Chapter 25
Three months after the night of the duke’s ball, I stood in one of the drawing rooms at The Prince of Wales Hotel overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Newport. My heart was so full of wonder, I had to place my hand on my chest to contain it, touching the locket I’d chosen to wear on my wedding day.
“You want to walk me down the aisle?” I asked the prince as I faced him. “What will people say?”
Light streamed into the room through the windows, illuminating his bearded face as he smiled at me. “If I cared what people said about me, I would have no fun at all, my dear.”
I returned his smile and recalled what Aunt Maude had said in London. What the prince wanted, the prince would get.
He stood before me in impeccable clothing, a watch chain hanging from his pocket, highlighting his expanding middle. He was the height of fashion.
“I would be proud to have you walk me down the aisle,” I said to him.
“Very good.” He offered me his arm, about to speak, when he noticed the locket. Pausing, he lifted it and held it tenderly in his large hand. “I never thought I would see this again.”
“I wanted to wear it today, to feel close to my mother.”
He slowly lowered the locket and met my gaze. “I still cannot believe how much you look like her.”
I smiled. It was the greatest compliment.
“Are you ready?” he asked me.
I was wearing a magnificent white silk gown, ordered from the House of Worth in Paris.
A stunning train descended from a generous bustle, and long sleeves came down to my wrists.
Alec had purchased a beautiful diamond engagement ring for me before we had left London, and it sparkled now in the daytime sun.
I had not wanted to wear gloves and cover it, so Aunt Maude had insisted on the long sleeves.
When the prince had first stepped into the room where I waited, he had uttered the same thing his mother, the queen, had said to me in her drawing room presentation. “You are breathtaking, my dear.”
I felt lovely today, but the feeling came from within, where Alec had touched my heart. How could I be anything but beautiful when he loved me so well?
A magnificent carriage waited outside for us, with the top down.
Aunt Maude was already seated inside, looking very proud and regal as the crowds watched.
Dozens of people had been gathering in front of the hotel since morning, hoping to catch a glimpse of the prince.
They cheered as we exited the large, yellow building.
It was a grand hotel, much larger than I had imagined, with 125 guest suites.
A central tower reached eight stories tall, offering panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean and Newport, and a beautiful covered porch wrapped around the building.
The prince smiled and waved to the people watching as he helped me into the carriage.
“It’s so good of you to have come,” Aunt Maude said to the prince, though he’d been at the hotel for several days and she’d uttered the sentiment many times.
“I would not have missed this for anything,” he said as we settled into the carriage, his loving gaze on me.
As we drove down Bellevue Avenue to the Channing Memorial Church, where Alec would meet us, the crowds continued to line the street, cheering and waving, calling out for the prince to notice them.
I glanced at him, but he didn’t seem to mind the attention, and Aunt Maude drank it all in.
How odd it felt to be the center of so much interest. I’d spent most of my life trying to blend in to stay safe.
But here I was, sitting next to the Prince of Wales, in a fancy carriage, in a parade, on my wedding day.
Ever since our wedding had been announced, and word had spread that the prince was planning to attend, the hotel had been at full capacity.
Reservations were booked throughout the next year, as well, and the revenue from all the Hill Hotels had increased.
Things were better than we ever hoped or anticipated.
As much as I loved having my father at the wedding, and as excited as I was about marrying Alec, I couldn’t wait for the moment when Alec and I were finally alone together.
When the cheering crowds had faded and the chaos of the day had died down.
He had a surprise planned for our wedding trip and I was eager to see where he would take me.
Two whole weeks to be alone.
I sighed with pleasure just thinking about it.
Several young people waved energetically at me, and I smiled and waved back, and then I caught the prince watching me.
“You could have been a princess,” he said, his voice wistful. “And what a princess you would have made.”
Aunt Maude smiled indulgently at him, but she had no idea that he spoke the truth.
I could have been a princess, but I was much happier being Keira O’Day from Five Points, then recently of Newport and New York City.
Before I’d met Aunt Maude, I had thought God had forgotten about me or never knew I existed.
Yet looking over the course of my life, I could see His hand at work, even in the difficult times.
Everything had happened for a reason, and He had been gracious and faithful to reveal it to me.
And now here I sat, about to become Alec’s bride. If my story had played out differently, I might never have met him and what a great loss that would have been.
“I almost forgot to tell you,” the prince said as he continued to watch me. “The Duke of Severton took a bride not long after you left London.”
“Oh?” I wasn’t surprised. “Who did he marry?”
“Miss Lily Parker.”
My eyes widened, because this was surprising.
Had my suggestion been enough to persuade him?
There were no two people less alike. He was dark and brooding, full of secrets.
She was bright and vivacious, with not an ounce of guile.
Even their looks were opposite. She was like daytime and he the night.
But, they both wanted the same thing, and I prayed they would be very happy together.
“He’s much younger than the other men her mother was parading in front of her,” Aunt Maude said. “Good for her.”
I smiled at Aunt Maude, knowing that if the prince had not agreed to come to our wedding, she would not have been happy for Lily.
There were more crowds when we reached the church, perhaps five hundred people standing outside, and a great cheer erupted when we pulled up to the front doors.
The prince waved at them, his royal upbringing evident in the way he lazily lifted his arm in greeting.
I had not asked him what his mother or wife thought about his trip to America, or what they would say when they learned he had walked me down the aisle.
Those would be his troubles to bear, and I had a feeling he bore them often.
I, on the other hand, was not used to the crowds of people, and felt out of place as I waved back at them.
After the prince stepped out of the carriage, he helped Aunt Maude down and then it was my turn. I carried a bouquet of simple white roses, with white satin ribbons trailing from the stems. I held them in one hand as he took my other and helped me step down.
Aunt Maude assisted me with my train, allowing it to sweep behind me as I faced the large, granite church, with its impossibly tall steeple and beautiful stained-glass windows.
“I’ll go inside and get seated,” Aunt Maude said as she came around the front and placed a kiss on my cheek. “You look lovely.”
“Thank you.”
Ever since the night of the duke’s ball, things had shifted between us.
Any time she started to demand or dictate how things should be done, Alec or I had to remind her that she was no longer in control.
If Alec was going to run the business, and I was going to be his wife, he would become the head of the family. Not Aunt Maude.
She had slowly accepted her position, though she still pushed back from time to time. Thankfully, she’d been so busy with her social life since returning to New York, she’d had little time to try to manipulate or cajole us.
Mrs. Caroline Schermerhorn Astor had paid a call on Aunt Maude within days of our arrival home from England.
Word had quickly spread that the Prince of Wales would attend our wedding, and Mrs. Astor did not want to be left out.
She had accepted an invitation for a dinner party thrown in our honor at Aunt Maude’s home shortly thereafter and when it was time for the wedding invitations to go out, one had proudly arrived at Mrs. Astor’s home.
She was waiting inside with all the other wealthy and influential people Aunt Maude had invited.
Alec and I had also invited Uncle Charlie and Aunt Orla, hoping to mend hurt feelings, but they had sent their regrets, written in Uncle Charlie’s handwriting.
I suspected that it was Aunt Orla, and not Uncle Charlie, who had sold our story to Town Topics, but I held no ill will toward either of them.
They’d raised me as best as they could, even if there had been pain along the way.
What surprised me the most in Uncle Charlie’s letter was his note of thanks to Alec for sending them a monthly stipend. They had moved away from Mulberry Street and were living in a nicer home close to Fiona. Imogen and Patrick were attending school and only the adults were doing piecework.
I thought I couldn’t love Alec more until that moment.
As I prepared to enter the church, the invitation foremost in my mind was the one I'd sent to my mother. I very much doubted she would attend. But, perhaps, it was better that way.