The hallway was hushed.

Soft shadows danced along the stone floor, filtered through the tall, arched windows of the Burnett estate. The light outside had turned a golden amber, casting a warm hue over the portraits of long-gone ancestors and the white garden lilies blooming beneath the ledges.

Inside the bridal corridor, time had slowed.

Sophie stood just before the entrance to the east garden, a few feet from the ornate double doors that would open to reveal her to the world — and to him. She didn’t tremble. Didn’t shift her weight from one foot to the other. She stood steady, as if the moment had long belonged to...