Page 95 of The Language of Love

Chapter 16

By the morning of the wedding, Henry wished that he’d grabbed Annis and run for the border.

He’d believed that the social whirl would be as draining as it had been before, when he’d been mere Colin Parker.

He could not have been more mistaken. It had been twice as exhausting as a peer.

Now that he was an earl—and the current favorite of the Regent, a man who almost made Colin appear wise by comparison—the hordes had descended on him the same way they’d descended on Colin. Except Henry, unlike his employee, didn’t have himself to keep all the hangers-on at bay.

He’d hoped that having Annis beside him would have eased the irritation of socializing.

Again, he’d been wrong.

Although he’d attended social engagements with Annis every single day and night, they’d had no time alone—not even five minutes.

Part of that was because Lady Sedgwick accompanied them everywhere.

But even at the dozens of balls and other functions, there was only one dance per night, no more. And he wasn’t allowed to monopolize her company when they weren’t dancing.

“You have barely a week to be seen,” Lady Sedgwick reminded him when he’d complained about the fact that they went to two or three social occasions every day.

“Annis needs this week, and you owe it to her to do everything you can to establish her place in society.”

Henry hadn’t argued because he’d agreed with the countess.

As a result, the days before the wedding were so hectic and draining that Henry hadn’t had a moment’s peace.

But the hectic pace was almost behind him now.

The rector's voice echoed through the cold, cavernous nave, pulling Henry back to the present.

“If any man can show just cause why they may not lawfully joined together, let him now speak.”

For a tense moment, he wondered if somebody—he didn’t know who—might leap out of the shadows and stop the ceremony.

Naturally, that didn’t happen.

As Henry stood in the church before a small collection of guests—mostly hers—and looked down into Annis’s face, he could not be sorry for his choice of bride. Even if she did not love him, she would be an amusing companion and life with her would never be boring.

Now that she’d been kitted out properly, she no longer looked like a wild pixie or fairy, but like a surpassingly lovely young woman, dainty and ethereal. Her corn silk hair—her glorious crowning glory—had been styled in a way that no longer overwhelmed her small face but heightened her delicate beauty. Her sky-blue eyes looked larger than ever, and her complexion was as velvety as a white rose. The only hint of color in her cheeks was that reflected from the rosy-pink silk of her wedding gown.

She looked beautiful.

She also looked terrified.

Henry would have believed she was terrified of what was happening right then—their marriage ceremony—if he had not seen a similar expression on her face often during the past eight days; something was worrying her.

He wished she’d share her burdens with him, but they’d started off this marriage wrong-footed, and life had been too chaotic to come to a meeting of the minds over the last week.

Once they were married and could get away from London and its superficial distractions, he would assure her he was prepared to do everything in his power to make a success of the marriage.

"—so long as ye both shall live?”

The words shook Henry from his reverie.

Annis met his gaze directly. “I will.”

The vicar turned to Henry.