Page 21 of An Arrangement with the Heiress (Kentucky Debutantes of the Gilded Age #1)

EPILOGUE

O n the last Saturday in September, Veronica married Edward at the little white church in Lexington before as many guests as the place could hold. Some townsfolk who couldn’t fit into the building stood outside, wrapping around Church Avenue, all the way down to Meade Street and spilling onto Mulberry. Rupert stood beside Edward as his best man, and Jack Curzon was his groomsman. Veronica’s sisters, Delia and Gladdie, were her bridesmaids.

Edward’s family, including Aunt Lavinia, and Veronica’s Aunt Mae had arrived a few days ahead to celebrate the wedding, and they would linger for the week-long celebration. While Edward’s family lodged in rooms at the Phoenix Hotel, Aunt Mae stayed at her childhood home, clearly overjoyed to see it again.

Immediately following the ceremony, the crowds erupted with cheers for the couple as they came out of the church with the bridal party. A huge potluck picnic dinner occurred on the grounds, the size of which has seldom been seen again, since nearly all of Lexington’s inhabitants were invited. The happy bride and groom drove away in a fine carriage decorated with flowers and ribbon, pulled by two matching bay stallions from the stables at Velvet Brooks.

Joseph Lyndon gave Veronica and Edward a wedding gift of ten acres on which to build their home. There they lived happily ever after, with an art studio for Edward, a heart-shaped piano, matching easels, a rose garden, a stable, far too many books, and several messy, noisy children.

The End