emeralds and diamonds ♔ bridgerton

Part 16

i stood in front of the mirror. in the white dress. the veil, perfectly placed onto my hair.

i looked pretty.

but i didn't feel pretty. i felt nervous. like i was doing the wrong thing.

"you look wonderful darling." my momma came up behind me and kissed me on my cheek. i could even feel her nerves. i feel like she didn't approve of this. she loved colin, she always used to ask me when he was coming back.

i closed my eyes, a small smile appearing. i imagined my perfect life, the one i had started when i was just a girl. and i was beginning to live it.

——————————

the tune started to play. we could hear all the people begin to stand up even from behind the large wooden doors that stood in front of me.

the flower girl stepped out. benedict wanted it to be his youngest sister hyacinth. she wore a very light pink dress. daphne chose it, and it suited her well. i could tell she was smiling, ear to ear, even from behind her.

i saw her begin to reach the end of the aisle, my walk of doom. i took one final breath as my father gave me a little nudge of reassurance.

i felt like a solider walking into battle. slowly marching to my grave. instead, i wasn't marching. i was floating. and i wasn't going to battle, i was walking into a marriage.

one foot in front of the other.

i slowly began to hate that sentence. no matter how much i said it, i wanted it gone. but it would never be truly gone. i would always end up in the occasion where those words would have to be spoken again.

i saw benedict. he looked proud, like he wasn't insanely nervous. was he not nervous about this? was he totally sure? colin stood right next to him, i saw his palms glistening with little droplets of sweat. he was nervous. i could see it in the way his knees were locked like a key in a key hole.

i could feel the water droplets in my eyes form from not closing them on this walk. all i could do was look at him. look at my engaged. my love? was it too soon to even begin to think that? was i moving things along in a fast pace?

i felt my father step away as i stepped onto the altar. a counterpart to benedict. everyone sat back down in the little wooden pews.

benedict and i rehearsed this, expect the kiss. he wanted to wait so that it was absolutely perfect.

it got to the point where we said our own words. we were moving so quickly with this. weddings always seemed so long and aggravating in france, maybe it was because they were so boring.

"to my unsuspecting love, i lose all sense of time and place."

he slid the little ring onto my finger as he voiced his words. i barely felt the little piece of metal due to his words. they hit my heart like a archer hitting its prey, and he hit spot on.

i've been both the archer and the prey. i was the archer that foolish day at aubrey hall.

funny, campbell was sitting in the audience. to the right, 5 paces back. i nearly chuckled as i spotted him.

—————————————————————————

benedict knew he didn't look nervous, but he felt as if he was walking through a house full of his nightmares. he wasn't nervous about victoria, he was quite sure about her. but their future togerher? that is was made his breath go shallow.

he watched in total awe as the lady trudged the velvet. he could've watched her do this for years and never get tired of it.

she stood across from him. he never realized how blue-ish green her eyes were before. she didn't seem nervous to him. maybe because she never once made eye contact with him. the only view she got of him was she when kept moving her pupils between the priest and his chest.

benedict wanted to know what she was thinking about. was it about tonight? if she wasn't ready he would wait decades for her. he would wait his entire lifetime.

"to my unsuspecting love, i lose all sense of time and place."

he muttered as he slid the ring onto her finger. he felt all the eyes in the room stab into his fingers. every little movement he made was broadcasted for everyone to see. is this how he was going to feel now that he was marrying her?

"i now pronounce you man and wife."