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CHAPTER 20

“Iwill never forget the look on that man’s face when he burst through the door.” Sarah sighed as she sank into the settee. “All masculine and strong…” Her face reddened.

“I’d stop if I were you, Sarah. Jenny looks like she could kill you right about now.” Frances laughed.

“What? Come now, I know you and Nora are married, but you can’t tell me you didn’t swoon a little when you saw him barging into the church to stop the wedding.”

Nora rocked her sleeping baby in her arms. “I know I did. But I told my husband it was a side effect of pregnancy.” Her eyes twinkled with mischief.

The women all laughed.

Jenny sat on the sofa with her teacup in hand, feeling lighter than she had in months. Tomorrow, she was marrying the man she was destined to marry, there was no doubt in her mind. David Elkins, the Duke of Marlow, had always been hers. Her heart sang just thinking of it.

She looked at her friends, who all gathered to see her before her wedding, which was taking place the next afternoon.

“Quite honestly, it all happened when I was passing out from the stress of pretending I was alright with the wedding. I missed his grand entrance.”

Frances scoffed and pointed a finger at Jenny. “I’m still not happy that you weren’t honest with us. You know we would have stepped in had we known your true feelings regarding the wedding.”

Jenny shrugged.

“Oh, it was a sight to see,” Sarah remarked. “There we were, watching this charade of a wedding take place.” She stopped to look at Jenny. “I’m sorry, Jenny, you weren’t fooling anyone. We all knew you didn’t really want Harry.”

“We just didn’t know it was the Duke of Marlow you wanted,” Nora interjected.

“Well, I did,” Frances offered to the shocked amusement of the other two women.

All eyes flicked to Jenny, who bit her lip. “You were saying, Sarah?”

Sarah narrowed her eyes but continued. “We’ll come back to how Frannie was the only one to know about David. But yes, there we all were, watching you get married, andboom!Someone kicks in the door.”

Jenny’s hand flew up. “Wait. He kicked in the door?”

The women giggled.

“He did. It was quite impressive,” Frances said.

Jenny grumbled. “Well, now I’m even more mad that I missed it.”

“How about Harry’s face when he saw David charging him?” Nora laughed.

“The man went as white as a ghost!” Frances added.

“Oh, Frannie, speaking of strong, defiant men. The way your husband stood in front of everyone, daring anyone to step up and interfere with God’s plan, was…” Nora kissed her fingers. “The chef’s kiss.”

“Oh, I know.” Frances blushed. “When do you think Simon’s sibling was conceived?” Her hand patted her stomach.

The women burst out laughing, although Jenny stopped when she realized Frances was talking about relations with her brother.

Sarah once again sighed. “You ladies are getting all the good men. What is left for me?”

“Well, I hear there’s one back on the market. Although he does have quite the temper.” Jenny shuddered.

“Oh, didn’t you hear?” Sarah leaned in.

Of course, Sarah has gossip to share.

Jenny sat back on the sofa. All was right in the world. “I’ve been a bit busy planning a wedding—one that I actually want—so I’ve been quite occupied.”