A Winter Wedding by Amanda Forester

Author:Amanda Forester [Amanda Forester]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: England, Historical Romance, Love Story, Regency Romance, Romance, Regency England
ISBN: 9781402271847
Amazon: 1402271840
Barnesnoble: 1402271840
Goodreads: 18487148
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2014-09-01T14:00:00+00:00

Twenty-two

Simultaneous emotions slashed through Penelope. Her heart soared at being proposed to by the one man, the only man, she could ever love. Yet her joy was instantly tempered by the realization that this proposal was forced by their audience. The growing crowd gasped again, and heat surged through her as embarrassment struck true.

The shock of such emotions proved too momentous for her single leg to hold, and she teetered off kilter. Marchford sprung up and caught her before she fell, sweeping her up in his arms.

“They need an answer,” he whispered, and she knew beyond all hope that his interest in her was purely based on societal show.

“No,” she whispered—or tried to. Marchford cut off the word with a kiss, winning them both another gasp from the crowd.

He broke the kiss and addressed the crowd, for whom the charade was intended. “I hope you all will wish us many happy returns.”

The growing crowd tittered and congratulated, even as the gossip spread like fire through the ballroom. The Comtesse de Marseille raised an aristocratic eyebrow and gave Penelope a piercing gaze.

Marchford gently set her back down. Penelope pasted on a smile and held on to his steady arm. She was soon mobbed by ladies wanting to speak to her, some noticing her for the first time, all asking some variation of the question of how she had landed one of the best matrimonial catches in all of London. Several were none too pleased and addressed her with open scorn.

“Step aside. Excuse me.” The dowager pushed through and took Penelope’s other arm. “Very tired, must retire, thank you, dear, for seeing me home.”

Penelope proceeded in a dreamlike state to the ballroom, being escorted out with the duke on one side and the dowager on the other. The world seemed to be coming at her from a distance. Somehow, they made it through the gauntlet of the well-wishers, the curious, and the openly hostile and retreated back to the town coach.

“Why?” gasped Penelope as soon as they were alone in the coach. “Why did you ask me to marry you?”

“Needed to say something. Seemed the thing to do,” said Marchford vaguely.

“James!” tsked Antonia. “What a thing to say.”

Penelope’s heart sank. She wasn’t sure if the dowager was chastising his comment or his proposal to her.

“But why marriage?” pressed Penelope. “Why kiss me before the crowd?”

“I kissed you because you were giving the wrong answer.” Marchford spoke as if the answer were obvious.

“But I do not wish for a proposal only because we were found in a room together. I do not want you to feel obligated to me.”

“But of course he is obligated to you,” chimed in the dowager. “At least he is now. Oh, we will have a time trying to win your acceptance in society. I warrant, James, you did not think this through.”

“Indeed, I did not,” said Marchford in a careless manner. He was staring out the window at the falling snow with a smile on his face as if quite pleased with himself.

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