About a third of the way through one of my current works in progress, my heroine and hero marry. It is a marriage of convenience–her wealth for his protection. She has a cousin who wants to control her finances; he has inherited a bankrupt estate and some rapacious relatives.
So a lot more to go, but I hope I get some of the challenges they face into wedding scene. The first half was in a post last month on the wedding bouquet. Here’s the second. Please let me know what you yjoml in the comments. And if you’re an author, I’d love you to share a wedding of your own.
She had attended weddings in Greenmount, and was familiar with the ceremony, but it was different as a bride. The admonitions, the solemn declarations, the vows, that moment when Peter placed his ring on her finger—every word resonated with some deep and previously unsuspected romanticism in her soul.
From this day forth, she and Peter were bound together, the bond between them as deep as the links of blood, no longer individuals from two different families but a couple in a family of their own. In sickness or in health, for richer, for poorer, they repeated after the vicar.
Ariel’s mind echoed the phrasing: in happiness or in misery, in love or in hate. She had seen both conditions in the families that lived in Greenmount. Marriage was for a lifetime. As she stood before the vicar, gazing at Peter with her hands in his, hope swelled. She had been prepared for a cold alliance, a marriage of convenience. With Peter, she could dream of so much more. Kindness, respect, even friendship. And perhaps children.
The vicar pronounced them husband and wife, and called on them to sign the record of the marriage, then said, with a flourish, “Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Lord and Lady Ransome.”
Peter tucked Arial’s hand in his arm, and turned them both so that they faced their witnesses. Clara was wiping her eyes with a handkerchief. Miss Pettigrew smiled as if she was personally responsible for the wedding, and proud to have pulled it off. Angelica and Violet were so happy they bounced. And Mr Richards, who truly was responsible for the wedding, beamed broadly.
Behind the small group of chairs, the servants stood silently, every one of them with smiles on their faces and several with tears in their eyes.
Then Captain Forsythe broke the spell of stillness in the room by grabbing Peter’s free hand and shaking it. “Congratulations, Peter. I am so happy for you.”
The two girls hurried forward to speak to Peter, and Captain Forsythe turned to Ariel. “I’ve always thought Peter was a lucky devil, Lady Ransome, and winning you for a bride proves it.”
Arial thanked him, though she was inclined to think the luck was on her side. She held out her arms to the girls, and received an enthusiastic hug from Violet and a shy one from Angelica. Then Clara was there, laughing and crying, and Miss Pettigrew with modest good wishes for the happy couple.
