Epilogue
“Marcus?” Thomas said, standing outside the open door of Marcus’s study.
Marcus rose from his desk, grinning broadly at his friend.
“What a pleasant surprise,” he said, motioning for Thomas to sit and join him. “Please, come in.”
Thomas nodded, accepting the chair across from Marcus’s.
“Thank you,” he said. “I apologise for calling in on you so unexpectedly. But there is something which I need to discuss with you. Though I admit that I am not quite sure how. Particularly just days before your wedding.”
Marcus’s brow furrowed. He had only seen Thomas so serious two months prior, when he was suffering the effects of Edwin’s poison. He thought about the maid’s involvement and his stomach tightened.
“Has something happened regarding Miss Potter?” he asked.
Thomas’s eyes widened in confusion. Then, he shook his head with a small, sheepish smile.
“No,” he said. “She will still be granted mercy for her testimony, and she has just departed for the cottage in Cornwall to which you pensioned her. Everything went according to plan where she is concerned. And Edwin will still never leave his prison cell due to his trail of murders and inheritance fraud.”
Marcus sighed, shuddering.
“And what of the esteemed physician?” Marcus asked. “Did he manage to escape justice?”
Thomas shook his head, a wry smile gracing his features.
“He certainly did not,” he said. “In fact, Mr. Fletcher was implicated in the death of Mr. Morrison, and it was confirmed that his business was tailored toward the more scandalous nobility who seek methods of removing people from their lives permanently.”
Marcus smirked.
“I suppose he confessed,” he said, not expecting the answer he received.
“Yes,” Thomas said matter-of-factly. “He faces transportation to the colonies. I pity those who encounter him there. However, from what I understand, punishment is far stricter and dictated more by religion there than it is here.”
Marcus relaxed, nodding.
“I am glad,” he said. “Miss Potter did not deserve to spend her days in a cell. Edwin, however, certainly does, with such a knack for murdering people who stood between him and any inheritance to which he decided he was entitled. And that physician… may he live long enough to get everything he deserves.” Marcus paused, studying his suddenly grave and nervous friend.
“If all that news is so favorable, what is it that troubles you?”
Thomas sighed. He stared at Marcus, clasping his hands in front of him tightly.
“It is about Edith,” he said, speaking as if he needed to say all his words in a single breath.
“I know this is highly irregular and unexpected, but I have fallen in love with her, and I wish to…” he trailed off, taking in a big rush of air.
He looked frightened, as though he realized that what he had just said was a terrible mistake.
Marcus waited with an intense stare for his friend to finish his thought. When a moment passed, then another, and Thomas still did not speak again, Marcus took a deep breath. He straightened his shoulders, then slowly and deliberately leaned on his desk with his fists on the surface of its wood.
“To what?” he asked, struggling to keep his voice bland and even. “To marry her? To marry my sister?”
Thomas swallowed, nodding.
“Yes,” he said. “I understand that she is your sister, and that we are friends. But love has found us, Marcus. I am sure this comes as a surprise to you, and I certainly did not plan for it to happen. But it has, and I hope you can search within yourself and find the grace to grant us this.”
Marcus bit his lip so hard that he thought his teeth might pierce the skin.
He stood straight again, moving around his desk with slow steps.
He stopped mere inches from his partner and friend, holding his gaze for another silent moment.
He wanted to see if Thomas would speak again; if he had anything else to say in his defense.
But eventually, Marcus could not hold his breath any longer.
“Thomas,” he said, his voice cracking as he chuckled.
“You say it comes as a surprise. But I have known about Edith’s feelings for you, and yours for her, since your very first dance.
I have been secretly waiting and hoping for the two of you to speak of marriage.
” He laughed, clapping his flustered friend on the back.
“And if you are asking for my blessing, my permission to marry my sister, then consider it freely and happily given, effective immediately.”
Thomas stared up at Marcus as realization bloomed in his features.
“You would grant your blessing?” he asked. “You are not angry with me?”
Marcus laughed again and shook his head.
“Of course, I am not angry, my friend,” he said, patting Thomas with gentle firmness on the back.
“In truth, I am quite delighted. I have never seen Edith as happy as she is when she is with you. And I know that you are an incredible man, and that you would take excellent care of her. In fact, I cannot think of any other man who deserves her hand.”
Thomas’s face lit up and his happy, carefree smile returned.
“I am so grateful that you understand, Marcus,” he said, embracing him firmly. “Is it all right if I make my offer for her hand to her this evening?”
Marcus smiled warmly at his friend and nodded.
“As soon as you are ready, Tommy,” he said.
***
By the morning of Marcus’s wedding three days later, Thomas had proposed to Edith, and she had made the announcement to everyone they knew.
Marcus was thrilled to share a part of his wedding planning joy with his younger sister and her wondrous news.
And as Thomas stood beside him at the podium of the altar of Bath Abbey, they shared a knowing smile.
Love had changed both men, it seemed. And they both seemed to understand that they had the two best women in all of England to nurture and foster that love with them.
Marcus could see the same excitement he felt for the future reflected in his friend’s eyes.
For the first time in too many years, Marcus was filled with pure joy.
He hid a smile as he overheard part of a conversation from the front pew. Josephine Barrett was grinning proudly at her husband.
“Can you believe it, darling?” she crooned, holding her head up high. “Adelaide fooled us all, when she was merely trying to cleverly manage her seasons. She would settle for nothing less than the duke she deserved, and now, she is to be a prominent duchess.”
Marcus raised an eyebrow, recalling the tales of familial disappointment Adelaide had shared with him.
He knew that her parents and sisters once considered her to be wild and problematic.
To hear such praise for his bride was reassuring, and he hoped that her parents would continue to speak highly of and to her from then on.
Her father was also clearly proud of his youngest daughter.
He sat in silence, but the expression on his face was admiration, no doubt of the young lady’s courage and transformation.
Marcus knew that Adelaide had always been the sweet, passionate, clever woman with whom he fell in love and that nothing had changed.
But he was glad that her parents could see that all the qualities within her were wonderful, just as he could.
The women who would soon be his sisters-in-law sat proudly beside their husbands, just behind their parents, looking toward the back of the church.
“Can you believe it?” Lady Henrietta Pembroke said, looking at her other sister with wide eyes. “Adelaide has secured the wealthiest duke in all of England.”
Lady Catherine Rutherford nodded; her disbelief bemused as she glanced at Marcus.
“And the one who was allegedly the most difficult to reach,” she said.
Henrietta giggled as she looked back once more.
“It feels like it was only yesterday when we scolded her for her behaviour and bold tongue.”
Catherine nodded, her expression growing wistful.
“Perhaps, we should have daydreamed with her more,” she said.
Henrietta nudged her, glancing at Baron Rutherford.
“Do you mean to say that you are unhappy?” she teased.
Catherine playfully nudged her sister, shaking her head.
“I mean that we might have understood her a little better,” she said, sadness crossing her features. “We were all so hard on her, yet she is the most refined and cleverest of us all.”
Henrietta nodded.
“You are right,” she said. “Perhaps she will allow us to make up our cruel misjudgments and love her as she deserves.”
Marcus smiled secretly, looking away before they discovered he had been listening to their conversation.
She has already forgiven you all, he thought as he recalled the delight with which she had greeted her parents and sisters at their celebration dinner two nights before.
They had been abrasive to her, but the joy she found in the love she shared with Marcus and the gratitude she felt because he survived the attempt on his life allowed her to leave any animosity and resentment behind her and prepare for a beautiful future filled with all her loved ones.
Marcus’s gaze drifted toward a back pew, where a single figure sat alone.
Beatrice, wearing a black dress, sat alone, her chin lifted despite her diminished social influence.
Society had dubbed her responsible for rearing a man who was capable of the atrocities Edwin committed.
Yet she had still chosen to attend her nephew’s wedding and grant her silent support, attesting to her genuine remorse upon learning of Edwin’s true nature.
The news had led to her attending fewer social events, being less involved in political affairs, and spending more time in her home than she did in public.
Marcus knew some of her partial retirement was self-imposed, just as he knew she had risked a great deal of scrutiny and gossip to attend his wedding.
When she met his gaze, he gave her the warmest, kindest smile he could.
“I love you, Aunt,” he mouthed, beaming at her.
Beatrice nodded, her mouth trembling with emotion as she waved to him.
“I love you, darling,” she mouthed back.
Marcus nodded, vowing to help restore her good name.
Edwin was the perpetrator of those horrendous crimes.
Beatrice was as innocent as Marcus himself was and thus did not deserve to be punished for them.
He would speak with Adelaide’s family since they seemed to be so approving of their marriage.
Perhaps, with their commendation, Beatrice’s old friends and acquaintances would welcome her back into their social circles.
At last, the music began to play, and Adelaide began her walk down the aisle.
Marcus’s heart stopped as he stared at his bride in her snow-white silk dress.
It was embroidered with emeralds, as was the silver tiara atop her head.
Her eyes shone bluer than Marcus had ever seen them, and he smiled at her with the same intensity he had felt during their very first night together.
“How did you manage that, Marcus?” Thomas jested beside him.
Marcus gently elbowed his friend, smirking.
“Silence, imbecile,” he muttered with a suppressed chuckle.
The ceremony was lovely. At least, Marcus was certain it was.
The moment Adelaide’s eyes met his, nothing else existed.
There were words from the vicar, vows exchanged, and more words that bound them together as man and wife.
However, nothing was clear until they shared their first kiss as Duke and Duchess of Lochville.
As they signed the wedding registry, their hands brushed together.
Marcus felt a thrill as strong and heated as if they had never touched before.
He led his bride back down the aisle, his eyes burning with passionate possession as he gazed at her.
She smiled up at him with the same heat, love evident to all present.
They accepted their words of congratulations from their loved ones with gratitude, though Marcus knew they were eager to spend their first night alone together as newlyweds.
When they were finally afforded that opportunity, Marcus took his new wife in his arms. They shed their wedding attire in the privacy of their shared chambers, his lips claiming hers for the first time as her husband as they eagerly prepared for what was to come.
“Your Grace,” he murmured as he buried his face in her golden curls.
“Beloved husband,” she sighed as his breath warmed her neck.
They embraced, lying back on the bed. With their first coupling as husband and wife, they removed the last remaining shadows of the past. All that lay ahead of them from then on was a life more beautiful than Marcus had dared to imagine before.
THE END
I hope you had a fantastic time reading “Taming a Beastly Duke”!