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The great stone church at Albany was filled to overflowing on this afternoon in late September. Friends and neighbors, colleagues and family, and not a few grieving young women, hankies in hand, had turned out in force to witness the nuptials of Albany's most eligible bachelor and the young lady who had captured his heart. Yet, at that very moment, the bridegroom was busily wearing the nap off the Turkey carpet in Jonathan Akers's parlor.
He paced to the hearth, to the window, and back again, much to the amusement of Lysander, Christian, and Payne Youngblood. "What the devil could be taking so long in there?" Draegan demanded. He dragged out his timepiece, checking it against the mantel clock, then snapped it closed again. "We're to begin in five minutes, and there's still no word from Ardis when Fallon will be coming down."
Lysander and Christian exchanged wry looks; Payne laughed outright.
Draegan's irritated glance swept over the trio. "This isn't the least bit funny," he said. "Have you given a thought to the fact that she's been closeted with Mother for most of the afternoon? You know, as well as I, Mother's views on men and marriage! Why, there's no telling what nonsense she's put into Fallon's head."
"Draegan's right, lads. You know how Mother is when she gets her back up, and with her and Dad sharing the same house for two weeks running—" Lysander broke off and shook his dark head, while Payne took up the tune.
"I heard her say just this morning that she'd had enough of Dad's 'outlandishly old-fashioned male arrogance' and couldn't wait to get back to Gran's in New London. Draeg'll be lucky if she doesn't pack Fallon up and take her along."
Draegan turned to Christian, a look of dawning horror on his face. "You don't suppose she's changed her mind?"
"Don't let them upset you, Draegan," Christian said, putting a comforting arm around his older brother's shoulders while giving a broad wink to the others behind his back. "You know how disloyal they are. If you show first blood, it'll only get worse."
"You always were Mother's favorite," Draegan said to Christian. "Would you go up and see what's happened? Perhaps you could manage a word with Fallon on my behalf. Tell her I'm dying out here—no! Oh, God, don't tell her that!"
Christian clapped Draegan's shoulder. "Trust me, big brother; I know what to tell her. And if it'll put your mind at ease, I'll be more than happy to brave Mother's wrath."
Draegan nodded. "Aye, it will help, greatly. Thanks, Chris."
Christian left Draegan to the doubtful company of Lysander and Payne and made his way up the stairs to the bedchamber where Elloise Youngblood, their sister Ardis, Aunt Lydia Akers, and the bride-to-be had been closeted for the past hour and a half. When at last he reached the bedchamber, he tapped lightly for entrance.
Inside the chamber, Fallon glanced at her mother-in-law-to-be, who gave her new daughter's hand a reassuring pat. "Don't worry, dear. I'll see to it. You shouldn't be rushed on your wedding day."
Fallon bit her lip and said nothing. Like her second son, Elloise Youngblood was a strong-willed woman, and it was easy to see why she and Draegan ofttimes did not get along.
Thinking of Draegan caused Fallon's stomach to flutter nervously. She'd seen so little of him in the two months since they arrived in Albany, and always in the presence of company.
Jonathan Akers and his wife, Lydia, had graciously opened their hearts and home to her upon her arrival. They had shielded her from the unwelcome details of Randall Quill's trial in early July—in which Draegan had played a significant part—and subsequent hanging, and they had proven vigilant chaperons in those rare moments when Draegan found time away from his duties and came to call.
Fallon had quietly chafed under the new restrictions. Being aware that Draegan's uncle and aunt were acting in her best interests did not make their constant attentions any easier to bear. And then there was Elloise, who, upon receiving the news that her errant son was soon to be wed, had come straightaway to Albany with Draegan's brother Christian and sister Ardis, bringing a trunk full of cream-colored satin and old ivory lace.
Upon her arrival one month before, the preparations had begun in earnest. Endless fittings with dressmakers had ensued, as well as strident family discussions in which Draegan and Fallon had had little say. From the moment the sable-haired termagant had set her small slippered foot in her brother's parlor Fallon hadn't known a moment's peace.
Near the end of August, Draegan's brothers Lysander and Payne had arrived from the Mohawk Valley, bearing the news that Claire, the eldest Youngblood daughter, was in childbed in New London; Anna, younger than Claire by just a year and Clayton's twin, was with her. Edmund Youngblood, a fine-looking fair-haired man in his middle fifties who sat on the New York State Assembly and who had fathered this riotous brood, was also often around.
It made for a lively atmosphere, filled with distractions. Sixteen-year-old Ardis charmed Fallon with her incessant talk, his brothers took turns trying to steal her away from Draegan, Edmund expounded on the war, and Jon and Lydia looked on with indulgent smiles as Elloise took charge of them all.
There had been barely a moment for her to think in the midst of this constant tumult, and there had been no time at all to steep herself in self-pity, to dwell on the ugliness of her ordeal just past, for which she was endlessly grateful.
The Youngbloods had made her adjustment a little easier, filling the empty hours when duty called Draegan away, but now, at last, she was happy to be moving on.
Elloise opened the door a crack. "Yes, what is it?"
"It's Chris, Mother. Open the door."
"Has your brother sent you here? For if he has, then you may tell him that patience is a virtue, and crucial to a new marriage. Indeed, tell him to ponder it at length, and Fallon will be down in a little while."
"Don't you think he has suffered enough?" Christian's voice came clearly through the crack. "This isn't fair, and if you don't desist, I shall be forced to betray you to Father."
Elloise's fine dark brows drew down. "You wouldn't dare."
"I won't if you listen to reason and cease this interfering. Draegan is fairly wild with nerves. I've never seen him this way."
"I am not interfering," Elloise said. "I'm trying to help. It won't hurt him to wait a few more minutes. Indeed it may lend him a greater appreciation for Fallon, and prevent him from neglecting their marriage in the same callous fashion in which your father has neglected ours!"
"If Draegan discovers that you are purposely withholding his bride, he'll come up here and throttle you."
Elloise would have retorted, had Fallon not chosen that moment to enter the fray. "Chris," she said. "Tell Draegan that I love him endlessly, and to go to the sanctuary and wait there for me. I shall be down directly."
Christian flashed her a grateful smile through the crack and was instantly gone.
Fallon turned back to the looking glass into which she'd been anxiously peering before the battle lines had formed, assuring herself that every ribbon, each scrap of lace, was precisely in place.
The gown was exquisite, the stuff of dreams. Shimmering satin clung to the curve of her shoulders and plunged in a wide V in front, exposing a daring amount of creamy flesh. The sleeves were tight-fitting, as was the bodice, and adorned with a generous fall of Mechlin lace at the elbow. The full skirt held out with the aid of side panniers, trailed behind.
When Fallon turned from the glass, the three women—the hub of her new family—were waiting together. She hugged each in turn. "Lydia," she said, "thank you for everything." She moved on, kissing Ardis's blushing cheek. "Ardis, what a dear you are. I always wanted a sister. And now I have three!"
Which brought her to Elloise, who dabbed at her pale green eyes with a crisp linen handkerchief. "I know that he's very dear to you," Fallon said softly, "and I vow I will do my absolute best to keep him from further mischief."
"Dear Fallon," Elloise said, smiling. "You are precisely what he has always needed, and I can only wish you both the happiness Edmund and I shared, the twelve times that we were together." She gave Fallon a warm embrace and then released her. "My dear, welcome to the family."
Fallon turned and swept from the room. Edmund was waiting at the foot of the stairs. He offered his arm, and she took it; then, together, they walked to the chapel, where friends near and dear patiently waited.
Vrouw Schoonmaker beamed from the second-to-last pew; Killian, holding his cold pipe in his hand, smiled beside her. In the same pew were Greetje Krieger, little Alida... and Jan, whom Draegan, after a great deal of negotiating had managed to bring home from Niagara. In the next pew sat Willie and Thomas, quietly married a second time, in June, by Pastor Jon Akers, this time legally and with Zepporah's blessing. Willie's eyes were shining, and Zepporah, who sat on Thomas's left, openly wept.
They were all there, friends and loved ones who had touched her life, all but one. Fallon couldn't help but think in that moment that wherever he was, Lucien was looking on too, and perhaps, just perhaps, because she had made the only choice she could have made, he understood.
"Are you ready, my dear?" Edmund asked.
They were almost there. A few feet away, Draegan stood waiting, handsome in the blue and scarlet of his uniform coat and his snow-white breeches, his dark face filled with love and longing.
Fallon nodded, beyond speech. Edmund kissed her cheek and stepped back, taking his seat by Elloise's side.
The church grew silent.
Those gathered bowed their heads in prayer as Jon Akers asked God's blessing on their union, but Fallon knew that God had smiled upon them from the first.
Their love had surpassed a trial by fire and had risen from the ashes. Their happy ending had been predestined. Her dark angel, without a doubt a gift from God, was hers to love throughout eternity.