Unlacing Lilly. Gail Ranstrom

now in the small room, she shivered with a moment of panic. The next knock on that door would be her summons to walk down an aisle and then say two words that would forever tie her to a man she barely knew. Before she left this church, she would be Lillian Manlay, the Marchioness of Olney.

      And with those two little words—I do—her whole life would become a lie. What she wanted would be hidden, what she thought would remain unspoken, what she said would have to be a polite evasion of truth, and what she felt would be denied. Her hands began to shake. Oh, dear Lord! Why had she not realized this before now? Could she do it? Could she commit her life to Olney, submit herself to him, knowing it was all a lie?

      She lifted her massive bouquet from the console table and watched the delicate pink rose petals tremble as if in a wind. Then she remembered another pink rose, the single stem still fresh but now fully opened and lush, in a small vase on the dressing table in her room at Mr. Hunter’s house—the rose Mr. Devlin had given her at Covent Garden. At the moment she’d rather have that one rose given in honesty than her elaborate wedding bouquet as a symbol of the lie she was entering into.

      That single rose…She’d held it to her lips this morning, remembering the brush of Mr. Devlin’s lips against hers. How could such a gesture cause her heart to skip and awaken such a sinful yearning for more? Certainly Olney’s forceful, almost brutish, kisses had evoked none of those forbidden desires. And if Olney was brutish in that much, would he be brutish in more?

      The consummation loomed ahead. She had dismissed her misgivings before, preferring not to think of what was coming. And now she would finally know what he meant when he cast her hot glances and promised her an experience she would never forget. The sudden overwhelming urge to beg off washed over her and she fought it back, reminding herself over and over how much this marriage would mean to her family.

      The next knock caught her unawares and she jumped. Mr. Hunter had come so soon? She tried to squeak out an invitation to come in, but her voice failed her. Instead, she reached out and opened the door herself.

      “Mr. Devlin!”

      He pushed his way in and closed the door. “Miss O’Rourke.” He surveyed her from the top of her bonnet to the tips of her slippers. His lips twitched and she couldn’t tell if he was amused or pleased. “You quite take my breath away.”

      She tore her gaze away from his full, perfect lips—the ones she had just been thinking of. But he must have lost his way. “If you will go down the passageway and turn to your right, you will find the nave. I believe everyone is gathered there.”

      He nodded. “I do not believe I will stay for the wedding, Miss O’Rourke.”

      He was dressed in elegant formal clothes, as if he’d come for the event, but if he had not come for that, why was he here? “Your…your loan? But, as you can see, I do not have my reticule. Did you not say that you would collect from Olney?”

      His lopsided smile almost undid her. “I shall. It is, in fact, the very reason I have come.”

      “Then why are you here? I mean, in the vestry?”

      He shrugged. “I am wondering if you are having second thoughts about walking down that aisle.”

      “Heavens! What has gotten into everyone? Why is everyone asking that question? Have I done something to give people that impression?”

      He laughed. “How many of us are having that same thought?”

      “Aside from my sister, Mr. Hunter and you.”

      “Hmm. Well, it may be that we are more perceptive than the others.”

      “What is it that everyone is afraid of? Olney has been nothing but kind to me. He has stood by his proposal to me even when his parents were less than pleased. Does that not prove he loves me?”

      “It proves that he wants you, Miss O’Rourke, and is willing to pay the price to have you. But it pleases me to hear how much he is looking forward to tonight.”

      Heat scorched her cheeks and she was slightly dizzy. What possible interest could Mr. Devlin have in how much Olney wanted her? The way his gaze swept slowly up her body until he met her eyes was unsettling, to say the least. Not insulting, but far too familiar. Far too knowledgeable.

      He walked in a circle around her and then stopped in front of her again. “As for the wedding dress, I confess it is quite unpleasant. You’d have done better to leave it in the rain yesterday.”