Something Old, Rebecca Connolly [ebook reader for laptop TXT] 📗

would change what he felt right now. It was as though he had entered the church this morning and had watched the vision of Lily walking down the aisle toward him, flowers in her hair and smiling just for him. He had vowed to love her, to honor her, to have and to hold her, and making those vows that morning had given him a heady rush of emotions where she was concerned that he was entirely unprepared for. As though life would suddenly mean nothing without her.

Except he hadn’t made vows this morning. He had not been in a church, and Lily had not walked down an aisle toward him. And on the day that he had married her, he hadn’t felt exhilarated, and she certainly hadn’t smiled for him as she walked down the aisle.

But he was feeling a heady rush of emotions where she was concerned, and he was feeling that life would mean nothing without her.

So did that mean she was still his bride? If he felt as though his life with her had just begun, had just taken on the meaning he’d always sought, could that explain how he felt as though they had just married and returned from their wedding journey? As though the day did not begin until they had seen the other? How had he suddenly fallen helplessly and hopelessly in love with his wife when he had loved her for years?

“Mr. Granger, you seem a trifle confused, my boy.”

He shook himself from the stupor of adoration and almost managed a polite smile as he turned to face the person he least expected to encounter that evening, Lady Tabitha Raeburn.

Although apparently, she would soon be married again, her fourth or fifth husband, and would soon be Lady Tabitha Tinsdale. He’d never adjust to that.

“Confused?” He forced himself to complete the smile he hadn’t managed. “Lady Raeburn, what could I possibly have to be confused about?”

“Precisely my question, sir,” Lady Raeburn blustered in her usual way, her vibrant red hair more outrageously bright than he had ever seen it. “You have a beautiful wife, and this celebration is for her sister. Rather simple, I find, and yet your expression would have me believe otherwise.”

Thomas allowed himself to give the bold woman a politely scolding look. “You are too observant for your own good, my lady.”

Lady Raeburn did not so much as bat an eyelash at his statement. “I’ve been told. Will you give me satisfaction?”

“To what?” he replied, intentionally aloof, not feeling particularly keen on being accommodating where her curiosity was concerned.

Her glower was startling in its potency, and he swallowed with marked discomfort. “I do not take that tone from anyone, Granger, and though I like you immensely, I shall not take it from you, either. If you do not wish to tell an interested party what it is that has you so discomfited at this time, I’ll not press you, but you needn’t be mysterious. So vulgar, and you are above such things.”

Thomas considered that. “Am I? Hmm. Interesting.”

Lady Raeburn exhaled loudly in irritation but said nothing. There was no telling what a toll that restraint had taken upon her, given her usual proclivities.

Thomas finally chuckled, relaxing despite the discomfort being at this event gave him. Lady Raeburn had always been very good where he was concerned, and though she was outspoken and eccentric, he had never had any reasons to be the slightest bit put out with her. “I’m only considering my feelings for my wife, my lady.”

Looking both startled and pleased, Lady Raeburn smiled before narrowing her eyes. “What’s there to consider? You are fond of her, are you not?”

“I love her,” Thomas admitted before he could stop himself, not entirely regretting having that truth expressed. “And I thought that had settled within me, but tonight, I find it feels new.”

“Rather disconcerting, is it not?” Lady Raeburn exhaled sympathetically, shaking her head. “One would wish for one’s feelings to be as steady as one’s character, rather than always dashing here and there on a whim.”

Thomas nodded at that, taking the chance to stare at his wife from across the room, his heart expanding with heat as she smiled, though it was not in his particular direction. It did not matter; his wife’s smile would always catch his breath and set him alight.

“Don’t you wish those traitorous emotions would set themselves aright?” Lady Raeburn asked from beside him, her voice somehow distant, despite being directly beside him.

“Yes,” Thomas murmured, nodding still. “And yet, no. Not at all.”

“You enjoy the tumult?”

Thomas found himself smiling, his throat tightening as Lily’s eyes landed on him and her smile deepened. “Where Lily is concerned? I rather think I do. I’ve no wish to be perfectly comfortable there. Wouldn’t it be marvelous to always be surprised by how I love her?”

“I do believe you are growing sentimental, Granger.”

“Undoubtedly. In many respects, that would unnerve me. But not in this.”

Lady Raeburn hummed a soft laugh. “I believe I rather like this version of you.”

Wrenching his eyes from his wife, Thomas grinned at the woman who saw so much. “So do I, my lady. So do I.”

“What is Tibby saying to my husband?”

“Who on earth could predict anything where my aunt is concerned? One can only hope she’s giving him an earful on his faults.”

Lily gave Marianne a long-suffering look. “Please…”

Marianne only raised her brows. “What? I know you love him, my dear, but I do not, and feel no compulsion to. Gemma would agree with me, were she still standing here. I believe she despises him more than I do.”

“And neither of you give me any comfort by doing so,” Lily snapped, closing her eyes to keep herself from truly growing distressed. Gemma had left their little group to attend to her duties of hosting the event, and so far, they had avoided discussion of Thomas at all. Now, it seemed, they would not be so fortunate. “I was going to