Page 84 of Love Unraveled
Cara pinned thelast flower onto Sophia’s hair and stepped back, smiling at her handiwork.
“Sei bella,signora mia.”
“Grazie, Cara. It is your effort that makes me beautiful.”
They smiled at each other in the mirror. Sophia had once again offered a good pension to Cara, but she’d insisted she was not ready to sit in a rocking chair. Sophia did not argue. Cara knew who Sophia had been, who she’d become, and who she was now. It was a special connection, and she would have missed her dearly had she accepted.
“A few minutes alone,per favore.”
“Of course,signora mia.”
Sophia waited until Cara had left before pushing from the bench and strolling to the window. For late September, the gardens were stunning. Stefano and Raimondo had done a magnificent job maintaining their beauty.Raimondo. Sophia smiled. She’d asked him to take the role of her father today. He’d seemed so pleased she was convinced he had finally forgiven her for sending him away that day.
That day. She knew the memory of it would fade with time as all wounds did, but though months had passed, the tumult of emotions had not. The duke had been declared criminally insane in the House of Lords and was sequestered at an undisclosed hospital outside of the city, awaiting the opening of the Bethlam Royal Hospital in Saint George’s Fields. Lord Acherton had not stood trial at all. He had not been heard to agree with any plot, so it had been dismissed as hearsay. Drake had been remanded into the custody of his family but had been stripped of his property and rights. As no actual attempt had been made on the regent’s life or the Prime Minister’s, and the duke was incapable of naming Drake as an accomplice, Drake had not faced the noose for his participation in treason. Laurence continued to work with his covert squad so could not stand as witness to Drake’s confession. Gaston could easily have testified to Drake’s involvement but chose not to. He’d said, without Drake, they would not have evidence on the duke, and the man was no killer. Besides, losing his peerage was punishment enough. She loved Gaston all the more for his leniency.
Foiling a double assassination plot had its perks. Prime Minister Liverpool had waived all obligations, and Gaston was a free man. She and Gaston had decided they would still work for the cause, but it would be on their own terms. He’d asked for the favor of a special license, and they’d quietly married while the duke was on trial. Gaston had thought it too distasteful to celebrate during such a time.
Before taking their vows, Gaston had shared that Carmine had known Gaston lived, that the two had spoken when he’d come back for her all those years ago. She wondered what it would have changed had she known? She had already been married. Perhaps the burden of knowing he was alive and she could not be with him would have been too much? She was certain Carmine had done it out of caring, so she forgave his memory—which was easy to do with Gaston back in her life. Sophia was grateful he had searched her out one more time, even if his intent was originally to hurt her with a goodbye.
Gaston. She hugged herself and swayed happily. Only Jocelyne and Raimondo had stood as witnesses to their wedding. Which was why they would celebrate today. She had worried about waiting so late in the season, afraid the weather would be prohibitive for the outdoor celebration of her dreams. But Gaston had insisted on the delay, saying some things were worth waiting for. He’d wanted to tie up all loose ends and claimed autumn was his favorite season, although she’d always thought it was spring. He asked for little, so she did not argue. And it did not truly matter, for every day was a celebration with Gaston by her side as her husband.
Jocelyne had worked small miracles in the garden, draping chairs with cloth, weaving flowers into the arbor Sophia and Gaston would stand under to exchange vows in front of her friends. There would be no minister this time, as they were already legally wed. Instead, Stratton had agreed to officiate. Noise from her sitting room drew her attention from the gardens below, and her heart thumped excitedly as she turned from the window.
“Mie amiche,” she said, clapping her hands as Elizabeth and Catherine entered her chambers. “I am so happy you are here!”
Catherine laughed. “You saw me last night,” she said, kissing each of Sophia’s proffered cheeks.
“It is true, but it was late when you arrived and you were tired. You have quite recovered, I think.”
Catherine looked beautiful in a buttercup gown, her hair piled high with pearl pins to match the rest of her jewelry.
Sophia presented her cheeks to Elizabeth, who obliged and whispered, “You look beautiful,” before she pulled away.
“And you are a princess, no?”
Elizabeth wore a shimmering pale-blue gown and a topaz-studded tiara.
Elizabeth touched her tiara. “Well, this is a special day, no?” she said, mimicking Sophia’s accent.
“Sì, it is. And you are my special people.”
They knew everything about her and Gaston now. They’d said there was no need for apologies, insisting Sophia had always been her genuine self even if she had not told them her whole truth. They had been filled with questions, and equal parts awe and dismay, as she’d shared the story of finding a young Gaston in front of the Bastille, of the rioters who’d taken her mother during the revolution, of losing both Gaston and her father after that. As she’d told Gaston later, they’d cried in all the right parts. That was the sign of true friendship.
“Let us go see our handsome men,” Sophia said. They chatted happily as they made their way through her rooms and down the stairs. Elizabeth’s four boys flew by without a glance, followed by their nanny and Miss Langdon, who was carrying young Daniel. She smiled at them but continued on toward the ballroom.
“It seems there are only little boys about,” Sophia said, and both women apologized. “Mie amiche, do not apologize. They are children.” While Sophia had no desire for children of her own, she did enjoy theirs. “And I am like their aunt, no?”
They hugged each other as one, then pulled away, laughing as they wiped at their eyes.
“And what do we have here?” Stratton’s voice boomed in the large entrance. “The loveliest bouquet I have ever laid eyes upon.”
After greetings were done, Sophia sent them on through the ballroom, to the garden, excusing herself. She needed a moment to get her rampant emotions under control. She stepped into the yellow drawing room. They had written their own vows to each other, and she worried she might forget what to say. She pulled out the paper from the side-table drawer, unfolding her spectacles and putting them on. She read the words softly to herself.
“Have I mentioned how adorable you look in those?” Butterflies still danced at the sight of Gaston. Dressed formally in black and white, he was as handsome as she’d ever seen him.
“I look like a grandmother, no?”
He walked toward her. “Non. You look beautiful. You will always look so. Even as a wizened old woman, you will bemagnifique.” He kissed her on the nose, and she raised her lips for more, but he pulled away and walked to the window. “Ah,finalement.”
