Jewels (20 page)

“I can’t promise that for myself,” William told him honestly, “but I promise you, I’ll send you Sarah.”

“You’ll do no such thing.” She looked angrily at her fiancé for the first time. “You can’t just dispose of me like a suitcase, or mail me home like a letter.”

William smiled at her. “I’m sorry, Sarah. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. But I think your father’s right. If something happens there, I think you should come home. I remember the last war, when I was a boy, and it’s not pleasant living with the threat of invasion.”

“And you? Where would you go?”

“I’d probably have to go back to active duty. I don’t think it looks quite right if the peers all disappear and take a long vacation abroad.”

“Aren’t you too old to go?” She suddenly looked frankly worried.

“Not really. And darling, I’d really have to.”

The three of them earnestly hoped there wouldn’t be a war, but none of them were hopeful as they finished their breakfast.

The following week, Sarah went to court with her father and was given her final papers. Her divorce decree was handed to her, and in spite of everything, in spite of the future waiting for her, she felt a crushing wave of humiliation. She had been such a fool to marry Freddie, and he had turned out to be such a louse. He was still engaged to marry Emily Astor in Palm Beach at Christmas. And she didn’t really care now, but Sarah was sorry she had ever married him at all.

It was only two weeks until their wedding by then, and all William cared about was being near her. They went out constantly, and it was a relief when they settled down to a quiet family meal on Thanksgiving at the apartment in New York. It was a new experience for William and he liked it, and found it very touching to be there with them all.

“I hope you’ll do that for us every year,” he told Sarah afterwards, as they sat in the living room, and her sister played the piano. The children had already been taken upstairs, and it was a nice quiet time among them. Peter and William seemed to get on well, and Jane was enormously impressed with William. She had told literally everyone she knew that Sarah was going to be a duchess But it wasn’t that which impressed Sarah about him, it was William’s gentleness she loved, his wit, his sharp mind, his kindness. Oddly enough, the title seemed to mean nothing to her.

The last week was exhausting for her. There were last-minute details to attend to for the wedding, as well as packing the small things. Her trunks with her clothes had been sent ahead. And she wanted to see a few old friends, but the truth was that she was ready to leave now. She spent the day before die wedding with him, and they went for a long quiet walk on Sutton Place, next to the East River.

“Will you be sad to leave, my love?” He liked her family a lot, and imagined it would be hard for her to leave them, but her answer surprised him.

“Not really. In a way, I left all this last year, even before that In my heart of hearts, I never planned to come back here once I settled on Long Island.”

“I know,” he smiled. “Your farmhouse …” But now, even that was gone. All of its buildings and its land had vanished in the storm that hit Long Island in September. She would have lost everything, maybe even her life, as Charles had. And William was deeply glad she had not.

She smiled up at him then. “I’m anxious for our life now.” She wanted a life with him, wanted to know him better, his heart, his life, his friends, his likes and dislikes, his soul … his body. She wanted to have children with him, to have a home with him, to be his, to be always there to help him.

“So am I,” he confessed. “It has seemed a long wait, hasn’t it?” And there had been so many people around them to distract them. But that was almost over. Tomorrow, at this same time, they’d be husband and wife, the Duke and Duchess of Whitfield.

They stood looking at the river for a moment then, and he pulled her close to him with a serious air. “May our life always run smoothly … and when it doesn’t, may we be brave, for each other and ourselves.” He turned to look at her then with immeasurable love, which was more important to her than any title. “May I never disappoint you.”

“Or I you,” she whispered softly, as they watched the river drift by.

Chapter 10

HERE
were ninety-three friends in her parents’ home that afternoon, and Sarah came down the stairs on her father’s arm looking beautiful and demure. She wore her long, dark hair in a full chignon, and above it a beautiful beige lace-and-satin hat, with a small veil that just seemed to add a touch of mystery when she wore it. Her dress was beige satin and lace, and she carried an armful of small beige orchids. Her shoes were beige satin, too, and she looked tall and elegant as she stood in the flower-filled dining room beside the duke. The dining room had been turned into a chapel of sorts for the occasion. Jane wore navy-blue silk organza and Victoria wore a brilliant-green satin suit, designed for her by Elsa Schiaparelli in Paris. The guests were a group of the most distinguished names in New York, and understandably, none of the Van Deerings were among them.

After the ceremony, where William discreetly kissed the bride and she beamed up at him, knowing that her life had just changed forever, the guests were seated for dinner at tables in the drawing room, and the dining room became a ballroom. It was a perfect evening for all of them, subtle, discreet, beautiful, and everyone thought it was a lovely wedding, especially the bride and groom. They danced almost until the end, and then Sarah had a last dance with her father, while William danced with his new mother-in-law, and told her how much he had enjoyed the wedding.

“Thank you, Papa, for everything,” Sarah whispered to her father as they danced to the strains of “The Way You Look Tonight.” “It was perfect.” They were always so good to her, so kind, and if they hadn’t insisted on taking her to Europe the summer before, she wouldn’t have met William. She tried to say all that to him in the course of one dance, but her voice was too full of tears, and he was afraid he’d cry, too, and he didn’t want to in front of all their friends.

“It’s all right, Sarah.” He squeezed her lovingly for an instant, and then smiled down on his younger daughter, thinking how much he loved her. “We love you. Come and see us when you can, and we’ll visit you!”

“You’d better!” She sniffed delicately, and they danced on as she clung to him for a last time. It was her second chance to be his baby, just for one last moment. And then William gently cut in on them, and looked down at her, and saw not the child, but the woman.

“Are you ready to leave, Your Grace?” he asked her politely, and she giggled.

“Are people really going to call me that for the rest of my life?”

“I’m afraid so, darling. I told you… it’s an awesome burden at times.” What he said was only half in jest. “Her Grace, the Duchess of Whitfield… I must say, it suits you.” She looked extremely aristocratic as he looked at her when they stopped dancing, and she was wearing the magnificent pear-shaped diamond earrings he had given her as a wedding present, with a necklace of matching diamond drops.

They said their good-byes quickly then, and she threw her bouquet from the stairs before she left. She kissed her parents, and thanked them, knowing she’d be seeing them again at the ship the next day when they sailed. She kissed Peter and Jane, and ran out to the kitchen for a last time to thank the servants. And then suddenly, in a hail of rice and flowers, they were gone, in a borrowed Bentley, to stay at the Waldorf-Astoria for the night. There were tears in Sarah’s eyes for a moment as she left them. Her life was going to be so different now. It was all very different this time. She loved William so much more, but they were going to be living so far away, in England. And for an instant, she already felt homesick at the thought of leaving all of them. She was quiet in the car, on the way to the hotel, overwhelmed by her own emotions.

“My poor love.” It was as though he read her mind most of the time. “I’m taking you away from all these people who love you. But I love you, too, I promise you. And I promise that I will always do my best to make you happy wherever we are.” He pulled her tight into his arms and she felt safe there as she whispered to her husband.

“So will I.”

They rode the rest of die way to the hotel holding each other close, and feeling tired and at peace. It had been a wonderful day, but it had also been exhausting.

As they arrived at the Waldorf-Astoria on Park Avenue, the manager of the hotel was waiting for them, bowing and scraping, and assuring them of his abject devotion. Sarah found herself amused by the whole thing. It was so ridiculous, and by the time they got to their enormous suite in the Towers, she was laughing and her spirits had revived.

“Shame on you,” William scolded her, but he didn’t really mean it. “You’re supposed to take that sort of thing very seriously! Poor man, he would have kissed your feet if you’d let him. And you probably should have,” William teased. He was used to that sort of performance, but he knew she wasn’t.

“He was so silly, I couldn’t keep a straight face.”

“Well, you’d better get used to it, my love. This is only the beginning. And it will all go on for a long, long time. Longer than we will, I’m afraid.”

It was the beginning of many things, and William had thought of everything to start their life off happily and well. Her luggage had been brought there that morning, her white lace nightgown and dressing gown had been laid out with her white lace slippers. He had ordered champagne, which was already waiting in the room for them. And shortly after they arrived, while they were still chatting about the wedding, arid sipping champagne in the suite’s little room, two waiters delivered a midnight supper. He had ordered Caviar and smoked salmon, some scrambled eggs, in case she’d been too nervous to eat before, which she had, and she hadn’t wanted to admit to him now that she was starving. And there was a tiny wedding cake, complete with a marzipan bride and groom, courtesy of the manager of the hotel and their master baker.

“You really do think of everything!” she exclaimed, looking like a tall, graceful child as she clapped her hands, looking at the cake and the caviar. The waiters instantly disappeared. William took a step closer to her and kissed her.

“I thought you might be hungry.”

“You know me too well.” She laughed as she dove into the caviar, and he joined her. And at midnight, they were still chatting, although they had finished their supper by then. There seemed to be an endless source of common interests, and fascinating subjects to discuss, and tonight most of all. But he had other things in mind, and at last he yawned and stretched, trying to give her the hint discreetly.

“Am I boring you?” She looked suddenly worried and he laughed. In some ways, she was still very young and he loved that.

“No, my love, but this old man is tired to the bone. Could I induce you to continue this fascinating conversation in the morning?” They had been discussing Russian literature, as compared to Russian music, a subject that was hardly pressing on that very special night.

“I’m sorry.” She was tired, too, but she was so happy being with him that she didn’t mind if they stayed up all night talking. And she was very young. In some ways, at twenty-two, she was still barely more than a child.

The suite had two bathrooms, and he disappeared into his own a few moments later. Sarah went to hers, humming to herself, with her lace nightgown and her slippers, and her little makeup case in her hand. It seemed hours before she emerged again, and he waited for her discreetly with the lights off, beneath the sheets. But in the soft light from the bathroom he could see how stunning she looked in the lace nightgown as she emerged.

She tiptoed hesitantly toward the bed, her long, dark hair hanging alluringly over one shoulder, and even at a short distance he could smell the magic of the perfume she wore. She always wore Chanel No. 5, and just the scent of it reminded him of her whenever he smelled it. He lay quietly there for a moment, in the dim light from across the room, watching her, and she looked like a young doe as she hesitated and then moved slowly toward him.

“William…” she whispered softly “Are you asleep …?” And as he looked at her hungrily, he could only laugh. He had waited five months for this, and she actually thought he had gone to sleep on their wedding night before she got there. He loved her innocence sometimes, and her absurd sense of humor. She was wonderful, but tonight, he loved her even more.

“No, I’m not sleeping, my love,” he whispered in the darkness with a smile. He was anything but asleep as he reached out gently for her and she came toward him. She sat down on the bed next to him, a little bit afraid now that there were no longer any barriers between them anymore. He sensed that easily, and he was infinitely gentle and patient with her as he kissed her. He wanted her to want him as much as he did now. He wanted everything to be easy and perfect and right. But it only took an instant to kindle her flame for him, and as his hands began to drift toward places they had never been, she found a passion awakening in herself that had never before been there. What she had known of love before was limited, and brief, and almost entirely devoid of tenderness or feeling. But William was a very different man than any she had ever known, and certainly a lifetime away from Freddie Van Deering.