Epilogue
Manchester Square
Marylebone, London
Cornelius came into the rooms he shared with his wife that evening with a bouquet of hothouse flowers in hand. “Penny, the carriage has been called. It’s nearly time. If we don’t leave now, we’ll be late for your brother’s engagement ball.”
Interesting, that, for Birchfield had finally sorted himself enough that he’d allowed himself to find a romance of his own.
Apparently, it had happened during Christmastide the year before, and he’d kept it quite secret for fear that things might be jinxed.
Not that Cornelius could blame him. Love was a funny and fickle, quite like fate, and when a man was caught up in it, he often wondered if it was real.
He couldn’t be happier for his best, for there had been times when he thought he might lose him over the years. It was far too difficult to pull oneself out of the dark places the mind decided to tread after trauma, but the earl had done it, with the help of his now fiancée.
As he came into the dressing room, his wife of nearly two years emerged from behind the silk privacy screen painted with vines and delicate spring flowers. Though the gown she wore of a dark-red satin suited her complexion and showed her form to perfection, her face was far too pale for his liking.
“Is all well?” he asked upon noting the folded handkerchief she pressed to her mouth and came further into the room.
“Yes, I believe so. Just a bit of an upset stomach.” But when she met his gaze, something deep in the blue-gray depths alerted him that there was more.
“My darling girl, when will you realize that you can’t lie to me? I know you far too well?” After placing the floral bouquet on a small, rose-inlaid table, Cornelius crossed the room to his wife and took her hands. “Tell me. Are you ill? Worried? Is something wrong with Nathaniel?”
Their son was fifteen months old, and he was the most adorable child, already so clever and bright and developing a sense of humor.
He had the blue-gray eyes of his mother but Cornelius’s hair, except the boy’s tended to curl, and he had the most adorable dimple in his left cheek.
Easily, the child was the miracle of his life, and he constantly doted on him.
“Nathaniel is simply lovely,” she said as she came into his arms with a tiny sigh.
“He is upstairs with his nurse and nanny, no doubt dreaming of whatever it is that babies dream about.” The depths of her eyes held secrets and shadows and the wages of experience.
“However, I remember this sickness; I endured it when I was carrying him.”
He uttered a small gasp. “Does this mean…?”
“I think it might.” She rested a palm against his chest, but her smile was bittersweet. “After we lost our last pregnancy, I couldn’t bear to hope, but this one feels different. The sickness is strong where I had none with the last one.”
A wealth of emotions flooded him, but he tucked her into his arms and encouraged Penny to rest her head on his shoulder. “When will you know for certain?”
“I’ll ask the midwife to call sometime this week.”
Unaccountable joy came over him. “Another baby. I’m so in awe of you.” Losing the other one last year had been a dark time for them both, but Nathaniel had kept their spirits up and reminded them that miracles did happen. “It’s a wonderful thing.”
“It is.”
“If you don’t wish to go to your brother’s ball tonight…”
“No, I do.” She pulled back in order to peer up into his face. “I’ve been looking forward to it, and his fiancée is such an interesting woman. And Mama is beside herself with joy.”
“I’ll wager she is.” Having a married daughter with a child and now, finally, her son had taken up the reins of his responsibilities. “You should be resting.”
“Pish posh, Major.” With a playful smack to his arm, she tucked the handkerchief into a clever pocket sewn into the folds of her skirt.
“I’m well enough to attend an event for a few hours.
” She searched his face with her gaze. “Are you happy about having another child? Unless I miss my guess, this one will arrive in September.”
“Sweeting, I’m over the moon but concerned about your health.” He rested his forehead against hers. “We might need to move to a slightly larger house.”
She nodded. “I look forward to it, as long as we remain in this same area. It’s a lovely place to raise children.
We still have the money left to me from my first marriage, and if need be, I can sell some of the parures.
Thank goodness Weymouth’s will specifically noted that he’d left those to me instead of allowing his brother to inherit them.
Nothing is as valuable to me as the health and happiness of you and our growing family. ”
“I feel the same.” He nodded. “What of your bookshop?” A few months after they’d married, she’d met another dream of hers and opened a dear little bookshop in Mayfair called Pages and Quills, where she happily worked around the responsibilities of motherhood and the charities she supported.
As for him, he had a string of speaking engagements throughout the year at various clubs and organizations.
His speeches centered around enduring hardship and keeping a stiff upper lip in the face of obstacles, and though it wasn’t the most fulfilling of duties, it kept him busy and forced him out of the house to mingle with society, when he wasn’t spending his time with his son.
“What of it? Books will endure. I shall simply hire another clerk to assist when I can’t be there due to other commitments.”
“It truly seems as if we are living our dreams.” He cupped her cheek. “Thank you, for giving me all of this. I never thought it possible before you.”
“Neither did I.” When she grinned, his world tilted as it always did when she was near. “You are a good man, Cornelius, but then, I’ve always thought so.”
Slipping his hand to her nape, he gently drew her closer then claimed her lips with his. After a few moments spent kissing his wife, he released her. “We should probably go. This is Birchfield’s grand celebration; I’d hate to miss it.”
She nodded. “I’m happy for my brother. Perhaps our children will have cousins to play with.”
“Imagine that.” As he escorted his wife from the room, Cornelius couldn’t help but grin.
It was miraculous, really, and quite mysterious how the love of a woman could completely change a man’s life and priorities.
When that happened, the difficult days didn’t seem so bad after all, for there was always something to look forward to.
And he was damned fortunate, indeed.
The End