by Brianna York
Rosy grinned at him, her chest feeling too small for the swelling of her heart. “Then I shall. Yes, a thousand times yes!” She threw herself at him, heedless of the small table between them and the sweets tray which she knocked onto the floor. She rained kisses onto his face while he laughed at her joy.
“You shall make me a very happy man,” Rob told her when she had calmed down somewhat. He reached over and placed a finger under her chin. “I cannot tell you how wonderful you are to have said yes.” Pulling gently, he drew her face to his and kissed her, his lips warm and soft on hers. She sighed with happiness and leaned into him. The kiss changed in nature and Rob found himself pressing her lips open so that he might delve deeper into the softness of her mouth. She eagerly met his passion with her own and soon Rob broke off the kiss so as not to embarrass himself in front of the servants and her mother.
“That is quite enough for one day,” he told her teasingly. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You should probably gather your mother again. I will need to speak with your father as well.”
Rosy bounced to her feet and crossed the room. She paused before she opened the door and turned back. “Rob, is this really happening?” she asked him, her voice breathless.
Rob laughed out loud. “Yes, Rosy. This is really happening.”
“Good,” she said brightly before pushing open the door and going to find her mother and father.
Alone, Rob lounged back deeper into the uncomfortable sofa. He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. The past half hour felt surreal to him. He could not deny the bubble of happiness that sat just beneath his breastbone, though. He had not been sure how he would feel if Rosy said yes. He had considered that maybe he would feel relieved or possibly grateful. He had not expected the rising sense of peace in his soul that suggested that something very right had just come to pass. Having never imagined that he would marry at all, he simply had not expected that he would feel so pleased with the prospect. He felt as if he had been looking for happiness in all the wrong places and things for so long that he had almost forgotten what it felt like to feel joy. Experiencing the emotion now made him aware that he had been drifting through life with half his attention on his course. He vowed that he would not allow himself to fall back into the fog of boredom that had followed him for so many years. It was too wonderful to actually feel engaged with the world again. He thought of Rosy’s kisses and grinned to himself. It would be very hard to feel numb when in the presence of a woman who brought him so much joy.
Chapter Thirteen
“You look lovely, My Lady,” Hester said happily as she placed the final pin in the coiffure she had concocted for Rosy’s wedding day.
Rosy giggled and regarded herself in the looking glass. “I actually do, don’t I?” she said wonderingly as she regarded the poised young woman in the white dress with the silver ribbons and over skirt. It had only been two weeks since Rob’s proposal to her but she felt as if she had grown into herself both physically and emotionally during that time.
“The Earl will be speechless when he sees you,” Hester said as she tucked some baby’s breath into the coils of Rosy’s hair.
Rosy thought about Rob in his wedding finery and felt her heart beat faster. She was ever so glad that she had been able to convince her parents and her betrothed that waiting for the traditional three months and then having a lavish society wedding was not necessary. She had never been much for fuss of that nature and if she were being totally honest with herself, she thought she would die if she did not get Rob into her bed as soon as possible.
“The glamor and mystery of being married by special license in the country is simply wonderful,” Hester went on, adjusting the small diamond circlet she had placed in Rosy’s hair.
Rosy grinned. “I am ever so glad that everyone listened to me. I truly have never wanted an enormous wedding and I did not want to wait to become the Countess of Coulthurst any longer than I had to.”
Hester finished her ministrations and stepped away from her employer, turning her head to the side thoughtfully as she checked on her work. “I think that you shall do,” she said with a chuckle.
Rosy got to her feet then and turned about for her abigail to inspect her from all angles. “Do I look as if I am ready?” she asked.
Hester nodded. “Do you feel as if you are?” the other woman asked.
Rosy grinned. “I have been dreaming of this day for years. I am more ready than you know.”
There was a soft rapping at the door then and both women turned to see Lady Alex entering the room. “You are a vision, Rosy dear!” she gushed, crossing the room to kiss her friend’s cheek.
Rosy blushed a bit at the compliment. “Thank you,” she said quietly, her eyes suddenly misted with emotion. She took Alex’s hands in hers and squeezed them fondly. “I am so pleased that you could be my bridesmaid today,” she said quietly.
Alex smiled at the younger woman who she was so fond of. “I would not want to be anywhere else. Now, if you are quite ready, we should be on our way downstairs. Everyone is waiting.”
Rosy nodded. “Yes of course.” She turned back to her abigail and held out her arms. “Thank you for all your help with my toilette this morning, Hester dear.”
“It was my pleasure,” Hester said happily, hugging her mistress with enthusiasm.
Rosy reluctantly stepped back from the other woman and gathered her skirts in her hands so that she would not trip on the train trailing behind her as she turned. “Off we go then,” she said as she followed Alex to the door.
A small, contented silence stretched between the two women as they descended the long flight of stairs. Rosy had asked to be married at her parent’s country estate and her friends had eagerly agreed to come out to the country and be on hand for the wedding. The house was huge and ostentatious but Rosy had asked to be married in the sunny room toward the back of the house that the family called “The Blue Room”. It was likely the least ornate room in the whole house but it had always been Rosy’s favorite place. She had spent many years of her young life reading books or simply daydreaming about her future in the quiet comfort of the room and she thought that it was the obvious place for her to begin her new life as Rob’s wife. Mary Fenton had been so pleased with the match that she had not even balked at Rosy’s request for a modest wedding.
“Alex,” Rosy said as they began to traverse the long hallway toward the Blue Room, “did you regret that your wedding happened in a bit of a rush?”
Alex shook her head gently. “I don’t believe so,” she said thoughtfully. “It all happened so fast, if you will remember. I was a bit worried that I would have regrets, but once I walked down the aisle toward Forrest and saw him waiting for me, I knew that we had done the right thing. I would have hated waiting the normal three months or so to get married.”
Rosy nodded. “I honestly thought that my mother would tell me no when I suggested that Rob and I marry quickly. I think she is so happy that an Earl wants to marry me that she is not willing to gainsay any of our plans.” Rosy laughed happily and Alex patted her hand.
“All that matters, Rosy my dear,” she said fondly, “is that your wedding day is as you wished it to be.”
“Thank you again for being here for me,” Rosy said to her friend as they drew to a halt before the closed doors to the blue room. “It means more than you may know.”
Alex reached out a hand and caressed Rosy’s cheek. “You are like the little sister I never got to have,” she said. “I would not miss out on your wedding day for anything.”
Rosy felt tears pricking her eyes and she turned toward the doors to stop them from falling. She drew in a deep breath and then turned the handles on the double doors in front of her. Alex came up behind her to help push the doors open.
Rob heard the doors open and he raised his eyes from his nervous contemplation of his booted feet to see Rosy framed in the doorway. He felt his heart thudding in his chest as he took in the sight of her framed in the
doorway. Her dark brown hair had been artfully coiffed and crowned with a delicate tiara of diamonds. The diamonds and the sweep of her silvery overskirt caught the late morning sunlight as she paced toward him slowly, causing her whole person to glitter and shine. The artful hairdo exposed her slender, white neck and he felt an unruly desire to shower the delicate exposed skin with kisses. She was smiling at him and the warmth of her pleasure shone from her eyes as they met his with an eager promise.
“My Lady,” he said to her as she drew alongside him. He drew her small hand into the crook of his elbow and guided her the last few steps to stand before the local clergyman who had been located to perform the ceremony. He felt her gaze on his face and glanced down at her briefly. She smiled at him with such joy that he felt warmed to his toes.
“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,” the elderly man began, his voice still rich and powerful despite his age.
Rob listened with half an ear to the words of the ceremony, finding that he was terribly distracted by the woman alongside him. He felt each of her breaths, the tiny quivering of her fingers on his arm and the tension in her slender frame. He was so wrapped up in her that he nearly missed his cue to recite his vows.
“I, Robert Kensington, take thee, Rosalind Fenton to my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward,” he said, looking down into her beautiful eyes as he recited the lines from memory, “thereto I give thee my troth.”
Rosy eagerly repeated the words at the direction of the Vicar, her voice sure and steady despite the hectic flush in her cheeks. She grinned at him as she stated that she too gave her troth to him and he found himself grinning back in honest pleasure he had not expected to feel on a day full of nerves.
The rest of the ceremony was a blur to Rob and it felt like moments later that he was slipping the family wedding ring his mother had worn onto Rosy’s finger. It fit her perfectly and he thought again that it seemed as if she had been destined to be his wife.
“You may kiss the bride,” the vicar was saying and Rob turned his thoughts forcefully away from contemplation of his mother’s ring on Rosy’s finger. He reached up both hands and cradled her face between them before dipping his lips down to meet hers. Rosy breathed a little sigh into his mouth and he pressed closer, drugged by her response to him. He broke the kiss off when the others in the room began cheering. Smiling hugely, he turned them both around and raised their clasped hands over his head before picking Rosy up in one swift motion and carrying her back down the aisle. She laughed as he swept her into his arms and their friends whistled and cheered some more and tossed rice at them.
“I did not want that kiss to end,” he said to her quietly as he set her back on her feet in the hallway just outside The Blue Room.
She giggled. “Nor did I. How long until we can kiss some more?” she asked naughtily, her eyes sparkling up at him.
He reached out with a finger and tweaked her pert nose fondly. “I believe that we have to survive the wedding breakfast and then we shall likely be left to our own devices.”
“Come along my dears,” Mary Fenton said as she caught up with them in the hall. “The breakfast is set out on the lawn.” She embraced her daughter tightly, then released her and gestured for the others to follow her toward the front of the house.
Rosy threaded her hand into the crook of Rob’s elbow again and leaned against him as they made their way down the hall toward the lavish wedding breakfast waiting for them in the manicured garden alongside the house. Rob wondered for moment at the closeness between them. He had always enjoyed the friendship and company of women on a deeper level than most men but the bond that had sprung up between he and Rosy was more profound than anything he had ever experienced. She felt rooted in his soul as though she were an extension of himself. He still felt a significant pang of embarrassment that he could not bring along with him to this marriage the financial security that any wife deserved. The sting of this personal concern was easy to push aside in the face of the growing fondness between them, however.
“Congratulations, old man,” Matthew said to Rob, crossing the neatly manicured lawn to shake Rob’s hand and then enfold him in a bear hug. Matthew’s wife was not far behind him, hurrying on her delicate feet to hug Rosy.
“I am ever so happy for you both!” Tess exclaimed, tears shining in her eyes. “It was such a lovely wedding!”
Rosy felt her own emotions rising up precipitously in response to Tess’s happiness. “I am so glad that you both could come,” Rosy replied as she wiped at her eyes. “It would not have seemed right to be married without you here.”
“We would not have missed it for the world,” Tess answered, her green eyes shining. “I was so relieved that you married right away. I would likely have not been able to attend a wedding in a few more months.” She placed a hand on her belly protectively and look back at Matthew.
“Oh, such wonderful news!” Rosy exclaimed, pressing her own hands over the other woman’s. The other woman’s body was still slender and gave no sign of her pregnancy as of yet, but the tenderness of that protective hand spoke volumes. “An heir already!”
Matthew preened slightly as he came closer and placed a protective arm around his wife’s waist. “Tess has been so excited to tell Alex and you about this that I am surprised that she managed to wait until after the wedding ceremony.” He winked at Tess affectionately and squeezed her closer to him.
“I am so happy for you both!” Rosy managed to hug both Matthew and Tess at the same time in her exuberant joy.
Rob watched his friends and felt a bubble of happiness just under his breastbone. The day was so perfect. He had never imagined that a wedding day might be so full of wonderful events. Rosy came scampering back to him and stood on tip toe to kiss his cheek. He caught her hand and pressed a kiss to it before taking his turn congratulating his friends on their happy news.
“Come along everyone!” Rosy’s mother called out from where the servants had set out the tables. “The food is going to grow cold.”
The breakfast passed quickly as everyone shared in the excitement of Tess’ announcement and discussed the upcoming house party season. Rosy and Rob were to spend about a week at Rosy’s family estate before they traveled to Rob’s house. Rosy had told Rob that she was nervous to take over the running of such a large household but he had assured her that he had every confidence in her. He thought it would be a good thing to have a woman’s influence on the household again. It had been too long since someone had been properly in charge of things.
“You know,” Rosy said to Rob as she popped a bit of pastry into her mouth. “I have just realized that I am a Countess now.”
Rob chuckled at this. “Indeed, you are. A countess with crumbs on her face.” He reached over with his napkin to wipe a bit of pastry off her lips.
Rosy blushed slightly at his ministrations. “I suppose that I shall not be a very dignified Countess,” she said wryly, dabbing at her face with her napkin.
“I have no complaints,” Rob said to her, his blue eyes very bright as he leaned closer and kissed her gently. She made an effort to return the kiss chastely but she never seemed to be able to react to Rob with anything other than passion. Rob’s tongue touched hers briefly and she felt a flare of desire race up her spine.
The sound of a throat being cleared next to them broke them apart. “I am sorry to interrupt,” Rosy’s father, Duke Norwood said. “I felt I should wish you both happy.” The Duke offered a hand to Rob who clasped it and shook it firmly in order to cover his discomfort at having kissed Rosy in front of her father in such a fashion. By the time the men had finished shaking hands, Rosy had recovered her composure somewhat and she hugged her father tightly.
“I am very pleased to see my daughter married to someone we have known for so many years,” the Duke said as he released Rosy. “I shall not have to worry about how she will be
treated by a man that I have watched grow up.”
Rob felt the weight of the other man’s statement settle over his shoulders. The Duke knew the state of Rob’s affairs with regard to money. It meant more than the Duke likely knew to hear that the older man trusted Rob to take care of Rosy.
“I shall try and take care of her as you would,” Rob said soberly.
The Duke laughed. “I assume that you already know how headstrong our Rosalind can be.” He glanced at Rosy who had the good grace to blush a bit. “Her high spirits may be more than anyone is truly equal to, but I know that you will care for her as well as I could.”
Rob smiled at this sentiment and glanced at Rosy. He knew all too well that Rosy was a bit of a handful. He thought for the umpteenth time of her behavior in the park and how much he had loved seeing her spirited anger. He had the feeling that he would never be bored living with Rosy and that he would love every moment of it. “I should not wish to have a placid wife,” Rob said honestly. “I should be very bored with someone who embroidered pillows and slept in each day.”
“I assure you that my needlework is so bad that I shall never, ever embroider a pillow,” she said, placing a hand on his sleeve for emphasis. “My poor mother gave up long ago on me absorbing any such skills.”
“That is likely my fault,” the Duke said with a wry expression on his face. “You see Coulthurst, when one does not have any sons, one naturally teaches his daughter what he knows about running an estate and managing the finances and so forth. Rosy spent her hours as a young girl riding with me to check on the state of the tenants and the fences or helping me with the books. She has not had an entirely conventional upbringing for a girl in polite society.”