A Sinful Deception by Isabella Bradford

Author:Isabella Bradford [Bradford, Isabella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Historical, Erotic Fiction
ISBN: 9781472215208
Goodreads: 19288184
Publisher: Headline Eternal
Published: 2015-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

10

Geoffrey stood near the front pew in the west chapel of St. Stephen’s, trying to hide his nervousness, and not particularly succeeding. It was his wedding day, and he guessed he was entitled to some degree of nervousness, but it was still not a pleasant sensation, and he would have given a great deal to have the entire ordeal already behind him, and Serena his wife.

“I don’t know where they could be,” he said to his brother Harry, standing beside him. As discreetly as he could, he drew his watch from his pocket to check it once again. “It’s well past time for them to be here.”

“It’s only five minutes past two,” Harry said mildly. “That’s hardly cause for concern. It’s the prerogative of brides to be late.”

Geoffrey shook his head. “I cannot help but fear that that uncle of hers might have meddled again.”

“What, to keep her away from marrying you?” Harry asked. “The Carews were the ones who pushed for this wedding. There’s no reason in the world for them to balk and turn tail now.”

Geoffrey sighed, unconvinced, and shot his shirt cuffs again. No matter what Harry said, not even he could deny the proof: his father and stepmother sitting in the chapel’s front pew (Harry’s wife, Gus, was too close to her confinement to leave home, or else she would have been there as well), the minister in his vestments standing behind them, and not a hint of Serena or any of her family. It was just as well that they’d limited the ceremony to only the immediate family so that all his various cousins and their wives and children wouldn’t be here to witness his humiliation, too.

“Then where the devil are they?” He worked his shoulders inside his stiff new wedding coat. Father had insisted on him having a new suit made for this occasion, with more gold embroidery than was his usual taste. He swore he could feel a scrap of wiry gold thread jabbing into his back, stinging him like the most annoying gnat in the world. “This is awkward, deuced awkward.”

“Stop fidgeting, Geoffrey,” his brother said, poking at Geoffrey’s shoe with the tip of his cane for emphasis. “I’ll wager you a guinea that she’s here within five minutes.”

“Five guineas that she won’t be,” Geoffrey said gloomily. Old Carew had insisted that they be kept apart until the wedding, and he hadn’t had so much as a glimpse of Serena since she’d accepted his proposal. For all he knew, they’d shipped her off to some convent in Belgium, just to spite him. He glanced at Harry. “How long did Gus keep you waiting when you wed?”

“Gus?” Harry smiled smugly. Geoffrey had missed his brother’s wedding, having been somewhere off the coast of Madagascar on his voyage back from India. “Gus is always prompt. No, more than prompt. She was early.”

“You told me every bride is late!”

“Gus had more incentive,” he said. “She was marrying me.”

“The devil take you, Harry, you—”

“Their carriages are here,” said Rivers, hurrying up the aisle from the front of the chapel.

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