Page 2

Chapter Two

The Wedding

May 19, 1840

W illa kept her smile firmly in place as she stared out over the gathered crowd occupying the pews of St. George’s Church in Hanover Square. Half of them were not their friends or even people they cared to know. And most of them had been invited by Mr. Williams. But the other half—her smile shifted to one of genuine happiness. Effie was there along with her handsome duke. Lillian and Valentine were as well. Other girls whom she had grown up with at the Darrow School and who had become like family to her were in attendance—some still unmarried and working as governesses or companions and others who had married exceptionally well and moved from one of society’s lower tiers into far grander positions. Though that had certainly never been the motivation for any of them.

Despite the pleasant prospect of having a moment to see and catch up with her old friends during the wedding breakfast, Willa could not stop the feeling that something truly awful was about to happen. She tried, with all her might, to simply dismiss it as nerves, but she couldn’t.

She felt the approach more than she saw it, and when she glanced to her left, Effie had exited her pew and made a beeline for her.

“What is the matter?”

Willa sighed. “Am I so obvious?”

Effie shook her head. “Certainly not to anyone else. But I know that you are worried. She will be fine. It’s a good match, isn’t it?”

“On the face of it… yes,” Willa answered.

Effie arched one eyebrow. “And beneath the face of it?”

Willa’s expression tightened as she met Effie’s worried gaze. “I wish I knew. I simply cannot stop thinking that something horrible is about to happen.”

“If it does, then we will address it,” Effie offered with her normal pragmatism. “Worrying about such will not prevent it from happening and there is little point in anticipating how to solve a problem that has not yet occurred… and may never occur for all that. But should something happen, you know that Marina will always have our full support. As will you.”

The organist hit a note from the massive instrument positioned in the gallery above them. It was their cue. Guests hurried to their seats and the loud buzz of conversation receded to a quiet hum.

Effie squeezed her arm once more, a swift gesture of reassurance and then retreated to her seat. Willa did the same, taking her place in the pew nearest the altar, her gaze fixed on the door where Marina would enter on Devil’s arm. Isabella would be behind them, along with Lillian’s daughter, Deirdre, who was a few years younger, acting as her bridesmaids. They were being entrusted with the task of keeping Marina’s veil from getting snagged on anything as she walked down the aisle.

Was that the source of her anxiety? Praying that the little girls could manage the task and Marina’s gown or veil would not be ripped or that she might trip and fall? Those were certainly terrible options but not catastrophic. How she hoped that was all!

The doors opened and Devil stood there, handsome as ever. Tall and straight, with his hair combed back from his forehead, it nearly took her breath away. The man truly was ridiculously handsome. Seventeen years together and still he took her breath away. But it was not the time to be distracted by him. Forcing her gaze to her niece, Willa’s heart stuttered in her chest.

Marina did not appear to be a happy bride. Her face was pale, her steps slow and hesitant. But there was a tension in her that she had never seen before. As if the weight of the world was pressing down on her, she thought. Was it simply nerves?

As they walked in, the notes of the pipe organ ringing out, and Devil caught her eye. It wasn’t simply her, Willa realized. He too was concerned. Had Marina said something to him? Was she having second thoughts about the marriage? Had Stanford Williams done something to make her regret consenting to his proposal?

The minister began the service, his monotonous drone filling the near silence of the church with his somewhat nasally speech. She had attended services presided over by him countless times and never before, Willa thought, had she found him so terribly annoying. But her gaze stayed firmly on Marina. And on Devil who continued to stand at the front of the congregation as he waited on the minister to ask that very pointed question of who was giving Marina away. She almost hoped he would refuse. Something was terribly wrong. Her poor girl looked as though she were going to the gallows rather than the altar.

“Into which holy estate these two persons present: come now to be joined. Therefore, if any man can show any just cause why they may not lawfully be joined so together: Let him now speak, or else hereafter forever hold his peace,” the minister intoned and then paused, waiting for someone to speak up.

Willa had to bite her tongue.

When no one stood up and shouted down the match as the travesty that it now appeared to be, the minister continued, “I require and charge you (as you will answer at the dread full day of judgment, when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed) that if either of you do know any impediment, why ye may not be lawfully joined together in matrimony, that ye confess it. For be ye well assured, that so many as be coupled together otherwise than God’s word doth allow: are not joined of God, neither is their matrimony lawful.”

Neither of them spoke, Marina and Mr. Williams facing the cleric with stoic expressions.

“Stanford Carlisle Williams, wilt thou have this woman to be 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 to her, so long as you both shall live?”

Stanford cleared his throat. “I will.”

The myopic little man turned to Marina, blinking as he took in her deathly pale appearance. But still he spoke, “Marina Elizabeth Ashton, wilt thou have this man to be thy wedded husband, to live together after God’s ordinance, in the holy estate of matrimony? Wilt thou obey him, and serve him, love, honor, and keep him in sickness and in health? And forsaking all others keep thee only to him, so long as you both shall live?”

Silence stretched interminably. So much so that the sound of a pin dropping would have been akin to cannon fire. Finally, the minister cleared his throat and asked, “And forsaking all others keep thee only to him, so long as you both shall live?”

Marina opened her mouth to reply, but no sound emerged. And as Willa stared on in horror, the bride simply sank to the floor in a dead faint.

*

Devil didn’t hesitate, nor did he feel the need to offer any explanation. Instead, he simply scooped Marina up into his arms and carried her out of the church. He’d known. The entire way over in the carriage. He. Had. Known.

Something was wrong. He’d even questioned her if she really wanted to go through with it. Her answer both puzzled and worried him.

What else would I do?

There had been no protestations of her love for Stanford Williams or even any indication that she wished to become his wife. Instead, she had appeared resolute. Resolute and terribly unhappy.

So now, as he carried her out of the cathedral and to the waiting carriage, he didn’t bother to offer explanations to anyone. Those who loved her and cared for her would seek them at home. And those who didn’t could just hang.

Loading her into the waiting carriage, he looked back just as Willa emerged from the church, racing toward them. He helped her in, climbed in after, and then rapped sharply on the roof. “Home!”

“What is happening?” Willa asked him. “Until two days ago, the night of the Farringtons’ ball, she could not have been happier to marry him… I thought.”

“I don’t know either,” Devil said. “But I vowed she would never be forced to marry where she did not love. And if she has misgivings about Williams then we will support her in that. Whatever the cost.”

Tears glinted on Willa’s lashes. “You truly are the best of men. You’ve no notion, even now all these years later, how good you really are.”

“I protect those I love. Because I know how great the cost is for doing anything else. I will not see her succumb to the same fate that her poor mother did. I will not fail a second time.”

“It was never your failure.”

“It wasn’t only mine,” he conceded. “I will grant that, but I cannot absolve myself completely when my sister is no longer here. All I can do is as I have done already and devote myself to seeing Marina happy and safe.”

“There will be scandal,” Willa said.

Marina stirred on the seat. Devil nodded. “Then so be it.”

Willa nodded in agreement. “Indeed. So be it.”