Page 59 of The Lady's Forbidden Marquess
As he ended the kiss, lingering as he rested his forehead against hers, he gave a soft laugh.“I still can’t believe it.”
“I guess I’ll just need to spend the next fifty or so years proving it,” Pere whispered, reaching up and caressing the back of his neck with her hand, then murmured, “Kiss me one more time before Anna barges back in here and I have to be on my best behavior.”
There was no hesitation; Gabriel’s kiss silenced the words before they even ended, and it was only when Anna smacked the door frame with the embroidery hoop in her hand that he ended the kiss.
“I assume it’s settled, then?”Anna’s question filtered through the seductive haze that surrounded Pere.
“As much as it can be without a priest present.”
“I rather suspected you’d bring one,” Anna replied, a smile in her tone.
“Yes, why did you not?”Pere teased, stepping back to a less scandalous distance but still far closer than was proper as she studied the depth of his eyes, the delicious curve of his lips.
“Because I rather thought I’d tested your family’s patience enough for today.But…” He drew out the word and studied Pere, his eyes slightly hesitant.“I did run a rather important errand while your brothers spoke with your mother.”
“Oh?And what was that errand?”Pere asked, her fingers tracing up his chest to his already destroyed cravat.
“Yes, what was that errand, Lord Hawthorne?”Anna asked, sounding as though she already knew.
Pere glanced to her, curious, then turned her attention back to Gabriel, raising an eyebrow in query.
“A special license.”
And Pere decided in that moment that, even though she thought she loved someone with her whole heart, there was always a way to love them even more.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The next fewdays were a whirlwind of activity.Rather than see his bride to be, he was forced to settle a million details to make the final finishes possible for that event to take place.As he met with his solicitor, Henley, and then housekeeper to make all the necessary arrangements, he decided the business of it all was the only salvation to his sanity.So close, and yet so far.
Thankfully, Henley and Edwin had agreed to the shortened timeline of the wedding to allow the special license.Though Edwin had been initially concerned that talk would circulate, Henley had implied that it was a wiser choice to not tempt fate, or their sister, to extreme measures.
Gabriel chuckled as he remembered the resigned expression on Edwin’s face at Henley’s words.It was settled that the wedding would take place merely two days later, and at Hawthorne House, utilizing their small family chapel.That very chapel hadn’t been opened in quite some time, at least by himself, but he decided this was a rather delightful way of reopening it.
Odd, how so much of his adult life had been in the shadows, avoiding the light of honesty and truth.He’d even damn near boarded up his family chapel, forgetting its existence and now, everything had shifted.And its cause had a name, Lady Peregrine Rosewood, who was soon to be Lady Hawthorne.
His lady.
And he wanted everything perfect.
The wedding would be a small affair, intimate and unpretentious, made possible by the special license Gabriel had procured from the Archbishop of Canterbury.Such licenses were a rarity, reserved for those with influence or urgency, allowing a marriage to proceed after a mere three days’ notice rather than the customary reading of banns over three Sundays.More crucially, it permitted the ceremony to unfold in a private location like this chapel, unbound by the strictures of a parish church.Gabriel had moved heaven and earth to secure it, pulling strings through old acquaintances in the clergy, all to spare Peregrine the spectacle of a public event amid the whispers of scandal that still lingered from their unconventional courtship.
But just because the ceremony would be less ostentatious than one taking place at St.Georges, didn’t mean it would carry less weight or be remarkably more intimate, personal, and, dare he say, romantic?He never thought of himself as one for romance.Charm?Yes, but romance?That took too much effort, too much vulnerability, and yet all he wanted to do was romance his wife-to-be.
Inspired, he stood from his study and went in search of a maid, or the housekeeper herself.Halfway down the hall, he was greeted with a familiar face being led by his butler.
“Ah, Henley!”Gabriel greeted, giving his butler a dismissive nod.
“Hawthorne,” he replied and strode forward, offering his hand.
“What brings you here, not that I’m complaining.Honestly, in the past few months you’ve been at my house more often that I’d dare admit,” Hawthorne joked.
“Agreed, and I do not have a specific errand, more or less escaping.”Henley chuckled.
Hawthorne rocked on his heels and chuckled.“Brandy?”
“Bloody hell, yes,” Henley replied.
Hawthorne turned and led him back to his study and then started to pour two snifters of brandy.“So, what’s causing your exodus from your own house?”
