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‘Maribel…conspicuous consuht hundred guests will expect lots of bling, andtheir jewels’

Later that , finally free of the combined attentions of the hair stylist, the beautician, the manicurist and the make-up artist, Maribel examined her unfamiliar reflection in the bedroom mirror She was secretly enthralled by her appearance Every day of her adult life she had played safe with fashion until she’d fallen own in a bridal portfolio The boned and piped corset top accentuated her tiny waist before flaring out into a glorious full crackling skirt Fashioned in rich gold taffeta and silk, it was a wonderfully glalossy chestnut coils of her upswept hair with a gossaht at the back of her head

The church, a substantial building in weathered stone, was on the Heyward Park estate Its private entrance, allied to the heavy security and a police presence, ensured that the paparazzi could not get closer than the road that lay beyond the solid hedge

‘I admire your calm so much,’ her cousin, Amanda Stratton, remarked sweetly, while Ginny and several parents coaxed the enchantingly pretty flower girls and the lively little page-boys intopairs ‘As Mu to leave Leonidas Pallis standing at the altar’

Maribel frowned ‘Why would I do so like that?’

Ginny Bell leant closer to A The pretty blonde went red and stalked off

‘What was she getting at?’ Mirabel asked her friend in an urgent undertone

‘Maybe the ru you without even the safety net of a prenuptial agreeht of your diarapes of envy and you shouldn’t pay the slightest heed to it,’ the older woman told her roundly

Maribel felt as though she had just received a very sensible piece of advice The sinking spirits she had suffered before y and optie, she reflected, would be what she made of it She breathed in deep as the doors were opened and the sweet an music swelled out into the vestibule The scent of theheavy on the air

Leonidas had nerves as strong as steel, but he had not enjoyed the ot worse He had spent thehe had ever experienced Aware that his supposed stag cruise exploits ht well feature on certain television news channels and on various celebrity websites, he had wondered what he would do if Maribel accessed either before she left for the church On no less than three occasions he had reached the conclusion that he should ive her his version of events first, only to change his ain

‘The bride has arrived,’ his bestat his friend’s perceptible tension and unease, and wondering if he itnessing the reaction of a reluctant bridegroom It was true that Maribel was a comfortable ten minutes late, but Rashad found it hard to credit that Leonidas could have feared that his wife-to-be ht not turn up

Leonidas swung right round to check that information out firsthand And there was Maribel, exotic and vibrant in rustling gold-and-white taffeta that provided a superlative frame for her smooth creamy skin and chestnut hair She lit up the church in a vivid splash of colour and he was so entranced he forgot to turn back again to face the altar in time-honoured tradition

‘Mu off his nanny’s lap with the speed and energy of an electric eel to hurl himself in Maribel’s direction

Leonidas strode forward to intercept his son and he hoisted the little boy high before he could trip the bride or her attendants up Laughter and suests

Maribel’s attention locked to Leonidas and refused to budge In tails and pinstripe trousers matched with a stylish cravat that toned with her dress, he would have olden eyes and it was as if the rest of the world, and certainly everyone in the church, had vanished in a puff of smoke All she are of was Leonidas A sweet, wanton tide of warh her slim frame

Ginny took Elias froers and bent his darkly handsome head to press a kiss to the delicate blue-veined skin of her inner wrist It was h that contact only lasted for an instant, it sent a tingling sensual