Epilogue
As she did most days, Tessa was walking in the forest with her daughter, observing the small seasonal changes and delighting in the creatures of the forest.
“I like it here, Mama,” Flora said confidingly. “I like it best when it’s just you and me, but it’s nice when Papa’s here, too. And Joey.”
Tessa smiled. “I like it here too, sweetheart. It’s a very special place for me. And you know where Papa and Joey are, but they’ll be home later today.”
Having taken an interest in young Joey, and then adopting Flora, it had occurred to Marcus that there were too many unwanted and uncared-for children in the world.
So he’d talked it over with Tessa, and they’d decided to establish a number of small homes for orphans—not big impersonal institutions, but smaller ones, with no more than six or so children, and a motherly woman and a good man to take care of them.
More like a family than an orphanage. And today he was establishing the third one, and had taken Joey with him. Tessa was so proud of them both.
“You know I lived here when I was your age,” she told Flora.
“In the forest?”
“No, in the house beyond the forest, the one that the Sandersons rent.” Flora sometimes played with the Sanderson children. “But I spent a lot of time here in the forest, watching the animals and just playing. Papa used to come here too, when he was a boy. That’s how we first met.”
Flora nodded, satisfied. “And you and Papa saved the vixen.” She liked hearing the story about how they met, and often had Tessa or Marcus retell it.
Flora also spent a lot of time playing unsupervised in the forest, as Tessa had, but she was invariably accompanied by Joey.
With no prompting from anyone the boy had appointed himself Flora’s guardian.
Billy, who spent most of his days with Flora and Joey, usually remained safely at home on these excursions, dealing with a meaty bone under Cook’s supervision. Billy was inclined to chase forest creatures.
“Ferndale will be yours one day,” Tessa told Flora. “The forest and the house and the orchards and everything. Papa and I have set up a trust for you.”
Flora looked up at her with a faint frown. “Will I have to live there?”
Tessa hugged her. Flora was still a little insecure. “No, of course not, darling. Not ever, if you don’t want to. But when you turn twenty-five, it will belong to you and only you. So you’ll always have your very own home that nobody can ever take away from you.”
Flora thought that over, then nodded. “That’s good. And Joey too?”
“Joey will have a home of his own, too. Papa will arrange it.” Joey had worked hard and was proving more than capable and Marcus was very proud of him. They both were.
Flora pursed her lips. “Joey’s going away to school next year, but I won’t have to leave, will I?”
“No, you’ll have years and years with Papa and me first, and you’ll only leave if you want to.” It was three years since they’d found her, and she was growing up fast—too fast, Tessa sometimes thought. But she was a joy to them both.
“There’s our vixen again,” Flora whispered and pointed. Tessa smiled at the possessive note in her daughter’s voice.
They watched for a minute, as the vixen sniffed around, exploring.
“She’s getting fat,” Flora observed.
“Not fat,” Tessa corrected her. “She’s going to have kitts—babies—soon.”
Flora turned and patted her mother’s stomach. “Like you, Mama. Fat with a baby.”
Tessa nodded and said tremulously, “Yes, darling, like me.”
It was her own personal miracle. After years of thinking she was barren, she had hardly even noticed when her courses had stopped—they’d always been erratic.
But six months ago Lady Gosforth had noticed her putting on weight and asked her bluntly when her last courses had occurred. And Tessa, thinking back, had realized.
Still unable to believe it, she’d had herself checked by the local doctor, as well as the village midwife, who had brought hundreds of babies into the world. They both confirmed it. And now, in a few weeks, she was to have her very own baby.
The unexpected possibility of an heir for Alverleigh had delighted Marcus, but Aunt Gosforth was utterly over the moon, and acted as if she were wholly responsible. And after years of believing herself barren, Tessa was simply thankful.
She placed a palm on her belly, feeling the baby moving inside her. Alive and healthy. It was an incredible feeling.
“Can you make it a girl?” Flora said. “Aunt Maude says it will be a nair for Alverleigh.” She wrinkled her nose. “But we don’t need a nair, do we, Mama? I want a girl, a baby sister.”
“A baby boy would be nice too,” Tessa told her daughter. “We don’t get to choose.”
“I suppose not,” Flora admitted grudgingly. “But a girl would be much better, Mama.”
Tessa laughed. “The baby will be whoever God sends us, and we’ll love them whether they are a boy or a girl.”
Flora nodded. “Yes. But especially if it’s a girl.”
The sound of rustling bushes and footsteps caused Tessa to turn. “It’s Papa and Joey,” Flora exclaimed and ran towards them.
Marcus caught the little girl as she hurled herself bodily into his arms. Laughing, he swung her around in a circle, making her shriek with delight.
Tessa watched with a lump in her throat. This man, this quiet, contained, austere, outwardly stern man was so full of love. He was a born father. Both Flora and Joey adored him.
And so did she. More than she would ever have dreamed was possible.
He put Flora down, and she grabbed Joey by the hand and the two children rushed off saying something about the otter pool.
Marcus turned to Tessa with a smile. “How is it that when Flora is by herself, she makes not a sound running through the forest—just like you, when you were a child—but when she’s with Joey, they sound like a pair of excited little elephants? ”
She laughed. “I know. I doubt they’ll see any otters today.”
“In that case, we’d better make the most of our temporary solitude.” He gathered her in his arms, his gray eyes gleaming. “Have I told you lately how much I love you, Lady Alverleigh?”
“You have. And I love you, my darling Marcus, so very, very much.”
* * * * * * *
? Anne Gracie 2026
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