Angelica squirmed in impatience. “Mother, please stop fidgeting with my dress. The guests are all here, and if I do not make my appearance on the aisle soon, the duke will think I abandoned him.”
Margaret paused for a moment before returning to her frantic ministrations. “Just let me adjust your veil.”
Angelica bit back a curse. “Honestly, I do not see why I have to wear this silly thing. The confounded fabric itches and I cannot see through it very well.”
“This veil is the latest in Paris fashion and my daughter shall have nothing less.” Her mother was implacable.
“We are not in Paris,” Angelica grumbled under her breath as her mother poked and pulled at her further before handing her a bouquet of white roses and orange blossoms.
“There you are, a perfect duchess.” Her mother’s eyes misted. “This day is even better than I had dreamed! I am so proud of you.”
Her father entered the room and gently closed the door behind him. “It is time for me to escort the bride down the aisle.” His voice was almost comically hushed in respect for their solemn surroundings.
“We are just about finished here,” her mother said with a wistful smile. “She looks lovely, does she not?”
Her father gazed down at Angelica, love shining in his eyes. “You are the most beautiful bride I have ever beheld, my dearest… aside from your mother, of course,” he added, and Margaret made a small pleased sound.
“Thank you, Papa.” Angelica beamed and wiped a tear from her cheek, as she looked at her happy parents. “I will miss you both.”
She felt a lump form in her throat at their obvious happiness. As she took her father’s arm and prepared to march down the aisle, Margaret called, “Do not forget what I told you about tonight.”
How could I? Angelica thought as her mother’s lecture about the wedding night and the marriage bed flitted through her mind.
“There will be incredible pain the first time, darling,” Margaret had said. “And you might bleed. But you must submit to him without complaint until you are pregnant with his heir. After that, he should leave you alone for the most part and fulfill his baser desires on a mistress.”
Angelica did not wish to be subjected to something that would make her bleed, but she had a feeling some of those “baser desires” involved kissing. The thought of Ian’s lips on another woman’s made her want to scream. Thank God he said he is unable to give me children. That means I will not have to go through such unpleasantness! Also, in that case, he should have no need for a mistress!
Angelica walked down the aisle on her father’s arm, trying to look proud and confident. The smell of candle wax, incense, flowers, and over-perfumed bodies created a cloying miasma, making breathing extremely difficult. Or perhaps just her nervousness was overwhelming. Everyone stared at her, and their whispers shook the rafters.
She took comfort in the sight of her grandfather, the Earl of Pendlebur, smiling his approval on her and her father. The two men had actually been civil to each other today, and she had reason to hope that the earl would at long last accept his son-in-law. She tamped down the anger at her grandfather for his cruel threats. Today was not meant for unpleasant feelings, and she would do her best to at least be polite to him.
There were a few unfamiliar faces about and she wondered if some of Ian’s fellow vampires had come for the ceremony. The thought of vampires in church made her stifle a giggle. She longed to tell that Polidori fellow about it if she ever had the opportunity to meet him. Angelica took a deep breath and focused on putting one foot in front of the other and doing her best not to crush the bouquet of flowers in her nervous grip.
Her eyes locked on Ian, who stood at the altar waiting with a smile. He looked so dark and handsome that her knees almost buckled under her skirts. When her father placed her hand in Ian’s, an electrical current seemed to spring between them. Only a flicker in his eyes revealed that he felt it too.
The parson’s words droned on, just barely within her consciousness. I am doing it. I am actually marrying a vampire! She wondered if he would change her into one as well. Too late, she realized that she’d never broached the subject, for she’d been too concerned with avoiding marriage. The thought of drinking blood gave her pause, but the thought of living forever, especially with a man like Ian by her side, would make it all worthwhile. And when he vowed to honor and cherish her, she felt a thrill of warmth down to her toes. She smiled up at him and said her vows, though she stumbled a bit on the word “obey.”
He slipped a wide gold band over her finger. “With this ring, I thee wed, with my body I thee honor, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow.”
Her heart thrilled at the warmth in his voice.