"Shouldn't I?" Suzette asked on a sigh. It hadn't exactly been proper behavior as the letter had pointed out.

"Well, if you should, then so should I," Lady Woodrow announced. "Because Daniel's father and I anticipated our vows as well, and also on our way to Gretna Green."

"Really?" Suzette asked with surprise. Lady Woodrow seemed so . . . well . . . so much a lady. It was hard to imagine her in the throes of passion.

"I was young once too, you know," she said with a grin. "And Daniel's father was the most wonderful man--charming, handsome, smart, funny. We were so much in love." She sighed sadly, and then glanced to Suzette. "Daniel is much like him, and if the two of you have only half the happiness his father and I shared, you will be very lucky indeed. But I think you will do better than that."

"I will try to make him happy," Suzette assured her quietly.

"I know you will, and he will do the same," she said with certainty, and then added, "He loves you, you know. I knew that within moments of his telling me he was marrying you. I have never seen him speak of anyone as he did you."

Suzette swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. That was the most wonderful thing she'd ever heard.

"And I think you love him too," she added.

"I do," she admitted on a whisper.

"So you will marry him even though he isn't poor?" Lady Woodrow asked with amusement.

Suzette scowled and then chuckled and shook her head. "Yes. Of course."

"Good." She patted her hand and stood. "I shall go see about getting you food. Now that your head is not hurting, you are probably hungry."

"Thank you," Suzette said and smiled faintly as she watched her go.

Once the door closed behind the woman, Suzette lay back in the bed with a little sigh, contemplating the possibility that Daniel might love her. It had been lovely and reassuring to hear from his mother, but would be even nicer coming from Daniel's lips.

Suzette smiled wryly at the turn her life had taken. She had started out thinking she couldn't possibly find love in the short time she had, so would have to settle for a husband who needed her dower enough that she could set the rules of their relationship and protect herself from an abusive marriage like Christiana had with Dicky. Instead, she'd found a man who didn't need her dower and who might actually love her. And who she definitely loved. On top of that she was gaining a mother-in-law whom she already liked a good deal, and thought she might come to have great affection for rather quickly. Lady Woodrow was definitely living up to her son's compliments and descriptions. She was a woman Suzette thought she might look up to. Certainly, she admired how she'd handled the men earlier. The woman was masterful and there was a lot she could learn from her.

Suzette wasn't sure how she'd got so lucky, but was grateful she had.

"There. You look perfect," Lady Woodrow pronounced, standing back to survey her handiwork.

Suzette beamed under the woman's approving expression and peered at herself in the mirror Daniel's mother had brought in. She wore her finest gown, a short-sleeved, empire-style dress that was so pale a pink as to be mistaken for white. On top of it she wore a sleeveless red pelisse with gold trim. Her maid, Georgina, had helped her to bathe and dress, but Lady Woodrow had then shooed the woman away and taken over helping with her hair. With it still wet from the bath, she'd worked carefully around the head wound in the hair above Suzette's ear, and arranged her long tresses in an array of pin curls on top of her head. The effect was quite lovely.

"You are beautiful," Lady Woodrow announced. "You and Daniel are going to give me beautiful grandbabies."

Blushing now, Suzette laughed, and turned to hug her. "Thank you, my lady."

"You are most welcome," Lady Woodrow assured her, hugging her back, but then complained, " 'My lady' sounds so stiff. You may call me Catherine if you wish, or--" She paused briefly and bit her lip, and then admitted, "I hope someday you will feel comfortable enough to call me Mother, but I would not pressure you to do so."

"Thank you. I should be pleased to call you Mother," Suzette whispered, moved by the offer. And it was true. She and Lady Woodrow had sat talking for hours the night before, after she'd returned with a meal for Suzette, only stopping when the men returned with the not unexpected news that Danvers could not be found. They had retired then, but had woken to continue their chatter as they dressed and went down to breakfast with the others and even during the carriage ride for the last leg of the journey to Gretna Green. It had taken three hours, but that time had passed in a trice for Suzette as she and Lady Woodrow chatted about books they'd read and things they liked to do, while her father and Daniel looked on smiling indulgently. Well, her father had smiled indulgently, Daniel had smiled, but his had been with a combination of indulgence and relief, and she knew it had been important to him that she and his mother like each other. Fortunately, they did. At least, she certainly liked and respected Lady Woodrow.

"Well." Daniel's mother gave her a slightly watery smile, and turned toward the door. "I shall go tell your father you are ready so he can come collect you."

Suzette watched her slip from the room and then peered down at herself with a little sigh of pleasure. The gown she was wearing was really more appropriate for a ball than a marriage in the courtyard of an inn presided over by a blacksmith, but Suzette didn't care. She wanted to look nice for her wedding. And she looked as nice as she ever had in her life, as good as she could, she thought, and hoped Daniel thought so too.

She smiled to herself at the thought of Daniel, and then her smile faded a bit and she released a little sigh. While Suzette had spoken a lot to Lady Woodrow since being rescued and brought to the inn, she and Daniel had never got to have that talk he'd mentioned. The men had been weary on returning from their search. They had apparently scoured the area on both sides of the inn, traveling as far as the overturned carriage on the one side and then just as far in the other direction, searching both the road and the woods for Danvers.

All of them had been both tired and disappointed not to have found the man, but Daniel was still recovering from a wound and had looked exhausted and pale, and Suzette had agreed when Lady Woodrow had insisted he find his bed and talk to Suzette in the morning. However, there hadn't been much chance to talk this morning either. Suzette had slept late, probably a result of the tincture Lady Woodrow had given her before they retired, and had rushed to dress and get below, arriving just as everyone sat down to break their fast. Once finished with their meal, everyone had been eager to get on with their journey and get this business done before something else could go wrong, so there hadn't been any chance to talk then either. And the moment they'd arrived in Gretna Green, Daniel had sent Suzette and the other women to ready themselves while he went to speak to the blacksmith.

Now it was time to get married and they hadn't had their talk. Suzette wasn't sure what he'd wished to discuss with her. He had already told her that he hadn't written the letter, which she'd pretty much figured out by then anyway. She thought perhaps he was going to tell her that he wasn't poor and in need of her dower, but she already knew that too.

In truth, Suzette was hoping he'd wanted to declare his feelings for her. Her father and his mother had both said that Daniel loved her. It would be nice to hear it from him though. But then she hadn't told him she loved him yet either, Suzette realized, and then glanced to the door when a soft knock sounded.

Crossing the room, she pulled the door open and smiled when she saw her father in the hall. He wore knee breeches and a frock coat and looked all ready to attend a ball. He also had his cane again and she supposed that Daniel and the men had collected it from the overturned carriage for him while searching for Jeremy Danvers.

"You look nice, Father," she complimented.

"And you've never looked so beautiful, Suzie," he said solemnly, and then added, "Your mother is probably weeping in heaven with pride and happiness for you."

"Oh." She waved a hand before her suddenly watery eyes and grimaced

at him. "Don't say things like that, Papa. You will have me weeping at my own wedding."

"Sorry, child." He kissed her gently on the cheek and then urged her back into the room so he could enter.

"What are you doing?" she asked with surprise.

"I wish to speak to you before we go below," he said solemnly, pushing the door closed and urging her across the room to sit on the side of the bed. He settled himself next to her, took her hands in his and eyed her solemnly. "I just want to be sure you are positive this is what you wish to do."

Suzette frowned. "Was it not you who was trying to convince me to rethink marrying Jeremy and staying at the inn to wait for Daniel?"

"Yes," he agreed.

"And now you're trying to talk me out of marrying Daniel?" she asked with bemusement.

"No, no," he said at once, squeezing her hands. "No, Suzie, I'm not trying to talk you out of it at all. It is obvious to me that you two love each other and I think he is perfect for you."

Tags: Lynsay Sands Madison Sisters Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net