Epilogue
Jasper stood before the looking glass in his chamber, trying for the fifth time to make his cravat behave. It seemed to have developed a mind of its own, a rebellious streak that perfectly mirrored his own restlessness.
His reflection stared back at him: a man who scarcely recognized himself. His jaw was clean-shaven, his coat perfectly cut, his hair only slightly disheveled. But beneath all of that civility, his heart was drumming like a boy’s.
Good Lord, he thought, I’m nervous.
The Duke of Harrow—rake, cynic, and eternal bachelor—was about to marry the only woman who had ever made him forget why he had sworn never to.
There came a knock at the door.
“Come in,” he called, tugging once more at the stubborn cravat.
Robert stepped into the room with his usual calm authority, and a smile already tugging at his mouth.
“You look as though you’re preparing for battle,” Robert said dryly.
Jasper laughed. “In some respects, I am.”
“Ah, but this time you intend to surrender.”
Jasper shot him a grin through the looking glass. “Gladly.”
Robert chuckled, moving to the sideboard to pour himself a glass of brandy. “I never thought I’d live to see the day when the great Duke of Harrow would say that word with pride.”
Jasper turned, leaning a shoulder against the dressing table. “Neither did I. But here we are.”
Robert studied him for a moment, amusement giving way to warmth. “You’re happy.”
“I am,” Jasper said simply, almost in awe of the words. “Happier than I have any right to be.”
“Then it is well deserved.” Robert took a slow sip, then added, “You’ve had enough ghosts haunting you, Jasper. It’s time you lived among the living again.”
Jasper nodded, feeling a quiet smile curving his lips. “I used to think marriage was a cage. That a man like me, after everything, was better off alone. But Matilda… she’s made me realize solitude isn’t peace. It’s just emptiness made polite.”
Robert chuckled. “Poetic now, are we?”
“Blame her,” Jasper said lightly. “She’s improved me or ruined me, depending on one’s perspective.”
“I should think improved,” Robert said with mock solemnity. “Though if Cordelia hears you speaking so romantically, she’ll never let us rest.”
Jasper smirked. “She’d like to believe she’s responsible for it all.”
Robert raised a brow. “She is, in part. So is Evelyn. And Hazel, I’m told. You realize, don’t you, that you’ve been thoroughly conspired against?”
Jasper groaned, though he was smiling. “That explains quite a lot. I suspected as much after Cordelia winked at me during the baptism.”
“Then you were slower to catch on than I thought.”
“Apparently,” Jasper admitted, straightening his cuffs. “But I can’t say I mind. If their meddling led me here, they have my eternal gratitude.”
Robert’s expression softened. “She suits you, Jasper. You’ve always needed someone who could meet your temper with spirit and your solitude with warmth.”
Jasper exhaled slowly, his voice quieter now and getting lost in daydreaming about her. “She’s… everything I didn’t know I needed, everything I thought I’d never have.”
Robert’s smile was genuine. “Then don’t waste another moment doubting it. Happiness can be fleeting if one is too proud to hold on.”
Jasper looked up sharply, meeting his friend’s steady gaze. “No pride left in me, Aberon. Not where she’s concerned.”
“Good,” Robert said, finishing his drink. “Because she deserves a man who knows her worth and his own.”
Jasper’s grin returned, though it was gentler now. “You’re beginning to sound like a sermon.”
Robert laughed, setting the glass aside. “Marriage will do that to a man.”
Jasper glanced back at the looking glass, adjusting the final fold of his cravat until it sat neatly in place. For the first time that morning, he felt ready. Not merely dressed, but ready.
He turned to Robert. “Tell me, did you feel this nervous on your wedding day?”
Robert chuckled. “Terrified. But it passes the moment she walks in.”
Jasper smiled faintly. “Then I suppose I’ve something to look forward to.”
Robert clapped a hand to his shoulder. “You have everything to look forward to, my friend.”
And as the clock struck the hour and the house stirred with soft music and the murmur of gathering guests, Jasper felt the truth of those words settle deep within him.
About an hour later, Jasper was at the chapel, with his hands clasped behind his back, with his every nerve alive. He had faced duels, scandals, and Parliament alike without blinking, but waiting for Matilda felt like the most perilous moment of his life.
Robert stood beside him, steady and composed, though there was a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. “Breathe,” he murmured.
“I am breathing,” Jasper muttered.
“Not visibly.”
Jasper exhaled slowly, glancing toward the doors once more. Any moment now.
Then, the music shifted and the doors opened. Matilda stepped into the light.
For a moment, the world ceased to exist. Every sound, every heartbeat, every breath in the room vanished into nothing.
She walked with quiet grace, her gown a shimmer of pale ivory threaded with tiny pearls that caught the light as she moved.
Her brown hair was gathered loosely, with a few tendrils curling at her neck, and beneath the veil her pale grey eyes sought him.
They were so full of life and love that his chest ached.
Robert leaned in slightly. “You’re smiling like a fool.”
“I am a fool,” Jasper whispered back, unable to look away.
As she reached him, she lifted her veil, and she smiled at him. “You look as though you’ve forgotten how to breathe.”
“I very nearly have,” he said quietly.
A ripple of laughter moved through the small gathering. Evelyn and Cordelia were smiling through tears, and even Hazel was dabbing discreetly at her eyes. The ceremony began.
The vicar’s voice was low and steady, the familiar words somehow transformed and more heavy with meaning. Jasper scarcely heard them. His attention was fixed on Matilda’s hands, how they trembled slightly before resting in his, how her fingers curled around his own as if anchoring herself.
When the time came for vows, his voice caught before he began. “I, Jasper Everleigh,” he said slowly, “take you, Matilda Sterlington, to be my wife… and my peace.”
Her eyes glistened. “I, Matilda Sterlington, take you, Jasper Everleigh, to be my husband… and my home.”
The vicar smiled, pausing as if to let the moment breathe. “What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.”
As applause rose softly from their gathered friends, Jasper leaned forward, his voice low for her alone. “You do realize you’ve just married a man entirely unfit for sainthood?”
Her lips curved. “I’ve no interest in saints.”
He laughed quietly and kissed her. The room erupted in warmth and applause. Cordelia’s delighted squeal mingled with Hazel’s quiet sigh of approval and Evelyn’s happy laughter. Even Robert, usually the picture of restraint, clapped him on the back with a broad grin.
When they stepped out of the chapel, sunlight burst around them, brighter than before. The air was filled with flower petals thrown with such enthusiasm by Cordelia that several landed squarely in Jasper’s hair.
He turned to Matilda with a mock glare. “Your friends are insufferable.”
“They’re your friends now, too,” she said, smiling.
“Then I’m doomed,” he replied, but the laughter in his eyes betrayed him.
Hazel approached, serene as ever. “You both look positively radiant,” she said. “It almost makes marriage appear sensible.”
Robert joined her, slipping an arm around his wife. “Almost,” he agreed.
Matilda turned back to Jasper, lowering her voice. “Do you still think marriage is a cage?”
He met her gaze and became utterly undone by her. “Not with you in it.”
She laughed softly, her hand finding his. “Good. Because I have no intention of letting you escape.”
“God help me,” he murmured, grinning, “I should rather be trapped forever.”
As they walked down the steps to the waiting carriage, surrounded by laughter and petals and the soft tolling of wedding bells, Jasper glanced sideways at her: his wife.
He had once sworn never to marry, never to carry on his family’s name. Now, he thought, perhaps there were some legacies worth beginning anew.
And as they climbed into the carriage, Matilda’s hand still warm in his, he realized that for the first time in his life, he was no longer running from anything.
He was running toward something, toward someone.
And it was everything he had ever wanted.
The End?