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Evelyn pushed her lips together, her cheeks flushing pink. “He does love me, doesn’t it?”

“Although I can’t imagine why.”

“Oh!” She wrapped her arm around Diana and pulled her next to the mirror so that they were both facing it. “Who would have thought? Me. Here! I don’t think I have ever been so happy.”

“Trust me when I say that this is only the beginning,” Diana laughed.

It was easy from that point on. Evelyn looked perfect and with her nerves calming, it was simply a matter of waiting until she was called into the chapel. When she was, Diana gave her a kiss on the cheek, told her to enjoy the moment because it would only happen once, and then rushed to join the girls and her mother.

From there she watched the ceremony play out in predictable fashion. Evelyn, appearing at the end of the aisle, glowing. Theodore, gushing at her beauty, tears welling in his eyes because he was even happier than she was. Nothing was amiss. There were no last-minute surprises. It went as well as it could, a further sign that this marriage was for keeps.

And as the vows were read and the two were joined together as man and wife, Diana met her husband’s eyes and matched the love felt in the room in that gaze. He returned it in kind, radiating his love for her as if they were the ones under the altar.

But they were beyond that now. Their marriage of convenience was a thing of the past, now one of utter love and happiness, a future they both looked forward to and could not wait to experience. With their friends. With their family. With one another. Diana had never been so happy.

The End?