Page 56 of The Lover's Eye
“I am delighted you like it so,” Marriane said, making minute adjustments, “but I confess I am not owed the credit.It was Trevelyan’s doing.”
Isobel stilled.“What?”
“The cuttings are even from Cambo House.I told him I wasn’t sure it would agree with your dress, but he insisted.I confess,” Marriane said with a wink, “it seems your bridegroom has a good eye for your beauty, sister.”
Isobel’s heart perched high in her chest, thrumming ceaseless and wild beneath her collarbone.She didn’t have time to be shocked.She was being pushed toward the front of the chapel, paralyzed by the sight of Giles waiting for her.
He was tall and broad, somehow appearing larger from this distance.His feet were spaced widely beneath him, clad in fawn-colored trousers that fit snugly around his thighs.He turned his head to find her looking at him, and his mouth twitched into a close-lipped smile.
As the vicar began reading from the Common Book of Prayers, his tone better suited for lulling a child to sleep, their sights remained fixed on each other.Giles’s gaze drifted over the flowers nestled in her hair, yellow, white, and green buds intermingling with her raven braids.It was a look so intimate, it sent reality crashing over Isobel.
She would leave this stone chapel as Lady Trevelyan.Return with the man across from her to Cambo House—alone.This marriage no longer felt like a scheme to evade Elias, but a strange gift, a new life.
It’s not convenience I want.It’s you.His words pulsed through her.
Giles took her bare hands in his, and slipped a gold band onto her finger.Isobel choked back a gasp when she saw the stone resting beneath her knuckle.It was dark enough to appear black, but then a sluice of light from the window lit upon it, revealing the oceanic depth of sapphire blue.
She had never expected such a gift.Good God, what was happening to her?A week ago she had been despondent, unmoored from any sense of security, and now she had placed her entire life into the large hands holding hers.She had his ring, and meeting his gaze as he lent the familiar old vows tender intonation, she knew she had his affection.
At the ceremony’s end, she returned to the vestry and penned her maiden name for the last time.With the ink still wet on the page, Isobel claimed her next possession:
His name.
♦
Isobel peered out the window as the carriage crawled up the drive to Cambo House.After leaving the chapel, they had gone straight to Shoremoss Hall for Marriane’s luxurious wedding breakfast.After rendering them so full they could scarcely move, the Pembertons had packed the newlyweds into their carriage and bade them farewell.
Isobel felt her stomach sink like a stone now.
The staff had arranged themselves on the front steps to welcome her arrival.She knew it was a civil gesture, perhaps even a warm one, but their regimental forms stirred a pit of anxiety in her stomach.
The crisp black and white of their livery, paired with uniformly stiff posture and averted eyes, put her in mind of toy soldiers—stoic, lifeless hulls, impersonating real people.She would rather have known them, looked in their eyes and exchanged words.
Isobel looked at her husband.“You must counsel me on how to earn your staff’s favor.I’m afraid Papa and Marriane always handled such matters back home, and I’ve no experience managing a house.”
Giles’s brows clenched.He was angling himself to depart from the vehicle, but paused to lay a hand on her knee.The feel of his touch beneath the thin gown seemed to reverberate up her leg in warm little jolts.“It is they who will earn your favor, Isobel.You are the lady of this house.Their respect is already yours.”
She nodded faintly.
Giles departed the vehicle first, offering his hand.Isobel came slowly out, her mouth smiling and eyes wide as they darted from servant to servant.As the couple advanced up the steps, she offered them little nods of amiability, some of which were returned.She could only imagine how discomfited she would be if this was her very first visit to Cambo House.
Her slipper crossed the threshold before she felt a firm grasp pull her back.Giles had unlaced their arms to grab her by the shoulders, and the solidity of his torso came firm against her back.“Wait,” he said in a low voice.“Aren’t I supposed to carry my bride over the threshold?”
Hot color raced up Isobel’s throat.Her eyes flickered behind him to the staff’s unbroken positions.The servants were trying to stare straight ahead, but several curious glances strained toward her and Giles.
“That’s all right,” she said.“I am sure it is no matter if we skip it.”
Never mind that she was aching to know what it would feel like to be held by him.The warm grasp he had her in now was a delicious tease.
Giles’s lips twitched into a one-sided smile.“What about the evil spirits?”he whispered in her ear.
“I’ve already touched the threshold,” she replied indignantly.
“Ah, but I say one cannot be too careful.”
Before she could object, one of his arms slid under hers, his fingers brushing tantalizingly close to her breast.She sucked in a cold breath.Another fluid second saw his free hand beneath her knees, hoisting her easily up against him.
“Giles!”she whispered, but a giggle escaped her lips as he sauntered over the threshold and continued down the corridor with her.“Wherever are you taking me?”
