Chapter 25

Poppy had forbidden Leo to tell the rest of the family about what had happened with Michael Bayning before the wedding. "You may tell them anything you wish after the breakfast," she had said. "But for my sake, please keep quiet until then. I won't be able to endure all those rituals—the breakfast, the wedding cake, the toasts—if I have to look into their eyes and know that they know."

Leo had looked angry. "You expect me to take you to the front of this church and give you to Rutledge for reasons I don't understand."

"You don't have to understand. Just help me through this."

"I don't want to help if it results in you becoming Mrs. Harry Rutledge."

But because she had asked it of him, Leo had played his part in the elaborate ceremony with grim-faced dignity. With a shake of his head, he had offered his arm, and they had followed Beatrix to the front of the church where Harry Rutledge was waiting.