The Wallflower Wager - Tessa Dare Page 0,82
currently running footraces between the nave and back of the church.”
“Oh, dear.” Alexandra leaped into action. “Most of those are mine.”
Emma followed. “Not all of them, unfortunately.”
“None are my responsibility yet,” Nicola said. “But I suppose I might need practice.”
Once they were alone, Penny turned to Gabriel. “I can’t imagine what’s delaying Aunt Caroline. I’m worried about her.”
“Whoever or whatever is delaying her, I’m worried for it.”
Uneasiness knotted in her belly. “Do you think she’s changed her mind?”
With her parents and Timothy overseas, and Bradford at a great distance in more ways than one, Aunt Caroline was her only close relation in Town. If even she didn’t appear, Penny would feel rather abandoned.
“Your aunt has not changed her mind,” Gabriel said stoutly. “Why would she? The woman adores me.”
Penny arched an eyebrow in doubt.
“Very well. She doesn’t adore me, but that’s only because she isn’t the adoring sort. Don’t worry. She’ll be here.”
“Penny?”
She wheeled toward the familiar voice. “Bradford?”
Penny hadn’t seen her eldest brother in a year. Not since that misty morning in St. James Park when she’d put the choice to him. He was her brother, and she loved him dearly—but as long as he maintained a relationship with his father-in-law, they couldn’t be a part of each other’s lives.
In the months since, they’d corresponded in stilted, impersonal fashion when necessary, and naturally she’d sent him notice of the wedding. When friends asked, it wasn’t difficult to explain his absence. The excuses wrote themselves: too long a journey from Cumberland, another child on the way, and so forth.
And now . . . here he was, without warning.
She swallowed a lump in her throat. “I didn’t know you were coming.”
“To be fair, I wasn’t certain, either. In the end, Aunt Caroline gave me a kick in the arse.”
Gabriel made his presence known. “If you’re here to object during the ceremony, I’ll kick you in the arse myself. And I’m a fair bit stronger than Aunt Caroline.”
“I’m not here to object to the wedding.” He looked to Penny. “I’m hoping to be a part of it. Might I have the honor of walking you down the aisle?”
She couldn’t speak.
“This past year, I haven’t kept my distance out of anger or mistrust, but out of shame. I’m your older brother. I should have paid more attention. I should have . . . known somehow. I wasn’t there when you needed me, and I know I can never make amends for the past. But if you’ll allow me, I promise to be there from this day forward.”
“You don’t have to say yes, Penny,” Gabriel said.
“I know.”
She took her brother’s hands in hers. The space between them couldn’t be bridged in one morning. But if he’d taken the first step—several thousand first steps, considering the distance from Cumberland—she could make the next.
Before speaking, she paused to reflect. “Bradford, I’m glad you’re here. So very glad. But I don’t want you to walk me down the aisle this morning. I’m not yours to give away.”
Bradford looked disappointed, but he took it well. “I understand. I’ll fetch Aunt Caroline, then? She’s just outside.”
“I’m not Aunt Caroline’s to give away, either. Or anyone’s. I’m my own person, marrying the man of my choosing.” She reached for Gabriel’s hand and looked up at him. “Why don’t we walk down the aisle together?”
“Rather a break with tradition,” Bradford said. “But if it’s what you want.”
“It is.”
“Then that’s how it should be. I’m happy for you, Penny.” Bradford kissed her on the cheek. On his way out, he leveled a finger at Gabriel. “You’re not good enough for her.”
“Neither are you,” Gabriel returned.
Bradford nodded. “What do you know, we’ve already found some common ground.”
When her brother had left, Penny turned to her groom and smiled. “I suppose we should go be married.”
“No hedgehog in your pocket?”
She shook her head. “And no shilling in yours, I hope?”
His reply was strangely hesitant. “No.”
Suspicious, Penny skimmed her hands over the silk of his waistcoat and the hard planes of his chest beneath. When her fingers encountered a hard, flat object in the region of his breast pocket, she gave a cry of displeasure. “Gabriel.”
“What?”
“You know very well what.” She worked her gloved hand under the superfine wool of his lapel, delving into the concealed pocket.
He shied from her touch. “Brazen woman.”
“You promised me.”
“And I kept my promise.”
“Truly?” She pinched the coin between her thumb and forefinger, wiggling it free of its satin-lined hiding place. “Then how do you explain this?”
“Spare change. Can’t imagine