Epilogue
Mrs. Maple glanced up at him in the doorway. “It’s rather chilly out, Your Grace. Don’t you wish to come in side?”
“In a minute.”
“You don’t think he will leave, will you?”
He took his eyes off the cart for only a second to meet her skeptical graze. “You appear just as hesitant as I feel. Is that right, Mrs. Maple?”
A slight tilt of her shoulders moved before they were watching the cart again.
That was what Sebastian had done. He’d already managed to wallop Thomas hard twice in the house.
The young man would be sporting a decent shiner and bruised ribs if he was right.
And when it came to boxing, Sebastian was always right.
A cart, a coat, and two hundred pounds. It’s more than he’s worth. But for Isabel, it will be just right. I hope.
“He might come back for more money,” the housekeeper noted tentatively.
Sebastian shook his head in disagreement. “I don’t think so.”
“No?”
“He’s bold but he’s not brave. And he’s no good at taking a punch.” Sebastian watched the cart finally turn down the lane and disappear into the trees. Nodding in satisfaction, he skirted the housekeeper to come inside at last. “That will be the last of him.”
She closed the door behind them. “Are you certain it’s not because you threatened him ten times over?”
“It could be that as well. Did you hear?”
“I heard. Almost made me shiver in my own shoes. Here I was, thinking perhaps I did have a respectable duke living under this roof after all.”
That made him pause. He wasn’t accountable to her nor anyone else in the household. But he had hoped during his time at Eastwynd recently that everyone had begun to grow comfortable around him. There were fewer stares and anxious footsteps, at least.
“And?” Sebastian asked, wondering if he was going to hear mention about being a beast all over again. He didn’t like the idea of her or anyone else here thinking that. But also he didn’t want to let anyone go.
“And I think a duke can be many things. Including respectable, fierce, and a protector,” Mrs. Maple said simply. She latched the final lock before turning to offer him her docile smile. “Is there anything more I can do for you this evening, Your Grace?”
She was taking this remarkably calm now, which Sebastian was admittedly grateful for. There was still the mess to clean up in the next room. But for the most part, the house was quiet and all was still.
Shaking his head, he told her, “I don’t think so. If you could have a quiet supper tray delivered up to the library, that would be appreciated.”
The housekeeper nodded and went on her way. Into the drawing room she went, ordering the servants to clean up the broken furniture and glass like nothing had happened.
Sebastian sighed and looked down at his hands to note the neat bandages from his housekeeper would remain tight. They covered his knuckles and his forearm. The blood would be trickier to manage on the fabric, but he decided his valet was up to the challenge. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Taking a tentative step down the hall, he still half-expected someone to come tell him to leave. This had begun to feel like home over the holidays but today… Well, a man didn’t usually come raging into his house like this.
It’s like nothing even happened.
His heartbeat, however, said otherwise.
He’d apologized to the household after dragging Thomas to his study and writing him a money order while having the man sign his promise to never bother them again.
Whether a written statement like that might or might not hold up in court, it didn’t matter.
It only mattered that Thomas was fearful enough to leave and never turn around.
Now, Thomas was gone and the house was getting tidied up. Sebastian had his hands wrapped and mended, so all was right again.
Almost. Isabel left. Is she still here? Am I to find her or give her peace?
He had been wondering this for hours now, desperate to see her again and be assured she was well.
Except after his earlier behavior, Sebastian feared she would not receive him.
Maybe she needed time. Maybe she had decided she needed to be afraid of him––there had been that worried look on her brow for just a moment that made him wonder.
As to remind him of her presence, the fluffy white cat emerged from around the corner. Her tail flicked high in the air before she raced over. Bracing himself, Sebastian let Pearl dig her claws into his garments, climbing her way up into his arms in a flash.
“I want my cat back. I didn’t really think Thomas was taking him,” Annabelle had mourned pitifully when Sebastian had swung by with Ronan at his side early that morning.
Sebastian had considered returning Pearl. But then he thought of his wife, the delighted surprise when she received the cat and the pain of seeing Annabelle in his arms. “No,” Sebastian had said at last. “The cat stays where she is. Her home is happier and safer with us.”
He would replace the cat, of course, and would have his steward take care of that situation. Sebastian didn’t like to think of himself as cruel.
Pearl meowed and purred in his arms.
“Tonight,” Sebastian told her quietly. “I’ll give her tonight and, on the morrow, I will go to her. I will explain myself. And I will give her everything she wants and more.”
Even if it means nothing of me or everything of me. She can rip my heart from my chest for safekeeping if that is what she truly desires.
He walked slowly up to the library. It had been an intimidating room to him as a child, but had kept him safe from his father. Now, he knew it was a place where Isabel often lost herself, especially by the fire where they had wound up together multiple times in the quiet evenings.
Even so, Sebastian was surprised to reach the corner of the library and find Isabel there. His grip shifted on the cat and Pearl grumbled before flinging herself from his arms. Forgotten at once, she made herself scarce.
It was for the best because he couldn’t focus on anything beyond his wife.
Pacing back and forth, Isabel appeared trouble as she furrowed her brow and wrung her hands together. She kept flitting her hands up to her chair and through her dress, like she didn’t know what to do with herself. He stopped quietly just in time for her to jerk her head up and gasp.
“Sebastian!”
He hesitated and gave a short nod, not certain of what to say as she rounded the sofa to come to him. Just in case, he braced himself for a shouting.
“I am so sorry,” Isabel told him fervently.
He started at the tone of her voice. The tears were gone, though her gaze was shiny.
She clasped her hands to her chest while she spoke.
“What a fool I was. I knew I shouldn’t trust him.
I don’t know why I did. I have no excuse!
I never should have doubted you and I should never have been blind to my brother.
There’s no reason for you to forgive me for making assumptions.
I should have done better. I should have tried to understand! I don’t know what––”
Sweeping forward, Sebastian closed the distance between them to pull her into a crushing embrace. There were no words to explain the gladness and relief within him. All he could do was show it. She gasped in surprise, clutching him, and their eyes met for a moment just before he kissed her.
The two of them had gone through so much. This marriage had not been easy on either of them, and he had done nothing to help her. No longer willing to play with the risk of losing her, Sebastian was ready to do whatever it took to secure Isabel at his side.
“What was that for?” she squeaked when they paused for air.
Chest heaving, he cradled her face in one hand while the other wrapped around her waist. He studied her beautiful features as he said, “For everything. You wouldn’t have doubted if I hadn’t given you room to doubt. Keeping you at a distance has done neither of us any good.”
“So?”
“So, I’m never letting go of you again,” he told her.
It was Isabel who leaned in next, her lips brushing over his. She did it so feathery-soft once, twice, and then the third time she pressed hard to bury herself into him. Feeling the warmth of her body against him, Sebastian loathed himself for having ever tried to stay away from his wife.
This was the life he wanted, the one he had been too skeptical and scared to believe was possible. For too long, he had denied himself so much from this life. It had been an easy hurt to manage until it was hurting others.
“I love you.”
“What?” Isabel leaned back, breathing hard as well. “Are you certain?”
A low chuckle escaped him. “It is true I’m not wholly convinced I know what love is. But if I have any sense of what it might be, then I must have it with you. No one else has ever made me wish for life so much. It was easy to simply be what everyone expects of me.”
She slowly shook her head. “That’s ridiculous.”
“I have been many people in my life,” he added. “A rich lad, a street urchin, a boxer, and a duke. I have learned these roles well. But now I wish for nothing more than to be your husband. And I swear on my life I will do better this time.”
As she buried her fingers in his hair, holding him close, Isabel’s lips curled up. “I have loved every part of you that I have seen, Sebastian. I just want you. Every part of you. And I know better. I trust you. I only hope I can be a proper wife to you.”
“You already are, my fierce Isabel.”
She sniffled. “You’re going to make me cry and then I’ll hardly be fierce.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll kiss away your tears all night if that’s what you need,” Sebastian promised her.
Then he kissed Isabel again, no longer feeling a single wall set up between them. They were finally on the same side. This was where they would stay, Sebastian resolved, and he would work harder to be the best man and duke and husband he could be to give Isabel the life she deserved.
Maybe he had saved her that night in London, but already Sebastian could tell that Isabel was saving him in more ways than one with their marriage. His heart warmed as he considered the years to come, wondering just how much happiness they might have together.
The End?