Chapter 40

Chapter Forty

TWO MONTHS LATER

“ Y ou are ready?”

Her brother’s voice behind her had Madeleine turning. She stood in the sunroom, where glass doors led out into the garden.

“I am. At least I think.”

John smiled secretively. “Your husband has arranged quite a beautiful event. It matches you, sister.”

“I imagine Colin has taken this time to give Alexander a good talking to,” Madeleine laughed.

She wore the dress Alexander had chosen with her—a blue sapphire gown—and she had an idea of what awaited her out there but to know it was a proper surprise made her feel giddy with excitement.

“Oh, very much so. Alexander has been thoroughly admonished. And he took it all. Simply stood there and let Colin berate him.”

“The fact that he did not puff out his chest in stubbornness says a lot about how sorry he is,” Madeleine mused, even though her husband had worked very, very hard to make it up to her.

Almost every morning, in fact. Especially that morning, when she had awoken to his face between her legs.

“I have already taken back a lot of the protests that I had at the start,” John assured her. “Although it must be Alexander with the protests if we should delay any further. Shall we, then?”

“We shall.”

Madeleine slipped her hand into the crook of her brother’s elbow.

He led her through the open doors into the pleasant, warm afternoon, and she smiled, her nerves jumping.

What had Alexander planned? Madeleine had been all but barred from the garden for the last several days—but when her brother finally rounded the corner with her into the main part of the garden, she gasped.

Chairs had been laid out either side of a makeshift aisle, created by a length of white silk, with pink petals scattered down it.

Flowers bloomed everywhere around the garden, and garlands were wrapped around pergolas and pillars that decorated the outside of the Silverton estate. Roses adorned the backs of chairs, and she noticed several people standing as John brought her to the center of the end of the aisle.

She already knew Tessa and Colin would be there, as she had seen them earlier that day, but neither had told them about this .

Her wedding.

Her true, real wedding.

Madeleine loosened a laugh as she began to walk towards…

Towards Alexander.

Her husband stood at the other end of the aisle, his eyes fixed on her in a way that they had not been during their first, stiff ceremony. The difference now, and all they had been through, stretched between them. It was a tether pulling her closer.

Madeleine and John bypassed the Duke and Duchess of Kingswell, with Eloise holding their son in her arms. Felix looked positively radiantly happy as he nodded at her.

In front of them, in the first row, as he had been for their first wedding, was Horace.

Madeleine grinned at him, giving a small wave. He bowed his head at her.

And then her gaze was back on her husband, who matched her sapphire dress. A deep blue shirt was adorned with a silver cravat. A black waistcoat was tailored to him with blue embroidery on it. He wore a deeper blue tailcoat, and she noticed his beard had been trimmed from what it had been that morning.

She flushed at the memory of why her thighs had stung upon bathing.

“What is going on?” Madeleine asked John breathlessly.

“What do you think it looks like?” he retorted smartly. “It was all Alexander’s idea.”

Madeleine could only gape at her husband as her hand was passed to his by John.

“If you hurt her again,” John said, glaring at Alexander, “I will hunt you down and drag your body from Silverton to Halthorpe, and believe me, friend, that is not a pleasant journey.”

Alexander winced, nodding. “Noted. Now can you kindly let me take my wife’s hand properly?”

John grinned at him before standing next to Horace. Their wedding guests took their seats.

Alexander kissed Madeleine’s hand. “This is the wedding you deserve,” he whispered to her. “The one you should have always had. Our first one was hasty and… well, slightly illegal, but it let me secure your future. This one is your dream, is it not? A garden wedding, adorned with flowers, a bright beautifully colored dress?”

“I do like my colored dresses,” she laughed, tears stinging her eyes. Her heart felt light with sheer happiness. “John must have told you my dreams from when I was young.”

“He did. He has had quite the input, actually, but most of it has come from simply knowing my wife.” He pulled her close, his lips brushing her ear.

“Oi!” Horace called out and Madeleine laughed.

“Nobody knows about Donald,” Alexander assured her, “He damned himself by pretending to be dead, for nobody knows the truth, and it will remain that way. We are not in danger of anything. This is simply a large, romantic gesture.”

“Indeed it is.” Madeleine let out a soft sigh, pressing closer to her husband. “This is beautiful, Alexander. I did not realize you were such a romantic.”

“Well, I considered a candlelit altar but that did not work very well for Romeo and Juliet so I forwent that.”

Through her tears, Madeleine gave a watery laugh. “I love what you have done.”

“Are you not going to get on with this wedding, then?” Colin called out. “I was promised cake.”

“Oh, Colin!” Tessa hissed, laughing.

Alexander took Madeleine’s hand, turning her to face him properly. “Madeleine, ever since the first time I saw you, I have yearned for you. Even if I did not quite know it at the time, I was drawn to you in a way I could not explain to myself, or let myself admit, once I did understand.”

Madeleine bit her lip.

“You have lit up my world—or rather, you have blown it to pieces, and I could not be happier. Before you, I was surviving, yet now I find myself living. Thank you, Madeleine, for always giving me the love and patience I have never known before. Thank you for giving me a home, and a reason to finally stop running.”

“Alexander,” Madeleine whispered, cupping his face.

Her stomach was a mess of flutters. He was truly the love of her life.

“I had always dreamt of a fairytale, yet, as time went on, I thought that they were not meant for women like me. I wanted to matter—I wanted to not have an empty, cold life, yet I had felt resigned to it. Until you. You have not given me my dream life, you have given me something much better. Something real . With you, I can finally stop dreaming.”

Alexander laughed breathlessly, holding her face as she held his. He brought her mouth up to his and kissed her in such a way that took her breath away.

This wasn’t the sensual, heated kisses he gave her when he intended to take their intimacy much further. This was a gentle, searching thing, a kiss that spoke I love you with mouths that knew how to move around one another, and hands that knew the shape of a lover’s face.

Madeleine was quite in love with her husband, and she could feel every ounce of his love returned.

While the guests got their refreshments after the ceremony, Alexander took Madeleine aside.

“Do you truly like it? I wished for you to have a proper wedding. I confess, I was rushed with our last one, and not my most comfortable, honest self.”

“I adore it,” Madeleine assured him. “But… well, one thing does concern me. Is our marriage truly legal? This is our second ceremony but we were bound to one another when Donald was, in fact, still alive, even if we did not know it at the time. Our marriage could be null and avoid.”

Alexander was already shaking his head. “No. No, do not concern yourself with such worries. I spoke to the archbishop myself and explained what had happened. The church has officially recognized the validity of our marriage. Donald is dead; we are married, that is all they need to be aware of. You are mine , Duchess.”

He pulled her tightly to him. “Legally, validly, in every sense of the word.”

Madeleine ghosted a kiss along his jaw, smiling into his beard. “Hmm, and tonight?”

“Tonight, you shall be mine, over and over, until the dawn breaks and I might let you rest, then.”

Madeleine giggled, pressing closer to her husband. “And the matter of breakfast?”

“One does not need to be in the dining hall to feast. Surely I demonstrated such things this morning.”

“Indeed you did. In that case, why rest at dawn?”

Alexander looked as if he wished to devour her there and then but they were stopped by a clinking of cutlery against glass.

Horace’s voice called out from the garden. “If the couple could actually join their guests instead of sneaking off to do Heaven knows what.”

“They are newlyweds,” Felix called out, laughing, “let them indulge.”

“More cake for us,” Colin muttered right as Madeleine and Alexander rejoined them.

Horace had everybody take a glass of champagne, and he stood before their group.

“I would like to raise a toast to the Duke and Duchess of Silverton,” he said. “I have known Alexander since he was a young boy, and I tended to his father’s horses. He did not have such an easy life, and he witnessed horrors no child should.”

The man quickly washed away the sadness in his eyes with a bright smile.

“So to see him now, to see the man he has become, makes me prouder than anything. He is happy and in love—that is all a father, in blood or in the heart, wishes to see of a man like Alexander.”

Alexander grinned at Horace, nodding to him. “I only pity you for the amount of work you now have to endure,” he laughed.

Not long after Donald’s true death, Horace had approached Alexander and the two had concluded that full ownership of the Raven’s Den was better in Horace’s hands. He could handle any threats, and was heavily guarded at all times.

He was now the full, true owner of the gambling hell, leaving Alexander free to enjoy his marriage and focus on Felix’s new business venture, and his other avenues of income.

“To the Duke and Duchess of Silverton,” Felix called, raising his glass. “May these grounds be overrun with children very soon, and that you shall never know another full night’s sleep.” He laughed, joined by Eloise, who raised her glass, too.

One by one, everybody toasted them.

As the afternoon waned into evening, and glasses were emptied and refilled, Colin and Tessa came over to congratulate Madeleine more personally.

“Now, Silverton,” Colin said, “if I hear of you having Madeleine out of her home one more time I shall?—”

“John has already made such threats,” Madeleine said quickly. “There is no need for further ones.”

“Oh, there is. I respect this man a great deal and wish to have a friend in you, Alexander.”

“I do not claim friends.”

“An acquaintance, then.”

“Perhaps.” But then Alexander was smiling, and Tessa linked her arm through Madeleine’s.

“Did you hear that Lady Rowthern has fled to France with a lover? He has been unnamed but apparently he is not of noble status. How scandalous!”

“Good riddance,” Madeleine laughed. “I do wish her happiness, however. I am simply glad she cannot be involved in my life.”

“And neither can Nellie Trent,” Alexander joined in. “For she found herself married to a very wealthy businessman.”

Madeleine expected to feel some pang of annoyance at the reminder of the woman they had met at the boardinghouse all those months ago. Madeleine had pitied her but it seemed she, too, had found her happy ever after.

“I wish her well,” Madeleine said, smiling. “However, it is our day and I would like to?—”

“Actually, we also have an announcement,” Tessa said. “We are not being so public yet but…” She reached for Colin’s hand. “We are to have a child, Madeleine.”

A thrill went through Madeleine—first for her friend, and then for the news she herself had been sitting on for a day or two, waiting for the right moment to tell her husband. However, that was not yet. She did not wish to ruin her friends’ announcement, but in the back of her mind. She smiled at the fact that they had discussed having children at similar times.

Now they would.

“Tessa, congratulations!” Madeline cried, throwing her arms around her friend. “Colin, I do hope you are already looking after her.”

“Pardon me, I do anyway! I am the most devoted husband.”

“Not the most,” Alexander muttered, stepping closer to Madeleine protectively.

Madeleine laughed, free and happy, utterly without any worries.

All she had to do was look at her husband, and she knew she would never have to face another cold, lonely night again.