Chapter Thirty-Five
Four months later
Violet slowly made her way down the staircase at Rhys’s house…their house, she corrected herself. She was pleased to see fresh flowers on the round entryway table. Voices came from the music room and she headed inside. Rhys handed a glass of wine to Zeke with a chuckle.
“What’s funny?” she asked as she crossed to her new husband.
“I was just commenting that I never thought I would see the day when Rhys actually invited people to his house,” Zeke said. “I told you that dining table was aspirational.”
“And I told him to fuck off,” Rhys said. “But only because he was right.” He wrapped his arms around her from behind. His hands rested on her very large belly. “Are you sure you are up to having a dinner party?”
“Absolutely. Next week, Adeline and Malcolm leave to go home, and I wanted to have us all together one more time before then.”
The door knocker rang out. Rhys started to answer it, but Mr. Hodgins raced across the front foyer, throwing him a dirty look as he passed by.
Hodgins was constantly exasperated by Rhys’s inability to let the butler do his job.
Rhys wasn’t trying to step on the man’s toes; he was just having trouble adjusting to having servants around to take care of things.
It had been an adjustment for all of them.
When the duke had been formally accused of murdering Robert Barclay, she and Rhys had gone to her house and offered her small staff employment.
In the first few weeks, Rhys had constantly grumbled about all the people in his house.
So had Louisa. Then Max bit Paul, and the footman left to find work in a safer household.
In the end, Violet had found other opportunities for most of the staff, save Mr. Hodgins, Ginny, and Jim.
Louisa and Hodgins seemed to have worked out who was in charge of the household.
Violet still wasn’t sure who that was most days, but things ran along fairly smooth.
Although sometimes, she missed the days when it had just been her and Rhys in an empty house, making love on the purple chaise.
There was a flurry of activity from out in the foyer. Then Matthew, Elizabeth, and their whole family swept into the room.
Stella crossed to kiss Violet’s cheek. “Thank you for having us. I have been dying to see the house!”
Matthew walked in with one hand holding on to Robert’s small hand, and in his other arm, he cradled baby Olivia. He looked around the room slowly. “Rhys, I didn’t know you played the fucking piano.”
“Language!” His wife smacked his shoulder. Elizabeth appeared from behind her husband with a huge smile on her face. She held high a copy of the Piccadilly Press. “Hot off the press.” She handed it to Violet.
Rhys and Zeke gathered around her to read the headline—“Duke of Lavensham Convicted of Murder!”
Rhys whistled low. “They actually did it.”
“Yes, they did.” Hartwick’s low rumble came from the doorway. He and Lucy entered the room with Malcolm and Adeline right behind them.
Plenty of warm greetings were shared, and there was a lot of petting of sweet baby heads.
Violet took Robert’s hand and led him to a table where she’d had lemon biscuits set out just for him.
“Go ahead, ruin your appetite. I won’t tell your mother.
” She gave him a wink. He immediately stuffed two biscuits into his mouth.
Then he offered another one to Max as the dog ambled over to greet him.
They had discovered the dog had a soft spot for children.
She gave Max a scratch behind the ears for being a good boy.
As she straightened, she winced as a sharp pain shot up her side. Strange.
As they all sat down to dinner, the topic of conversation returned to the duke’s conviction.
Hartwick looked across the table at Rhys with his serious gray eyes.
“Today, after the conviction, the king stripped Lavensham of his title and all his property. I made the argument that there was a living heir. But His Highness dismissed it as only rumor. I’m sorry. ”
“It doesn’t matter.” Rhys slipped his hand into Violet’s. “I don’t want anything to do with it. And I certainly don’t need his money. We are happy being Mr. and Mrs. Seaton.”
Violet nodded her head in agreement. “I have had enough of the house of Lavensham to last me a lifetime. This baby, whether it’s a boy or a girl, will grow up in a safe, loving home, and that’s much more important than any title.”
“Here, here.” Kingsbury raised his glass of wine.
“It’s more justice meted out than I ever thought would happen. I am glad that he has lost everything. Now he understands what it is like.” Elizabeth ran a hand over her son’s hair as he sat next to her, eating glazed carrots like they were candy.
Hart and Elizabeth shared a long look between them. Retribution was something they had both waited a long time for. Violet was just glad that her baby would be safe from the duke. “Let us speak of happier things. All this talk of Lavensham has given me indigestion.”
Rhys looked over at her with that little divot between his brows. “Are you feeling unwell?”
“Just fine,” she said, even as she felt another twinge in her side. She was not going to ruin her dinner party by being sick. She smiled brightly at her friends.
“How is your family, Violet?” Adeline asked. “Have you seen them since your nuptials?”
Violet nodded. “Everyone is good. My mother and father came for a visit just last week. My mother said that Jane has become engaged to Mr. Greene, one of the Earl of Dunlop’s younger brothers.
” Although thankfully not the brother who was passed out at the Birdcage that day they’d visited.
Jane’s Greene brother seemed a very serious fellow who appeared to worship the ground she walked on.
It was, in Violet’s opinion, the perfect match.
“They, once again, tried to convince us to come to the country with them, for the health of the baby.”
Rhys snorted. “Not likely,” he muttered.
Violet chuckled. Rhys had not forgiven her family for how she had been treated.
He probably never would. They certainly didn’t trust him either.
An uneasy truce had been put in place between Rhys and her father.
Violet knew her parents regretted how they had used her and had even asked for forgiveness.
But for now, all Violet was willing to give them was the occasional visit over tea, while her husband stood in the corner watching over her, as he always did.
The rest of dinner conversation leaned heavily into the trials of newborn babies, the merits of French style in furniture design, and a showcase of songs from Stella’s new performance in The Beggar’s Opera.
Violet continued to have pangs throughout the meal.
By the time dessert was served—her favorite, apple tarts—she had no appetite for it.
Rhys leaned over. “Sugar, are you feeling unwell?”
This time she was honest. “Yes, I am having these sharp pains in my belly, and I am feeling quite nauseous all of a sudden.”
He stood abruptly. “Everyone, you must go home. Violet is feeling unwell.”
“Rhys, you can’t order everyone to go home!” Her cheeks flamed as all eyes around the table looked at her.
“I can, and I will.” He faced the table at large. “Go home.”
*
Violet held tight to her husband’s hand.
The pressure in her womb was unbearable.
It had been hours since Rhys had kicked everyone out of the house, and the labor pains had continued to worsen as the night wore on.
Ginny had called for her mother. The lady’s quiet competence had soothed both Violet and Rhys as they realized the baby was coming tonight.
But now the midwife was crouched down between her legs to examine her progress, and the intrusive poking of fingers was awful.
“You are ready to push, my lady. Take some deep cleansing breaths to clear your mind for the task,” the midwife urged.
Another labor pain began, and Violet started to panic. She couldn’t do this. She leaned heavily on her arms at the side of the bed as the pain ripped through her. Rhys’s breath was warm in her ear. “You are so strong. So fierce.” He rubbed circles over her lower back until the pain passed.
The midwife came to her other side. “Time to push when the next one hits. Like I told you, you bear down and push.”
Violet shook her head from side to side. “I can’t. I can’t do this.” Tears ran down her face.
Rhys pulled her up to face him. He brushed sweaty curls of hair off her face.
Then he laid his forehead against hers. “Violet, you are so brave. You are a survivor. You will survive this. You have fiercely protected this babe from the minute you knew about it. Now it’s time to meet it. Breathe with me, baby.”
His voice settled in her chest, and she focused on matching her erratic breathing to the steady rise and fall of his chest. As the pain built back up to an overwhelming crescendo, the midwife grasped her shoulders gently and guided her to a squat.
Rhys lowered down with her, supporting her arms, his piercing blue gaze never leaving hers. “You can do this, sugar. Now, push.”
An hour later, she held her baby in her arms. Rhys surrounded them both in the circle of his arms, his back to the headboard.
Violet leaned against his chest, and the tiny baby girl lay on hers.
Ginny and her mother left the room to give them a few moments to themselves.
Rhys kissed her temple. “I am so proud of you.”
“I am proud of me too.” Violet was exhausted, but she was also exhilarated as she stared down at the beautiful child lying on her chest. She brushed her fingers across the downy head of her daughter and down along a perfect little arm to the end, where she counted five tiny fingers.
“I made this,” she said with absolute wonder.
Rhys’s chest hitched behind her. Violet looked up at him as a tear streaked down his face. “She is beautiful, amazing. You are amazing,” he said.
“I think we should name her Lillian. It seems fitting, don’t you think?”
Rhys was silent. She tilted her head to look back up at him.
His lips were pursed tightly together, and his eyes swam with emotion.
He nodded, then reached out to caress the baby’s head.
“Baby Lilly. I love it. I think my mother would too. She would be so happy to see that I had a family to love. You are a blasted miracle in my life. And now you are multiplying them. I love you so much.”
This wonderful man with his big heart was her miracle, her dangerous angel, who had appeared to watch over her when she had most needed it.
There was nothing ordinary about the way they’d found each other, or the way they fell in love, but she had found happiness again in this life less ordinary.
Perhaps their future would hold more sweetness than their pasts.
With this little miracle in her arms, Violet was certain that it would.
The End