Epilogue
“It is the most beautiful gown I have ever seen,” Melody said in a choked voice.
Selina smoothed nervous hands down the silky skirts and smiled at her friend. “You don’t think it should be brighter to attract my mate?”
“Oh no, no.” Melody shook her head. “I think I mentioned it before, but it is the male that is usually colorful in order to attract a mate. The females tend to be rather more bland. Not that you are bland! Goodness, no.”
Selina let out a quiet chuckle as she observed her reflection in the mirror.
Aurelia and Charity had done a wonderful job with the modiste, better than anything she could have asked for.
The gown seemed to glitter with her movements, embellished with spangles and beading that made its weight more than worth it.
“It is perfect,” Lizzy agreed. “Even more perfect because you are actually wearing it, and this wedding is actually going to happen.”
There was a firm note in her voice, a warning that Selina was not to change her mind at the last minute.
“Don’t worry, Lizzy. I am not running away today or any other day,” she told her friend.
“Good.” Lizzy exhaled. “I am just glad that I could talk some sense into my brother before he lost the one marvelous thing he has ever had.”
Selina raised an eyebrow. “I still haven’t forgiven you for that.”
“Whyever not?” Lizzy protested. “If I had not gone to him, then you might be in London right now, hidden away in your townhouse, lamenting the marriage—and the sister-in-law—that you could have had. I was right to defy you, and I shan’t apologize for it.”
In all the time that Selina had known Lizzy—which was not so long, really—apologies had seemed to be something of a difficulty for the younger St. Maur sibling.
Lizzy could skirt around an apology, apologizing without actually saying sorry, but a direct apology seemed to have a way of sticking in her throat.
“You must forgive her, Selina,” Melody urged. “If Philip were my brother, I would have defied your wishes too.”
“What traitorous friends I have,” Selina said with an amused smile as she glanced from one to the other. “Very well. Lizzy, I forgive you for meddling.”
Lizzy clapped her hands together. “Oh, I knew you would not stay angry with me! Truly, I would not be able to bear it if you were actually angry with me… but I know you are secretly glad that I did what I did.”
She rushed forward and threw her arms around Selina before any protest could be made, the two friends embracing before Selina stretched out an arm to beckon Melody into the moment.
Melody didn’t hesitate, the three women forming a tangle of arms and laughter and giddiness.
A knock at the door separated them, before Aurelia and Charity poked their heads into the room.
“Oh!” Charity cried, her hand flying to her mouth. “Oh, my goodness! My goodness me!”
Rather bashful, Selina stood awkwardly with her arms at her sides, uncertain of how to position herself to show off the dress.
She need not have worried. Her mother was already weeping, coming forward with her arms outstretched to take hold of her hands.
“I imagined it in my head,” Charity whispered through shaky sobs, “but it was nothing compared to this. You are… the most beautiful bride, my darling girl. Just the most beautiful bride I have ever seen.”
“It is all thanks to you and Aurelia,” Selina said, feeling a prickle of tears in her own eyes.
Charity shook her head. “No… no, it is all you. It is your… joy, my darling. Your joy is what makes it so beautiful.” She paused, a crease appearing between her eyebrows. “You are happy, aren’t you? This is what you want?”
“I am, and this is what I want with all my heart,” Selina assured her, smiling. “I love him, Mama.”
“Oh…” Charity choked on a convulsive sob and squeezed her hands tighter. “Oh, my sweet girl. You cannot know how happy I am to hear that. My daughter is in love. My daughter is marrying the man she loves.”
Lizzy cleared her throat. “He loves her too, in case you had any doubt.”
Selina had told her friends about Philip’s confession, though she had omitted what had happened after. A secret that was just for herself. Besides, Lizzy would not have wanted to know about all of that.
“Oh, Selina.” Charity gazed at her in wonder, perhaps seeing herself all those years ago on her own wedding day.
Selina paused. “Did you ever love Father?”
“In my own way,” her mother replied after a brief pause.
“But it was always a marriage of convenience. I thought love might blossom, but it did not. Although I do care for him, and I have to believe that he cares for me in his own way. But it was when I had your brother and you that I realized that love had blossomed in my marriage, in the end. It did not come from my husband, no, but from my darling children.”
Selina’s heart broke a little. “I am sorry, Mama.”
“Sorry? Why are you sorry?” Charity smiled, her eyes glimmering with such hope and affection, winking in the beads of her tears.
“I am content enough in my marriage, and I get to see you marry the man you love and who loves you in return. There is nothing in the world that could make me happier than that. Indeed, it leaves me hopeful that the world is changing for the better, for the young ladies of society, for us all.”
Selina stepped forward and put her arms around her mother, holding her tightly.
A hug couldn’t undo the years of struggle her mother had endured, the years of being small and silent, but Selina could sense a change. A change in her mother, encouraged by the fierce Dowager Duchess.
“Will you stay after the wedding?” she asked.
“I will stay for as long as you will have me,” Charity replied.
Keen-eared, the Dowager Duchess piped up, “I have already prepared a suite for her at the dower house. It is high time I had a companion, considering it will likely not be long before Lizzy marries, and I am alone in that place.”
A short distance away, Lizzy coughed, her eyes bulging. “You might be waiting longer than you think, Grandmama.”
“Nonsense. One wedding begets another. It has always been like that,” the Dowager Duchess teased cheerfully.
Concentrating on her mother, Selina urged, “You never have to go back to the townhouse or to Father’s country estate again if you don’t want to. You are welcome here forever, I swear it.”
“I think I should like that,” Charity said quietly, before pressing a gentle kiss to her cheek. “Now, I think we ought to gather ourselves, dry our eyes, and get you married! We do not want to be late on the happiest day of your life.”
Selina smiled. “Then again, it might be good to let my darling betrothed sweat a little.”
“Hear, hear!” Lizzy agreed with a grin as she discreetly wiped a tear from her cheek, too.
“You are certain no carriages left this morning?” Philip checked his pocket watch, the long hand ticking toward his bride being fifteen minutes late.
Zachary hid a smirk. “I am certain, my good man. No carriages departed, no horses are missing from the stables, and no one saw a beautiful young lady in a wedding gown fleeing across the lawns to make her way back to London on foot.”
“I am glad you find this so amusing,” Philip muttered.
In the army, tardiness was not tolerated. None of the men in his battalion would have dared to be two minutes late, much less fifteen.
Then again, he was not at war anymore, and he was not awaiting beleaguered men with muskets and sabers who jumped at his every command.
No, he was waiting for the woman he loved, who rarely did what he commanded…
with a couple of exceptions. The fiery, lively, remarkable woman who, with any luck, would soon become his wife.
“Do you think there is some problem with the dress?” he asked, glancing back at the closed church doors.
The rest of the congregation had already gathered, sitting patiently in the pews, whispering among themselves. However, Selina’s family and his family were notably absent.
Where on earth are they? Did I read the time wrong?
“She will be here,” Zachary said in a gentler tone. “After everything you have overcome together, she would not miss it. She loves you.”
A smile curved Philip’s lips as he remembered her confession.
She loves me… as I love her.
It was the most wonderful feeling to know that his heart was open to her, that it was capable of carrying such a precious love, when he had assumed it was a withered prune in his chest, a frozen thing that could never be thawed.
Thanks to Selina, he knew without doubt that he was nothing like his father. His heart could and would feel as much as it pleased, loving his wife entirely, certain that he would never let any harm or pain come to her.
Just then, as if summoned by the call of his love, the church doors opened.
His grandmother entered first, escorted by the Duchess of Barlow. Lizzy and Melody entered next, the latter offering looks of apology to the congregation, while Reuben followed behind with a similar expression of chagrin. Whatever had kept them, it did not seem intentional.
“Good luck,” Lizzy said with a wink as she passed her brother and took a seat in the front pew.
Philip had to laugh. It was probably the warmest thing his sister had said to him since he came back from the war.
Then, as everyone rose, it was time for the bride.
Selina was a heavenly vision. An angel made mortal.
Her gown shimmered as she walked through the church doors on her father’s arm, her dark hair fashioned into romantic waves, pinned up on her head like a rose with just a few tresses falling to frame her face.
Her cheeks were rosy, her complexion glowing, her green eyes twinkling with excitement as they met Philip’s.
“Goodness…” Zachary murmured. “That is… a beautiful woman, indeed.”
“And my soon-to-be wife, so avert your eyes,” Philip whispered out of the corner of his mouth, though his friend’s admiration could not wipe the smile off his face.
His bride really was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, as exceptional on the outside as she was on the inside.