Lord Melvedere's Ghost (35 page)

Jamie
shared a secretive smile with Archie. “Of course, you don’t think
that Portia would give any of us a moment’s peace if she missed
today, do you? Besides, they wanted to be here to
practice.”

“
Practice?” Cecily turned quizzical eyes on him.

Jamie
merely lifted his brows and smiled. Cecily’s eyes flew to Portia,
then Archie.

“
Really?” she whispered, clamping her hands over her mouth to
stifle her cry of joy.

Congratulations were exchanged, along with more hugs and
tears.

“
Come on, let’s get you to where you should be,” Archie said,
clapping Jamie on the shoulder.

Jamie
moved to Cecily and cupped her face in his hands. “See you in a
minute,” he whispered, placing a tender kiss on her upturned lips.
“I love you.”

“
I love you back,” Cecily replied, her lips
quivering.

“
You can thank me later,” he said with a cheeky
grin.

Swatting
his arm, Cecily merely smiled and stood back to allow Archie to
drag him out of the room.

“
Now then, it’s time you were married,” Portia whispered,
hoping she hadn’t got swollen eyes and a red nose. Although the
congregation were strangers, she didn’t want to cause any
embarrassment to her beautiful younger sister by sobbing
uncontrollably through the entire service.

She had
been delighted when Archie had received word that Jamie and Cecily
were to marry – and quickly. Archie had been rather concerned that
Jamie had not behaved all that honourably, and was ready to charge
over to Melvedere to see what was happening, until Portia quietly
pointed out that it was nothing more than they themselves had done.
Archie though had wasted no time in setting arrangements in place
for their own wedding in two weeks’ time.

“
There is a lot to catch up on, dear sister,” Cecily whispered,
glancing at the door.

“
Oh, indeed there is,” Portia replied with a secretive smile.
“We are going to be here for the next several weeks at least.” Her
smile widened at Cecily’s delighted gasp. “When the weddings are
out of the way then we can catch up.”

“
Well, we made it,” Cecily sighed, sharing a careful look with
her sister.

“
Yes, we really did,” Portia replied softly.

Cecily
began to sniff again.

“
Now don’t start that, or we will be in here for another hour
and then Jamie and Archie, and I have no doubt half of the
congregation, will be storming in here to find out what has
happened to us.”

“
Are they all Star Elite?” Cecily asked.

“
Hugo, his wife Harriett and their children are in the first
pew. There is Simon and his wife Francesca with baby opposite.
Archie is Jamie’s best man. Jonathan is there too, along with Pie
and some others, but they are all alone. The rest are staff at
Melvedere, I think. Oh, and there is Jamie’s cousin Florence, and
her step-aunt Tabatha,” Portia replied, studying her sister with
pride.

Cecily
looked simply beautiful in a pale blue dress. The violets she
carried matched her eyes and, together with the small white flowers
dotted around the silken curls piled carefully atop her head, she
was beautiful. Portia knew from the look on Jamie’s face when he
had first set eyes on his future bride that Cecily had made the
right decision in agreeing to marry him. Portia was very grateful
for Jamie’s persistence and, whatever reason had driven him to
offer for her hand the first time round, he had certainly made sure
nothing went wrong the second time.

Jamie
adored Cecily, and didn’t care who knew it.

Portia
sighed and opened the door to Cecily, aware that by doing so they
were opening up the door to a whole new future. All of them had
defied the odds, and now had the future to languish in the success
of their endeavours. For that, they could only be very
grateful.

“
Ready?” Portia whispered, peeking out at the congregation and
nodding toward the organist.

“
Ready,” sighed Cecily and walked down the aisle on a new
pathway of life toward the man who would walk beside her the entire
way.

The
End.

Other books by Rebecca King

The Star Elite – Book 1

Capturing Sir Dunnicliffe – released July 2013

The Star Elite – Book 2

Smuggler’s Glory – Released 20
^th
November 2013

The Star Elite – Book 4

Lord Melvedere’s Ghost – Released 24
^th
May 2014

The Star Elite – Book 5

The Lady Is Innocent – Released 10
^th
June 2014

The Cavendish Mysteries

If You Were Mine – released December 2012

Cinders and Ashes – released February 2013

Chasing Eliza – released March 2013

The Gallows Bride – released May 2013

Children’s Books

Archie’s Battleflat Adventures: The Harriman Mystery –
December 2013