The wedding was meant to distract even further, to confuse and to pull attention away from Scarlet Cavendish the spy, to Scarlet Cavendish the fashion expert and eccentric young widow now happily married to a French prince. She hoped it would work. So much depended on the Pimpernel’s identity remaining secret.

She scoffed at the idea that any would suspect her. People would guess she somehow possessed an intimate knowledge of the league. She hoped to portray in an even stronger degree that her involvement was that of a frivolous eccentric, toying with her famous and elusive friends.

Her safety in France also depended on the new title from the prince. As long as she never gave them reason to believe she acted as an enemy to France but only as England’s emissary, she would be shielded, to a certain degree, from the power of the Committee of Public Safety.

She moved to the window, still waiting for the music to cue her entrance into the great hall. Outside, birds sang a lovely chorus. It was all the music she needed.

Of a sudden, so much in her life had come together in blissful perfection; she almost failed to believe it could be happening. Her thoughts turned to Matteo, waiting at this moment near the altar at the head of the hall.

Then her music began, and the doors swung wide open. Every head turned in her direction, and every pair of eyes gazed upon her. She paused for a moment to take them all in, making eye contact with many. Simon winked at her, and Andrew’s smile stretched his cheeks. Then she turned to find Matteo, and everyone else in the room disappeared. His face shone with a brilliance she felt was almost unearthly. As she began her journey down the center of the church, a strong sense of community enveloped her, and the welcoming love from the man at the front almost consumed her. She was sure to be overcome from the whole of it. But her feet kept moving and her heart kept beating, and soon she reached for dear Matteo’s outstretched hand and heard her marriage vows.

Could her heart stretch to include a full life and love for another man? She had wondered, worried, but here she saw it could. The human heart could contain much more love than she’d thought possible. She wondered and thrilled at the thought of further increase with children. She was filled with such an out-of-body expansion and space that she asked the universe if there was no limit to the heart’s capacity to love. Perhaps it could grow to accommodate forever without end if she would but remain open to love.

She heard the words, “Yea, that thou shalt see thy children’s children . . .” and she knew the ceremony was almost at an end. Matteo quirked an eyebrow, his glance taking in her headdress. She smiled and bit back a giggle.