In a way Julia was quite relieved to take his hand and hold it all the way to the feast. Perhaps she didn't know Liam Sinclair, but for the moment he was the only one that she felt was truly sympathetic to her anxiety and fears. After all, he'd admitted himself that he hadn't any say in this union either. That he seemed very genuinely interested in getting to know her, and seemed to be trying to help put her at ease certainly didn't hurt either. Yes, so far she thought that she could learn to get along with Liam.
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Sitting on the dais, once again at the center of attention, had Julia on edge. She did her best to hide it, smiling and politely laughing where appropriate. For the most part she didn't touch much of the food. Still not sure she trusted her stomach not to turn on her from anxiety. When offered wine, she nodded, waiting for it to pour before doing her best to sip it slowly and to not let her hands tremble and give away how badly she wished to be somewhere else.
Ben's last story had her pale, smile faltering and eyes widening. Julia had been trying very hard not to think about the wedding night. She'd been convincing herself for weeks that she was prepared to fulfill her wifely duties, but honestly the idea of being so intimate with a man she didn't actually know, regardless of a ceremony that said they were man and wife, frightened her quite a bit.
"Yes, I remember! What a wedding that was, but I think this one has been quite befitting my precious girl. I am thrilled we could come to this arrangement Ben, only the best for ours, right?" Her father's words did little to reassure her, she'd basically been sold to Liam like cattle, but she already knew that.
Rupert Vasile, youngest of the five Vasile children and notoriously spoiled brat, heard the story too, which gave him ideas. Used to being the center of attention, this whole wedding nonsense had been driving him mad. What was so special about Julia today? She was still boring old Julia! He couldn't understand why she had to get all the attention today, or the past couple weeks as wedding preparations had been intense at home with dress fittings and being told what to do and expect.
So, armed with this new fascinating information, especially after seeing his sister's reaction to it, Rupert started making the rounds to the various tables, looking for the most drunk and obnoxious guests and sowing the idea of ushering the newly weds out of the party. Once Liam and Julia were gone he could get all the attention like he should have been getting to begin with!