Slightly Sinful (43 page)

"Except Morgan's," he admitted, "and Aidan's. He married by special license and did not let any of us know until later."

"How unsporting of him." She laughed and looked so startlingly lovely that he felt the breath catch in his throat. "I love the Bedwyns' idea of fun."

And she took his arm, lifted her chin, and sauntered down the path with him, laughing into the faces of all of them as they passed until her delicate wedding outfit was dotted with every color of the rainbow.

"You see?" Alleyne called out. "I have married a woman worthy of the Bedwyn name. She does not simply put her head down and run for it."

He helped her into the carriage and followed her in, standing for a moment while she arranged her skirts about her, not making any attempt to brush away petals and leaves, and he threw handfuls of coins to the village children, who ran shrieking and squealing to retrieve them.

And then he sat down beside Rachel and took her hand in his, lacing his fingers with hers as the carriage rocked on its springs and moved away in the direction of Chesbury. He ignored the cheering and the catcalls behind them, though he was suddenly aware of the joyful pealing of the church bells-and of the metallic clatter of two kettles being hauled along in their wake.

"Well, my love," he said.

"Well, my love."

They laughed together and he squeezed her hand.

"Whoever would have thought," he said to her, "that I would ever come to be eternally thankful for that musket ball I took in my thigh and that fall from my horse and that loss of memory? Whoever would have thought that such seeming disaster would turn into the best thing that had ever happened to me?"

"And whoever would have thought," she said, "that I would ever be thankful for dreary employment as a lady's companion and the disaster of a betrothal to a rogue and the theft of all the money I owned and all the money my friends owned? Whoever would have thought that my foray into the forest in order to find riches with which to pursue the thief would lead me to you?"

"I'll never ever say that I do not believe in fate," he said, "or in a definite path that our lives take in order to lead us to fulfillment if only we will take it without wavering."

She lifted her face and he kissed her lightly on the lips.

"And listen to me," he said, "spouting philosophy when fate has given us these few moments to be alone together before the onslaught of the wedding breakfast. Tonight seems eons away, but there are these moments."

He released her hand in order to set his arm about her shoulders and draw her closer.

"I have told you before," she said, "that you sometimes talk too much."

"Insubordination," he said, rubbing his nose against hers. "You are my wife now, Rache. You are Lady Alleyne Bedwyn and have to be polite to me and obey me."

"Yes, my lord." Her eyes laughed into his.

"Kiss me, then," he said.

"Yes, my lord."

She laughed aloud. But then she obeyed him, turning on the seat and wrapping both arms about him in order to do so more thoroughly.

His golden angel.

His wife.

His love.