Matchmakers Complete Collection by Candace Camp

Author:Candace Camp
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2019-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

EPILOGUE

IT WAS GENERALLY agreed that the marriage of the Earl of Radbourne to Lady Irene Wyngate was the wedding of the year. It was not perhaps the grandest, for it was put on with unseemly haste. But no expense was spared, and there had not been a wedding in years that was so rife with drama and rumors.

It was enough to keep the city buzzing for the whole two months between the announcement of their engagement and the actual wedding in November. There was the matter of the vanished heir returned to his family years later, the abduction that it was whispered was not an abduction at all, not to mention the shiveringly horrifying discovery of the body of the earl’s long-dead mother—during a house party, if one could imagine that. And other, much darker things, which none dared mention above a whisper, with a knowing look.

It was rumored to be a love match. And while very few could claim that they actually knew the groom, which gave him a titillating air of mystery, there were many who were well-enough acquainted with the bride to be astounded at the notion that either she or the groom had tumbled headfirst into love.

But none who attended the wedding could deny the glow of love that shone on the face of both the earl and his new wife as they said their vows. And when they took to the floor for the first dance of their married lives, not even the most hardened heart among the guests could deny a twinge of tearful joy.

Lady Francesca Haughston, standing at the edge of the dance floor, watching them, glowed with a pleasure that owed only a small measure to the lovely silver epergne that Lady Odelia had given to her in gratitude for bringing off the engagement—and which would keep Lady Haughston’s household operating through the winter. The truth was that Francesca had come to like both Irene Wyngate and her new husband very much during the time she had spent with them, and she was filled with the happy certainty that their marriage would be a loving one.

The dance ended, and the couple left the floor. Smiling, Irene came toward Francesca, holding out both hands in greeting. “Francesca! I am so pleased to see you!”

Irene was a trifle flushed, and her eyes glittered with pleasure. She was, Francesca thought, the very picture of a beautiful bride. Clearly Gideon, beside her, thought the same thing, for he gazed down upon his new wife in a way that in a softer man would be termed besotted.

“Lady Haughston.” He took his eyes from Irene long enough to bow politely to Francesca.

“I wish you both very happy,” Francesca said. “Though it is clear that you have no need for my good wishes. Your joy is quite apparent to all.”

“It could not keep from being so,” Gideon replied, raising his wife’s hand to lips and planting a kiss on her knuckles. “I am the luckiest of men.” He turned to look at Francesca.

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