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“Daddy, Don’t Marry Her!” — Three Triplets Crashed the Duke’s Wedding, and He Recognized Them

“Daddy, Don’t Marry Her!” — Three Triplets Crashed the Duke’s Wedding, and He Recognized Them

Chapter 2

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"Enormously.""At us?""Not yet. That may depend on whether you brought mud."Milo looked at his boots. "Some.""Then we shall manage." Lady Clarabel turned to the vicar. "Reverend Dale, the wedding is suspended."The vicar nodded too quickly. "Yes, Lady Clarabel.""Guests may proceed to the house for tea, gossip, and whatever moral confusion they brought with them."Aunt Lavinia gasped. Lady Clarabel smiled sweetly. "Aunt Lavinia, you may supervise the confusion."Within ten minutes, the chapel emptied in waves of silk, whispers, wet umbrellas, and scandal. The children remained near Evelyn. Rowan remained near the altar. Lady Clarabel stood between both disasters like a woman arranging seating at a fire.When the last guest left, Kit lifted the tiny suitcase. "We packed."Rowan looked at the case. "For what?""In case you said no."His throat closed. Evelyn touched Kit's shoulder. "Christopher...""But we did pack," Pippa added."Mama said we should not burst in," Milo said."She said wait outside," Kit said. "Waiting outside is how people keep marrying wrong ladies."Lady Clarabel pressed two fingers to her lips—not in horror, but to hide laughter.Rowan turned to Evelyn. "You came to stop the wedding?""No," Pippa said. "We did."Evelyn closed her eyes again. "I came to speak before the ceremony. The carriage wheel broke near the village. I sent a note ahead."Rowan looked around. "I received no note.""No," Evelyn said. "I suspected that when your vows began."Milo lifted his wrong-gloved hand. "So we ran."Kit nodded. "Pippa said chapel doors are only wood."Pippa looked proud. "They were."Rowan stared at his children. His children. The words did not fit; they were too large and too late. He wanted to kneel. He wanted to demand eight years. He wanted to take Evelyn by the shoulders and ask why the world had been allowed to continue without telling him this.Instead, he looked at Lady Clarabel. "I owe you a conversation.""Later," Clarabel said. "Not now. Now you owe these children warmth, dry stockings, and answers."Pippa said, "And breakfast."Milo nodded. "We left before eggs."Kit held up the suitcase. "I packed biscuits."Evelyn looked alarmed. "Christopher, those were for emergencies!""This is one." He opened the suitcase.Inside were three pairs of stockings, one wooden soldier, a folded paper, two biscuits wrapped in cloth, and a broken silver rattle tied with blue thread.Rowan stopped breathing.
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“Daddy, Don’t Marry Her!” — Three Triplets Crashed the Duke’s Wedding, and He Recognized Them

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