Always the Rival (Never the Bride #7) - Emily E K Murdoch Page 0,80
housekeeper bobbed a curtsey. “From my own garden, miss. It does my heart good to see you so happy, and I hope you will not forget us when you move into the big house.”
Priscilla squeezed her hand. “I am only half a mile away. I am hardly moving to the moon!”
The grandfather clock started chiming, and Mrs. Seton glanced at it nervously. “Almost eleven o’clock! We will certainly be late now, Priscilla, and if we do not leave now, we will give Charles a heart attack. Come on now.”
St. Gabriel’s was but a ten-minute walk into the village. The sun was shining against all expectations, the autumn leaves shimmering. The whole world was so much more alive than it ever had been – or was she just noticing the beauty of nature?
The bells of the church were chiming, and the vicar was waiting outside, a look of panic on his face which disappeared as soon as he saw the bride approaching with her mother.
“Miss Seton, we were beginning to think you weren’t coming!”
“Really, Reverend,” Mrs. Seton said in her imperious tone. “We are but five minutes late, and ’tis traditional for a bride to be late to her own wedding! Why, I was half an hour late for Mr. Seton, and I received no complaints!”
The vicar nodded, chided. “Yes, I know, but we will already be five minutes late because of the request from the young lady – ah yes, here she is.”
“Young lady?” Priscilla and her mother said together, and then the younger Seton said, “Frances!”
Miss Lloyd had stepped around the church. “Thank you, Reverend. We will be in shortly.”
The vicar bowed and returned to his altar, while Priscilla simply stared.
Miss Lloyd, here, now? What could she possibly want – surely she had not decided to derail the wedding? Her shoulders tensed as she anticipated the worst.
“I will leave you two ladies to discuss,” Mrs. Seton said, aware of the discomfort in the air. “I will see you after all of this.”
She leaned forward and kissed her daughter on the cheek before following the vicar inside the church.
Priscilla wished her mother had not abandoned her right in her hour of need. What could Miss Lloyd possibly be thinking? She had been invited, to be sure, but only as a matter of course. She had not expected her to actually be here!
“I know I am probably the last person you wish to see today,” Miss Lloyd said quietly. “And I do not intend to hold you up for long. I simply wanted to tell you…this is the day you deserve, Priscilla.”
Priscilla swallowed, her mouth dry. “You…you mean that?”
Miss Lloyd smiled. “I cannot pretend it has not been a strange few months.”
They laughed, and Priscilla felt some of the tension leave her shoulders.
“You have taken nothing from me,” said Miss Lloyd. “You have nothing to reproach yourself for. You and Charles are made for each other, and I am honored to be a small part of your story.”
Priscilla opened her mouth to reply, but Miss Lloyd had already slipped into the church, leaving her alone by the church door.
She took a deep breath. These were the last few moments of being Miss Priscilla Seton. In just a few minutes…
The church bells stopped chiming, leaving a silence that rang out across the village. Priscilla tightened her grip on the bouquet and stepped into the church.
The pews were absolutely packed. It had been one of Lady Audley’s arguments for Westminster Abbey, and only now did Priscilla understand. When a duke was wed, several hundred people were invited as a matter of course, and it was standing room only at the back.
Every head turned to stare, and as the organ began, the guests rose.
The nave in St. Gabriel’s was long for the size of the church, but she could see Charles at the end of it, waiting for her at the altar.
Within sixty minutes, they will be more to each other than she could have ever hoped for. Husband and wife. For the rest of their lives.
“I have been waiting for you forever,” he murmured with a mischievous glint in his eyes as she eventually reached him.
Priscilla handed her bouquet to her mother and smiled at the man she loved. “Not as long as I have.”
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness,” began the Reverend.
His words continued, welcoming his noble guests to his meager church, but under his words, Charles continued to murmur.