EPILOGUE
Ayear later, on the north side of New Town
Barely able to contain her excitement, Isabella bounced on the balls of her feet as she held her hands over her eyes.
“Can I look now?” she asked, glad Daniel still had his hands on her arms to guide her.
She was sure her slippered feet were on a clipped lawn while the unmistakeable sounds of pounding and sawing could be heard in the distance.
Another new house was going up somewhere nearby.
“You can look,” he said, his voice coming from in front of her.
She opened her eyes, blinking at the sudden brightness. Directly in front of her, Daniel stood watching her as he smiled.
Isabella giggled in delight. “Oh, Daniel, you’re so handsome when you grin like that,” she said, pretending to ignore the structure behind him.
Daniel sobered and scoffed. “You’re supposed to be looking at the house,” he said, stepping aside to give her an unimpeded view of their Gothic Revival house, the two-story structure built with blocks of limestone cemented with harling.
A single turret with windows, its conical roof tiled in slate, stood at one front corner of the house while the rest of the asymmetrical design featured two gables, their roofs also topped in slate.
A pair of Palladian windows framed the arched set of double doors on the ground floor, and above those, the second story featured four rectangular windows.
“It’s gorgeous. It’s just like your drawings,” she said, taking a few steps forward. She paused and glanced down at the lawn. “Is this our grass?”
Chuckling, he took her hand in his. “It is.”
“It’s so green,” she said, her gaze going from the lawn to the house. No ornamental bushes adorned the front of the house, but she knew some would be added soon.
“Let me show you inside. The colorman is seeing to the nursery, so its yet to be painted,” he warned, his gaze darting to where her yellow gown did little to hide her advanced pregnancy.
“What color will it be?”
“Jonquil, of course,” he replied. He opened the front door and allowed her to step inside the hall before he joined her.
She gasped, her gaze immediately going to the ornate plaster ceiling and then to the stone fireplace set in a wall made entirely of stone. The floors, wood planks sanded smooth, had been stained and varnished. A set of spiral stone stairs occupied the turret.
“We’ll have gas heating in the winters, and there’s a water closet upstairs,” he said proudly. “With a shower.”
“We could afford that?” she asked in surprise.
He nodded. “I did some work in trade,” he explained. “A set of plans for the man who did the pipes for both and did all the necessary plumbing.” He pulled her farther into the front hall, the arched doorway directly ahead leading into a dining room.
“We have a chandelier,” Isabella said in awe. Although there weren’t yet any furnishings in the house, she could imagine how the table they had ordered would fit, how a sideboard could be placed at one end.
“A bit of a splurge, but I thought it worth it,” he said. “After hearing Lord McDonald sing the praises of the one he had acquired in Venice, I spoke with an importer and discovered he already had several in his warehouse here in Edinburgh.”
Isabella sighed contentedly. “Is the kitchen close?” she asked, noting a separate door in the back corner.
“The kitchen is at the back of the house, through that door, as are the servants’ quarters. There are rooms for four,” he said, waggling his brows.
Although they hadn’t discussed staff, she knew a cook would be their first hire.
Back in the hall, Daniel said, “The study is over here...” he waved to an arched doorway. “Parlor is in here.” He led her into a brightly lit room adjacent to the front door, its window one of those on the front of the house. “Needs a carpet of some sort,” he murmured.
“I can sew in here,” she murmured, rushing to the south-facing window. “There’s so much light.”
Daniel grinned as he watched her stroll the perimeter of the room. “You could, but... would you like to see the upstairs?”
She paused and directed a suspicious glance at him. “Of course,” she replied, rushing out of the parlor and to the stairs.
“Careful,” he warned. “I shouldn’t want you tripping in your condition.”
An iron railing curved up the outer wall of the turret and ended at a landing while the stairs continued to go up.
“What’s up there?” she asked before she stepped into a corridor that ran the width of the house and ended at a small wall with a window looking south.
“Oh, that’s merely a place from where we can look out on the city,” he replied.
“I could sew there, too?” she guessed.
“Well, you could, but I saw to it you have your own room for your avocation.” He led her to where another corridor went off at a right angle.
There were doors to two rooms on the right and two on the left, and straight ahead was a door at the end of the corridor.
He opened the first door on the right. “Your study, madame,” he said, opening the door to reveal a room papered in a yellow floral pattern.
“Oh, it’s perfect,” she said, happy to see a rocking chair and her sewing basket were already in place, as was a drafting table.
“Am I to share this room with you?” she asked, trailing a hand along the edge of the table. Instead of its top sitting at an angle, the table top was flat.
“No. That’s my old drafting table, but I think you can use it when cutting out fabrics, can you not?”
Her eyes lit with excitement. “I can, indeed.” She had her arms around his shoulders to kiss him before he quite knew what was happening.
He chuckled and took her to the next room, where the door was already open and workmen were inside painting the walls. “The nursery,” he said, before immediately going to the door at the end. “And our bedchamber.”
Isabella gingerly stepped into the large space, her eyes round. “It’s so large,” she said, slowly turning to admire the moldings.
“It only seems that way because the furniture hasn’t been moved in yet,” he countered. He noticed she had stopped to stare at a door in one corner.
“That door leads to what’s behind this door,” he said, taking several steps back. He opened the adjacent door in the hallway to reveal a bathing chamber with a water closet, a cast iron bathing tub, and the piping for a shower bath.
“This is as big as the nursery,” she commented in awe, her gaze darting about until she noticed the checkered tile floor.
“That’s because I made sure all the walls match up and the windows are the same size,” he explained. “The next door room is a guest bedchamber for now,” he explained. He placed a hand on her rounded belly. “Future bedchamber for when this little one outgrows the nursery.”
“You’ve thought of everything,” she said, sighing contentedly. “When can we move in?”
“A few days,” he replied. “I have some laborers hired to bring a dray cart with our furnishings.” He watched as she seemed to study the floor with great interest. “What is it?” he asked.
“We can play chess naked in here.”
He barked a laugh. “I’m not sure we could reach the pieces when we’re in the tub.”
Isabella gave a start. “Who said anything about being in the tub?” she countered, waggling her blonde brows as she grinned in delight.
Daniel chuckled before he visibly reddened. “You’re serious?” he asked.
Grinning in delight, she said, “I have the reputation of a rogue to maintain, or have you already forgotten?”
Wrapping one arm around the back of her shoulders while the other moved to her middle, Daniel said, “Hard to forget when the evidence is so... evident,” he teased, gently rubbing her rounded belly before pulling her into an embrace.
In response, he received a quick kick in the palm and another into his ribs. His eyes rounded in surprise. “Ow! Was... was that him?”
“I should hope so,” she replied, grinning in delight. “Because if it’s a her, I fear she’s going be just like me.”
He lifted a shoulder. “So we’ll simply dress her in jonquil gowns and let her roll around in the dirt,” he teased.
Another kick hit his palm, and Daniel chuckled. “I think she heard me.”
Isabella scoffed. “You do realize that every time you’re being kicked, I am, too,” she complained, although a grin teased the corners of her lips.
“Apologies, my sweet. Mayhap a kiss will help put her—or him—to sleep?”
“I’m willing to try,” she said. She stood on tiptoes to take his lips with hers.
Having gained some experience in the matter, Daniel knew exactly how to return the kiss.