Page 37 of A Duchess Bound (Dukes of Dominance #2)

G erard spent the morning in a daze. He dressed and went to the chapel, his steps echoing loudly as he approached the altar. Leedway, who waited in the front pew, rose and extended a hand. “Layton.”

“Leedway.”

They shook hands.

Silence fell between them. Gerard’s eyes swept over the chapel’s few other occupants. Given the scandal swirling about Bridget, it had been agreed that it would be best for the ceremony to have only a few attendees.

He had brought Pontoun, the only person—aside from Dorothy—for whom Gerard really cared.

Briefly, he had considered inviting Lady Everleigh, but he decided that the awkwardness of having two of his former lovers at his wedding was far greater than any potential comfort that he might derive from the woman’s presence.

Leedway had brought his sister, the Duchess of Sarsen, along with her husband. Aside from the vicar, no one else was gathered in the chapel. “Where is Lady Dorothy?” Gerard asked.

“Did you expect her to be here?” Leedway asked, arching an eyebrow.

He had. But Gerard supposed that he ought not to have expected that Dorothy would be there. Their parting the night before had been painful enough. It would be intolerably cruel to expect her to also attend the wedding, where he married another woman, and her sister, no less.

“I suppose it is for the best that she is not here,” Gerard said.

Leedway cast him an odd look, but he said nothing.

“Are you ready, Your Grace?” the vicar asked.

Gerard turned away from Leedway and nodded. “Of course.”

That was possibly the worst lie that he had ever told; Gerard could not have been less certain that he was making the correct choice.

A part of him wanted to withdraw the proposal and tell everyone that he had made a dreadful error.

They would not be surprised, would they?

Gerard had never been a kind man. It would be more expected for him to prove feckless than to marry Bridget, as he had promised. And yet?—

There was Dorothy’s happiness to consider. He could not love her like she ought to be loved, and he could not make himself more deserving of her. However, he could ensure that Lady Bridget had a suitable husband. Gerard must do this for her, for Dorothy.

The chapel doors opened again. Gerard blinked, taken aback as his bride entered.

The lady’s gown was exquisite. Doubtlessly, the blue gown with its silver embroidery and tiny pearls was the best that Lady Bridget had, and it fit her wonderfully.

Gerard had never noticed before that she had such soft curves, quite like her sister’s.

A traitorous, shameful part of him wondered if it might be possible to imagine that she was Dorothy. His bride had elected to wear a rather opaque lace veil, rather than the more usual bonnet. From a distance, he could not even discern her face.

Strange. But this would be the only wedding that Lady Bridget was promised, so he supposed that the young miss ought to wear whatever she wished, regardless of how unusual it might be.

“Ah, the bride has arrived,” the vicar said happily. “Please, come here, and we shall begin.”

Leedway rose from his seat and escorted Lady Bridget to the altar, where Gerard waited.

Gerard could not bring himself to look at Lady Bridget, but he tried to smile for her.

His teeth locked together, and his jaw strained from the effort.

Every part of his body screamed for him to flee from the chapel, consequences be damned!

It was not as though Leedway would truly kill him.

Probably.

The vicar cleared his throat. “I shall begin by reading from The Book of Common Prayers .”

Gerard wished that weddings were not such abominably long affairs, for it would leave his thoughts with too much time to wander to the incomparable Dorothy.

She had not come to the wedding, and that was likely for the best. Otherwise, he would have spent the entire ceremony searching for her face among their guests.

The vicar opened the book, his wrinkled hands shaking as he turned through the thin pages.

He cleared his throat twice. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of God, and in the face of this congregation, to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony; which is an honorable estate, instituted of God…”

It was not too late to flee. Or was it?

Gerard dared glance at Leedway, who had tilted his head back to listen to something that his sister, the Duchess of Sarsen, whispered under her breath. The Duke of Sarsen looked terribly cross. He might be the one person as vexed as Gerard was.

The vicar kept speaking, the words falling into a vague hum that pricked just at the edge of Gerard’s awareness. He had attended weddings before. He knew what the words were. There was little need to listen until it was asked of him, until he was forced to act in this ceremony.

The vicar broke into a coughing fit, and Gerard stifled a sigh. Ordinarily, he might have felt some pity for the poor man, whose voice it seemed might not last through the entire ceremony, but at the moment, Gerard was a little vexed. Did the man need to make this ceremony last even longer?

“Therefore, if any man can show any just cause, why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him now speak, or else hereafter forever hold his peace,” the vicar said.

Gerard forced down the lump that rose in his throat.

For a long, glorious moment, he dared to imagine Leedway leaping to his feet and shouting that the wedding could not continue.

Or perhaps, Lord Fourton would interrupt the ceremony, having been seized by some conviction to do the right thing for the first time in his miserable life.

Neither of those things happened.

Reluctantly, Gerard looked at last at his bride.

He recognized her face, even beneath the layers of intricately tattered lace, and he inhaled sharply.

Gerard took a stumbling step back, and his bride laughed.

“Did you truly not notice that it was me ?” Dorothy’s soft, familiar voice filled his senses.

“Can you not tell my sister and me apart?”

He did not think, only tore the veil back from his face to confirm what his heart wanted so desperately to believe. It was Dorothy, lovely Dorothy, who stood before him.

“What?” he scarcely dared to believe. “But I thought?—”

Leedway cleared his throat. “I gave it considerable thought. It occurred to me just this morning that I agreed you could marry my sister, and although your offer was quite noble, it…seemed shameful to force you to marry Bridget, whom you do not love, when you could marry Dorothy, for whom I daresay you have a great fondness.”

“Unless you do not wish to marry at all,” Dorothy said. “You may refuse if you feel as if we have deceived you.”

The vicar cleared his throat. “What has happened?” he asked.

“Nothing to concern yourself with,” Leedway said, “only two people who are very much in love being joined together in the sight of God.”

“But that…that cannot be,” Gerard said. “I have seen the paperwork. I have…”

“Something for the solicitors to handle,” Leedway said breezily. “The sentiment is the same.”

Gerard scarcely dared to breathe as he gazed at Dorothy. She gazed at him with that same tenderness with which he had once seen her look at Lady Bridget. No one had ever gazed at him with such love. Gerard felt himself nodding.

“I am sorry for the deception,” Dorothy said softly.

“Oh, do not be!” he huffed. “Thank God it is you!”

Gerard drew her in for a quick kiss, drawing a startled scoff from the vicar. Someone—possibly Leedway—made a low, growling sound. “This is a church ,” Leedway said.

“Are we going to continue?” the vicar asked.

Gerard broke the kiss, grinning victoriously. “Yes,” he breathed. “Yes, I want to continue. I want to marry Dorothy.”

“Gerard Layton, the Duke of Greenway.” The vicar sounded hopelessly confused by the scene unfolding before him, but he seemed resolved to continue.

“Wilt thou have this woman as thy wedded wife, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony?

Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honor, and keep her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both shall live? ”

“I will,” Gerard said.

Dorothy’s face brightened, a warm glow spreading over her cheeks. If she would only agree, they would truly be married. Dorothy would be the Duchess of Greenway, his wife. His wife !

The vicar turned to Dorothy. “Lady Dorothy Leedway, wilt thou have this man as thy wedded husband, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Wilt thou obey him?—”

At the word obey , Dorothy’s lips twitched into a small, conspiratorial smirk.

“—and serve him, love, honor, and keep him in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all other, keep thee only unto him, so long as ye both shall live?”

“I will,” Dorothy said, her eyes shining with mirth.

Gerard grinned at her. He just barely refrained from making a sly remark in response.

The ceremony continued, and Gerard began to find it frustrating for an entirely different reason. Now, the ceremony seemed as though it was taking too long because of what he knew would follow. Dorothy would be his wife, and they could tumble into bed together. They could consummate their marriage.

His loins stirred with tantalizing thoughts of Dorothy and him engaged in yet another amorous congress together. At last, the ceremony ended. Gerard let out a breath of air, desire surging through him.

“It is time for the celebration,” Leedway said, smiling. “Welcome to the family, Layton.”

To their family. Gerard stared at Leedway and at his brother-in-law, as the significance of that just sank in. It was not just that he was married to Dorothy, but now, he was a part of this wonderful, loving family. He gave a small nod, uncertain how he ought to react.

“Yes,” Dorothy said, placing her hand at the crook of his elbow. “Welcome, my husband.”

“Shall we inform Bridget that it is done?” Her Grace asked, smiling brightly.

“But she…” Gerard trailed off. “Bridget will still be…”

“Yes,” Leedway said, glancing at the Duke of Sarsen. “She will be, and that is something that has been much discussed among us all. But we will tend to Fourton.”

“The matter should have always been ours to handle,” Her Grace added.

“Yes, within our family,” Leedway said, smiling wryly, “which you are now a part of, but we will consider your contributions at a later date. I anticipate that your attention will be occupied with another matter for some time.”

“Yes,” Dorothy said, pressing her cheek against Gerard’s shoulder.

His wife. She was his wife .

A startled laugh emerged from his throat. “I suppose you are right, Leedway.”

His time would be well-occupied with this wondrous woman, who had promised to be his love forever.

Gerard ached to seize her and pull her body flush against his own.

He thought of drawing her close and kissing her again and again until she moaned his name and forgot that there were other people in the chapel.

He could not do that just yet, but he would be able to soon.

As they left the chapel, his spirits lifted. The world had never looked so beautiful to him as it did then, walking beside his wife. And later, there would be questions and conversations and important matters to attend to, but just then?—

Everything was perfect.