Epilogue
Two weeks of bliss later, Janelle stepped into the castle great room, only to pull up short.
She had flowers in her arms and a vague plan about setting up a display in the dining room.
She’d never spent time on such things but had become enamored of the idea when seeing a young girl gathering blooms that morning.
The little girl planned on giving them to her brand-new baby sister who had been born just that morning, thanks to Janelle’s help.
And now, Janelle wanted to try her hand at flower decor, only to see that Gabriel had beaten her to it.
He stood at the front of the great room by the huge fireplace.
He’d set greens down on the floor and put vases of flowers on the mantel.
And he smiled as he looked up at her, though his expression held chagrin. “I thought you were resting!” he said.
“I was. But then I thought about flowers,” she said, feeling stupid. He was dressed in his military uniform, as exquisitely handsome a sight as she could ever imagine, especially as the late afternoon sunlight dappled his hair. “What is all this?” she asked.
“I wanted to ask you something,” he said as he came to stand in front of her. “Something for just us, while Ben’s in London.”
Despite her husband’s determination to stay with them for the entire month, Lord Benedict had been called away. He was due back this evening, but for the moment, the castle held just her and Gabriel.
“Do you know anything about my father?” he asked.
Janelle frowned. “I…um, no. Nothing much except that he’s the Duke of Torbay.”
Gabriel nodded. “He’s Scottish on his mother’s side, though he tries to hide it.
And if there were any soul I wished to claim from my bloodline, it would be her.
” He lifted the flowers from Janelle’s arms and sprinkled them amid the greenery.
“She was a kind woman, worthy of being cherished. She would have loved you.”
“Did you spend much time with her?”
“Not enough. She found me in the last year of her life. She brought me to live with her in Scotland for one summer. It was the best summer of my life.” He grinned. “Until now.”
Warmth spread through Janelle. She was pleased that Gabriel had had some love in his boyhood. “I want to hear all about it.”
“Soon. But first, there is a thing that they do in Scotland that I’d like to try. It’s not approved of by the Crown, but some traditions are stubborn. It’s called a handfast ceremony.”
Janelle had never heard of such a thing, but she could tell it was important to him. And so she listened, even as he sank down on one knee before her.
“Gabe?”
“It’s a marriage, Janelle, but it has no legal power in England.”
She flushed, looking down at his upturned face. How handsome he was there on one knee before her. How much she adored him.
“Janelle, will you handfast to me? Will you love and honor me as a wife would her husband? As I swear to do the same with you?”
Her breath caught in her throat, her heart beating triple time. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes.”
She sank down to her knees before him, before the fireplace and the array of flowers, and in a pool of sunlight. He matched her pose, holding right hands. She wanted to kiss him right then and there, but it wasn’t the moment. Instead, she spoke clearly.
“I will love and honor you as a wife does her husband, for you are my heart and my soul.”
His eyes shone, and his hand tightened with hers. Then he used his left hand to pull a cord of braided colors out of his pocket. He wrapped it around their wrists.
“These cords are binds between us. Red for love, blue for devotion, black for strength, and green…” He flashed her a grin.
“For fertility?”
“Yes.”
She smiled as she took one end of the cord and wrapped another loop around their wrists. “Devotion, strength, fertility,” she said, “and love. So much love.”
“My heart and soul,” he said.
“Until death do us part.”
“We are wed.”
Then he kissed her, lightly at first, then with increasing strength. And though she was not a fanciful person, she felt the promise in that kiss solidify into a vow, as surely as if his heart and hers were magically linked forever.
It was love, of course. Love that bound them, strengthened them, and overflowed into everything they touched.
Their kiss would have continued. Right there in a bed of flowers, they would have consummated what they had just promised. But they were interrupted.
At some point, Benedict had slipped into the room. He clapped his hands in happiness, startling them and admonishing them in the way that was purely his.
“In order to be legal,” he said, “the vows must be witnessed. Glad I made it home in time.”
Gabriel groaned as he pressed his forehead to Janelle’s. “Ben, must you interrupt?”
“I must!” he said cheerfully as he stepped up to them. And before Janelle could say anything, he dropped another piece of paper in front of them. It landed on the flowers, like an offering to them.
“What’s that?” Gabriel asked as he peered at the sheets of linen.
“That’s really why I had to go to London. Consider it a handfast present.”
Janelle reached for the papers. “What have you done?”
“I bought the brothel.”
“What?” Gabriel cried.
“Well, I can’t very well have my steward’s name all over a brothel, now can I?”
“But Benedict,” Gabriel continued, “you can’t own one either!”
“No, I can’t. But I can sell it to Madame Florina for a tidy profit. On the condition that neither your name nor mine ever be associated with her business again.”
Gabriel stared at Benedict, his mind clearly spinning. Janelle’s was, too, but she recovered quickly. “So he’s free?” she asked. “He’s free of his mother?”
“Completely.”
She grinned as she turned back to Gabriel. “You’re free, my love. She has no hold on you.”
“Free,” he whispered. Then he scooped her up, rising to his feet before spinning them around. “Free!” Then he stopped, setting her gently back down. “And happily bound to you, my love.”
How she loved this man. “I love you, too,” she whispered.
“And I,” Benedict said as he headed to the kitchen, “think I’ll go celebrate my good fortune. You two…carry on.”