that I am marrying the man every other woman in England seems to want, I believe it is best to now forge my own path ahead."
"Together," he said, looking down at her.
“Together."
CHAPTER35
Three weeks later
"Oh,Elizabeth, that was the most beautiful wedding I have ever seen — besides yours, of course, Phoebe, which was equally as lovely.”
Elizabeth smiled at Sarah's wistful words. She was right — the wedding but two days before had been lovely. Never had she thought she would be the type of woman to want a massive wedding, with excessive amounts of lace and flowers and a sumptuous wedding breakfast, but when one married a duke, there wasn't much choice.
Her parents had been more thrilled and prouder of her than ever before. While Elizabeth wished for their approval in other aspects of her life, of course, she had been pleased that, at the very least, the four of them, along with her brother, had the opportunity to find a moment of peace with one another. Until, of course, her mother began to ask Terrence just when he thought he was going to find a wife of his own, for Lord Moreland was not getting any younger, and it was quite important for Terrence to continue the family line. Terrence had not remained long in the conversation following that.
In the end, however, it had actually been rather lovely to have the well-wishes of so many people. There were quite a few jealous stares sent her way, of course, but Elizabeth hardly noticed them. It was difficult, actually, to see much of anything besides Gabriel, and the way he had looked in his immaculately cut black jacket, breeches, and shiny leather boots as he awaited her at the altar.
"More than anything," Elizabeth said now, looking around at her friends as they walked through the lush greenery of the park, a tradition that they repeated more seldom now, only whenever the four of them had the time, "I am happy to finally be married. To be able to go home to Gabriel every night..."
She trailed off, feeling heat rise within her cheeks, and her friends laughed.
"No more sneaking around?" Phoebe asked with a knowing grin, and Elizabeth shook her head at her friend, but they knew her far better than that.
"Elizabeth, I never would have thought you would be the one out of all of us to repeat such impropriety!" Phoebe continued to tease, and Elizabeth knew her face must be quite a bright pink. Phoebe had mercy on her, however, and laid a hand upon her arm. "I am very pleased. It actually makes you more perfect than ever before."
"I am not perfect!"
"No, but it always seems as though you are," Julia said with a sigh. "I am always blundering one thing after another, though it all seems to work out in the end."
"That's what matters, is it not?" Elizabeth asked, and Julia smiled ruefully.
"I suppose so."
"How fares the bank?" Phoebe asked, focusing on business for a moment, and her question brought another smile to Elizabeth's face.
"Very well, actually," she said. “Many of the clients who requested all of their funds to be withdrawn have returned. When it comes to a lifetime of savings, people can act rashly. It is actually reassuring to know that Clarke & Co. offers such excellent service that no other bank can compete.”
“And then there’s the fact that you handled it with such grace,” Sarah pointed out, and Elizabeth simply shrugged.
“It seems it was the best tactic I could have taken, which is reassuring. In addition, the original partners have embraced the former employees as new partners, and both Mr. Bates and Mr. Larkin have brought a massive amount of knowledge to the table that has been key in managing the staff. In addition, they have kept my secret, though I suppose it matters naught now that Gabriel and I are married."
"Are you able to work well together as partners in the bank?" Sarah asked, and Elizabeth nodded.
"Gabriel does not see much to the daily operations, but he has a tremendous amount of contacts of course. Together, we have been fortunate to bring a fair number of new clients to the bank."
"I'm so happy for you," Sarah said, looking up at her, though she squinted in the sun.
