Epilogue
“You can’t escape him now you have married him, you know,” Lord Anthony Ashton whispered in Lisbeth’s ear as they watched Oliver bow over Anna’s hand as their dance ended.
“I suppose I will just have to learn to live with him then,” she replied, a small smile at the edge of her lips.
The wedding had been an intimate affair. Her grandmother had hosted the ceremony at her townhouse and neither Oliver nor Lisbeth had protested. It was what both of them had wanted, just family and good friends. Both the bride and groom had been on time, and no one had been remotely surprised.
“I believe that you are both going to be very happy together. He adores you.”
“Thank you, Lord Anthony. I adore him, too.”
Oliver and Anna arrived back, and Oliver kissed Lisbeth’s hand. “May I have this waltz, Lady Bellamy?”
Lisbeth smiled. She liked how it felt on her face. “Why yes, you may, Lord Bellamy.”
Anna and Ashton both smiled at each other as the newly married couple made their way to the small dance floor.
“Finally,” Oliver said. “It feels like an age since I had you in my arms.”
Poor Oliver, Lisbeth thought. The last few weeks had been hard on him, but a wedding could not be arranged in haste, and her grandmother would not be overruled on the subject.
When finally they waltzed together, she felt there could be no more perfect moment to tell him the news she had been keeping.
“I presume you know about spring?” she began.
Oliver laughed as they went through a turn. “I’ve vaguely heard of it, why?”
“What usually happens in the spring?”
He gave her a concerned look like she might have indulged in too much champagne. “Flowers bloom? Not that spring ever came this year.”
“Yes, but what else happens?” she urged.
He gave her a pained look. “Must I guess?”
She flashed her eyes in return. “Yes.”
“Erm… lambs frolic?”
She smiled for encouragement.
He sighed again. “I must confess I have no idea what your point is.”
“Well, it is just that there may be a certain lamb frolicking its way into our lives this spring.”
She waited as his frown of confusion disappeared and understanding dawned. “No, really?” he said, but his smile betrayed the words. They made a turn, and he dipped her carefully. “Well, well, a lamb of our very own, eh? Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’ve known for a week or two. It is still early days, and I was concerned it may have been a false alarm.”
He kissed her forehead, then her nose, and then, tenderly, her lips. “You are such a clever girl,” he whispered into her ear. “Oh, how I love you, my wonderful, beautiful, darling wife.”
It made her tingle all over and suddenly, she had the overwhelming impulse to look at his watch to see what time it was. She wanted him alone. She wanted to be naked in his arms. She wanted to show him how much she loved him.
“I didn’t do it on my own, you know. We are both very clever to have picked each other to fall in love with.”
They danced then in silence just looking into each other’s eyes.
“She must have your eyes. I insist,” he said in a confiding tone as he rested his forehead on hers.
“She?”
“Absolutely!”
“And what would we call her?”
He thought about this for a moment. “Petunia.”
“Petunia,” Lisbeth agreed. “And if it rebels and comes out a boy?”
“Henry.”
Lisbeth smiled again. “Perfect.” Then, “I shall be hideously fat, you know.”
“And still, I will love you,” he said, as if amazed by the notion. “My dear, darling Lisbeth, you have given me a happiness I thought I would never have—a family.”
“I shall love you for an eternity, at least. I hope you are prepared.” This seemed to please him immensely, but she knew he could not comprehend the full magnitude of how much she loved him.
How much she would always be grateful for the night he took on The Black Raven Wager and demanded entrance into her life.
A life which was no longer cursed by the black raven, bad luck, or death.
Only happiness. She was determined to show him every day how grateful she was.
An unusual feeling came over her whole body, warming her from the inside out. She realized it was joy. A true and wonderful feeling of hope and contentment that had always felt so far out of reach filled her heart to overflowing. She felt tears prick behind her eyes.
“I hope those are tears of happiness?” he asked, a frown upon his brow. He wiped away her tears with the gentlest of touches.
She hastened to reassure him. “Yes, oh yes, they are. I could not be happier than I am right now.”
Later she may tell him how she had wept with joy when the doctor had confirmed her pregnancy.
How all the memories of her sweet little son had come flooding back, reminding her of how much she missed him and filling her with doubt.
She knew the future for this baby; their baby would be so very different.
For this child would be born from love. This child would grow up loved and cherished by both parents.
She would never forget Daniel for he would always hold a special place in her heart no matter how many other children she may be blessed with.
Oliver pulled her closer, his warm brown eyes alight with love for her. “I do believe I will kiss you now, wife.”
She laughed. “I do believe I will kiss you back, husband.”
Finally, they had found a home for their wayward hearts, in each other.
The End.