A Bride for the Prizefighter - Alice Coldbreath Page 0,10

say-so. Then we simply apply for a pardon afterward to make up for the lack of a special licence. If you two are shacked up together like a regular pair of lovebirds, there’s none would stand in the way of making it legally binding.”

“It’s hard to forget something I did not know in the first place,” Mina commented caustically but was ignored.

“I want the deeds to Vance House in my hand before I’ll take her,” Nye growled.

“Not the most trusting soul, are you, Nye?” Jeremy commented with a wry twist of his lips. He drained the second glass of claret. “I will give it to you as a wedding present. I am a gentleman and as such my word should be—”

“In my hand!” Nye roared.

“Oh, very well!” Lord Faris sighed with a roll of his eyes. “Lord, was there ever such an untrusting fellow!”

“And I want to be married from a church,” Mina said, bracing herself for argument. There was a short, heavy silence.

“Have Ryland unlock the church,” Nye said at last with a shrug, not looking at her, but straight at Jeremy. “You pay his living, so you call the shots.”

“People seem to be forgetting just whose show this is,” her half-brother complained and was ignored. “Oh, very well,” he said, clambering to his feet. “Let us first go and make the announcement in the bar, drink a few rounds and then I shall get Juggins to take me home to Vance Park fetch the deeds and then on to the village.”

“No,” said Nye heavily. “First you go and fetch the deeds and then we’ll all make our way down to the church.”

“All?” Mina echoed incredulously.

The faintest ghost of a smile touched Nye’s lips. It was not pleasant. “Aye, all,” he said. “Weddings need witnesses after all.”

Remembering the motley assortment of patrons in his barroom, Mina shuddered.

3

If Reverend Ryland blinked at the strange congregation who awaited him at the church door some three hours later, Mina could not blame him. The clock struck midnight as he fumbled with the huge key in the lock and when two burly men stepped forward to help him drag the creaking door open, Mina saw blood splatter on their breeches and deduced they were likely prizefighters who had recently been brawling in The Merry Harlot’s courtyard.

“’Ere, darlin’,” said a redhead in a scarlet silk dress which clashed violently with the profusion of sausage ringlets framing her face. “Put this on instead of your bonnet. This is a wedding, not a funeral.” She laughed and drew a shabby cream silk shawl from around her neck. Mina opened her mouth to protest it really wasn’t necessary, but the redhead was already tugging on the black ribbons of her bonnet. “It can be your somefink borrowed too, can’t it? My name’s Effie by the way. Jeb’s my man.” She nodded toward one of the hulking brutes who had helped with the church door.

“Is he a fighter too?” Mina asked, watching as Effie cast her second-best bonnet onto a pew. She must remember to pick that up on the way out.

“That’s right, but we ain’t from ‘round these parts. We only roll up in this hole in the corner every few months.” Effie draped the scarf over Mina’s bared head. It was still warm from being tucked about her bosom. “There, now you look the part,” she said with a nod of approval. Her scarf smelt strongly of perfume and some other musky scent Mina could not identify. She peered through it with difficulty for the heavy pattern was elaborate.

“Much better. Shame you ain’t got no flowers, though,” Effie lamented.

“Excuse me, ladies, did someone say flowers?” asked a voice on her right and Mina made out a short figure sketching a bow. “I gathered these from the roadside as we made our way down to the village.” Mina thought it was the older gent with the fluffy whiskers who had winked at her back at the inn but could not be sure. Everyone presently looked like mere shadowy outlines to her now. “Hold your hands out, my dear.”

“Ooh, them delphiniums are your somefink blue too, my dear!” Effie said approvingly.

Mina stuck her hands out blindly in front of her and felt a bunch of wet stems placed into them. “Thank you.” She grasped the bouquet and took a few steps forward.

“’Ere, don’t you try escapin’ now, my lass,” some wag wheezed close by, and Mina deduced she was heading in the wrong direction. She stood stock-still, then