Gilbert was nervous as he mounted the steps to Anna’s the next day. At his side, a vicar that would marry them, an old friend from his college days who had joined the church with him.

He rapped on the door and was let in. He’d sent a note last night to confirm all was well, and another when he first woke, to let Anna know he was thinking of her.

He was shown to the drawing room, where Anna sat waiting with her father. He sighed at the sight of her. She looked lovely, if a little pale. The rush of the marriage would be unsettling, so he would forgive her any awkwardness that might arise. He felt a little of that, too.

“Miss Beasley,” he said as he stepped forward to kiss the back of the hand she held out to him. “May I introduce an old acquaintance of mine? This is Mr. Jackson Fielding, of St. Bartholomew the Less. He’s graciously agreed to marry us today.”

“Leave off the remarks about my age, Sorenson. I’m only a few days your senior.” He held out his hand to Anna. “How do you do, Miss Beasley?”

“Very well, thank you,” she said, smiling widely. “I am so glad you could be here today to marry us.”

Fielding narrowed his eyes on her. “Are you sure you want to marry him?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well, look at him. He’s not aging well,” Fielding warned, throwing Gilbert a cheeky smile.

“Pay no attention to the good vicar,” Gilbert advised. “The man is nearly blind and in his dotage. I suspect he has only just enough strength in him to get us married.”

Anna laughed softly. “My eyes are perfectly sound, and I think he is perfectly handsome.”

Fielding laughed. “My word, you’ve definitely pulled the wool over her eyes.”

He glanced at Mr. Beasley, noting he also looked a little pale. He made the introductions but wondered if his future papa-in-law might be ill. Although, Gilbert remembered, he had been still toasting the marriage with Carmichael when Gilbert had left the day before.

Gilbert introduced the vicar to her father.

“We need witnesses,” Fielding murmured, looking around the empty Beasley drawing room with a frown.

“They will arrive shortly,” he promised, smiling at Anna’s maid, Jane Lord, as she slipped into the room to view the wedding ceremony from the corner.

Mr. Fielding glanced his way. “Who will they be?”

“Lords Carmichael and Windermere. I believe you will remember Carmichael from school. Lord Windermere is Miss Beasley’s cousin, and his wife will be joining us too, as will Miss Hayes and her parents, along with Lord Carmichael’s godmother, Lady Scott.”

Anna came close and Gilbert took up her hand, wishing he could steal a taste of her lips before everyone else arrived. It was remarkable how often he thought of kissing Anna when he couldn’t be with her. Soon, he’d never have to wait for the perfect moment for kisses ever again.

There was a kerfuffle at the door as the first of his witnesses arrived, full of excitement for the wedding.

After greetings were exchanged, Lord Carmichael pulled him aside. “Are you nervous?” he asked.

Gilbert snorted. “Not at all.”

Carmichael nodded, glancing across the room to where Gilbert’s future bride stood chatting with Miss Hayes. The pair seemed very excited.

“Have there been any developments?”

“Grindlewood has been cleared,” Gilbert told him. “As has Miss Hayes and anyone related to her.”

“At least after today, Anna will be safe,” Carmichael added. He still looked worried but there was nothing Gilbert could say that wouldn’t increase his anxiety. The investigation was now focused on Carmichael’s life and connections, but he didn’t know that yet. Bow Street Runners followed him everywhere, and everyone he spoke to, even in passing, fell under suspicion.

“We have a few days until Friday’s ball.” He patted Carmichael’s shoulder. “Bow Street has committed even more men to the chase. Exeter is funding the venture.”

“Good. I think—”

Mr. Beasley signaled to him impatiently, and they gathered everyone into the drawing room, with himself and Anna standing in the middle before Mr. Fielding.

Fielding smirked at him and then opened his hymn book.

Gilbert had performed a number of weddings before and knew the marriage service by heart. Instead of listening to the words, he watched his bride’s expression as Fielding spoke. He’d never seen her so lovely as when she committed herself to him.

He took her hand, slipped a simple gold band upon her ring finger and sealed their lives together. His name to spare her life. He glanced at the guests, smiling, until he saw Lady Scott’s cold expression. That was another connection of Anna’s he had yet to win over. And he would, after the murderer was caught.

He squeezed Anna’s fingers as the service concluded and kept hold of her hand as they were congratulated by their witnesses.

Anna kept sneaking peeks at him until Miss Hayes joined them. “I always thought I would marry first,” Miss Hayes said immediately after kissing Anna’s cheeks twice and hugging her tightly.

“So did I,” Anna promised, brushing away a happy tear as she laughed.

Gilbert put his arm around his bride’s waist. “I know I am one very lucky man.”

Miss Hayes beamed at him and then returned her attention to Anna. “You will write to me, won’t you, while you are away?” she begged.

“We’re not leaving London,” Anna said at the same time he did.

Miss Hayes appeared disappointed. “I thought you would have embarked on a wedding tour. Didn’t you say you always wanted to visit Cornwall when you married?”

“We’re not going yet.” Actually, Gilbert hadn’t considered a honeymoon trip at all, but now he knew where he would take Anna when the time came. “But we will tour Cornwall soon, I assure you.”

Anna smiled happily at the news.

He looked away a moment to view the other guests. Carmichael appeared a little lost now the ceremony was over, and he was going to leave Anna to speak with him—until he caught Miss Hayes’ next whispered words.

“Are you nervous about tonight?”

There was a telling silence from Anna. Of course she would be nervous about her wedding night, but she had nothing to fear. He turned back to his bride before her friend could put ridiculous ideas into her head to make her dread the coming evening. “Darling, we should circulate.”

“Of course,” Anna agreed. “Excuse me, Portia.”

He looped her arm through his and kept her at his side for the next hour as they spoke to friends. He had to admit, facing Lady Scott felt just a little daunting. Apparently, she had only learned there would be a wedding service as Carmichael’s carriage brought her here. The lady was a little frosty with him but when she spoke to Anna, her voice was full of warmth. “Your mother would have been so proud of the way you comported yourself today.”

“Thank you,” Anna murmured. “I like to think she was looking down on us today. As I was standing beside Father, I felt the strangest sensation across my skin, like a gust of happy breeze on a still day.”

“I’m sure you did,” Gilbert murmured. “My late mother would have loved you, too.”

Then the time came to sit down to the wedding breakfast, a vast feast his bride had rushed to prepare. “This is wonderful,” he whispered to her. “I can see I’ll never starve.”

“No, my lord. I aim to keep you very satisfied at home.”

He raised a brow at that statement. Anna was a fast learner when it came to intimacy, but he did not think she’d meant her words as they had first sounded to him. “I look forward to that,” he murmured, and then dug into what remained of the feast that left nothing to be desired, until it was time to leave.

Full and replete from the wedding breakfast, he said his goodbyes, and then waited for Anna to do the same. Parting from her father seemed the most difficult. He was glad to be away in the end, glad to at last bring Anna safely to his home just as night was falling.

Gilbert’s staff were lined up in the front hall, and he introduced them perfunctorily, conscious they had returned late. The servants picked up on his mood and scattered as soon as he dismissed them, returning downstairs to partake of their own evening meal.

“Let me show you around your new home,” he murmured, snatching up a brace of candles to light the way.

“I’ve been trying to picture you here, writing your letters to me,” she told him.

“Those were written in the parlor. The servants’ staircase is behind the staircase down here to your left. The door to your right leads to the dining room, farther back is the master bedchamber and a dressing room.” He took her to the staircase and they ascended to the first floor, side by side. “On this floor is the drawing room and over there is the parlor. I spend most of my time in that room.”

They stepped into the room and Anna looked about her eagerly. A fire was already burning and a selection of cold food and wine had been laid upon the table already in case they were hungry. Thanks to the sumptuous twelve-course wedding breakfast Anna had meticulously planned and served up, he would have to eat lightly for the next week.

Against every wall of the parlor, piled high on every surface except the chairs, were books he had acquired during his visits to London over the years. He’d never been here long enough to have more shelving installed but he probably should one day. “The library in Kent is just as crowded.”

Anna nodded. “This is a lovely room.”

He leaned close to her. “I’m willing to share,” he promised.

She glanced up at him, eyes bright with excitement and anticipation. “I do hope so.”

That expectant look could cause mischief if he had the time to spare. “Second floor next.” He led her up the next flight by the hand. “I think you’ll find this floor most useful to you.”

“Oh?” she murmured. “Why is that?”

Gilbert opened the door to her new bedchamber. “My housekeeper spent the whole of yesterday in here straightening up so you would be very comfortable.”

A fire burned in the hearth here too, the bed was newly made with fresh linen, and the space decorated with an abundance of sweet-smelling flowers and a dozen or so new pillows scattered about.

“Oh, how lovely and large. I’m sure I will be very happy here.”

“There’s a dressing room through there, a washroom adjoining it, and another smaller bedchamber and closet farther down the hall for any guests we might have one day.”

She nodded and then turned, bottom lip caught between her teeth. She released it to ask, “Where do you sleep?”

“I occupy the ground-floor master bedchamber. You won’t be disturbed by my coming and going.” A little frown line appeared between her eyes, so he hastened to add, “I’ve been keeping very odd hours. I should warn you that Carmichael often stays when he’s feeling low, too. Falling asleep in the parlor if he drinks too much.”

She looked at him with a deeper frown. “Carmichael really did love Angela.”

“Indeed he did. I don’t believe he’s sleeping very much at all, which makes him more emotional than ever.”

“He looked so sad today. At our wedding.”

“Yes, he usually hides his pain better. I’ve been worried about him. The way he’s been drinking isn’t healthy.”

Anna sighed and began to remove her gloves. Gilbert covered her hands. “I will leave you now.”

She glanced at him in obvious shock. “So soon?”

“I thought you might like to be alone to settle in.”

“But tonight is our wedding night,” she protested.

He took her to the window seat and eased her down onto it. Gilbert sat at her side. “It’s not that I want to leave you, but I feel I should.”

“Because we rushed to marry?”

Gilbert nodded.

She appeared very surprised. “You would wait?”

“A week, a month, a year.” Perhaps a year might be too long to wait to be her husband. He did find her very attractive, and he thoroughly enjoyed kissing her and being kissed. But the type of intimacy he wanted required her full and enthusiastic participation, and no doubts. “Whatever amount of time you need is yours.”

A little smile appeared. “Thank you, my lord.”

“Gilbert. Remember?”

She leaned close to him. “We married so I could be alone with you, Gilbert.”

He had wanted to marry a lady who desired him, and apparently he had. “Well, in that case.” He lowered his head a fraction more. “May I kiss you, Anna Bowen, Countess Sorenson?”

She blushed. “Yes, you can kiss me, Gilbert. Anytime you like.”

He bent his head the rest of the way and captured her soft lips with his. Anna lifted and wound her arms around his neck as the kiss deepened. The passion of their first, second, and third kiss flared hot and immediate between them.

Gilbert drew back reluctantly before he could get carried away. “I should give you a few minutes alone.”

Anna’s lips brushed his cheek and then she laughed softly. “Why?”

Her lips were so close to his ear that he shivered. He pulled Anna against his body a little higher, exploring her back and tiny waist with his hands. Leaving his bride alone on their wedding night seemed to have been the most ridiculous notion he’d ever had.

He set her away from him firmly and struggled out of his coat.

A hurried bedding would not impress Anna, and he intended to impress her all night long.