AN EARL MOST SCANDALOUSLY MARRIED BY PATRICIA HAVERTON – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Authors: Patricia Haverton
- Language: English
- Genre: Historical Romance
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- Size: 2 MB
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London, England, Summer, 1812
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God,
and in the face of this Congregation, to join together this man and
this woman in holy Matrimony; which is an honorable estate, instituted of
God in the time of man’s innocency, signifying unto us the mystical union
that is betwixt Christ and his Church…” the minister was saying as Lydia
Reeves watched from a pew near the front of the church, sitting between
her mother and three brothers.
She liked weddings. They were always such happy occasions, though she
had thought her cousin—Caroline, the bride—had not looked particularly
happy at the prospect of marrying Edward Scriven, the Baron Westborough.
This seemed strange because, he was, by all accounts, a good man who had
fallen deeply in love with Caroline after meeting her at a ball the previous
Season. Her mother had taken some persuading over the matter, but
eventually, an agreement had been reached…
“Why does Caroline look so miserable?” Lydia whispered, turning to her
mother, who shook her head.
“She had a falling out with Letitia this morning. I heard them arguing in the
carriage. Your aunt still thinks Caroline’s marrying beneath her station.”
Lydia rolled her eyes. Her aunt was a snob and a social climber—a fact
made all the more remarkable by her own circumstances. Her husband had
left her when Caroline was just a baby, and she had been forced to rely on
the charity of Lydia’s father, the now-deceased Earl of Morton. She had no
title of her own, and marriage to the Baron Westborough—a man with good
fortune and prospects—should have been an occasion for celebration.
“Does she think she’s making a mistake?” Lydia asked as the minister
proceeded to the vows.
“I don’t know. Not a mistake in marrying him. He’s very handsome, but
she’s ambitious, too. She’ll have plans, I’m sure,” her mother replied,
shaking her head again, before turning her attention back to the ceremony.
The church was full—a Society wedding to which anyone who was anyone
had been invited.
“Almighty God, who at the beginning did create our first parents, Adam and
Eve, and did sanctify and join them together in marriage; Pour upon you the
riches of his grace, sanctify and bless you, that ye may please him both in
body and soul, and live together in holy love unto your lives’ end. Amen,”
the minister said, pronouncing the final blessing before the newly married
couple turned to face the congregation hand in hand.
“I hope he knows what he’s letting himself in for,” Lydia’s youngest
brother, Graham, whispered.
Lydia had to try hard not to laugh as Caroline and Edward now walked arm
in arm down the aisle, nodding to them as they passed.
But Graham was right. Caroline was not an easy person to get along with.
She was Lydia’s only cousin on her mother’s side, and as the only girls in
the family, it had always been assumed the two of them would get along.
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