Page 22 of The Highlander’s Auctioned Hellion (Auctioned Highland Brides #4)
“Are you ready, my lady?”
Lydia smiled at Hannah. She was dressed in just her undergarments, petticoats, and stays, waiting for the wedding gown to be lifted over her head.
Glancing at Kristen, she raised her eyebrows. The seamstress stood behind her, a wide grin on her face as she moved forward with the gown in her arms.
The beautiful, shimmering fabric was lifted over Lydia’s head, and her view of the room was obscured for a moment as she felt the soft brush of it against her skin.
Even before it was settled to the floor, Kristen was beside her, tweaking and pulling at it to make sure it sat correctly.
Lydia looked over herself with mixed feelings. It was still surreal to think that she would be marrying Callum today.
I feel so different from how I did when I arrived here.
Only a few days before, she had met a stranger in the grounds of her father’s house, a man who promised her salvation.
Lydia had been desperate at the time. A room full of old men, awaiting her, chosen by her father, to force her into an unwanted and unhappy marriage.
She had been a commodity. Sold to the highest bidder, and anyone—even a scarred, giant of a Highlander—felt like a better option.
And now I am in a beautiful castle, with two beautiful children, waiting to marry a man who has told me I am nothing more than a convenience.
“Oh, you do look bonnie,” Kristen said, stepping back. “I kenned that color would work with yer beautiful skin and yer hair.”
Hannah was putting the finishing touches to Lydia’s hair as they spoke. The maid had been up extra early that morning to go into the hills and collect thistles. The pale blue flowers and subtle green leaves picked out Lydia’s eyes and complemented the dress perfectly.
“Are ye all right, M’Lady?” Hannah asked, glancing at her in the mirror.
Lydia quickly smoothed her features, allowing the frown to lift as she nodded.
“Yes, yes!” she said, pushing down the worry that rose inside her. “The dress is beautiful, Kristen. Thank you for all the work you have done. I could not have asked for a more stunning gown.”
Stars and moons cascaded down the skirts like tumbling waterfalls at her sides. The beading about the bodice was exquisite, and every time she moved, she sparkled.
Kristen smoothed a hand over it one more time, and then the door opened and her mother and Tommy entered the room.
The Duchess ran a critical eye over her daughter, a soft smile playing over her lips as Tommy jumped up and down, unable to contain his excitement.
“You look so lovely!” he said happily, and Lydia and her mother both laughed at his enthusiasm.
“Truly, I have never seen a lovelier bride, my darling,” her mother said affectionately. “We should go, but just before we do, I wish to give you one final thing.”
Her mother handed a box to Lydia, and she gasped as she opened it, revealing a beautiful string of pearls.
“They were my mother’s, and I wore them on my wedding day,” her mother said. “But I did not look half so beautiful as you.”
“I do not believe it,” Lydia replied, handing the pearls to her mother as the Duchess placed them gently around her neck.
They were perfect, their iridescent shine reflecting the beading all over the dress.
Kristen and Hannah stepped back as Lydia turned, taking her mother’s arms and gripping her tightly. She held out a hand to her brother, and Tommy took it, smiling up at her.
“I love you,” her mother said softly. “If you had not taken it upon yourself to choose your own path, you would not be as free as you are now. I have never been so proud.”
Lydia smiled. “Come, Tommy, lead the way. It is time to begin a new adventure.”
The horizon was clear.
Callum stared out of the tiny stone archway that marked the entrance of the church. Nerves and anticipation battled against one another in his gut, and he swallowed, fighting them with all his might.
Alexander stood firm beside him, resplendent in their house colors. Callum’s only thought was his bride. She was already a little late.
We have guards surrounding her carriage. She will arrive safely.
At the sound of the horse’s hooves in the distance, however, Callum breathed a sigh of relief. He stiffened as they approached, the dark shapes of the horses flitting past the entrance as the carriage came to a stop outside.
The congregation rose as the minister took up position behind him.
The sun was shining across the flagstones by the entrance of the church. It was a slight building on the edge of the loch. A small stained-glass window at the top of the far wall looked down on him, an image of an angel with her arms spread wide, sending golden shards of light across the guests.
Footsteps on gravel could be heard as Kristen and Lydia’s maid slipped into the church. Kristen came to take her seat in the front pew, winking at her husband on the way by.
Callum stared at the end of the aisle as another shadow appeared in the church doorway, as Lydia stepped into the church.
Everything faded away. He did not hear a sound or see another soul as she began to walk toward him.
Callum didn’t consciously hold his breath, but as his lungs began screaming at him, he had to release it slowly.
She was a vision. Her beautiful dark hair had been tied back in intricate plaits about her head, but the majority hung loose behind her neck. The dress she wore was perfect in every way, a cascading dark gray design that shimmered as she moved.
One chance meeting in a garden and I am to marry the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.
Frenetic movement to his right caught Callum’s attention, and he glanced briefly down at the girls. Eilis and Amy were bouncing up and down, both whispering together in much excitement at the dress.
They were a couple of pews back from him, and as Lydia passed them, she handed the girls a thistle each. His heart clenched.
She is thinking of them even on her weddin’ day.
The scent that had clung to him all through the night wafted toward him, fresh and beautiful once more as she glided to his side.
Her mother walked beside her, releasing her arm with a smile of joy as she went to take her seat, and Callum turned to Lydia, finding himself speechless for the first time in his life.
“You are staring,” she said, touching her fingers to her face, her brow furrowing. “Is all well?”
Callum could not speak, his mind overwhelmed with wicked fantasies. He was back beside the lakeshore, with Lydia in that dress, the stars on the fabric reflecting the sky above. His mind was telling him one thing, his body demanding another.
“Aye,” he said shortly. “Aye, all is well.”
I never thought I would begin to care for me own damned wife.
He turned away, trying to get a handle on his emotions as his skin became hot with desire at the thought that she would soon be his.
The minister stepped up before them, his bald head shining in the faint light from the window behind.
There was a great rustling of clothing and creaking furniture as the congregation took their seats. Alexander stood back but remained on alert, scanning the church for any signs of trouble—removing the burden from Callum’s shoulders for a while.
“Dearly beloved…”
Callum felt slim fingers close over his forearm as the minister began to speak. They snaked around his wrist and over his hand, as Lydia held it tightly in hers.
Does she feel as nervous as I? It isnae about the weddin’ though, it is about what might happen, and who might come for us.
But even as he repeated those words to himself like a mantra, he knew they weren’t true.
He had woken up that morning filled with anticipation. And it was not only because he feared what might come but also because of the woman standing beside him.
He had come to value Lydia in the time they had been together more than he had ever believed possible. Their alliance stirred feelings in him that he could not name and did not wish to analyze too closely.
I cannae let meself be drawn under her spell. After today, we must separate. She will be with the girls, and I will be with me men.
“Do you, Laird Callum Murray…”
I will be her husband in name only.
“Take Lady Lydia Helen Turner to be your wedded wife?”
“I do.”
The wedding passed in a blur, the binding of hands and the minister’s words merging together.
Callum wasn’t sure whether he had acted as he should, but suddenly, there was rustling on all sides again, and the congregation was standing behind him.
Is it over already?
Callum turned as Lydia’s arm came around his, her face upturned toward him, eyebrows raised in query.
I am a married man.
She did not turn away, the query in her eyes turning to confusion. He stiffened as he realized she was expecting him to kiss her, and bent down, feeling awkward with so many eyes upon them, brushing his lips against hers in a whisper of a kiss.
He pulled back, not meeting her gaze, and waved to the congregation as they both moved through the church, studiously keeping his attention on the distant loch instead of on Lydia.
The girls were chattering excitedly behind him, and he could hear Lady Bentley and Tommy in the mix, too.
Glancing back, Callum noticed Alexander at the rear, his eyes watchful and alert, the guards around the room coming into sharper focus.
But it seemed all his worries had been unfounded. There was nothing to suggest any threat.
As they walked outside into the sunshine, Callum took a great lungful of the Highland air.
Finally, he could put it off no longer and turned to his wife. Lydia was looking up at him, her beauty so vivid that Callum felt his chest tighten as he took her in.
Say somethin’ to her, ye dobber.
He opened his mouth to tell her she had never looked more beautiful, but as he did so, something glinted at the edge of his line of sight.
Callum’s head snapped around to the side of the church.
Guards were flanking the doors and along the path, but as the wedding party emerged, they all moved around from the rear.