Merely the Groom by Rebecca Hagan Lee

Author:Rebecca Hagan Lee [Lee, Rebecca Hagan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance
Publisher: Berkley

"In thy face I see

The map of honor, truth, and loyalty.”

—WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, 1564—1616

KING HENRY VI, PART 2

If anyone had questioned his bravery in the moments before Gillian entered the drawing room of her parents' town house, Colin could not have found offense or been tempted to issue a challenge to defend his honor. He would have had no reason. He couldn't argue fact, and the fact was that although he had never fancied himself a coward, every instinct for self-preservation he'd ever possessed was urging him to make a break for the front door.

Colin's heart pounded in his chest, and he could almost smell his own fear and feel the color leeching from his face as he fought to come up with some graceful way to make his exit. For the first time in his life, Colin thought he might faint or run screaming out the door in sheer terror.

And Griff must have sensed it as well, for he placed his hand on Colin's arm and murmured beneath his breath, "Steady on, Colin. The panic will pass."

Colin disagreed. The panic was rising. And his rising panic declared that he was a lifelong Free Fellow, and a Free Fellow didn't stand before a clergyman and promise to love, honor, and cherish a woman he barely knew. Except Griff. But the situation had been different when Griff's father ordered his son to marry.

Colin glanced over at his friend. How in Hades had Griff survived it?

"Breathe deeply," Griff advised, reading his mind once again. "And keep breathing. It will be over before you know it."

Would it? Colin knew he'd only been standing before the rector and the assembled guests for a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity. And he didn't know how much longer he could continue to stand on legs that wobbled from the strain of standing still or that threatened to give way at any moment. Colin shifted his weight from one leg to the other and back again. He'd felt less fear facing down assassins.

Leaning toward Griff, Colin whispered, "I can't—"

"Yes, you can," Griff whispered back. "Look." He nodded toward the doorway. "Here's your bride."

Colin followed Griff's lead and turned toward the doorway as Gillian entered the room on her father's arm.

His panic died a quick death at the sight of her, replaced by a much more powerful emotion. "Bon Dieu, but she's breathtaking!"

"She is that," Griff agreed. "Almost as breathtaking as my Alyssa."

That was Griff's opinion. As far as Colin was concerned, no woman had ever been or could ever be as breathtakingly beautiful as Gillian Davies was at that moment. He couldn't see her face clearly through the lace of her bridal veil, but he gave what he hoped was a warm and welcoming smile instead of the wolfish grin he was fighting hard to control. And though her veil obscured it, Colin thought she returned his smile with a rather shy smile of her own.

He drew another deep breath and slowly expelled it, surprised to

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