The Lonely Duke Waited Months for His Bride — Then She Arrived With His Missing Son
Chapter 20
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He surrendered it with an expression of such solemn dread that she laughed. His sketches showed hills under ambitious clouds and trees leaning at impossible angles."This one is dreadful," she admitted, pointing to an oak."Only one?""The others have character.""So, I hope, does the oak."The banns were published at St. Alden's on the 28th of September, the 5th of October, and the 12th. Marian remained at Lady Honoria's dower house until the wedding, and Reverend Price saw that the parish arrangements were properly completed. Oliver considered three Sundays an unreasonable delay.Honoria and Mrs. Bell helped Marian with an ivory gown. When the housekeeper quietly wondered whether Celia's portrait should be moved, Marian shook her head. "Please leave it. Oliver ought to find his mother's face wherever he has always found it."A few evenings before the wedding, Oliver brought out the little wooden horse Celia had painted. Benedict told the story of her attempts to make it stand straight on a crooked shelf. Oliver laughed until he hiccuped; Marian listened without trying to take the memory into her own keeping.On Sunday, the 19th of October, the church windows held a pale autumn light. Benedict waited beside Oliver, who was trying very hard to look solemn. The boy kept one hand tucked into his father's, then reached for Marian's as she came near. For a moment, the three stood in an awkward little cluster, and Oliver whispered, "I saved you a place."Marian squeezed his fingers. Benedict saw her smile and forgot the entire room watching them.Oliver reluctantly let go when the service began. A moment later, catching his father's eye, the boy stood a little straighter, proud of the important part he had played. Their happiness could survive a whispered joke, even beneath the solemn arches of the church. She had come freely, and there was room for her here.Benedict's vows were steady. Marian's voice trembled once, and then grew clear. Reverend Price pronounced them married, and Oliver whispered loudly, "Now may we have cake?"Honoria was obliged to hide a smile behind her handkerchief.That evening, after the guests had gone and Oliver slept upstairs, Benedict brought the familiar wooden box to the drawing room table. Celia's letters lay inside, tied separately in their old ribbon. Beside them were the spring letters he and Marian had exchanged, and the apology he had written when he had nearly lost her."You kept the unhappy one," Marian said."It was the first time I stopped trying to make your choice for you."He laid a new page over their letters. On it, he had written:"We did not leave our past behind. We opened the door and made room for tomorrow. Marian is here because she chose this day, and I am here with her because I finally learned to ask."Marian placed Oliver's drawing beside the box: the three figures stood before a crooked house with a horse that seemed to have too many legs.Benedict took her hand, and they sat a while without speaking. The fire sank lower. Neither reached to close the box. The old letters remained; the new ones had only begun for the years ahead.