Two hours later the church was full of family, friends, and parishioners. Ranulf, Laird of Spaethness, stood at the altar, wearing a kilt in the Stirling family tartan and a formal black coat, while Francis, Viscount Exencour, stood at his side. As the music began, the Earl of Glencairn walked up the aisle with Sophy on his arm. She wore a simple white silk gauze gown with a ruffled bodice and sleeves and a full skirt ornamented with four rows of smocking, as well as her mother’s pearl necklace and earrings. Her smile as she embraced her father and then turned towards Ranulf was radiant, her eyes bright with joy and anticipation.
As Ranulf eagerly stepped forward to take her hand, and the minister started the order of service, she gazed up, feeling their love for each other mingle with that of the crowd of well-wishers. Later, she barely remembered saying her vows, or Ranulf sliding the ring onto her finger, only realizing they were wed when the congregation cheered as they walked back down the aisle together and out into the welcoming spring sunshine.
At the wedding breakfast that followed in the Great Hall, Sophy’s painting of the carriage in peril after a Highland storm had been brought from her studio and hung on the wall. She showed it to Ranulf, who was seeing it for the first time.
“I didn’t realize that I needed you to rescue me until Douglas pointed it out when he first saw the painting,” she said. “I felt like such a fool, running away from you when I might have had such happiness.”
“I needed you to rescue me as well,” he murmured. “I was well on my way to repeating my father’s mistakes – marrying a woman I didn’t love, and becoming a cold and distant father.”
“I’m sorry I doubted you.” She grinned. “But you had such a way with the ladies--I didn’t think you could truly love me, with so many more worldly women to choose from.”
“I was never was truly interested in any of them, my dear—I was bored, and it was a game we played. I guarded my heart jealously. Even when I proposed to you, I refused to believe I loved you. It took my father’s story of how he lost the only woman he loved to make me realize that I needed you, and only you. When I thought I might never touch you again I felt such emptiness, and knew I must find you.”
“We’ll take it home to Spaethness and hang it in the Great Hall there, to remind us of our love and our luck,” Sophy said softly.
Just then, one of the guests called for a toast, and Sophy and Ranulf found themselves swept up by their loved ones, as glasses of champagne were thrust into their hands.
“Sláinte,” the guests cried, and Ranulf drained his glass before taking Sophy in his arms and kissing her.
A Word from the Author:
I hope you enjoyed reading The Highlander’s Yuletide Love. It was so nice revisiting the characters from The Yuletide Countess.
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Other Titles by this Author:
A Most Unusual Situation: A Traditional Version Georgian Romance
(Sweet, no sex; based on a true story; Allegra and Adam's tale)
A Duchess Enraged: An After Dark Version Georgian Romance
(The explicitly sexy version of Allegra and Adam's tale)
The Secret Bluestocking: Isobel's Traditional Regency Romance
(Sweet, no sex; Isobel and Francis' unconventional adventures)
A Lady of Passion: Isobel’s After Dark Regency Romance
(The explicitly sexy telling of Isobel and Francis' story)
That Infamous Pearl: Rowena’s Traditional Regency Romance
(The sweet, no sex tale of Rowena & Alaric’s romantic mystery)
A Collector’s Item: Rowena’s After Dark Regency Romance
(The very sexy version of Rowena & Alaric’s adventures)
Sense & Sensuality: Caroline’s After Dark Georgian Romance
(The incredibly sexy tale of how staid Caroline & roguish Tristan find each other)
The Yuletide Countess: Harriet’s Traditional Regency Romance
(It’s never too late for love, as Isobel’s charming cousin Harriet - from The Secret Bluestocking/A Lady of Passion discovers on holiday in Scotland)
An Honest Deception: Letitia’s Traditional Regency Romance
(The very sweet, no sex version of Letty’s journey after her wastrel husband finally dies)
An Indecent Charade: Letitia’s After Dark Regency Romance
(The very spicy, sexy version of Letty’s journey after her wastrel husband finally dies)
Lady Morgan’s Revenge: Letitia’s Naughty Regency Novella
(A “tongue-in-cheek,” lightly kinky look at how Letty made Phillip pay for fooling her)
The Contraband Courtship
(Rowena’s brother, Malcolm from That Infamous Pearl/A Collector’s Item is back in England to take over the family estate. He finds smugglers and Helena, a very headstrong neighbor, waiting for him. This is their sexy, romantic tale of intrigue)
The Highlander's Yuletide Love Page 24