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He had clearly been scrubbed to within an inch of his life. His round face gleamed with cleanliness, and his hair was flattened down with pomade. He wore an immaculate, little suit which—despite everybody’s best efforts—already had a smudge of dirt on the cuff. Where he’d found dirt in the clean house, Daphne did not know. Aboutonnièresat in his buttonhole, matching the bouquet she intended to carry down the aisle.

“I’m to walk you to the chapel!” Alex said, smiling wide enough to show off just about all of his teeth. “Papa said I could. And I’m carrying the rings! They’re in this… Oh, wait, they aren’t there at all.”

There was a moment of taut silence while the little boy patted down all of his pockets and eventually found the pouch containing the rings in hisotherpocket.

“Not to worry,” he said with great confidence, “I have it all under control.”

“I am thrilled to hear it,” Daphne said, biting back a smile.

She offered him a hand, and he took it, leading her down the hallway and away from the little room that had so quickly become home.

“Are you nervous?” Alex asked, peering up at her.

She sighed. “A little. Areyou?”

“I should say so,” he confirmed. “But I’m excited, too. At least, I think I am. It’s a little hard to tell, at times.”

She squinted down at him. “How many weddings have you been to, then?”

Alex paused, screwing up his face while he calculated. “Including this one?”

“Yes.”

“None.”

“Ah.”

On cue, Peter Tinn poked his head around a door at the end of the hallway. “There you are,” he said, looking a little nervous. “I suggest you hurry, Miss Belmont. The Duke isn’t a patient man. He won’t want to be kept waiting, and certainly not on his wedding day.”

Daphne cleared her throat. “Well, as his bride, he will simply have to wait forme,won’t he?”

Peter eyed her for a long moment. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that if I were you, Miss Belmont.”

CHAPTER 15

Edward’s heart was hammering under his blue, brocaded waistcoat.

The material, of course, had been specified by Daphne’s mother, to match the wedding dress. Edward found that he couldn’t remember what he’d worn to his first wedding, and for some reason, that bothered him.

The chapel was mostly full, and people were whispering and nudging each other, the susurrus of voices drifting up the high ceiling. He kept his back turned, staring ahead at the altar. Dozens of gazes burned into his back. He tried to ignore them.

It’ll be over soon.Unless, of course, she decides to run again.

That was an unpleasant thought, and Edward immediately wished he had not considered it. The thought would not be dismissed now, of course.

On cue, the door at the back of the chapel opened, and the whispers ceased abruptly. He could hear the rustle of skirts as the entire congregation rose to their feet, turning to watch the bride walk in.

Edward counted under his breath, marking off the steps she would take towards him. He turned when she was about halfway down the aisle.

At once, his breath caught in his throat.

Daphne lookedbreathtaking.

Her dark hair was piled on top of her head, sleek curls coming down to hang around her neck. Tiny glass flowers glinted in the depths of her hair. Her dress, blue and heavy and brocaded, suited her perfectly. The color made her skin look smooth and creamy, and the simple cut flattered her to perfection. The neckline was a little low, daringly cut around her shoulders, displaying the smooth lines of her collarbone.

She wore a diamond necklace and matching earrings, which, while beautiful, were a little too large in Edward’s opinion.

It didn’t change the way his mouth went dry when he saw her, and how his heart hammered in his chest.