Dare. Just dare.
Lady Ida’s Tips for the Adventurous Lady Traveler
The sky, Ida was pleased to see, was relatively bare of clouds. No chance of precipitation on this most auspicious of days.
Although it was a rainstorm that had precipitated so many things, so she couldn’t complain about the weather no matter what happened.
“Are you ready?” Della asked, touching Ida’s cheek. Pearl stood behind, fussing with the ribbons at the back of Ida’s gown.
“I am.”
“Come look,” Pearl said, taking Ida by the hand and leading her to where the mirror stood.
“You look beautiful,” Eleanor said in a quiet voice.
They were at Eleanor’s house, upstairs in one of the guest bedrooms. Olivia was still in the country with Mr. Beechcroft, but she had hopes that her father-in-law would feel well enough to travel soon.
Della and Mrs. Wattings were making plans to set up their own household, even though Eleanor begged them to consider staying for longer.
The duchess had refused to acknowledge Della’s return, although Ida knew it must be tearing her apart, since she was equally desperate to see her daughters married, and the least marriageable one was about to fulfill her mother’s most fervent wish, and the duchess would want to be there to boast her triumph at finally having a Howlett marry the elusive Lord Carson.
Ida stared back at her reflection, startled to see how she looked. Not because she didn’t know how she appeared, obviously, but because—
“Is that a happy expression on my face?” she asked in an incredulous voice.
Della and Pearl both burst out laughing, although Pearl, at least, had the grace to look embarrassed at the outburst. Eleanor just rolled her eyes.
Ida was all set to glare at her sisters, but then Della made a funny noise as she laughed so it was impossible for Ida not to join her. And then they were all laughing, holding their stomachs as they shared glances brimming with amusement.
“I am happy,” Ida said after the laughter had died down. “I never would have thought it, that I would be the Howlett sister to finally snare the elusive Lord Carson.”
“The way he looks at you, sister, it would be a scandal if you weren’t to be married,” Della replied in a sly tone.
Ida felt herself blush. Something else she’d rarely done before.
Apparently being happy and blushing were things she could look forward to from now on.
“And you didn’t have to wear white,” Pearl said, nodding toward Ida’s gown.
It was not white. Not in the slightest. It was a rich, glorious purple, the purple of grapes and crocuses and amethysts. Except for the ribbons that wrapped around Ida’s waist and tied at the back, it was bare of ornament, and cut low enough that Ida had to resist the urge to tug the gown up.
Pearl had pulled Ida’s hair into an equally simple chignon, wrapping a length of the matching ribbon around her head. She’d also found purple gloves that were a lighter hue.
“Lord Carson likes me in rich colors,” Ida said in satisfaction. Actually, she knew he liked her best in no clothing at all, but she couldn’t very well get married naked.
“Let’s go. We don’t want to be late,” Della said, glancing at the clock in the corner.
“Thank you for bringing Della back to us,” Eleanor said. “Thank you for standing up for all of us, for sharing your knowledge and wisdom.” She sounded sincere, and Ida felt her heart swell.
They did appreciate her. They did understand her, to a point, but what was most important was that they loved her.
“There she is,” Alexander murmured, even though his words were unnecessary—Bennett hadn’t stopped looking for her since he’d arrived at the church half an hour ago.
He and his brother were standing at the front, watching as she walked down the aisle accompanied by all of her sisters.
There weren’t many people in attendance. Not because so many refused to come, but because neither Ida nor Bennett particularly wanted a large crowd for their wedding. When Bennett had asked Ida if she was certain, she’d given him that “are you actually questioning me” look, and he’d laughed.
The only person besides Alexander that Bennett wanted there had managed to make it, and he glanced over to where his mother sat, frail but smiling, under Nurse Cooper’s watchful eye.
He had told his father, but he hadn’t expected the marquis to make an appearance, and he hadn’t. He was still sulking from Bennett’s refusal to sacrifice himself, and had taken off to the country, apparently bringing his second family with him.
Bennett had made certain that his father had enough to live on, but not so much it would threaten the family’s livelihood.
Ida walked toward him, her head held as proudly as when he had first met her, when she’d shared her dreams of escape and what it meant to be a female in their world. She was so beautiful it made him hurt, but that hurt was assuaged because she was going to be his. She was his.
And he was hers, because he knew she would insist in theirs being an equal partnership.
“My hedgehog,” he said in a low voice as she stepped beside him.
She opened her mouth as though to protest—in her very hedgehog-like way—then must have changed her mind, because instead she smiled, that true, wonderful, glorious smile that had knocked him flat when he’d first seen it.
“Stop trying to distract me,” she said in a mock outraged tone. “We’re here to get married, not have you bestow epithets.”
Bennett bowed. “Of course. I do not want to delay a moment more than I have to for you to be my bride.”
“And you my husband,” she retorted.
“Do you—” the clergyman interrupted, stumbling a bit on the change of wording. “Do you, Bennett, dare to take this woman Ida to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in heath, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself solely unto her for as long as you both shall live?”
“I dare.” Bennett felt the truth of his words in his entire body.
The clergyman turned to Ida, who grinned as she waited for him to repeat the same words.
“I dare,” she said in a voice loud enough to be heard at the back of the church.