Twelve Days in December: A Christmas Novella Read Online Free Page B

feet. He’d been one of the men invited on an exclusive tour of the building when it had neared completion. The architecture had so impressed him, along with the added value the church brought to the upscale neighborhood, that William had easily agreed to put it at the top of his yearly donation list. He hoped the bishop would remember that today.
    “I wish my mother was here— to see me wed in such a fine place and wearing a beautiful gown. And marrying a kind man.” Her eyes flickered briefly to his before she turned her face, and a shy smile, away again. “She would be pleased.”
    He was pleased at Charlotte’s assessment of the situation and felt his hope grow brighter. Perhaps she won’t change her mind.
    Now he had only to change the bishop’s. Thankfully they were not in England, where a couple had to post banns. But still there would need to be new paperwork and, no doubt, money exchanged to accomplish that quickly.
    The carriage stopped before the church, and they alighted. The steps had the same dusting of snow on them as the trees, so William put his arm around Charlotte’s waist lest she slip. Given his poor luck with brides, he was taking absolutely no chances on anything happening to her. At least anything he could control. They reached the top step without incident and paused, turning to face her.
    “I must ask you just once more. Are you quite certain you wish to go through with this?” It was the last thing he wished to say, but past experience bade him to. Better she change her mind now than an hour from now when the pews are full and the organ is playing.
    “Are you quite certain?” Charlotte said, turning the question back to him. “You act almost as if you expect me to change my mind.”
    I do. “It is simply that I do not wish to force you to something you may regret later. You have not even had one day to reflect on your decision.”
    “I have had five months to reflect on it,” she said. “Of necessity, I knew I must marry again. That it is to a man I know to be both kind and generous has brought an enormous amount of peace to my mind and heart. But you, also, must be certain.”
    On impulse he took her gloved hand in his, brought it to his lips, and kissed it. “Thank you, Charlotte. You cannot know the calm your reassurance brings to me. Once I begin something, I never change course, I can promise you that. Now let us go in.”
    He led her inside, watching from the corner of his eye as she took in the equally stunning interior with its towering side columns and sweeping arches. “I imagine you had opportunity to visit similarly grand churches in England,” he said.
    “Not England so much, but in France, yes. I have many fond memories of both the countryside and the cities.”
    “I return to England and the Continent every few years. Perhaps you would like to accompany me on such a trip sometime?”
    “Oh, yes.” Her eyes lit up at the possibility, but in the next second her face fell. “Though I am not at all certain I would be able to survive another crossing.”
    It was his turn to smile. “Your accommodations would be considerably better than the last time. You came over in steerage, did you not?” He recalled Marsali telling him of her sister’s near-death experience and felt suddenly grateful that Charlotte had survived that trip to be with him at this moment.
    She nodded. “A memory I do not wish to revisit.”
    “Then we shall not,” he agreed. They walked to the head of the chapel, and he escorted her through a side door and hall that led to Bishop Lewis’s office. They met with him there, and all was accomplished with much more order and efficiency than William would have believed likely. At the end of their meeting, when Bishop Lewis shook Charlotte’s hand with an exuberance that matched his unusually jovial countenance, William realized he had Charlotte to credit for their good fortune in getting through the particulars and paperwork with such ease.
    She