Much Ado About Kissing (Howertys #4)

Chapter 6: Wedding Day

Winterbourne Hall, England
July 21, 1816

The Wedding Day

Rain walked through the expansive gardens of Winterbourne Hall with a ridiculously large smile on her face. Guests at their wedding breakfast kept stopping her for a chat and to offer their congratulations. It had been a lovely day with beautiful weather and she was happier than she'd ever been before. When she had travelled to London at the start of the Season, she never would have considered she would be the Duchess of Winterbourne by the end.

The sun was waning, but it was still warm. Servants had lit lanterns across the garden to keep the festivities going. By now, everyone had consumed plenty of food and drink, and the mood was merry. She caught sight of her new husband across the lawn where he stood surrounded by a group of men who were all laughing and congratulating him on his nuptials—or offering joking condolences. He was several inches taller than most of them. A veritable giant among men.

He caught her eye and nodded towards her with a little smile, and her insides did an awkward somersault. To think this handsome man was hers now. That tonight she would share his bed for the first time. Exhilaration mixed with a fluttering of her nerves put a spring in her step. So far, they had only shared a few chaste kisses, but she very much hoped he would be much more passionate tonight.

While she had a theoretical idea of what was about to happen, it wasn't quite the same as knowing it would happen in actuality. She was grateful to her brother's wife, Angel, for having sat her and her sister down as soon as Rain's engagement was announced and told them they could ask her anything they wanted about the wedding night and what to expect from the marital bed. Her sister, Nick, had asked a little more than strictly necessary and she suspected by now she knew a lot more than most young ladies did on their wedding night. When her Aunt Jane had given her the official 'talk' last night, it had seemed quite tame compared to the things Nick had made their sister-in-law tell them.

Another glance at her husband. Her cheeks heated as she imagined them doing some of the wicked things she'd been told about.

"Rain!"

She turned around to find her good friend, Dash, smiling down at her. Of a similar age, they had joined the London society around the same time and had been fast friends ever since. He was a handsome young man with windswept dark brown hair and blue eyes, but was a little too similar in personality to her sister Nick for her to be attracted to him.

Taking a sip from the glass he carried, he gave her a lopsided smile. "To think you are now my sister." He shook his head. "I still can't wrap my head around it."

She laughed. "I'm not sure I have quite understood it myself yet."

"I never thought my brother could charm a woman," Dash admitted with another grin.

"Be kind," she admonished but was still smiling, used to Dash's humour. "I think he is rather likeable."

"One would think." Dash lifted his glass in a mocking salute. "To the happy couple."

Her friend wasn't quite himself, even if she couldn't quite pinpoint why. Perhaps he had imbibed a few glasses too many. "Is something the matter?" she asked.

"No. No, everything is swell."

"Dash?"

He drew a deep breath before smiling at her. "I am happy for you, Rain," he said. "Truly I am. I wish the best for you and my brother."

"Thank you," she said, even if she still felt like something was slightly off with her friend.

"I believe it is time for me to charm some ladies of my own." He grinned and, with a quick bow, he disappeared to speak to a group of her friends.