Marrying Mr. Darcy (Love Manor #2) - Kate O'Keeffe Page 0,73
I smile at Sebastian standing next to an excited Johnathan as his best man. They both look incredibly handsome in their tuxes, and my heart expands as Sebastian throws me a grin.
Next time I venture up an aisle will be to marry him.
There are eight of us bridesmaids in total, so it takes a while to get us all to where we need to be for Phoebe’s grand entrance. But the quartet ensures the music stretches out long enough for us all to find our positions and wait for the bride to follow.
As the opening bars of Loving You play—officially Phoebe and Johnathan’s couple’s song following her perfect performance of it on Dating Mr. Darcy—the bride begins her walk down the aisle. Although I know it’s a total cliché, she is a vision in her stunning ivory dress with its full skirt and bodice, topped off with a love heart neckline. As she walks down the aisle arm in arm with her dad, you could not find a happier or more beautiful bride.
I watch the way Johnathan looks at her with such love in his eyes, and I swear I hear angels weep. These two are just perfect for one another, and they are so in love. I am honored to be a part of their special day.
The ceremony is sweet and heartfelt, just like Phoebe and Johnathan, and before long they’re declared married, and we all leave the church in high spirits, ready for the reception. It’s being held at Johnathan’s family estate, a stunning, oversized stone house about thirty-five miles from Martinston. With its large windows and ivy-covered walls, it’s the perfect backdrop to a romantic wedding for two people who could not be more perfectly suited.
After a delicious meal and funny speeches, including Sebastian’s in which he shared a story about how Johnathan once tried to sail down the River Cam at Cambridge in a cardboard boat that sunk after about three seconds, the bride and groom have their romantic first dance, and then we all get to join in.
“Did you go in that boat?” I ask Sebastian as he holds me in our first dance together.
“It’s a Cambridge tradition. We all did it, only Johnathan’s boat was the worst of the lot.”
“You’ll have to take me to Cambridge one of these days.”
“How about once we’ve finished making Saving Pemberley?”
“Deal.”
The song changes to something more upbeat, and we dance up a storm together, laughing and simply enjoying one another’s company.
Hot from the dancing, I tell Sebastian I’ll meet him outside, and as he goes to the bar to get us some drinks, I make my way through the throngs of people to the Buckingham Palace-style balcony overlooking ornate, formal gardens below.
I reach the edge and let out a deep, contented sigh, the music from inside floating out to touch me, the cool evening breeze brushing against my bare skin. Being here at the Bentley’s fairy-tale house on this fairy-tale day knowing how happy my sweet friend Phoebe is, feels beyond wonderful.
“It’s quite a lovely outlook here, isn’t it?” a familiar voice says beside me.
I turn to see Geraldine standing beside me, her hands on the stone railing as she looks out into the dark night sky.
“Of course it’s nothing on Martinston, but then, nothing is,” she adds.
“I’ve got to agree with you on that. Martinston is so special. I can barely believe I get to live the rest of my life there.” I tilt my head in her direction and smile at her. Knowing she finally approves of me has whisked my usual anxiety around her away, and I feel calm and relaxed, ready to bond with my future relation.
She turns to me and appears to study my face.
“What is it? Have I got some lipstick where it shouldn’t be or something?” I rub my finger around my lips, just in case. “We’ve been dancing.”
“It’s not your lipstick, dear,” she says, and I can’t help but feel touched that she’s called me dear.
“Phew! You know how sometimes you think you look gorgeous, and then you realize you’ve been walking around with your eye makeup so smudged you look like you’re a panda? I thought I was having one of those moments.”
“Your makeup looks perfectly fine.” She turns back and stares out at the view once more. “You do know no one wants you here, don’t you?”
Wait, what?
“Excuse me?” I ask, wondering if I heard right. Did she just tell me no one wants me here?