Page 30 of While the Duke Was Sleeping (England’s Sweethearts #1)

Jac and Winnie had found a musician to play the estate’s small chapel organ. The faint strains of a lively tune could be heard from outside, where everyone from the town who hadn’t shown up early enough to claim a spot inside was waiting. If the turnout was anything to judge by, the duke certainly had plenty of people who cared for him, across multiple generations. He had history here. His family had history.

The many parishioners wished him well as he walked from the house to the church. Adelaide watched from the carriage parked near to the church garden. She sat hand in hand with Cordelia.

This is what you need, Adelaide. Roots run deep here, and you can graft yourself to them. And if the roots felt foreign now, it was just because she needed time for them to feel like hers. It had nothing to do with the thought worming through her brain that she had already started to form her own, and the tendrils were inextricably tangled with Rhett’s.

“Better you than me,” Cordelia muttered, looking out at the gathered crowd. Then she grimaced.

“Thank you for being so very reassuring.”

Cordelia brightened, as though Adelaide’s sarcasm flew straight past her. “You’re welcome.” Cordelia patted her hand. “But in all honesty, this match is beyond what most women could dream of. London will be perfectly livid when they find out the duke is taken. I’m happy for you. You’ve done very well for yourself.”

This time, Adelaide’s thanks were not sarcastic. At least one person in the carriage had confidence in this arrangement.

Once the duke had made his way through the throng of well-wishers, Adelaide exited the carriage with the help of a footman. The crowd ooh ed and aah ed, even though Della was fairly sure she looked like a seventeenth-century ghost had gotten drunk and cleaned out its mistress’s jewelry box. Somehow Cordelia’s gift of jewels had made a hideous dress even more hideous.

“Are you ready?” Cordelia asked, fluffing out the enormous bustle.

Are you, Adelaide? This is everything you ever wanted, isn’t it?

Cordelia frowned at Adelaide’s hesitation. “You must be ready. If your gut tells you this is a mistake, it probably is.”

She gripped the garden-sourced bouquet until she could feel the imperfect nubs and lumps on the stems. “My head tells me it’s right.” Even she could hear the uncertainty in her tone.

Cordelia wrinkled her nose. “You can run if you’re not sure. I ran from mine, and there were far more people of consequence there to witness it.”

Adelaide’s gut, heart, and brain were not in concert, and her feet weren’t listening either. Instead, they towed her through the church courtyard, where the flowers and well-wishers provided the distraction she needed to continue.

At the entrance to the church, her feet stopped dead, and the congregation went silent.

Your heart is with Rhett, but he has gone. He is no longer an option. You ruined that opportunity.

The duke stood at the altar, firmly gazing ahead at the archbishop even though he must have known she’d arrived. Perhaps he was the traditional type and wasn’t planning to turn until the wedding march played.

Adelaide searched for his sisters. All three were sitting in the first of the wooden pews. Winnie waved, bouncing in her seat. Jac beamed and mouthed the words, ‘you look beautiful.’ Meg was more subdued, but still she gave a warm, reassuring nod.

If you can’t have Rhett, his sisters could be an excellent consolation prize, if you let them.

And she couldn’t have Rhett.

The music started. Cordelia was forced to nudge her into action. With a deep, bracing breath, she walked toward her new life, thinking about how heavy that blasted bear’s head was, and how it would soon be partly hers. Peter turned. His expression was passive. He neither smiled nor frowned. Did he feel anything at all? She couldn’t tell.

The archbishop clearly had feelings. As she settled in front of him, he frowned. She wished Peter would take her hand or do something to make her feel at ease. If he took her hand, she wouldn’t be able to run, and Lord, she felt like running.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the sight of God—”

There was a murmur from the crowd, a slight ruckus that displeased the archbishop and caught Adelaide’s and Peter’s attention. She turned, and all breath escaped her.

Rhett was standing there, looking as carefree as he usually did, but she could see the sharp rise and fall of his chest and the way his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Rhett!” Jac waved him over. “You are late .” She shuffled into Winnie, who shuffled over into Meg, who shuffled across to make space in the pew. Jac patted the seat next to her. “You almost missed it. Your timing is absolutely atrocious.”

Winnie elbowed her in the side, and Meg addressed the archbishop. “Apologies for my siblings, my lord. Please proceed.”

But Rhett hadn’t moved from his place at the top of the aisle. He didn’t acknowledge his sisters in the slightest. Instead, his eyes remained locked on Adelaide.

He is here. He returned. She almost sagged in relief.

Frustrated with Rhett’s lack of motion, the archbishop moved on without him. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, in the sight of God.”

“I object,” Della whispered.

“Pardon?” The archbishop’s scowl deepened.

“I object,” she said louder, this time with more confidence.

Rhett grinned. “I would have to object too.”

The archbishop turned to Peter, scowling. “What is happening?”

“I do not know,” the duke said, looking from his brother to Adelaide and back again.

Jac stood. “Rhett, what are you doing?”

Rhett ignored her and instead strolled down the aisle with the same cocky confidence he’d had that day on the docks, strolling down the jetty. He did not acknowledge the increased commotion from the parishioners who had gathered.

“Adelaide Rosebourne,” he said when he was only a dozen feet from her, “I know we haven’t known each other long, and there is still a lot for me to learn about you, but what I do know, I love.”

His words ignited fireworks within her.

“You are unlike any woman I’ve met. You are kind, brave, and intelligent. I cannot bear the thought of spending the rest of my days without you.”

Adelaide put a hand to her chest, checking to make sure her heart wasn’t about to literally leap from her body.

“I know you crave a place to belong,” he said, “and heavy blasted furniture. You want roots. I can’t promise all of that. I do not come with bookcases, but I promise that you can put your roots down in me. I will be the place that you belong. I will be your home.”

Adelaide swiped a hand across her cheeks, but the tears continued to fall. This was what she’d been looking for. For so long, she’d believed that what she was missing was connection to a place, that if she could just stay still for long enough, she’d feel the sense of belonging she’d envied in those whose towns she’d passed through. But it was connection to people that she’d lacked. She had a person now. She had Rhett, and that was where she belonged.

Rhett took another step forward, then he gave his brother a grateful smile.

“Peter offered me a position in the diplomatic corps, and that journey will take us across the world. But it will be with purpose. It will be with a plan, and no matter where we are stationed, you will have family.” He finally looked over to where his sisters sat, dumbstruck. “I will never stay away that long again. I failed you by giving into my fears. That’s the last time that will happen.”

Winnie threw her hands in the air. “What is going on?”

Meg yanked her sister’s arms down. “Shush, Edwina, for goodness’ sake.”

Adelaide ignored them both, stepping down from the altar toward Rhett, toward her home. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you with the truth. You didn’t deserve that. I should have told you everything from the beginning.” She took a deep breath. “Including the way I feel about you.”

“And how is that?” he asked, taking another step toward her, close enough that he could take her hands. There was a collective inhale of breath from their audience. She could see his pulse thrum at his neck.

“I love you, Everett Montgomery. I love the man you are. I love the man you’re going to be. I love your joie de vivre and your courage to do what’s hard. I love how well you love your family. I love the promise of our family. You’re going to be an exceptional diplomat and an even more exceptional father. I can’t wait for our children to see the world through your eyes.”

Rhett grinned and wrapped his arms about her waist. The touch of his fingers along her rib cage lit a fire within her, even through the many layers of petticoats and corsets and the silk monstrosity of the dress.

She took his face in her hands and drew him close, so she could lift onto her toes and kiss him, to the shocked gasps of the congregation. They could be as shocked as they liked. She’d found where she belonged, and no one else mattered. Just him. Just them. He squeezed her tightly, lifting her from the ground and spinning her until the shocked gasps morphed into ooh s and laughter.

“So what does this mean?” Winnie asked loudly, causing Della and Rhett to break off their kiss and face the siblings.

Winnie looked thoroughly confused. Jac was watching everything with wide eyes and rapt attention. Meg looked happy-ish. She flicked a concerned look to the altar, and Della froze. She had utterly forgotten about Peter, who was rubbing his temples as if the entire affair was giving him a headache.

Della slid until her feet touched the floor, and she watched the duke apprehensively.

Peter sighed. “I think it means that I’m standing in the wrong spot.” He took a step to the side, where the groomsmen would normally stand, and gestured for Rhett to replace him in front of the archbishop, who was shaking his head vigorously.

“No, this is not the ceremony I agreed to.”

“It’s not the ceremony any of us were expecting,” Peter said, sounding tired, as though he hadn’t had four solid days of sleep that week. “But let’s move ahead with it, anyway.”

Rhett’s hands tightened on Della’s waist. He bent down to whisper in her ear. “Adelaide Rosebourne, will you marry me?”

Her insides warmed at the sound of her name on his lips. “Yes, Everett. I will marry you.”