Joshua was barely aware of Charlotte’s weight as she collapsed onto him. The hair cascading onto his shoulder felt like silk and smelled of jasmine. There was a blanket somewhere; he felt around until he found an edge and pulled it over them both, hoping to provide just a bit of modesty in case Gates happened to arrive before Joshua pulled the bell to summon him. The sound of women chattering somewhere out on the east lawns returned him to his senses. There was that moment of wondering why there would be women out on the east lawn when he remembered. I am getting married today!
“Charlotte, my sweet,” he whispered, his lips kissing the top of one of her shoulders. “There is nothing I would rather be doing than what we’re doing right now,” he murmured quietly, kissing her again, “But we really need to get up and get ready.”
Lifting her hips a bit so he could slide out of her and she could roll to her side next to him, Charlotte moaned. “Must we?” she replied, her heavy lids making her look oh-so-luscious to Joshua.
The sound of light laughter filtered through the window, and Charlotte’s eyes widened. “Oh!” she let out suddenly. She fought to get out from under the blanket and was about to get out of bed when Joshua’s arm caught her about the middle and pulled her back down. Giggling, she came face to face with him.
“I love you,” Joshua spoke quietly, his hand reaching up to push her hair behind her shoulder. “And not just because you’re the most wanton woman I’ve ever known.” He had tried his best to suppress his teasing smile, but it split his face now into one of sheer happiness.
Color bloomed over Charlotte’s face as she heard his words. “I love you, too,” she murmured, her attention not entirely on him. She nervously glanced toward the door. “However am I to get into my room without being discovered?” she asked then, a bit of panic in her eyes.
Joshua got out of bed, and without putting on a dressing gown or any clothing, walked over to a door on the south side of the room. He turned the oval porcelain knob and pulled the door open. Charlotte gasped when she realized their suites were joined. If I had known that the first night … She gathered up her clothes and hurried into her room, giving Joshua a quick kiss and then a curtsy when she passed him. “When will I see you again?” she asked from her side of the door, trying hard to disregard his nakedness. Even in the morning light, his scars really weren’t so bad, she thought. Had she just seen them for the first time, though, she knew she would be horrified, perhaps even frightened. But now … now they were just part of Joshua Wainwright. My fiancé! she thought happily. My husband.
Joshua regarded her a long moment, allowing his gaze to sweep over her. No wonder he’d spent the night with a constant erection! “At our wedding, I expect,” he replied with a grin, and then shut the door.
Chapter 33
His Grace and Mr. McElliott Prepare for a Wedding
“You’re wearing that?” Garrett wondered as he looked over Joshua’s waistcoat and breeches. Gates was pulling out a black topcoat and a pair of nearly new Hessians.
“Actually, I thought to strip to my drawers just as the ceremony was supposed to begin,” Joshua replied acerbically. “Of course, this is what I am wearing.” He paused a moment, wondering why Garrett would ask. “Why do you ask?” He was suddenly questioning his choice of the silver waistcoat he favored for special occasions.
Garrett gave a long sigh. “I have it on good authority that Lady Charlotte will be wearing blue watered silk covered in some kind of gold threads,” he explained patiently. “I rather think you’ll clash wearing silver.” He didn’t add that it was the gown he had purchased for Jane. Mrs. Gates had made a gown intended for Charlotte, but when she saw what Garrett had in mind for Jane, she insisted the gowns be switched and assured Garrett she would see to the alterations. “It’s bad luck for the groom to see his bride’s dress before the wedding, don’t you know?” she explained when he asked why it was so important Jane wear a different gown.
Joshua regarded his estate manager and the man who would be standing with him that morning. “I don’t have a gold one,” he countered, a frown causing his visible brow to furrow. A local craftsman had made him a new mask, its smooth black leather matching his formal attire. He’d donned it for the special occasion, thinking it made him look as if he were about to attend a masked ball.
Eyebrows cocking, Garrett left the room and soon returned with a gold metallic waistcoat. “It may be a bit large on you,” he considered as he held it out. Gates intercepted the waistcoat and made quick work of undoing the buttons on the one Joshua wore. In moments, the butler had his master redressed in the gold waistcoat and the back pinned to take it the slack. “Much better,” Garrett commented as he watched Joshua being dressed. When he was finished with the waistcoat, Gates left the room for a moment.
For his role as best man, Garrett had chosen a black coat and breeches made of superfine and a white-on-white embroidered waistcoat. “This is what I’m wearing,” he stated proudly as he stood next to the long mirror, studying his reflection and hoping his cravat wouldn’t look too crushed by the time they got to Plaistow.
Joshua watched Garrett as he adjusted the knot of his cravat with steady hands. “How is it you’re not … nervous?” he wondered, his own hands shaking a bit. I am getting married today!
Garrett took a last look at his reflection before turning his attention to the duke. “What is there to be nervous about?” he countered, his manner suggesting he got married every day.
Joshua’s eyes widened as he regarded his friend. “Indeed?” he replied in mock disbelief. His brow furrowed as he regarded his friend for another moment. “My God, man, you’re about to be leg shackled!” Joshua nearly shouted back.
“Indeed,” Garrett replied calmly, reaching over to adjust Joshua’s cravat, and then finding it not responding to his nudge, moving to untie it entirely so that he could retie it.
“What are you doing? Gates just did that!”
“And you managed to ruin it. Stand still,” Garrett ordered as he tied the perfect mail coach knot, his fingers steady.
Joshua stared at Garrett. “You’re too calm. And you sound as if …” He blinked. And then blinked again. “Are you truly?” he asked then, moving to stand in front of Garrett. “Getting married, I mean?” he asked, a bit stunned at the idea that Garrett McElliott was seriously considering matrimony. The man had spoken of it since his return from London, but Joshua was sure he’d been a bit foxed and was merely feeling sorry for himself.
Garrett nodded. “At eleven o’clock this morning, if we ever actually leave here so that I might do so,” he replied with a bit of impatience. “I am still expecting you to stand with me.”
Joshua’s smile widened just as Gates returned with a pair of cuff links. “I would be honored!” he exclaimed, feeling suddenly giddy. He’d spent the entire morning in a glorious mood, due, no doubt, to having had a wanton woman on top of him, and not just once, but twice in the past ten hours. At the thought of how Charlotte looked when she was crawling up his body that morning, Joshua had to shake himself and quickly think of something else. “You’re too calm,” he said again, suddenly conscious of his beating heart.
“I am and I will be for, well, about six months or so, and then I shall be a wreck,” the estate manager responded, turning his attention to pulling on gloves.
“What happens in six months or so?”
Garrett’s eyebrows cocked up in surprise. “I become a father,” he stated as if Joshua should know very well why he would be a wreck. “I mentioned it last night, but I guess you were a bit preoccupied.”
“What?” the duke questioned, his own visible eyebrow cocking nearly into his hairline.
His estate manager took a step back and stared at Joshua. “Lady Charlotte didn’t tell you?” He thought about that for a moment, surprised the future duchess hadn’t regaled Joshua with the news.
Unless she thought the duke already knew. Garrett was his friend as well as his employee, after
all.
Joshua stepped back. “Obviously not,” he replied carefully. “Jane is … is with child?” he whispered then, stopping himself before asking if the child was Garrett’s. Of course, it’s Garrett’s, he chided himself. Jane had been smitten with his friend since the first time they’d played faro at her table at The Jack of Spades.
Garrett grinned, obviously proud. “Indeed. I guess you did not notice the golden glow that emanates from her when she enters a room?” he asked rhetorically. “I didn’t even have to be told,” he added with a good deal of satisfaction.
Joshua swallowed, stunned at the news. Frank O’Laughlin wouldn’t have allowed a rake anywhere near his adopted daughter. “Does O’Laughlin know?” he whispered, thinking that perhaps the gaming hell owner was forcing Garrett into marriage to Jane.
“No,” Garrett replied with a shake of his head. “Jane plans to write him with the news when she’s increasing.”
Joshua closed his mouth at the answer. Charlotte hadn’t mentioned a thing, despite their having spent the entire night together in his bedchamber.
“If you’d been seeing to your ducal duties this past week, Lady Charlotte would be with child, as well,” Garrett heard himself scolding in a tone that suggested he wasn’t teasing. He remembered the lady’s scarred back, though, and wondered if perhaps it would be some time before Joshua would bed the beauty. “Grandby was quite disappointed to learn you hadn’t married his goddaughter the day she arrived.”
“I couldn’t! She wasn’t yet one-and-twenty!” Joshua retorted, a bit annoyed at the comment. “And who says I haven’t been doing my ducal duties?” he added with a hint of anger. “I’ll have you know we’ve shared a bed every night since she arrived here!”
A slow, devilish smile spread across Garrett’s face. “Indeed,” he said with a cocked eyebrow. “Then, I suggest we get to the chapel sometime this morning so that you can marry her,” he stated, turning on his heel and moving to the door. “My own bride is around here, somewhere.”
Joshua kept his footing, adjusting the fingers of his gloves as he did so. “Since you two are living in the dowager cottage,” he considered, “You can certainly dine with us here,” he offered, thinking there wouldn’t be a cook for the cottage. “At some point, though, you’ll have to move in here.”
Garrett turned from the doorway, his brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”
Joshua allowed Gates to finish buttoning his topcoat and took a quick look in the cheval mirror before returning his attention to his estate manager. “Charlotte is seeing to it that a collection of rooms on the west wing is made into an apartment for you and Jane and … your …” Joshua allowed the sentence to trail off as he noticed his friend’s reaction. “What is it?” Joshua moved to the door so they could take their leave.
Garrett’s look of confusion turned to suspicion. “My what? You were about to say ..?” he hinted, hurrying down the hallway to the stairs.
“Well, your children, of course, since it sounds like you’re already having them,” Joshua replied hastily. “Charlotte said she was designing a set of suites for you and Jane and a nursery and a parlor,” he continued carefully, wondering what had possessed Garrett to seem so suspicious.
Smiling, Garrett nodded, not letting on that he already knew of Lady Charlotte’s plan. “I see,” he finally answered, bouncing down the stairs with a bit more enthusiasm than Joshua would expect for a man about to get married. “I will speak with Jane. She may prefer to live in Kirdford or …” He paused a moment and considered what a life change it was for Jane to move to the country. She’d lived in town for nearly eight years and had worked at The Jack of Spades for most of it. Although she seemed fine with giving up her position there, was she really? Jane spoke as if she’d been saving money, but she’d never said for what she planned to use it. She did not seem to spend an excess of coin on her gowns or frippery, but she was always nicely dressed. Perhaps she hoped to return to Scotland one day. Garrett realized he did not know her plans. He looked up to find Joshua staring at him.
“Or?” Joshua repeated, giving his friend a look that suggested he’d been waiting for him to finish his thought.
“Or … she may want to move back to London. She’s done just fine on her own all these years. A bit of an independent woman, Jane is,” Garrett finished, his mood suddenly a bit sullen. If Jane did want to move back to Town, he would have to go with her. He’d discovered these past few days that he could not live without her in his life.
Joshua regarded Garrett for a very long time. “And that is not necessarily a bad thing,” he spoke quietly, very glad he wasn’t about to marry an insipid girl who knew nothing of the world except gossip and the latest fashions from France. He straightened. “Which reminds me,” he said suddenly. “Aren’t we supposed to be in Plaistow at ten-thirty?”
Smiling broadly, Garrett headed for the front door. “Yes. But first we must find my bride. After you, Your Grace,” he said, waving his hand in a mock bow at which Joshua could only roll his eyes. Hearing Mrs. Gates call to him from the top of the stairs, Garrett redirected his attention.
And he froze.
For there on the landing stood his bride. My beautiful bride! Dressed in a long-sleeved cream satin and tulle gown adorned with cream satin ribbons, Jane looked as if she would be the center of attention at any ton ball. Her hair was a mass of tight curls atop her head with ringlets along her temples and cream satin ribbons threaded through her hair. A cream-colored hat, nearly flat and adorned with cream roses and a bit of tulle, was pinned at a jaunty angle. She held a bouquet of three roses in her gloved hands. And she looked so happy, her face glowing, that Garrett could do nothing but smile in return. “My God, you’re beautiful,” Garrett finally said as he forced his legs to move so that he could climb the stairs to escort her down.
“And you’re more handsome than the first night I met you,” Jane countered as she took in his finery. Seeing he had no flower in his lapel, she plucked a rosebud from one of her stems and threaded it through the buttonhole in his topcoat, patting the stem with a gloved hand before stepping away from Garrett.
Joshua watched the two of them in awe, watched carefully as Garrett took his bride’s hand and placed it on his arm and continued to look at Jane even as they were descending the stairs. When the two stopped in front of him, Jane curtsied and Garrett bowed formally. “Your Grace,” Garrett said quietly.
As Joshua regarded the couple, his hammering heart slowed a bit and he took a deep breath. I am getting married today, he thought, a sense of calm settling over him. “Let’s be on our way,” he said with a huge smile.
Chapter 34
Lady Charlotte Becomes a Bride
Charlotte stood staring at the closed door to her duke’s room, her mind suddenly on today.
I’m getting married today!
She moved to pull the bell to summon Parma and then set about messing up the bed so it would look like she slept in it. She tossed her clothes from the night before onto the end of the bed and pulled on a dressing gown just as Parma knocked.
“Come!” she called out, giving her maid a big smile as the small woman entered.
“You don’t look like a nervous bride,” Parma said as she motioned outside the door. A troop of maids entered carrying steaming pales of water, and they were followed by Mrs. Gates, who carried a gown across her arms.
“Good morning, Lady Charlotte,” the older woman said brightly. “Might you take a look and see what you think of your wedding gown?” she wondered, holding it out for Charlotte.
The younger woman gasped. Although Joshua had mentioned that Mrs. Gates had seen to a gown for her wedding, Charlotte was still surprised to see sky blue silk covered in a gold metallic netting. Charlotte reached out to take the gown by the shoulders and hold it up to herself. The overskirt seemed to radiate light in every direction, and the effect was confirmed when she turned to look at her reflection in the cheval mirror. “This is exquisite,” she b
reathed in surprise, noting the back of the bodice was higher than her scar. “Oh, I so hope it fits.” She had nothing else suitable for a wedding; most of her dinner gowns were too low cut in the back and would show her scar, and none could be considered appropriate for a wedding. “Wherever did you get it?” she asked as she looked at the proud housekeeper.
Mrs. Gates beamed as she watched the future mistress of the house. “Well, it’s a bit of a story. Madame Suzanne in London had this gown already made up, so Mr. McElliott bought it for his Jane to wear. Meanwhile, Mrs. Thomas had made a cream satin gown in Chichester when she thought she might be marrying a young gentleman, oh, this was years ago now. But she changed her mind, and her current husband didn’t want her wearing a gown meant for a different groom when they got married the year after,” she explained. “Well, Mr. McElliott already saw his bride’s gown, which is vera bad luck, so I insisted we switch the two.” She took a breath. “I do think this one is more elegant,” she remarked with a wink.
Elegant was definitely the word, Charlotte decided as she fingered the gold netting and the watered silk beneath it. “I will bathe and then try it on. How much time do I have?” she asked then, not sure what plans the staff had made with the church, or even if the ceremony would take place in a church.
“You’ll be married in the chapel at Plaistow,” Mrs. Gates informed her. “Right after Mr. McElliott and Miss Wethersby get married. Eleven o’clock. And then everyone will come here for the breakfast. Cook took the cakes out of the oven an hour ago – they had to bake for five hours, you see – and all the breads are going in now. We’ll have a feast, of course,” she went on, suddenly waving her hands. “But I must be going. I have some other things to see to,” she added as she headed for the door.
“Mrs. Gates,” Charlotte called out before the housekeeper could leave the room. When the older woman stopped and regarded her expectantly, Charlotte said, “I should like to be present for Miss Wethersby’s wedding ceremony.”
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