Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Lydia paced in front of her sitting room window as her mother and sisters tried to soothe her nerves. She was dressed in an exquisite white silk gown, but wearing it didn't make her feel special. It made her feel like a fraud.

How can I do this to Joseph when he has been so kind? So protective? So bloody wonderful to me and my family?

To trap him like this was inexcusable. But her heart wanted so much to soar today because the man she was being forced to marry was the man who had stolen her heart while she'd been trying so hard to deny it.

"The two of you are meant for each other, Lydia! There's no reason to feel so anxious. Please sit down. You'll ruin your hem." Lady Briarwood sighed and looked at her other daughters for help.

"Mama is right, Lydia. The viscount adores you! Yours is an excellent match and you are a beautiful bride." Charlotte followed Lydia through a few of her paces to try to give her a hug, then gave up. "You're burning a hole through the floorboards, sister. I swear all that pent-up energy in your body is why you're so outspoken!"

Charlotte giggled and peeked at Eleanor for validation, but she didn't get it. Eleanor frowned and signaled for her to stop talking by pinching her own lips shut.

"If I were truly outspoken, Charlotte, I would not be pacing a hole in these floors. An outspoken person would stand up for herself, would she not? She would demand to speak with her husband before he became one! She would tell her parents and society that whom she married and when was not up to them!" Lydia stopped pacing and glared at her mother, then softened her expression when it made her mother cry. "Oh, Mama. I know you're trying to do what's best for me. And that this was likely more father's decision than yours. But please understand how much it hurts that you didn't believe me or allow me time to court Joseph before marrying him. If I wanted to marry him."

Lady Briarwood sniffled and nodded her head. "You are right, my dear. But we didn't just make this decision for you. Someday you will understand the tough choices that parents are forced to make, as well. We had your siblings' reputations to protect, as well as yours. We had our livelihood and our rank as peers to protect, along with your father and I protecting each other, too. We protect our family, Lydia. Of all the things we taught you, I had hoped that lesson was clear. Right or wrong, we protect our family from harm."

Lydia dropped into a wingback chair and looked at her mother with new eyes. She had said the very same thing to Joseph behind the stables when she was protecting William in whatever way she could.

We protect our family.

Before this day was over, Joseph would be her family. And his happiness deserved as much protection as her own.

"Mama, I have to see Joseph. It cannot wait." Lydia stood again and rushed to the door as her mother and sisters rose to follow her.

"Lydia, no! You can't!" Lady Briarwood called out as Eleanor and Charlotte tried to block the door into the hallway. But as Eleanor slammed her body against it, the door swung open by the hands of a very strong young maid with fiery red hair.

"My apologies for the interruption! Ladies, there has been an outbreak in the kitchen from soured food. Our cooks, plus several maids and footmen, have gone ill. Lady Winstone is beside herself! It seems the wedding will need to be delayed until we have time to give care to the sick and replace them. And ensure all food is safe to eat, of course! If any of you ladies would have a mind to console Lady Winstone in her hour of need, I'm sure she would be most appreciative of the gesture."

"Oh my! How terrible! Of course, Bridget. Eleanor, Charlotte, and I will console Lady Winstone and offer our help. Lydia, you stay in this room and do not leave it, do you understand? There is no reason for a bride in her wedding gown to be out among others until we have the matter at hand."

Lydia's mouth dropped open and she stood frozen in place as her mother and sisters rushed out of the room. "Wait! Who all is sick? Are you certain I shouldn't go with you?"

"I'll make sure Lady Lydia has everything she needs!" Bridget called after Lady Briarwood.

She quietly closed the sitting room door and turned to Lydia with a big grin on her face.

"You're about to have a visitor, my lady. And he looks just as fancy as you do." Bridget winked at Lydia and squeezed her hand.

"Bridget, what have you done? Are people really ill?" Lydia felt a sparkle of hope despite Bridget's shocking news about the staff that may or may not be true. She knew that Bridget was referring to Joseph coming to talk to her and she was so excited to see him before the wedding that she nearly burst into tears.

"Let's just say they're going to be ill as long as we need them to be." Bridget giggled, then raced to answer the door at the sound of gentle knocking.

The happy maid opened the door and made her exit as the viscount walked through it. Joseph closed the door behind him and quietly walked to stand in front of Lydia in a beautiful top and tail coat the color of an eggplant's dark purple skin.

"My lady, I need to speak with you before we are wed. I need to know that you have a choice. That marrying me or not is your decision to make, no matter what society or our parents or even the vicar might have to say about it. I cannot, I will not, force you to marry me or feel something for me under any circumstances. And I would relish the chance to get to know you better. To learn about your interests and support them. To be the kind of husband you crave and deserve, if you'll give me the chance."

Lydia felt tears spring to her eyes as her heart raced in her chest. "Oh, Joseph. Forgive me, I am elated but confused by those unexpected words. I thought that…"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Lydia, but there is something else. I cannot go one more hour without telling you that I love you. That I am completely devoted to you and your happiness because of how happy you make me by just by being you. From the moment you stood boldly in your shift and scolded me from the banks of your favorite spring, I have loved your vexing and mesmerizing ways of driving me mad with excitement and desire. I understand if you believe that I loved you too quickly, but I absolutely did.

"From our very first day together, you showed me that love doesn't have to caged by rules or traditional expectations. Love with you is spontaneous and unique and… experimental. And I also know now that loving you would make me wiser and more thoughtful, if you have it in your heart to let this love of mine grow."

Lydia hugged herself and started crying hard from the viscount's incredible confession. She was overwhelmed and trying to breathe through her tears of shock and joy.

"My lord, I am so honored and happy by those words from you. And I am struggling with how to respond, so please give me a moment to collect myself. I fear I will drown us both with these tears!"

Joseph pulled a fresh handkerchief from his breast pocket and gently smoothed it over her wet cheeks. Then he handed it to her and kissed her softly on the lips.

"You have all the time you need, my lady. But there is one more thing I need to say."

He dipped his hand into his breast pocket once again and pulled from it a tiny velvet box the same color as his dark purple coat. Then he knelt on one knee in front of her and opened the box so Lydia could see the beautiful ring inside it, made of gold and a delicate circle of pearls.

"Will you marry me, little nymph? It doesn't have to be today or a year from today. I will wait for you and I will love you no matter what you decide is the right course for you to take. But it is your decision, my love. I will respect and accept whatever choice you make."

Lydia's heart was bursting and her crying became uncontrollable as she dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around Joseph's neck. He held her close and sat back onto the floor where he could rock her in his lap as she cried it out.

"Joseph, I love you, too! I cannot deny it any longer! The way you vex me and excite me and humor my every whim, it all makes you the only man I have ever wanted with such immediate intensity. And such lasting adoration. But I am afraid, my lord! I am afraid of what I might have to give up in order to be a wife. Will you truly support my interests? Allow me my passions? Will you talk to me and be my friend, in addition to our intimate discoveries? Because I need you to be that kind of husband for me, Joseph. I need to be your partner, not just your wife."

Holding tightly to his neck, Lydia dared not look into the viscount's eyes yet for fear of having just disappointed him by asking for what she needed. And by telling the truth of how she felt about marriage to any man.

But she need not have worried, for Joseph's embrace grew even stronger as he spoke to her in a soothing voice to alleviate her worried mind.

"Lydia, I am glad to know your fears so I can help to ease them. Yes, I can be that kind of husband for you. With you. For you are my dearest friend, my little nymph. And I look forward to learning from you as we grow old together and share in each other's passions as often as possible. Even if it means I have to pose naked for your sketches every day from this day forward. It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make." Joseph chuckled with his lips pressed into Lydia's hair.

She giggled against his neck and then pulled back to see his face again. The tears streaming down Joseph's own cheeks made hers start up again, but this time she was feeling stronger and more sure of what she wanted to do.

"Viscount Winstone, I would be honored to marry you," she whispered, then caught a tear that dripped from his eyelashes onto her finger.

"Your answer is yes, my lady?" Joseph studied Lydia's eyes as though trying to make sure that she was confident in her choice.

"My answer is yes. But I want to make a small change to our wedding plans." Lydia stifled, then sat up straight in Joseph's lap and smiled. She finally felt confident in asking for what she wanted and was deeply grateful for the man she loved who made that possible.

Joseph smiled back at her, then lifted her left hand and slid his engagement ring on her finger. "Whatever you want, little nymph. Tell me and I will make it so. Today and every day forevermore."

***

Joseph and Lydia spent the next few hours making plans, while Benchley and Bridget led the other staff members in bringing their lie about the spread of illness to a manageable inconvenience everyone could work around.

When all the guests, including both families, had returned to the orangery for the wedding to finally start, Lydia and Joseph walked hand and hand to the altar to make a surprise announcement together.

"Honored family and friends, we are so grateful for your attendance for our nuptials today, but we have decided to postpone the ceremony." Joseph's words caused a series of gasps and chatter through the building, but he smiled and waited patiently for it to die down before continuing. "My bride has requested an extra week to make our special day something unique to our relationship, and I wholeheartedly agree with her choice."

Lydia held her breath as Joseph stared down his father, who was seated in the front row of chairs facing the simple wedding altar consisting of two lit candelabras on each side of an arch decorated with beautiful blooms from the Winstone gardens.

Lord Winstone sighed and nodded, but Lydia's father leaped to his feet.

"There is no good reason to delay my daughter's wedding when an altar and guests have already been provided on this day, my lord. You could be married within minutes from now, so please do not let a young woman's whims change all of our plans."

Lord Briarwood was about to say something more, but his wife suddenly stood up next to him and spoke her mind.

"Please forgive my husband, Lord Winstone, for he seems to have forgotten what it is like to be young and a woman. Oh, wait! He isn't a woman, so he should not speak for one with such blatant lack of respect for her desires, should he?" Lady Briarwood looked up into her husband's eyes with a stiff smile that made Lydia fear for the row they might have in front of all of these people.

But Lord Briarwood followed the lead of Joseph's father by sitting down again with a heavy sigh. He nodded for Lady Briarwood to proceed and said nothing more.

"You have our blessing for the delay, Viscount Winstone. What are your thoughts, Countess?" Lady Briarwood looked over at Lady Winstone, who was seated next to her own husband with a surprisingly sweet smile on her face.

"I would have to agree that the Viscountess Winstone deserves every moment she needs to have the wedding of her dreams." Lady Winstone blew her son and Lydia a kiss, then patted her husband's hand as he sighed heavily again. "Let's turn our delayed wedding into the final engagement party! Orchestra, please play something happy as we celebrate our soon-to-be bride and groom!"

The musicians off to the left of the makeshift stage where the altar was placed immediately launched into a country dance, as the guests rose and created a dance floor by pulling chairs away from the center of the room.

Lydia couldn't believe her eyes and ears as everyone in the orangery not only accepted her wishes but wanted to celebrate them, too. Joseph squeezed her hand and kissed her cheek as they stayed under the arch a few moments more.

"Are you certain that a week's delay is enough time, my love? We have the rest of our lives to plan every celebration, including this one. I don't want you to feel rushed because of these people." The viscount looked out over the dancing guests swinging in circles to a country dance and filling the orangery with laughter.

Lydia watched them with him and giggled at the sight of her loved ones dancing arm in arm, including a few brief moments between William and Sophia whose love affair was still a well-kept secret among those who mattered most.

"I am certain, my lord. Though you and I will take this week to learn more about each other, agreed? Including a visit to one of my favorite families who run a farm on the Briarwood estate."

Joseph tucked a loose curl behind Lydia's ear and smiled. "I look forward to that. As long as it means a naked dip in your spring before the day is done."

Lydia grinned and hugged the viscount as the music played on. She had a fun surprise in store for him on their real wedding day that could end exactly as he wished.