Epilogue
London, England
Payton paused outside of the Craven House drawing room’s open double doors and breathed in deeply.
The aroma of freshly baked marmalade tarts and plum pudding remained from their evening meal, giving the entire gathering a festive air.
After they’d dined as a group, she’d excused herself under the guise of fixing her hair and straightening her skirts.
This being the eve before her wedding day, not a single lady present had cause to question her reasons for stepping away from the gathering for a few moments of privacy—each of her sisters had done the same before they gave themselves completely to their husbands.
That was all she’d allow herself—a few brief moments alone.
The gathered crowd awaiting her in the drawing room was a diverse lot, indeed.
Yet they all had one thing in common: they loved her…or Damon.
Many of their guests loved them both.
How things had changed over the past eight months was something akin to magic. Damon had gone out his way every day to show her how grand their life would be together; however, Payton hadn’t needed the reassurance at all.
Fingers gripped her elbow lightly. “Is all as it should be?”
Payton glanced up to see Damon by her side, a place he rarely left since the night he’d confessed his love, and she declared hers in return.
“Yes, very much so,” Payton said with a smile and turned back to take in the room.
Everyone had yet to notice her, and she was fine with having a few moments to take everything in with Damon’s comforting presence by her side.
Her life—its path and the future she’d intended for herself—had changed since she’d met Damon and his children—until she barely recognized anything.
Including herself. “How is Flora acclimating to my expansive family?”
“I believe she is quite taken with the Dowager Lady Cartwright and her support of boarding schools, especially an all-girls school in Canterbury,” Damon sighed. “It has the most preposterous name. However, Lady Theodora appears to enjoy the school immensely.”
“Miss Emmeline’s School of Education and Decorum for Ladies of Outstanding Quality?
” Payton couldn’t help but chuckle. The name was pretentious and nearly too long to say without pausing to catch her breath.
“Theo enjoys the school very much. Simon and Jude traveled to Canterbury to collect the girl for the Christmastide holiday—and our wedding.”
“I certainly hope no one is giving Flora any reason to rekindle our conversations about sending Joy and Abram away to school,” Damon grunted. “However, I am overjoyed Lady Theo could join us.”
“I think we should be far more concerned with Abram departing with Sam and Elijah on one of their worldly expeditions.” Payton risked a glance up at Damon before they both turned in Abram’s direction where he sat with Simon on one side and Elijah on the other.
Her sisters’ husbands had far more in common than either realized, despite their character differences.
An explorer of historical sites and a collector of artifacts, Abram could not have been in better company, especially when he learned Lord Cartwright, Jude’s husband, visited Oliver’s Bookseller on many occasions.
Damon wrapped his arm around her back, settling his hand on her hip. It was a gesture she’d grown accustomed to quickly and missed when Damon wasn’t close. “I think we can both agree that between Canterbury and India—or Africa—we’d settle for the journey that kept him in England.”
Payton remained silent on the topic. She had no doubt that, one day, Abram would use his talents for history to explore the world, discovering long-hidden treasures. And his father would do nothing to stop him.
At that moment, the Dowager Duchess Harwich, or Anastasia as she’d begged for Payton to call her when they met several months prior at Marce’s wedding, looked up and gestured for her to come and sit.
Payton smiled and nodded before she and Damon entered the room, drawing more attention than she was comfortable with.
She’d never been one to blush and bluster, but the increased notice she’d gained since she and Damon had announced their betrothal had been daunting.
Payton took in Marce’s glowing smile as she made her way farther into the room.
It had been an utter shock to learn of her eldest sister’s intent to wed the Duke of Harwich and move to his family estate; however, Payton had learned quickly how difficult it was to be away from the man she loved.
It had made Marce’s departure from Craven House all the more comfortable, knowing she wasn’t deserting their home but creating a new one for herself and the duke—and the children who would no doubt follow.
For once, her sister wasn’t sacrificing her own happiness for her family.
Payton sat on the lounge next to the dowager duchess and across from Lady Wittenbottom and the Dowager Lady Cartwright, who had Joy on her lap, despite the harsh glare of envy coming from Flora.
Could Damon’s sister finally be realizing her grave mistake of treating her niece and nephew as little more than inconveniences to be shipped away?
“Payton”—Anastasia patted her hand—“you have returned, and not a moment too soon, I must say. Explain to Lady Wittenbottom, my dear, that I gift every family member with a new horse. It is the way of things. And Miss Joy and Master Abram will be no different.”
The Dowager Lady Cartwright vigorously fanned her face as Flora’s cheeks reddened.
“A horse?” Joy bounced up and down, nearly tumbling from Lady Cartwright’s lap. “Of my own?”
Lady Theo pushed to her knees from her seat on the floor, smiling broadly at Joy. “Yes, of your very own. Lady Harwich brought my horse to London for my fourteenth birthday. Her name is Polly and she is a beautiful grey mare, though she has developed a bit of an attitude as of late. I adore her!”
When Flora glanced between Payton and over to Lady Cartwright, they both could only shrug.
The conversation brought to mind Payton’s disbelief when she’d arrived at Hadlow Estate for Marce’s wedding to find a horse waiting for each of her siblings. It had been unexpected and rather odd to discover that the Duke of Harwich’s mother had known of all of them since they were young babes.
“Horses, you say?” Damon inquired.
“Oh, Father!” Joy slipped from Lady Cartwright’s lap and bounded over to Damon. “Do say I can have one. Please, oh, please, oh, please!”
Damon’s face grew stern, but Payton noticed the smile he worked hard to suppress. Another oddity she’d become accustomed to in recent months. The baron was not as dour and reserved as she’d suspected. “It was my understanding that you had your sights set on a pony, not a horse.”
Joy’s little face scrunched. “A pony is only a small horse. I am nearly a grown woman, Father, and what fine London lady rides a pony about Hyde Park?”
Laughter filled the room, coming from every corner as the men drifted toward Payton, Damon, and the gathered women.
Her chest swelled with a fullness that she’d never experienced before, despite having such a large, close family. It brought her even more joy to see all her siblings happy, content, and thriving—just as her mother had predicted.
And she…she was done searching.
There was nothing outside that very room Payton needed or would ever long for.
She had her family—and all those that had become family over the last several years—Damon, and his children.
Come tomorrow, they would be her children.
They were all perfect because she’d chosen them…and they, her.
Come tomorrow, she would return to Ashford Hall, not as a governess or a gambler, but as Damon’s baroness.
A family.
Her family.
The one thing she’d rebelled against since her youth had been the only thing to make her happy in the end.
“Miss Samuels.” Abram sat on the floor at his father’s knee and looked up at her. “Did something make you sad?”
Payton pressed her hands to both cheeks, brushing away the tears that she hadn’t realized she’d shed as she pondered how to explain her overwhelming elation to the boy.
“I am not sad at all,” she said, keeping her voice low as others continued to talk around them.
She glanced at Damon to find him staring at her.
When he reached over and clasped her hand, she continued, “I was thinking about all the remarkable things I almost let slip by me, and I am so thankful your father and I came to our senses before it was too late.”
“We wouldn’t have let you slip away.” Joy climbed onto her lap, and Payton noticed that all four of her siblings watched her intently, especially Marce.
Yet, her eldest sister did not look at her as if assessing her every move as she’d done for most of Payton’s life, but almost in a reverent way.
Did Payton possess something her family had feared she lacked?
Whatever the look meant, Payton would not fret over it nor allow it to dampen their festive mood.
“Well, children,” Damon said with a clap of his hands. “It is time for bed. We all have a very busy day tomorrow, and I would not want either of you to miss a second of it. We should be heading back to Ashford Hall.”
“But, Father…” Abram whimpered.
“We cannot depart yet.” Joy pushed from Payton’s lap. “Do you not remember?”
Payton stared between the children, each donning mischievous grins as they hurried from the room. Damon wore an identical smile. He released her hand and stood, as well, making his way to the door.
“What is afoot?” Flora squawked. “I do not like surprises.”
“I am certain it is not anything to do with you, Lady Wittenbottom,” Lady Cartwright hissed, her brow drawing low.
Payton watched in stunned silence as the children returned, Damon trailing behind them. They each clutched the end of a small, rectangular box with a purple bow on top.