Barely a Bride (Free Fellows League 1)

Alyssa smiled at him. He didn’t love her, nor had he wanted to marry, but he was making certain that everyone within earshot thought that he did. He might never grow to love her or feel affection for her, but he had given himself to her before God and witnesses. He was hers for the keeping, and Alyssa intended to make him proud.

“Lady Alyssa Carrollton, wilt thou have this man to thy wedded husband, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of Matrimony? Wilt thou obey him, and serve him, love, honor, and keep him in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all other, keep thee only unto him, so long as ye both shall live?”

She wasn’t completely certain she would always obey him, but Alyssa promised to try. She looked up at Griffin and answered just as strongly and firmly as he had done: “I will.”

Alyssa listened as Griffin repeated his vows and she repeated hers in kind until the bishop paused.

“It’s time for the ring,” he prompted.

Lord Weymouth handed his son a gold wedding band.

Griffin waited as Alyssa removed her gloves and handed them to her maid of honor.

Griff took Alyssa’s left hand. “With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen,” he repeated, sliding the slim gold band onto her ring finger. When the wedding band was in place, Griff gently pulled her betrothal ring from her middle finger, where she’d moved it before the ceremony, and slid it alongside.

The slim band and the amethyst and peridot betrothal ring matched perfectly, and Alyssa stood admiring them before she closed her eyes and bowed her head in prayer.

“Alyssa?”

She hadn’t realized the prayer was over until Griffin said her name.

“You can open your eyes, now.” She heard the teasing note in his voice. “The worst of it’s over. We’re done, except for the signing of the register.”

She looked up.

Griffin blew out a little sigh of relief. “Are you ready?”

She nodded.

“All right, let’s go.” He tucked her hand in the crook of his arm and led her down the aisle to the vestibule to sign the parish registry.

He signed his name with a flourish and handed her the pen: Alyssa Abernathy. She halted the pen in mid-motion, and Griff leaned over her shoulder and whispered, “Viscountess Abernathy and Baroness Maitland.”

She gave him a grateful smile.

“We’ve done it,” Griffin said.

Yes, they had done it. For better or for worse, they were husband and wife.

Chapter Sixteen

“The wedding went off without a hitch. I’m amazed that Alyssa managed to accomplish so much in so little time. I hope I shall be as fortunate when I begin my journey to join my regiment.”—Griffin, Viscount Abernathy, journal entry, 04 May 1810

“That’s the last of them,” Griffin said, lifting Alyssa’s hand to his lips in salute as the final few guests passed through the receiving line and on to the buffet tables.

“Are you certain?” Alyssa glanced around as Griff let go of her hand and breathed a heartfelt sigh of relief when she saw that the line had disappeared. “I know I sent out two hundred invitations, but I feel as if I’ve greeted two thousand people.”

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and Griff automatically placed his hand at the small of her back to steady her. “I believe I recognized everyone on the guest list,” he said. “With a few exceptions.”

Alyssa leaned against him, allowing Griffin to support her weight as she rested her aching feet.

The trust in that intimate gesture took him by surprise. His chest expanded with pride, and he smiled at her. “I suppose that means we welcomed a handful of gate crashers along with the guests, but who can blame them for crashing when you managed to provide such a dazzling feast? Everyone who is anyone in the ton seems to have snatched an invite.”

“Everyone except your friends.” Alyssa frowned. “I don’t remember being introduced to them.”

“How could you not?” Griff teased. “Over half the people here were put on the guest list at the suggestion of my mother and father.”

“That doesn’t explain why Lord Grantham and Lord Shepherdston didn’t come. I distinctly remember sending their invitations.”