by Lori Wick
**I just don’t think I could,” Sunny answered helplessly. Until Chelsea and Holly had explained weddings to her some weeks ago, Sunny had never realized the pomp involved in an English ceremony. She was only to be a guest at the wedding, but even at that, the entire ritual had sounded a bit intimidating.
“You’ve told me there will be hundreds of people at that wedding. You and I were going to sit together and be together at the reception. I can’t walk up the aisle of a vast cathedral by myself.”
The duke had opted to retire to his room for a spell, but both Andrea and Dexter had entered the parlor in time to hear Sunny’s last words.
Holly caught Jordan’s eye just then and backed off entirely, allowing Dexter to approach Sunny. He stopped before her and smiled kindly into her eyes.
“Did Holly explain the situation to you?”
“She said one of the bridesmaids has eloped.** Sunny did not go on to say that Holly had needed to define the word “elope.**
“That’s right, and the first person Judith asked to replace her was you. Now,** he went on sounding so much like Brandon that
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Sunny wanted to cry, **I won’t force you to accept, but you’ll sec! more of Judith. You’ll also get to visit with Cheryl, who is coming with John and the baby just to be in the wedding.”
“But I would have seen them anyway,” Sunny reasoned softly. True,” Dexter conceded. “But you’ll see more of them if you’re in the wedding party. And don’t forget, Brandon will have returned, and as best man, he’ll be a member of the wedding party as well.”
Dexter could see she was vacillating and added, in a coaxing voice, what he thought would be the final push.
“You’ll get to come to London and be fitted for a new dress.” “Oh, Uncle Dexter!” came Holly’s distressed cry, having also seen that Sunny was coming around. “That’s the last thing you should have said to her.”
Dexter, after staring in surprise at his niece, turned to take in Sunny’s chagrined face. He couldn’t help but laugh. “And here I thought that would be the frosting on the cake,” he spoke between chuckles.
Everyone laughed then, including Sunny. They talked for just ten minutes more, and hardly believing it was the sound of her own voice, Sunny impetuously heard herself agree.
“So how was London this trip?”
Sunny’s nose wrinkled in distaste, and Jordan laughed.
“I can’t think why anyone would choose to live there,” she commented softly as her horse stepped lightly along the path.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Jordan countered as his own mount fell easily into line. “I rather like the noise and excitement.”
“How do you feel about the smells?”
Jordan chuckled again. “It can be pretty bad in midsummer.”
**It was bad in late summer,” Sunny’s voice was wry, thinking of the open sewers and the streets filled with filth and decay.
A month had passed since Dexter had found Sunny at Bracken and asked her to be in the wedding party. She had left the following day with Dexter and gone to London for a first fitting; Holly had gone along to keep her company. Then just a week ago she had returned for the final dress fitting, staying with Heather and Foster both times. Now the wedding was just three weeks away, scheduled for Saturday afternoon, September 13,1845.
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“Will you be at the wedding, Jordan?” Sunny suddenly wanted to know.
“Yes, ma’am,” Jordan told her with friendly ease. “Will you save me a dance?”
“A dance?” Sunny spoke in surprise. “Will there be dancing?”
“Certainly,” Jordan replied with some surprise. “At the reception.”
Sunny looked horrified. Such a thought had never occurred to her. She didn’t know how to dance and wasn’t sure she wanted to learn. She worried about it all the way back to Willows’ End. As soon as she and Jordan joined Chelsea and Holly for tea, Chelsea wanted to know what was bothering her.
“The dancing that’s planned for the reception.”
“Ah,” Chelsea said, her tone understanding. “I don’t think you need to worry on that end.”
“Why is that?” Jordan wanted to know.
Chelsea grinned at him, feeling a bit sorry for what she had to say, but knowing he would take it well.
“You’ve forgotten Sunny’s age, Jordan. Neither she nor Holly will be attending dances before they’re 17.”
Jordan was silent. He had forgotten that he was four years older than Sunny. His disappointment was acute, but in order not to make Sunny feel worse, he kept this to himself. Doing so was made all the more difficult when he noticed that Sunny looked relieved.
“We can make an appearance, though; isn’t that right, Mummy?” Holly put in.
“Yes, just long enough to sec the bride and groom and have a bite to eat. Then you’re back to Heather’s without a fuss.”
“Who’s putting up a fuss?” Miles wanted to know as he strode jauntily into the room.
“We’re discussing the feet that the girls are too young to attend the wedding dance.”
“That’s right,” Miles spoke as he tugged first on his sister’s hair and then Sunny’s. “You’re both just babies.”
This brought cries of outrage from both parties, but Miles refused to take the words back.
“You’d best not cross us, Miles,” Sunny told him with a piqued glint in her eye, “or you might find yourself having to avoid all the evergreen bushes in the very near future.”
Miles’s hands immediately went into the air in a gesture of surrender. “I yield; I yield,” he cried. “You’re both very mature, and I’ll
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call out any man who says otherwise.”
Sunny’s look was downright arrogant with this win, and the room exploded with merriment.
Q/nMi/~Q/m
An hour before the wedding, Sunny’s look was not so fun-filled. She could have cheerfully strangled herself for agreeing to be a part of this. Not even when she had met her family had she experienced such an awful attack of nerves. The other females in the wedding party, all a good deal older than herself, were having a wonderful time, laughing and talking like old friends.
Staring down at the courtyard below, Sunny stood alone at the window in a cavernous room at the rear of the church. There had been quite a commotion when the bride had come in some moments ago, and Sunny had turned from the window to smile at her. Judith, a vision in loveliness, was now in another, smaller room where she would stay until it was time to make that long walk down the aisle.
Another commotion started in the room, but this time Sunny did not turn. She knew it was not yet time to leave, and for the moment she just wanted to be left alone.
“Holding up?”
Sunny turned in surprise at the sound of Dexter’s voice.
“What are you doing in here?”
“A little bird told me you were white with strain, so I thought I’d pop in and check on you.”
Sunny managed a small smile and then asked the question she had been afraid to voice all day. “Did Brandon make it back?”
Dexter smiled, knowing he was about to relieve some of her anxiety. “Last night. I know he’s eager to see you, but there just isn’t time before the ceremony. They’re sewing him into his pants right now.”
It was the perfect thing to say. Sunny let out a small chuckle, and some of the color returned to her face in a rush. Dexter kissed her suddenly flushed cheek and took himself off. Sunny’s jitters did not return until she was starting up the aisle.
sunny’s peripheral vision told her that Brandon was across the church from her, right to the side of Dexter, but she was afraid to look at anyone save the clergyman, lest she miss her cue to go back up the aisle and make a fool of herself. She had refused to look to the left or right as she came down the aisle and did not even look into the face of the groomsman who met her halfway to the altar.
The vastness of the cathedral caught Sunny’s att
ention for just an instant. Her eyes moved covertly over the walls that were covered with paintings and seemed to stretch for dozens of feet above her. She was studying the way the sun poured though a huge round stained-glass window above the bishop’s head, when she suddenly remembered why she was there. With a jolt of fear that she might have missed something, she brought her eyes back to the service.
It was nearly over now, and although Sunny had heard some of it, she was vaguely aware of the feet that she had missed the wedding. No one watching her would have guessed the turmoil going on within as she stoically stood in a dress of pale blue silk, full in the skirt and fitted across the bodice. The sleeves were sheer and puffed at the shoulder. Gold and dark-blue braid lined the seams and bodice and trimmed the edge of the rounded neckline.
Sunny was as lovely to behold as the bride, but in truth, she was feeling something near to pain over having Brandon so dose but not being able to talk with him. At the moment it felt as though he had been gone forever.
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In the next minutes the ceremony ended, and Sunny, acting almost without thought, moved back up among the crowd on the arm of her groomsman. They were met at the back of the church by the crowd of guests that had not been able to fit into the cathedral. Sunny suddenly found herself separated from her companion and nearly lost in the crowd. The duke, Brandon, and Dexter, all so tall, swam into view from time to time, but the people pressing in around her were all so unfamiliar that Sunny knew a moment of panic.
She had been jostled from behind for the fourth time by the same rotund man when she felt a hand on her arm. Her first instinct was to pull away, but the sound of her brother’s voice came to her ears.
Sunny allowed herself to be led away from the crush, out of the cathedral, and into a waiting carriage. Stuffed gently inside by Rand, she found both Miles and Jordan already occupying the coach. They each wanted to tell her how attractive she looked and how well she had done, but one look at her face silenced them. Sunny only glanced at them before turning her gaze toward the window. The carriage lurched into motion but moved only a few yards before stopping. This time Rand helped Chelsea and Holly in and climbed in beside them.
The ladies* skirts made the ride a bit cramped, but Holly was in such high spirits that no one really noticed. Her happy chatter worked its charm and effectively pulled Sunny from her pensive mood.
“Wasn’t Aunt Judith a dream in that dress? Even her veil was heavenly. And Uncle Dex! He looked like a man who’d just been handed the moon when he kissed her.”
Unmindful of the heat or cramped carriage, Holly chattered on for the entire ride to the banquet hall. Finding Sunny’s eyes on her ‘ she grinned at the younger girl, and with a straight race, suddenly complimented her on how she’d made the walk up the aisle without tripping. Not able to help herself, Sunny laughed and the rest of the carriage joined in.
**I want to thank you girls for how well you’re taking this,” Chelsea told them as they moved up the huge stairway that led out of the banquet hall. Both girls were subdued and feeling a bit lonely
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over having to leave, but Chelsea was right; they were taking it very well. There were no complaints or pouting looks.
They were, however, trying to gain a last glimpse of the festivities below, so they missed the fact that Chelsea was not taking them to the cloak room. She turned this way and that along endless corridors and finally up another flight of stairs. The girls, speaking softly about their new aunt and sister-in-law, never noticed.
Chelsea opened a door and ushered the girls inside. Until she shut the door and the girls found themselves in semidarkness, they were still talking quietly. Chelsea said nothing, but waited for them to speak.
“Mum,” Holly finally whispered. “Where are we?”
Both girls were looking at a huge empty floor, walled on three sides, but sporting a low, open railing on the fourth. From beyond that railing came the lights and music from the dance floor below.
“This is the balcony dance floor, and it won’t be used tonight. You mustn’t make a disturbance while you’re up here. Talk in whispers. You may watch the dancing until 10:30.”
Chelsea suddenly found herself thronged by soft young arms and fervently whispered thank-yous.
“You’ll crush my dress,” she admonished them, but there was a smile on her face. She stayed until both girls crept to the railing and knelt down to peek through the balustrade. She stood for a moment, looking at them in contentment. Just as she turned away, Sunny dropped to her stomach, kicked her wedding slippers off, and propped her chin on both hands to better see the floor below.
Chelsea walked away with a good-natured shake of her head. Both girls had been the picture of maturity during the reception, and now they lay on the floor like children, peeking out with envy on the adults below.
*
**I love Judith’s dress,” Holly breathed reverently.
“It looks heavy,” Sunny stated logically.
Holly suppressed a giggle. “Leave it to you to think of that.”
Sunny nodded and smiled in agreement. She leaned her head a little further through the rails. The scene below was like something out of a storybook. The well-wishers had been to supper and now the
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dance was in fall swing. The orchestra had just finished with a minuet and had now struck up a waltz. Nearly hypnotized, the girls watched the women’s skirts swirl and the gentlemen’s courdy bows. It was all so lovely that Sunny found herself quite contenttowatch all night. “I’ve got to go,” Holly suddenly said.
“Is it 10:30 already?** Sunny’s voice bespoke her disappointment. “No, I’m going to the retiring room. Do you need to come?” “No, I’ll wait here,” Sunny answered, so relieved that it wasn’t yet time to go that she barely heard the rustle of Holly’s skirts as she rose from her knees and quietly left.
Sunny was intent on Miles and his progress around the floor with the bride when the door to the upper dance floor opened. It was closed softly, and Sunny was just about to tell Holly to hurry or she’d miss Miles, but the person at the door spoke first.
“I’ve heard nothing save how grown-up youVe become since I left, and here I find you with your shoes kicked off, and sprawled on the floor like a ragamuffin,**
Sunny’s eyes slid shut at the sound of that tender voice. She had begun to think she would never hear it again. With movements as smooth as a well-oiled wheel, Sunny rose. Her dress was horribly crushed, but Brandon took little notice and Sunny simply didn’t care. To belter see her face in the light, he joined her at the railing and found her upturned face smiling with the delight of a child. “Hello, Sunny,” Brandon said, a grin splitting his own features. “Oh, Brandon” was all Sunny could manage before she threw her arms around his neck. They hugged for many moments, neither one able to speak.
WI missed you,” Sunny finally said.
“And I missed you,” Brandon added as he released her. “But I thought of you the whole time I was gone and prayed for you every day. I even brought you something.”
Sunny watched as Brandon drew a thin gold bracelet from the pocket of his coat. He handed it to Sunny, knowing its full beauty would be hidden in the dim light.
“It’s from the emir,” he whispered. “He said to add it to the other treasures in your jewel box.”
Sunny, who had been tenderly cradling the gift in the palm of her hand, froze. She slowly raised her face to Brandon, whose dark eyes had been watching her intently.
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“You’ve been back to Darhabar?”
“Yes,” he admitted softly. “I have never been comfortable with the way Ahmad Khan sent you away, and I wanted to confront him over it.”
“Were you welcome?”
“Most welcome. He was quite interested to know how you were, and as I said, I was most determined to know why you were sent away so abruptly.”
“What did you find out?”
“Very little. He said much the same
as he had in his letter to you-that his love for you was great enough to give you back to your family. We spoke for the better part of an hour before I realized that if there was another reason or motive, the emir was not going to reveal it to me. I was given little choice but to take his words at face value. At least I tried, and I guess I really do believe that his actions, however abrupt, were out of love.**
Sunny was silent for a moment.
“Have I upset you, Sunny?”
“No, I’m just surprised. I mean, you never told me what you’d planned to do, and I never-**
“If you’d known,” Brandon interrupted, “and I’d been refused entrance to the palace, you would have waited all this time only to be met with disappointment. As it was, Darhabar was a dosed book to you, and that left you free to settle here where you belong.”
He paused and searched her face again. “And you have settled, haven’t you, Sunny?”
Sunny’s smile was thoughtful. “I think so. I still hate wearing shoes and what feels like 15 petticoats, but I’m getting there.” Her smile turned very wry, and Brandon chuckled.
“I bought a horse,” Sunny said, her mood changing swiftly. “I wrote you all about her, but of course I never mailed the letter.” In the next minutes she told him all about London Lady, her face alight with excitement.
Holly joined them shortly thereafter, and Brandon gave her a warm hug and a big kiss. They talked for a few moments, and then Brandon informed them that as best man, he must return to the dance.
“Of course you must,” Holly teased with a saucy smile, as she took in her uncle’s splendid form in a black suit and snow white shirt and cravat. “I’m sure many a female heart was broken at your departure.**
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Brandon reached with a long finger and touched her cheek, his smile as teasing as her own. “You’re an impertinent bit of baggage, Holly.”
“When do you return to Willows* End?” Brandon, after earning a dimpled smile from Holly, had suddenly turned back to Sunny.
The younger girl shrugged. “I’m not sure. Are you leaving soon?** These last words were asked hesitantly.
