Chapter Twenty-Nine
The vicar wasspeaking of love. Devotion. How marriage was a bonding of two hearts.
Aurora sniffed. Such beautiful words. A tear rolled down one cheek. She drew in a long breath, counted to ten, and composed herself.
“Don’t cry, my love.” A warm palm splayed discreetly across the base of her spine, and Aurora drew a relieved breath. She was standing toward the back of the group of family and well-wishers, deliberately, waiting for Worth to appear.
“Did you speak to Jordan?” She whispered, turning only slightly to inspect his handsome features. Not a hair out of place. No bruises or cuts to mar his perfection.
Well, that was good, wasn’t it?
Worth had been ushered in to Emerson House well over an hour ago and requested to speak to Lord Emerson. Aurora had wanted him to wait until after Aunt Lottie and Lord Kenebruke’s celebration, but the gossip had already started about her and Worth. There were even some outlandish claims Aurora had been seen visiting Mr. Charles Worthington, unescorted.
“I did.” His fingers stretched along her back. “Pay attention to the vicar. Aunt Lottie is radiant.”
The older woman glowed in her blue dress lined with silver thread, her eyes on no one else but Kenebruke. Adoration that was returned by her groom. Odessa stood beside Aunt Lottie, dabbing at her own tears as Kenebruke solemnly spoke his vows.
Odessa’s shoulders shook with a silent sob.
Jordan drew her into the circle of his arms. His chin tilted at an angle, eyes narrowing as he took in Worth and Aurora.
Aurora gave her eldest brother a weak smile.
“The discussion with Jordan went well?” Oh, there it was. A tiny cut and spot of blood on Worth’s lip.
“As well as could be expected. Only Drew punched me.”
Drew and Malcom were summoned to the study by Holly, shortly after Worth had arrived. The four stayed closeted until just before the vicar’s arrival. Her brothers had all filtered into the drawing room, but not Worth, until moments ago.
Aurora kept her eyes on the back of Aunt Lottie’s head as her former chaperone repeated her vows to Lord Kenebruke.
“Emerson didn’t seem overly surprised by my proposal. Nor Malcolm, though he did mention shooting me. I am only grateful that due to the birth of the Marquess of Sokesby, Ware was not waiting about in some dark corner to trounce me.”
“Jordan has heard the gossip.”
“Everyone in this house has heard it, Aurora. And most of London. Thankfully, according to Malcolm, Lady Longwood is even now on her way to the country. Her son, Viscount Longwood, has apparently fled England for a time. The details were not made clear to me.”
“Probably best you don’t know.” Aurora thought of what the dowager duchess had inferred at the Travers’ ball. “I am only glad she is gone.”
A round of applause lit the air as the vicar introduced Lord and Lady Kenebruke. The Sinclairs surrounded the happy couple, offering congratulations. Holly arrived a moment later to announce a wedding feast awaited them in the dining room.
As Hester and Drew passed by, Aurora’s brother slammed his shoulder into Worth.
Oh. Dear.
“Drew is a little upset with me at present, but it will pass,” Worth informed her. “He’ll be too busy with Kenebruke’s textile mills to stay angry for long, at any rate. He wants us to wed before his return to Lincolnshire.”
Aurora nodded. “He’s afraid you’ll change your mind.”
Worth had told her about Cecily and his father. How he’d allowed everyone to think the worst of him because the truth was too painful and humiliating. How becoming a rake had less to do with Worth being a libertine, and more to do with a broken heart. She thought he would tell Drew the truth about Cecily. Eventually.
“I assured Drew I had no intention of breaking our betrothal,” Worth said. “Even if all three of your brothers, plus Holly, hadn’t threatened me with bodily harm, I am still determined to marry you.” The blue of his eyes twinkled down at her. “And not because I’m honorable. Our marriage is for love and nothing else.”
The rest of the family filtered into the hall, but Aurora paused, fingers tracing the lapels of his coat. “So, things are settled?”
“Yes. In a manner of speaking. But you aren’t allowed to visit me until the vicar pronounces us wed. Emerson doesn’t want the gossip to become that much worse. I’ll likely be subjected to the dowager duchess as your chaperone until then, given Aunt Lottie will be otherwise occupied.”
“A courtship and chaperone are not required,” Aurora stated. She’d been hoping to be left alone with Worth when he paid a call. Or if they chose to view the gardens behind Emerson House. “Did you mention such?”
