A Secret Affair

Chapter 23

THEY HAD ARGUED since yesterday about where they would marry. Though argued was perhaps not quite the right word since both were fully intent upon being unselfish in the matter.

Constantine thought they should marry at Copeland as it was Ha

He was wise enough not to mention Markle.

Ha

They agreed that St. George’s was the best and most convenient compromise. It was on Hanover Square, a mere stone’s throw from Dunbarton House. The bride could walk there. The whole ton could be expected to attend. Perhaps even the king would come. It was the fashionable place to marry.

Neither of them wanted to marry there, though neither was willing to admit it to the other.

It was going to have to be Copeland.

Or Ainsley.

Or perhaps St. George’s.

“Tell us about your nuptials, Your Grace,” Miss Winsmore said as soon as they were all seated about the di

“As soon as possible to answer your first question,” Ha

She drew breath to give her vote for Ainsley Park, expecting that Constantine’s family would back her up, but the Earl of Merton spoke first.

“But you must marry at Warren Hall, Con,” he said. “It is still and always your home. It is where you were born, where you grew up. The private chapel has always been used for family weddings and christenings and … burials,” he added more softly.

“Oh, that would be so lovely,” Cassandra said as footmen served the first course. “But Ha

But she gazed at Ha

“Elliott and I married there,” Vanessa said, “as did Cassandra and Stephen last year. It is the loveliest place for a wedding. The chapel is in a quiet corner of the park, among the trees, and it is full to overflowing with just a few guests. There is a wonderful sense of history there too with the churchyard surrounding the chapel. Family history.”

It must be where Jonathan was buried, Ha

“It is good of you to be willing to lend us the chapel, Stephen,” he said. “But I think Ha

“Choose for herself?” she said, interrupting him. “I will, then. Thank you. I will choose.”

She knew that his smile came at a great cost.

“I choose Warren Hall,” she said, her eyes on his.

And she felt almost as though she were falling into them as his smile faded.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“I am absolutely sure,” she told him, and she was. “Warren Hall it will be. Thank you, Lord Merton. You are very kind.”

“I think I had better be Stephen,” he said, “if you are going to marry Con. I think we had better all be on a first-name basis.”

And suddenly everyone was talking at once, and the di

“You might as well relax and let things happen, Con,” Elliott advised. “You have done your job. You have offered Ha

For a day or two before her wedding, Ha

“Do you remember the daffodils?” she asked Elliott.

And the rather austere Duke of Moreland was observed to wink back at her.

Ha

And that was before he had known the wedding would be in their domain—at Warren Hall.

“Oh, dear,” Katherine said suddenly, and the tone of her voice caused a general hush about the table. “We are at it again. We grew up in a small country village, Ha

“We have not indeed,” Margaret said with a sigh. “You have never been known as a helpless, indecisive lady, Ha

All eyes were on her, Ha

“I am not laughing,” she said. “Quite the opposite.” And, sure enough, she had to blink away tears. “And I have never pla

The duke had told her that when she found love she would find the community of belonging that went with it.

It was almost time for the ball to begin. The gentlemen did not linger in the dining room after the ladies left. They all adjourned together to the ballroom to await the arrival of the first guests.

Constantine’s new title was to be a

She was the Duchess of Dunbarton, soon to be the Countess of Ainsley. But most important of all, she was Ha

She was happy.

Guests began to arrive, and Constantine took her hand and set it on his sleeve. They strolled together about the ballroom, stopping briefly to talk to acquaintances as they went. They were both smiling.

“Have you noticed,” Constantine asked, “that everyone who enters the ballroom looks at you twice, once with a simple appreciation for your beauty, and once with sudden, shocked recognition?”

“I think it is you they are looking at,” she said. “You look quite dazzling when you smile.”