"By the powers vested in me by the Commonwealth of Virginia, I declare you man and wife. Charles, you may kiss the bride."
Charlie took her in his arms and slowly, reverently lowered his lips to hers. It was a kiss like a symphony; it began slowly and tenderly and ended with all of the reverence and love Charlie knew how to express.
Before Rebecca could think clearly enough to breathe, a tiny familiar voice rang through the church, "Papa!"
Elizabeth lunged to try and stop the little imp who had managed to escape from Tess’ grip and was making a very determined beeline for her Papa’s legs. She failed.
Charlie had no choice but to tear his attention from Rebecca in order to catch the little girl who was flinging herself at him with abandon. Rebecca could only smile as Charlie scooped her up; she took his arm as the three of them turned to face the assembled guests.
Reverend Williams could not resist the impulse, "Ladies and gentlemen, may I present General and Mrs. Redmond –– and Emily." The applause was mixed with laughter as the congregation greeted the new couple and the child whom all knew would soon be legally theirs.
--*--
The kitchen was a scene of organized chaos. Sarah had recruited several of her family members to assist in the cooking. Reg had taken charge of the wine room. Duncan had organized a group of volunteers to act as servers. The wedding party was due any minute and Duncan and Reg were organizing glasses and bottles of champagne to greet them.
The guests started arriving. They pulled their carriages, wagons, traps, and mounts into the front yard, where men under Tarent’s supervision took charge of them. They then assembled on the front portico, waiting for Charlie and Rebecca to arrive before they entered the house. Finally, Shannon came prancing into the yard, drawing Rebecca’s small trap, which was decked in blue and ivory ribbons. Charlie was driving; Rebecca was holding young Em. All three were smiling and laughing, evidently at something Em had said.
Charlie drew the small carriage to the front door. He took young Em and handed her down to a waiting Tess, then got down himself. He walked around and gently lifted Rebecca from the carriage. Instead of putting her down, he simply walked to the front door and carried her over the stoop, to everyone’s applause. The guests crowded into the house behind them.
When Charlie finally settled Rebecca back on her own feet, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. "Welcome home, General Redmond."
"Welcome home to you, Mrs. Redmond. Shall we stand here and cuddle or shall we greet our guests?"
She sighed, "I would rather cuddle, but I suppose we should be civilized and greet our guests."
"I could just sweep you off your feet and carry you upstairs. We could leave Richard and Elizabeth to cope with the rest of it."
She laughed and whispered in his ear, "I dare you."
Charlie made as if to lift her back into his arms. "You know better than to dare me, darling. And I missed you so much last night."
"Well are you going to stand here and talk about it all day?"
Charlie, in quite a mood himself, decided that this teasing was too tempting, and, sweeping her up in his arms and, he started moving determinedly toward the stairs. As he passed Richard, he whispered, "Handle the guests for me for a while, will you?"
"And, oh, what should I……" He stopped and shook his head. "Never mind, I will think of something."
As Charlie carried Rebecca up the stairs, the assembled guests broke out into gales of laughter. Richard stepped to the foot of the stairs. "It seems our hosts have urgent affairs to tend to, so until their return, please enjoy yourselves."
Duncan and his group of volunteers had been standing at the door, handing out glasses of champagne as the guests filed in. When Charlie reached the top of the stairs and stopped for a moment to put Rebecca down on her feet, Richard raised a glass, "to the Redmonds." The entire company joined him, still laughing.
Charlie, a little breathless, just grinned and tossed a casual salute.
Rebecca gave an embarrassed little wave and took Charlie's arm. "You are a bad man, Charlie Redmond," she teased as they walked down the hall.
He opened the door to their rooms and ushered her in. "I am being no worse than usual, dear. And I do have experience as your lady’s maid. I thought you might like to change into something more comfortable. I seem to remember some lovely green velvet that I suspect is no longer a bolt of fabric. I also thought you might like this." He stepped up and took her in his arms, laying her back a bit and kissing her thoroughly.
She took a deep breath when Charlie let her up. A rather silly smile was etched on her face. "Yes, yes, I suppose I could change." She took a deep breath trying to calm her racing pulse.
"Of course, we could take a little rest before we go down to our guests. Just a few minutes together, on that nice, soft bed?" Meanwhile, he began undoing the many little buttons on the back of her bodice.
"Charlie, if we lay down on that bed, we will not get back up before tomorrow. Now, do you want to have to explain this to all our guests, who I might remind you include Generals Sheridan and Grant?"
Charlie sighed a large, dejected sigh. "No, I suppose you are right." As he continued to undo the various buttons and ties of her dress, he peppered her shoulders with little kisses. "I just…… I just want ––"
Rebecca shivered and moaned quietly as her knees went weak and her stomach dropped. "Charlie...be good."
"Oh, all right my dear, as long as you promise that I do not have to be good tonight."
"I do not expect that either one of us will be good tonight."
Charlie grinned at that comment, then set to work helping Rebecca finish removing her wedding dress and don a more comfortable party dress. The sooner they got back to the guests, the sooner they could bid them good night.
--*--
The guests were cheerfully drinking Charlie’s champagne and munching on little delicacies that were being handed around by the troopers turned waiters. Most were happy and amused by the antics of their hosts, willing to wait until Charlie and Rebecca returned before they began serious celebrating. A small cluster of ladies, centered on Mrs. Williams, were busy noting every flaw, every event that strayed from Southern tradition, every ineptitude of the troopers as waiters. The lovely Misses Reynolds and Simms were part of the crowd. It rankled that Rebecca Gaines had captured such an eligible bachelor, particularly since she had already proven she could not give the distinguished General any heirs.
Elizabeth stood quietly listening to them carry on until she simply could not take it any longer. She finally stepped into the middle of the group, turning slowly and managing to give each one of them a dirty look. "All right. I have had quite enough. From the moment I met all of you, all you have done is continually harp on Rebecca and Charlie. You do not like the fact that they have found each other in this disturbing time and you are miffed that Charlie would rather have an educated and talented lady on his arm than whiney young girls who have no clue what it means to be a woman. And you," she turned to Mrs. Williams, "you hateful, spiteful woman. If you are so taken aback by all of this, then why do you not ride your high horse right out of here? These two people are my dear friends. They are kind, loving, charitable, good Christians. I will not have anymore of your sniping on what should be the happiest day of their lives."
Richard watched as Elizabeth took the hen fest to task with raised eyebrows and lips pursed to keep from grinning outright. My, my, she is a feisty one. If only she could see her way…… Richard shook his head slightly. He had not found the same courage that Charlie had. Perhaps before they left for the spring, he would ask her. Smoothly, he inserted himself at Elizabeth’s elbow. "Excuse me, my dear, but General Sheridan is asking for you."