accident itself. Fancy hadn’t wanted to worry Bea before her wedding day, but the other had insisted on knowing all the details.
“It was likely an accident,” Fancy said reassuringly.
“I agree with Knighton.” Concern creased Bea’s forehead. “You mustn’t take any chances, especially given that note your father found.”
“That note was from twenty-two years ago,” Fancy replied. “’Ow…how would anyone know that I was that babe? Or that the babe had survived? The bricks were just an unlucky mishap.”
“I wish Wick and I didn’t have to go back to Staffordshire straightaway,” Bea fretted. “But now that I’m selling my estate to Wick and his partners, I have to find a new property for my tenants—”
“Of course you must attend to your tenants. I have Knight to look after me. Not that I need looking after,” Fancy had added.
Luckily, she’d managed to convince Bea that there was no need to change her travel plans. Fancy would never forgive herself if Bea missed out on her wedding trip. Bea had waited so long to find her prince, and she deserved to enjoy every moment of her long-awaited happily ever after.
“With this ring, I thee wed.” Mr. Murray’s deep voice rang clearly through the room. “With my body, I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods, I thee endow. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
Fancy’s heart sighed as he slid a gold band on Bea’s finger, and then Bea repeated the vows, her lavender eyes glowing as she presented him with his matching ring. The vicar proclaimed the couple man and wife, declaring, “Those whom God has joined, let no one tear asunder. You may now kiss the bride.”
Mr. Murray bent his head and kissed his new wife with enough gusto to elicit giggles from the ladies and clearing of throats from the gentlemen in the audience. Even as Fancy’s lips twitched, longing pierced her heart.
Will Knight one day want to kiss me? she thought with painful yearning.
Given all the other intimacies they shared, it was strange that a simple kiss remained forbidden. More and more, she found herself tempted to kiss him, yet pride and fear stopped her. Knowing what a kiss meant to Knight, that it was a pledge of his love, she needed him to bestow it upon her. Only then would she know that Imogen’s spell was broken. Only then would she have her faerie tale ending. For only then would she know that she truly had her husband’s heart.
With the official part of the ceremony concluded, Fancy shelved her thoughts and was the first to congratulate her best friend. Giving Bea back her bouquet of roses and lilies, she whispered, “You’re going to be so happy!”
“I know,” Bea whispered back. “Now we both have our faerie tale endings.”
After a bit of mingling, it was time for the wedding breakfast. To accommodate all the guests, doors had been folded back between the dining and drawing rooms, and tables had been set up throughout.
“I hope you don’t mind being at a different table,” Bea said.
“Not at all,” Fancy assured her. “Your table is for family, after all.”
“You are family to me, dear. But I had to find a way to accommodate Wick’s kin,”—Bea lowered her voice—“and shield the rest of the guests from his mama. Complaining is the dowager’s favorite hobby; Violet and I will have our hands full.”
Fancy had met Violet, Viscount Carlisle’s wife, earlier. The vivacious brunette had been friendly, a sparkle of mischief in her caramel-colored eyes, and Fancy was glad that Bea had an ally in dealing with her new mama-in-law.
“Anyway, I’ve put you with those friends I told you about, Wick’s business partners and their wives,” Bea went on. “You’ll like them. And you can trust them with anything.”
On that rather enigmatic note, Bea had to leave to lead the guests in. Fancy arrived at her assigned table with Knight and found Bea’s friends waiting for her.
Introductions were made, and they all took their seats. Normally, Fancy would be intimidated by meeting so many strangers, especially women as stunning as petite, raven-haired Tessa Kent and voluptuous, redheaded Gabriella Garrity and their handsome husbands, who were Mr. Murray’s partners at Great London National Railway. Bea had told Fancy that the Kents and Garritys had assisted her during her recent ordeals, and gratitude eased Fancy’s nervousness.
As it turned out, Knight was acquainted with them.
“Well met, Knight,” Harry Kent said. “Been some time, hasn’t it?”