Bonus Epilogue
Julian was certain that his and Beth’s wedding was the closest a wedding could possibly come to being perfect.
If not for the fact that they couldn’t avoid inviting her family, the day would have been actually perfect.
Still, joining her at the window of their room on their first morning as a married couple washed away any sorrow he’d felt the day before.
Sunlight glinted off her hair, hanging free in long, soft waves. A gentle smile lit her beloved face as she looked out at the dew-speckled back garden.
He stood behind her and slipped his arms around her. “Good morning, Beth.”
She leaned back against him, setting her arms over his. “It is a beautiful morning.”
Julian brushed a kiss over her temple. “Yes, it is.”
Beth turned a little in his arms, just enough to look up at him. “You told me yesterday that you have something wonderful planned for our wedding trip.”
He smiled. “I do.”
“Are you going to tell me what it is, or are you still determined to surprise me?”
“You could attempt to guess.” He sprinkled kisses along her jaw. “But I suspect you’ll not be able to.”
She turned a bit more, leaning fully into his embrace. He held her, utterly and entirely content.
“Will you not at least give me a hint?” she asked.
“Your list.”
Beth laughed almost silently. “My list? Whatever does that mean?”
“You rattled off a list two months ago, and I committed it fully to memory. Our first order of business will be the fulfillment of every item on your list.”
Her arms slipped around him, a wonderfully affectionate arrangement. “I still haven’t the first idea what you’re speaking of, but I am looking forward to finding out.”
“And I am looking forward to watching you realize what it is you’ve forgotten.”
***
Elizabeth spent the most wonderful morning slowly and delightedly pursuing the countless literary offerings at Hatchard’s. As Damion had accurately pointed out the evening of Helene’s dinner, Elizabeth and Julian had a very similar taste in books. It made the outing all the more delightful.
Her beloved husband also vehemently disagreed with her family’s opinion on ladies reading. Julian insisted she purchase the three books that most captured her interest, something her father would never have permitted.
“You do realize, my dear,” she said as they rode away from the bookseller’s in their blue landau, “one of these is . . . a novel.” She barely managed to keep her expression horrified, her attempt at mimicking how her mother would have reacted to the purchase.
Julian laughed, just as she hoped he would. “It seems to me our first stop of the day was a success.”
“Our first? There are to be more?”
He nodded, maintaining the same mysterious look he’d worn most of the morning.
“What is our next stop?”
Julian took her hand in one of his, and with his other one motioned directly ahead of them. From their vantage point, sitting side-by-side on the forward-facing bench with the landau sides down, she had a very clear view of their arrival at Hyde Park.
“We are to take a turn about the park?”
“It is the fashionable hour,” Julian said. “Though ‘take a turn’ gives the impression the carriage will actually move.”
“You will recall I am quite the experienced park-goer.” She pretended to be quite arrogant about it all. “My one and only ride taught me to brace myself against the unfathomable speed with which we will complete our circuit.”
“I will grant you that the speed is ‘unfathomable.’” He matched her feigned haughtiness, nearly setting her to laughing and ruining the moment of amusement. “But it is the slowness of the crawl that is difficult to wrap one’s mind around.”
Their circuit proved every bit as plodding as the previous one had.
They inched around the park, offering and receiving greetings and congratulations on their wedding.
Many seemed genuinely surprised to see them still in London, having assumed, no doubt, that they would have departed Town for a wedding trip to the countryside.
There was no disapproval in their expressions, only curiosity.
Elizabeth’s curiosity grew as well, something that clearly didn’t escape Julian’s notice.
As they drove away from the park, he pressed a kiss to her temple. It was a tender gesture he’d adopted early in her sojourn at Helene’s house, and it was one she hoped he never abandoned.
“Have you disliked your day so far?”
“Not at all,” she said.
“But you are wondering why we have not traveled somewhere.”
Elizabeth tucked herself into his arms. “I am overflowing with curiosity, but I am not unhappy. And I am excited to discover what else you have planned for today.”
She had her answer not long after their return home— how she loved that they had a home. Together. Just the two of them.
And, while she would certainly have enjoyed spending a quiet evening in their home, just the two of them, she was not at all displeased to be spending it with Helene and Robert, who had also invited Damion, along with a married couple who were their hosts’ dear friends, and the younger, unmarried sister of the wife of said couple, who was quite clearly Helene’s current choice for her matchmaking efforts where Damion was concerned.
“When do you depart for the country?” Damion asked Julian and Elizabeth during dinner.
Elizabeth turned a triumphant gaze on her darling husband. “We are going to the country? Is that the surprise you’ve arranged for?”
Damion laughed good-naturedly. “Have I ruined something, Julian?”
“‘Going to the country’ was not on Beth’s list,” Julian said.
“I still have not sorted out what this list of mine is.” She eyed him with a theatrical expression of contemplation.
“Have you not?” His gorgeous smile lit his face once more. “Thus far today we have visited Hatchard’s, gone for a ride in Hyde Park, and attended a dinner party.”
Those three things began to sound extremely familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it, nor could she complete it, though she felt certain there was more.
His smile remained throughout the meal and didn’t fade as they rode away from his sister’s home. Indeed, his grin actually grew as Elizabeth realized they were not driving in the direction of their own home. And, upon reaching the theater, that grin turned into an adorable laugh.
“The theater?” she asked.
“The last item on your list.” He left the explanation at that.
The complications and interruptions inherent in making their way to the private box he had engaged for the night prevented her from pressing further. But, sitting beside him, alone in their box, the performance below not yet having begun, she had the perfect opportunity to do just that.
“There is the most undeniable whisper somewhere in the back of my mind that I know this list.” She watched him for some additional clue.
Julian took her hand and raised it to his lips. He lightly and lingeringly kissed her hand. “The night of your family’s ball, I asked you what you would do if you were permitted to participate in the Season.”
Suddenly it all came rushing back to her. “Hatchard’s. A ride in Hyde Park. Dinner parties. The theater.”
He set his arm around her and tucked her against his side.
“Your family prevented you for far too long from having a Season and enjoying such simple pleasures. I do intend to take you on a wonderful wedding journey, but first I wanted you to have all those things you wished for. A promise that you’ll have all that and more when we return to London. ”
“I didn’t tell you at the time,” she said, “but there was something I wished for far more than anything else.”
“What is it?” he asked earnestly. “You need only tell me. I will do all I can to make that wish come true.”
She set her free hand on his cheek. “You already have, my darling Julian. You already have.”