Though she wouldn’t admit it out loud, Diamond loved the dress. She might feel as if she was being forced to the altar, but the wide ruffled skirt and lace trimmed puffy sleeves fulfilled her teenage dreams. Beneath the lovely gown, she wore what seemed to her to be a closet full of clothes, all deemed necessary by Ari and Victoria, Ari’s sister-in-law and fellow twenty-first-century woman. Pantaloons, chemise, corset, camisole, under petticoat, hoop skirt, and over petticoat were all worn under the outer layer. She hated wearing a corset but had lost weight since coming to the nineteenth century and her maid claimed to have barely tightened it at all.
Yes, a maid, borrowed from Ari, had helped her dress. All the layers, ties, and hooks required the help of another person just to get her clothes on.
The maid has also coiled her hair around her head. A flowered wreath with a gossamer veil, set atop the coils.
Someone knocked on the door.
“Come in.” She expected to see Bryce, who had agreed to walk her down the aisle, but to her surprise, Victoria poked her head in.
“You look lovely,” the older woman said. “I’ve brought your bouquet.” She handed Diamond a spray of white and pink flowers.
“Thank you.”
“I remember my wedding day. We had a double wedding, Ari and I, at the church in Ste. Genevieve.”
“I didn’t know.” Diamond eyed the other woman’s white hair and softly rounded figure. She wore an emerald green gown with black trim and her eyes sparkled with a life that belied her age. “Do you ever regret it? Staying here?” She could hardly believe this little old lady had been born about the same time as she had.
“I miss modern conveniences, the Internet, and proper medical care. But none of that is worth giving up Sebastien and my family.” She sighed. “Though I’d about kill for a diet soda right now.”
“So you were never tempted to go back?”
“I made my choice. I’m sorry you didn’t have the option, but I urge you to make the best of the situation. Eventually it won’t seem so strange.”
Diamond wished she could be as certain. She felt as if she’d been moving underwater ever since Ari told her the stone, and all chance of returning to her own time, was gone.
“I brought you something else,” Victoria said. “From your future husband.”
Diamond reached for the jewelry box. A gift from Jesse. She wished she had something to give him to mark the occasion. Something other than just her dowry. Something personal. She flipped open the lid to reveal a strand of milky white pearls. Real, she assumed.
“Let me.” Victoria lifted the necklace from the box and fastened it around Diamond’s neck. It nestled perfectly in the small area of her chest revealed by the modest neckline of the gown.
“It’s lovely.”
“So are you. Now come, your groom awaits.”
Diamond followed Victoria down to the hotel lobby and into a closed carriage. It didn’t take long to travel to the small church they had reserved for the ceremony. Although raised Lutheran, Diamond rarely attended church and allowed Jesse to pick the venue.
Bryce met them in the vestibule. He wore a black frock coat, white trousers and a top hat. He smiled at her with a hint of malice. “Thought I got free of you fifty years ago, yet here I am, giving you away.”
“I’m persistent,” she said as she rested her hand on his outstretched arm. Too persistent. If only she had not latched onto him and the story she sensed he was hiding.
“We didn’t intend to put you in danger.”
“I know.” She supposed she should feel grateful for everything they had done: the clothes, the wedding, and most of all, the dowry. It secured her a position in the world and gave her the means to support herself. But a blanket of apathy, smothering everything but the primal urge to survive, stifled her gratitude. She didn’t want to be here, in this church, vowing to love, honor and cherish a man she barely knew. All she wanted was to build a fortress and hide within.
“Weber seems a decent sort. You could do worse.”
“He’s a good man,” Diamond agreed. One she might have been happy to marry had circumstances been different. If she didn’t feel trapped. And afraid. Because much as she hated to admit it, fear made her heart pump wildly and her hands sweat. She’d had no appetite for breakfast and now wondered whether she would make it through the ceremony without fainting.
Music swelled, an organ and the sweet sound of a violin. Victoria had offered to play for them.
“It’s time.” Once again malice gleamed in Bryce’s cool blue eyes. Diamond stiffened her spine and fell into step beside him.
There were few guests. With Jesse’s family in the South and Diamond’s mother not yet born, only Ari, Victoria’s husband, Sebastien, and their children and grandchildren occupied the pews. Bryce moved deliberately, leaning on his cane, but it seemed she had only just stepped into the aisle when she reached Jesse’s side and Bryce withdrew to sit by Ari.
“Dearly beloved,” the minister began. The words flowed over her, familiar, yet different in some ways. She repeated her vows, choking only when she agreed to obey, and wondered if words spoken under duress truly counted.
Jesse spoke his vows, his voice as clear and calm as her own.
Does he have doubts? Divorce wasn’t common or easy to get, and although the law afforded Jesse much more freedom, he wouldn’t be able to remarry unless she died or they divorced. Was the lure of her dowry enough to overcome his fears? She met his deep blue eyes. He looked happy. And hopeful. Hopeful for a new beginning?
“I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
The ceremony had zoomed past while she wrangled with her
