Wallflower (Old Maids' Club, Book 1) (40 page)

Chapter
Twenty-Two

“
Dearly beloved, we are
gathered together here in the sight of God,” Mr. Hyde said loudly
over the echoing stillness in the small church, “and in the face of
this congregation, to join together this man and this woman in holy
matrimony.” Noah tried to concentrate on the parson’s words, but
too many thoughts were flying through his head as he stood beside
Tabitha.

After they had returned Tabitha to
Shelton Hall earlier, they’d sent her up to her chamber to prepare
for the wedding. He, however, had been brought in to Newcastle’s
library. Explaining what had happened between Oglethorpe and
Tabitha weeks before at Hyde Park to her father and brothers had
been uncomfortable, at best. Lucky for him, he’d been unable to
burn the memory from her explanation from his mind, despite his
countless attempts. But if he could survive the experience of
having her turn his own dueling pistol on him, then he could
survive anything the Shelton men wanted to throw at him.

While they hadn’t been overly pleased
that he’d kept that information from them—and also the information
about Oglethorpe and Eggerley’s wager—they had eventually agreed
that Noah had handled it all as well as could be expected. Better,
perhaps, than Shelton would have done.

They were all in agreement over that
one.

But now, with Tabitha standing beside
him before the parson, wearing a floaty, diaphanous white gown,
Noah still hadn’t managed to force himself to stop shaking.
Somehow, he imagined it might never stop. Maybe it was a sign of
being in love with her. Or of Tabitha loving him enough to brave
riding a horse, despite her fear of such an activity, racing in to
shoot the villain and save the day. How could he deserve such a
courageous woman as his wife?

But Noah knew better than to let such
questions sink in. He said a little prayer of thanks for the
providence he’d been granted.

Tabitha looked up at him and smiled, a
shy and beguiling smile that brought him back to the present just
in time to hear the parson’s question.

“
Will you have this woman
as your wedded wife, to live together after God’s ordinance in the
holy estate of matrimony? Will you love her, comfort her, honor
her, and keep her in sickness and in health, and forsaking all
others, keep yourself only unto her, so long as you both shall
live?”

A chorus burst to life in his head,
rejoicing to finally be able to answer this question. By Jove, yes.
A thousand times, yes. Noah stared down into her laughing eyes,
silvery and light today, and could have wept with joy at the love
he found there. Tabitha squeezed his hand. A moment later, Mr. Hyde
cleared his throat and waggled an eyebrow at Noah when he looked
up. “Oh. Right. I will.” How could he have neglected to answer? He
chuckled at himself, earning a little titter from Tabitha as
well.

“
And will you have this
man as your wedded husband, to live together after God’s ordinance
in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you obey him, serve him,
love, honor, and keep him in sickness and in health, and forsaking
all others, keep yourself only unto him—” Mr. Hyde paused and
winked at Noah before delivering the last portion of Tabitha’s
vows—“and will you promise never again to draw a pistol on him, so
long as you both shall live?”

“
I will.” Tabitha’s voice
rang out clearly in the small parish church after a brief glare in
Noah’s direction, so there could be no doubt. The bouquet of
poppies rustled in her hands as she passed them off to Miss
Faulkner.

Then Mr. Hyde turned them to face each
other, taking each others’ hands and looking into each others’
eyes. They said their vows, promising to love and to cherish until
death. When prodded by the parson, Noah placed a ring on Tabitha’s
finger and repeated the words he was prompted to repeat.

“
With this ring, I thee
wed, with my body, I thee worship—” if only she had any idea how
much he intended to worship her with his body over the next
lifetime or two—“and with all my worldly goods, I thee endow. In
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen.”

Was it over yet? Noah had never been
able to pay much attention during the wedding ceremonies of his
sisters and his mother. They had seemed to go on and on. But no,
this one had yet to finish. Mr. Hyde gestured for them to kneel as
he said a prayer. Noah bit back a groan of impatience and did as he
was directed.

The sooner they could
leave the church, the sooner he could get Tabitha back to Shelton
Hall for the wedding breakfast. And the sooner
that
took place, the sooner they
could
leave
Shelton Hall and begin their honeymoon.

Today, they would just
return to deLancie House. He didn’t want to begin a journey in the
middle of the day. And he
did
want to take her to bed as soon as
possible.

Making love to Tabitha beneath the
fireworks display at Vauxhall had not been enough. Not nearly
enough. He wanted to love her slowly, to keep her in bed for long
hours while they explored each other.

Mr. Hyde’s voice grew louder,
recalling Noah’s attention to the matter at hand. “Those whom God
has joined together, let no man put asunder.” He motioned for Noah
and Tabitha to once again rise to their feet. Had the ceremony
finished now? Apparently not. The parson continued speaking,
turning his focus now to the guests at the wedding.

But at least they didn’t have to sit
through the rest of it on their knees.

Tabitha caught Noah’s eye and winked.
“Not much longer,” she whispered. Either she felt as anxious as he
did, or she could tell how restless he was to finalize everything
and move on with the day. Not just with the day—with their new life
together.

Noah watched his wife
through the rest of the service.
His
wife!
He liked the sound of it. Everything
about her was fascinating to him. The way she toyed with the pearls
around her neck. The sleekness of her lips under her tongue when
she’d wet them. The way her breathing would increase under his
attentions and her breasts would lift and fall beneath the fabric
of her gown.

He probably ought not to be thinking
about her breasts at the moment. They were in a church. But maybe
God would understand. After all, He’d been the one to make such a
glorious creation. Surely God would want others to appreciate His
handiwork.

Finally, Mr. Hyde smiled down at the
two of them again. “Lord Devonport, you may now kiss your
bride.”

Thank God. He thought they’d never get
to that part. Taking her face between his hands, Noah pulled
Tabitha close and kissed her tenderly. He had to restrain himself
from kissing her more fully. It felt wrong, since they were in
church. All the more reason to get out of there as fast as they
could.

“
And now, allow me to
present Lord and Lady Devonport.”

Noah and Tabitha turned and joined
hands as the small gathering—primarily family for both of them—rose
from the pews and applauded. The guests made their way down the
aisle and out of the church to await the new couple.

In Noah’s ear, the parson said, “I’ll
just need you two to sign the register before you leave.” He
directed them over to where it stood and opened it to the
appropriate page. Noah signed and then passed the quill to Tabitha.
Even watching her sign her name, the gentle swirl her hand made
over the parish register, made his breath catch in his throat. He
was truly a lost cause.

Good thing they were actually married
now. He might not let her out of bed for a week, if something so
mundane as watching her sign her name had him in such a
state.

Leith and Miss Faulkner also signed
the register, as the witnesses to the event, and then they all made
their way out. When they walked through the doors of the church,
their families cheered as Noah and Tabitha dashed for the waiting
carriage. Once inside, he emptied a bag of coins and tossed them in
handfuls out the door.

“
I love you, Tabitha.”
Noah kissed her again before rapping the wall of the carriage to
signal the driver they were ready.

“
I love you, too. Even if
you sprung that little line into my vows with no
warning.”

Noah chuckled. “I can’t very well take
any chances on that matter.”

Tabitha frowned, but didn’t contradict
him. When they had been traveling for a few minutes, she slid
closer to him on the bench, drawing her hand along his thigh and
stopping just shy of his burgeoning erection. “Do we have to go
back to Shelton Hall? Why don’t we go straight home? My trunks have
already been sent over, I’m sure.”

Home
. Her home. Their home. “Don’t think the idea hasn’t already
crossed my mind at least a thousand times in the last half hour.”
Noah pinched his eyes closed and tried not to picture her naked.
Her father and brothers would murder him if they didn’t make it to
the wedding breakfast.

Gleefully.

Tabitha leaned into him further, until
her breath tickled the lobe of his ear with each whispered word.
“If you’re thinking it, and I’m thinking it, then what is stopping
us? We’re married now.” She inched her hand higher, until it
ever-so-lightly brushed over the hard evidence of his
arousal.

He sucked in a lungful of air. “We
have to at least make an appearance, Tabitha. Not for long. I’ll
find an excuse to escape as soon as we can.”

With a pout that sent devilish images
of a dozen better uses for her lips racing through his mind,
Tabitha flopped back against the squabs. “Fine. Go on and ruin my
plans to seduce you in the carriage.”

“
Trust me. They all know
we want to leave as soon as possible, not to mention
why
.”

Tabitha’s eyes flashed silver like
lightning in the night sky as she frowned at him. “Precisely the
problem. Do you honestly believe Toby will let us leave
easily?”

“
He’ll be perfectly glad
to see us go, if it means I won’t toss up your skirts and claim my
rights as your husband on the breakfast table,” Noah said with a
chuckle.

“
You wouldn’t dare.”
Crossing her arms over her chest only served to push her bosom
higher and therefore drew his attention there, instead of achieving
the haughty deportment he assumed she’d been going for.

“
But can your brother be
sure of that?” At the moment, Noah wasn’t wholly sure he wouldn’t
dare. He wondered how fast he and Tabitha could manage to eat their
meal and make their excuses.

Not nearly fast enough. That much was
certain.

~ * ~

It was hardly past noon when Noah
finally led Tabitha into her rooms—the marchioness’s rooms—at
deLancie House, but it felt like it should be much later than that.
The day had been one of the longest in his life. In a good
way.

Well, it hadn’t started out so
wonderfully, but that was ancient history.

Just as they came through the doors,
Tabitha’s lady’s maid had finished pulling the draperies back to
allow sunshine to flood into the chamber. She gave a brief curtsey.
“Lord Devonport, Lady Devonport. Your belongings are all in your
dressing room, my lady,” Hester said. “Miss Faulkner also had your
trousseau sent over.”

“
Thank you,” Tabitha said.
“Would you mind—”

“
That will be all for
today, Hester,” Noah interrupted. “Lady Devonport will have no more
need of your assistance until morning.” From behind her, he could
see the heated blush creeping up her the back of Tabitha’s neck.
Today, he would discover just how many places turned pink on her
body when she was abashed just so.

She flipped around to him. “Oh, but
I’ll need—”

“
Anything you need until
morning, I’ll provide.” And then some. Actually, and then a lot
more.

Tabitha couldn’t have mistaken the
desire in his voice. Hester clearly hadn’t. “I’ll be off then, my
lady. Ring when you need me tomorrow.” Skirting around the bed, she
darted out the door to Tabitha’s dressing room and was gone in an
instant.

For a moment, they stood there looking
at each other. Noah studied every plane of her face. The high
cheekbones. The long, straight nose. Those full, luscious lips
pursed together, letting him know she wasn’t happy with his
decision.

She’d change her mind soon
enough.

Noah placed his hands on the slope of
her shoulders. So soft. So delicate. So pink. She trembled lightly
beneath his touch, but her eyes never wavered. With deliberate
care, he slid his hands down her back to the first tiny pearl
button keeping her enclosed in the gauzy gown.

“
Oh, thank goodness,”
Tabitha said. She reached for his cravat and started to tug. In
mere seconds she had it free and tossed to the floor, and then set
to work loosening his shirt. “I thought I would explode if I didn’t
get to touch you soon.”

Noah grabbed her hands and stilled
them. “No. We’re doing things my way this time, Tabitha.” She
started to complain, but he caught her argument in a kiss. Not a
searing kiss. Nothing all-consuming or overwhelming or needy. Just
a kiss. Tender. Loving. Slow. Soft.