Conveniently Wed to the Prince by Nina Milne

Author:Nina Milne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mills & Boon Forever Romance
Published: 2018-11-06T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

AS THEY APPROACHED the chapel Holly realised she had been so caught up in their conversation that she hadn’t given a thought to the fact that this was her first visit to the chapel since her wedding fiasco. Not that she’d actually made it to the chapel then.

For a second her footsteps faltered. She wondered if perhaps she should have come here alone, to lay the ghosts of her nearly-wedding to rest. Yet somehow Stefan’s presence made her feel better. His sheer solidity, his energy, reinforced the knowledge that it had been better to have the fairy tale shattered before the ceremony rather than after.

Graham had wanted to marry her for her family position, to have a job for life. Had never loved her. Their whole union would have been fake, built on foundations of quicksand.

As they approached the chapel an old familiar sensation of peace crept over her. The ancient stone walls...the arched door with its honeysuckle surround... It was a place she had come to countless times when life’s complexities had overwhelmed her—when she’d been small and hurt by her mother’s indifference, an indifference that had bordered on dislike. Somehow the pews had given her comfort, and she’d studied the stained-glass windows, marvelling that those red and green and blue sainted figures had looked down and seen centuries, hundreds of people coming in hope of solace.

‘This is a beautiful place,’ Stefan said softly as they entered, and she knew from the reverence in his tone that he could sense the history in the very air they breathed.

As she watched him walk around she felt a strange warmth that he shared her appreciation of this hallowed place.

‘It’s always been special to me. My go-to place when life throws a curve ball.’

‘I get that, and I would understand if you don’t want our wedding to take place here. If you want to wait for the real thing.’

‘I’m not sure if I’ll ever experience “the real thing”. And somehow, because this marriage is for Il Boschetto di Sole, it feels right that we should do it here. This chapel must have seen countless marriages. Many of them will have been made for reasons of duty rather than love. Some of them will have been forced unions of misery and others will have been joyous.’ As she’d thought her marriage would be. ‘I think we should have the ceremony here. If you’re good with that?’

‘I’m fine with wherever we do it.’

‘No doubt you’d prefer to have the ceremony in a boardroom, with an agenda and the deal written out carefully. I, Stefan Petrelli, agree to marry you subject to the following terms and conditions.’

Odd that she felt able to tease him, and his smile made her heart give a funny little dip.

Then his expression took on a serious hue. ‘But really that is what marriage is—the ultimate deal between two people. You enter a pact to look after each other in sickness and in health. It’s a deal. It’s just a non-negotiable one that should last for life.

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