An Unacceptable Arrangement by Victoria Winters Read Free Book Online

the gardens, there was
a rainbow in the sky.
    They entered the family house and stood in
the foyer quickly forming an impromptu receiving line. Cassandra
had an opportunity to greet each of her wedding guests and
introduce them to her new husband. They then headed into the dining
hall where the bridal couple was greeted by the sight of an
exceptional amount of china and crystal on the tables. There was
quite a spread; Cassandra realized that her mother had really
outdone herself. She had never before seen a brunch quite this
extravagant. There were side tables with steaming dishes of bacon,
a plump pink ham, fried tomatoes and onions and mushrooms.
Cassandra’s favorite little crisp rolls were served in bowls and
the kitchen staff was frying up eggs to order, right there at the
tables! There was fried bread, sausages, smoked salmon, black
pudding, hot toast wrapped in white napkins, fresh breakfast rolls,
platters of fruit, including her favorite - figs and dates. There
were several different kinds of marmalades, jams and jellies, honey
and sweet cream. The footmen were traveling amongst the guests
serving champagne or hot coffee – a drink she was becoming very
fond of - and tea, of course.
    Cassandra and Frederic sat down and ate;
everything was most delicious. Cassandra stole a peek at her
husband; he seemed to be enjoying himself. While the ceremony
itself had been somewhat happenstance and the venue a joke, the
menu could not be faulted.
    After everyone had eaten, there was some
mingling and chatting. The string quartet playing in the church had
relocated to the reception hall and a few of the guests indulged in
a bit of dancing. There were no toasts; evidently no one had time
to prepare one. Hayden came and sat at their table, introducing his
Teresa to Frederic. Teresa wasn’t the prettiest of girls, but her
sweet nature was evident. Her love for Hayden shone from her eyes.
Cassandra blanched at the realization that this had been taken from
her, the opportunity to marry someone she was in love with. She
quickly lowered her eyes, hoping her fiancé - husband - had not
seen her expression.
    Cassandra composed herself and focused once
again on her brother and his fiancée. She realized that she liked
Teresa very much. Too bad she would not have the opportunity to
really get to know her. She and Frederic thanked the two of them
for serving as their attendants. As the four sat together, the
vicar approached with their marriage license. Hayden and Teresa
witnessed their signatures and then put down their own. Cassandra
surprised herself with her willingness to sign the license without
hesitation, now that she knew who her groom was.
    Then the bridal couple danced their first
dance together as man and wife. Cassandra looked upon her groom. He
seemed handsome enough and pleasant enough and he smelled good.
Most of all, she liked his carriage, his air of authority. It
wasn’t his fault that her father had ruined her life and he too had
to suffer through this pitiful excuse for a wedding. She certainly
didn’t want to poison her new marriage with a bad attitude. She
decided to take advantage of the opportunity to apologize to his
Lordship.
    “My Lord, I do apologize for this wedding. I
appear to have fallen out of favor with my father and this is the
result. I’m sorry it had to affect you as well. You surely deserve
better.”
    Frederic looked confused and taken aback.
“You do not like your wedding?” He looked around at the good food,
the musicians and the pleasant company. “What is there not to
like?” He was as far from snobbish as it was possible to be for a
man raised to rule a kingdom. He had enjoyed the casual and
spontaneous event; it was much more fun than their formal wedding
would be.
    Cassandra had no response to that. The poor
man, he thought this was a nice wedding! As she’d suspected, he
must be somewhat downtrodden. She smiled sweetly at him, feeling
protective.

    Arthur asked his daughter to dance