forward to describing it in more flowery language than I usually hear in Dr Hale’s practice.’ Mrs Hale laughed from her place on the sofa. It was the first time the three women had been together in months and her presence helped calm Jane. She’d been like a mother to her, helping her grow from a young girl to a woman and calming her on more than one occasion when Jane had been fuming over some slight or one of Philip’s decisions. In Mrs Hale’s smile and the delighted way she spun her cane as she held it in front of her, Jane could almost imagine her own mother here.
She would be here if it hadn’t been for me. Jane tried to smile while the other ladies continued to joke and tease, but her lips were as tight as her nerves.
‘If you have any questions after the deed, you know where to find me.’ Mrs Hale clapped with the same restrained exuberance she’d shown when Laura had made her a grandmother. Then she rose and came to stand beside her, fingering the fine embroidered lace cascading from the shoulders of the dress to brush the hem of the skirt. ‘I’m glad you’ll finally be able to attach a good memory to this bit of silk. You deserve to be happy.’
Her eyes misted with tears as she took Jane by the shoulders and turned her to face the mirror. Any reservations Jane might have had about the dress vanished as the thirteen-year-old girl who’d spent days in this room mourning the departure of her friend, and praying he might some day return, rose up inside her. He had come back to her. He was the first.
Philip rapped on the door and then entered. He wore his best morning suit, as handsome today as when he’d married Laura. He stopped at the sight of his sister, and his eyes shone with pride. ‘You’re lovely.’
He came forward and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. Tears blurred her vision, but she brushed them off with her gloved fingertips, not wanting to meet Jasper with red eyes. Philip was almost the only parent she’d ever known, and for all her wanting to have a home of her own, she was at last leaving his. Every argument they’d ever had and each disagreement meant nothing compared to the affection in his smile.
‘Thank you.’ For everything. He’d always been a loving brother, doing his best to raise her. She’d miss his steady presence, despite all of their butting heads.
‘Are you ready?’
The day she never thought would come was here at last. She would finally be a bride. It was time to go and claim her life with Jasper. ‘I am.’
* * *
Jasper stood at the altar, Reverend Claire beside him, his younger brother Giles serving as Jasper’s best man while Jacob sulked in the pew at not having been chosen. A few years ago it would have been Milton beside him, but he was the only Charton not in attendance. He and his wife had elected to stay away from the church, but at his father’s insistence he’d grudgingly agreed to bring his wife to the wedding breakfast at the Rathbones’.
Jasper’s three elder sisters and their husbands and children sat in the first few pews. While his numerous nieces and nephews whispered and giggled with the Rathbone children, his sisters and his mother sniffed into their handkerchiefs. A few months ago they’d been worried he’d die in Savannah. They were overjoyed to see him now on his wedding day.
He rubbed the back of his neck and the slight perspiration beneath his collar. They cared for him and he was deceiving them all. They’d despise him if they ever found out about the hell and shun him just as surely as they embraced him today. He’d have no one to blame but himself if they did. If the day ever came, he hoped they showed Jane as much tolerance as they’d extended to Milton. He couldn’t bear to have her cast out of her family for his mistakes.
‘You’re not nervous, are you?’ Giles ribbed, pulling Jasper out of his worries.
‘No.’ He exchanged a hearty smile with his younger brother. ‘Just eager.’
And he was. The day he’d left London with Jane’s willingness to wait for him still fresh in his mind, he’d believed every hope he’d ever harboured of being with his closest friend was finished. He’d make sure she never suffered because of him, or viewed him with the same disgust he’d come to see his uncle with. She would remain innocent where he’d been corrupted and he would do everything he could to make sure she never wanted for anything.
The organ struck up, drawing Jasper and the entire church’s attention to the back. Jane appeared at the top of the aisle, resplendent in an ivory-silk dress with a train of lace, walking with dignity beside her brother in time to the organ music. Her cobalt-coloured eyes fixed on his, so alight with joy it took his breath away. He’d thought luck had deserted him in Savannah, then he’d come home and met her again. She knew more about him than anyone in this church and still she was willing to bind her life to his. He didn’t deserve her admiration, but he’d find a way to be worthy of her.
At last, Jane reached him and, after a few words from the Reverend Claire, Philip offered Jasper his sister’s hand and her future. Jasper couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his lips and Jane answered it with a playful one of her own. It echoed with the memories of them laughing together at his eldest sister Olivia’s wedding. At the reception, they’d played the game of what if, taking turns imagining who their future partner would be. Secretly, he’d hoped it would be her. Today, it was. It wasn’t desperation that had guided her up the aisle to him, but a connection they’d shared for years, one which hadn’t been broken by time or distance or all his sins.
At Reverend Claire’s instruction, they faced him. While the Reverend spoke, Jasper was aware of nothing but Jane beside him, her fingers solid against his and her light perfume brushing his senses. She was as gorgeous, trusting and innocent as he was dark, experienced and dishonest, but if she believed in him then it was time to start believing in himself.
When Reverend Claire asked if there was anyone who objected to the marriage, Jasper didn’t flinch or peer over his shoulder to see if someone came forward. No one, not even his previous doubts, spoke up.
* * *
Reverend Claire drew out the silence as though he expected some objection, if not from the audience then from the groom. Jane studied Jasper out of the corner of her eye, wondering if he held any of the second thoughts he’d expressed to her the other day. But they were nowhere to be seen as he drew his lips to one side in a playful grin she matched.
Hearing no objections, Reverend Claire continued until it was time to exchange vows. With a seriousness to put her brother to shame, she faced Jasper, delighted to see him bring the same gravity to the solemn words. He’d already made one promise to her in private—to always honour her. Today, he’d make a few more for everyone to hear.
Then it was her turn. So many times Jane had been selfish in her wants, but it was no longer about her any more. Jasper needed her as much as she needed him, not only to build his business but to rebuild the part of himself Savannah and the fever had damaged. She raised her eyes to his, determined he see how seriously she took her vows to him, too. He gently caressed one of her fingers with his as if hearing her silent promise.
Then Reverend Claire called for the rings. Giles handed Jasper a small box and Jane shifted on her feet, eager to see what he’d selected for her. She gasped when he opened it to reveal a diamond larger than the one in his cravat pin set in a thick gold band. He slipped it out of its case and on to her finger, the weight of it making her eye him with a sly smile.
He cocked a self-satisfied eyebrow at her and from the corner of her eyes she noticed all the women in the pews shifting to get a better look. She tried not to smile too wide in delight. Vanity was a sin, but she didn’t care. She was wearing the biggest diamond in the church.
