Thirty-Three

They were married at ten o'clock in the morning. It had been a private ceremony at Eastland's insistence and had been performed in the small chapel on the county estate. Only a few servants had attended, and when Cassy turned to walk back down the aisle of the chapel, she happened to catch Sheldon's eyes. He seemed pleased, as did the others, who were all smiling, and she managed a shaky smile in return.

Eastland had agreed to the ceremony of wedding breakfast but insisted that it be before tenants and servants, with the gates thrown open to allow the villagers in to partake of whole roasted sheep, oxen and cows. There was even a multitiered bridal cake on one table, intricately decorated with festoons of icing and small pink roses. A variety of foods sat heavily on long tables on the broad lawns of Eastland's country house, and the gardeners had worked feverishly to trim grasses and bushes. An archway of roses cascaded over the chairs where Cassy and Henry were to sit, along with Adel