A Taste of Paradise by Mason Connie

Author:Mason, Connie [Mason, Connie]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 0843954647
Publisher: Ten Talents Press
Published: 2012-05-06T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

“Please continue the service, Reverend Townsend,” Chris commanded.

Caldwell started down the aisle. “I am Viscount Caldwell, Sophia Carlisle’s guardian, and I demand to be heard.”

The murmur of the congregation rose in volume, earning a stern look from the reverend.

Sophia shrugged out of Chris’s protective embrace to confront her stepbrother. “You are not my guardian, Ray. I am past the age of guardianship. You cannot dictate my life.”

From behind him, Rigby hissed into Ray’s ear, “Stop the wedding now, Caldwell. The woman belongs to me. Pay your debt or go to prison.”

Chris pushed Sophia behind him. “You heard my fiancée, Caldwell. She is old enough to do as she pleases. And it pleases both of us to wed.”

“Sophia is a wanted woman in England,” Caldwell said in a voice only Chris could hear. “She attacked Sir Oscar for no reason and left him for dead.”

Chris smiled at Sophia, his opinion of her rising. “How very clever of her. Fortunately, this is not England, is it?”

“I can press charges here,” Rigby maintained. “This is English territory, after all.”

“Try it and you’re a dead man,” Chris growled. “Now step back, both of you, and let the good reverend continue the ceremony.” He turned his back on Caldwell and Rigby.

Though Sophia thought it a bad idea to turn her back on either man, she trusted Chris as she faced the reverend.

“Is Viscount Caldwell your guardian?” Reverend Townsend asked.

“No, I am no longer under his guardianship,” Sophia asserted. “I am four and twenty years old. Please continue, Reverend.”

“Very well, then. By the law vested in me by the Church of England, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” He smiled at Chris. “You may kiss your bride.”

Sophia’s breath faltered as Chris turned her toward him, raised her chin with his thumb and forefinger and kissed her full on the mouth. If his kiss was meant as a display of possession, Chris succeeded admirably. She heard someone curse—probably Rayford—and more than a few titters from the congregation. And still Chris continued to kiss her. When he finally released her mouth, her knees wobbled like jelly and she had to hang on to Chris to keep from falling.

With an arm around her waist, he hurried her down the aisle to the front of the church amid a scattering of applause. They paused briefly to receive congratulations from the congregation, and then Chris handed her into his new carriage.

“Excuse me a moment,” Chris said. “I need to speak to Blaine before we leave.” He conversed briefly with the new captain of the Intrepid, then returned to the carriage. With a signal to Mundo, the carriage jolted forward.

“I’m sorry,” Sophia said. “Ray was the last person I expected to see in Jamaica. Sir Oscar told me he had written to Ray, but I have no idea how he came by the money to travel to Jamaica.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me if Rigby asked his factor in England to pay Caldwell’s passage. He would do it just to bedevil us. Blaine told me Caldwell arrived aboard the Intrepid.

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