Epilogue
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Norman asked Susan.
She laughed. “The guests will be arriving at any moment, and you ask me this now?”
“It’s only a few days since you were ill,” he told her.
“But I’m doing fine now,” she reassured him. “You know that. I’ve had lots of sleep and plenty of good meals. I feel stronger than ever. And I’m very excited to have my sisters over tonight, as well as your aunt and cousin.”
“I still wonder whether we ought to have invited your father,” Norman mused.
Susan shook her head. “That’s not a good idea,” she said. “Not while Leah is in town. Father would likely try to make her go back to her husband.”
“That monster?”
“He believes she has a duty to try to set things right. Of course, Marina and I will do whatever we can to prevent that. So we can’t let Father find out that Leah is here.
Once she’s safely back in Scotland, we can let him know that she came.
There will be nothing he can do then. But no, he shouldn’t have dinner with us tonight. ”
“That makes sense to me,” Norman said. “And you’re right—the guests are about to arrive. But before they do…”
He took her in his arms and kissed her deeply and passionately.
Susan gave in to the kiss, as she always did when he reached for her these last few days.
The kisses had been frequent and delicious, as if they had finally given themselves permission to do something they had both ached to do for a very long time.
If Susan had had her way, they would have spent all their time, every day, in one another’s arms.
She reveled in the strength of him, the firmness of his grip, and the way his hands cradled her. The musky male scent of him, so foreign to her at first, now becoming familiar and comforting.
When they pulled apart, they were both smiling giddily.
“Are you sure you don’t want to cancel the dinner?
” he asked her. “You look so lovely. I know you dressed up for company, but we could stay up here and spend time together, just the two of us. I appreciate that gown much more than my aunt or my cousin will.” He smiled at her.
Susan smiled back, but something he had said had sparked her nerves. “Your aunt doesn’t like me.”
“Oh, that isn’t true.”
“It is true. That’s why she wanted us to annul the marriage.”
“No, that isn’t why. She thought we were in it for the wrong reasons. She wanted us to have a marriage based on love.”
“And she didn’t believe that we had that.”
“Well, we didn’t,” Norman pointed out. “She saw through our deception. But now there will be no deception. What she’ll see from us now will be the truth, and she will believe it, because she’s always seen through our lies.
Now will be no different. She’ll see us together today, and she’ll know that what’s between us is true. She’ll be on our side.”
Susan bit her lip and nodded slowly. She wasn’t sure exactly why Aunt Tabitha’s approval meant so much to her. Maybe it was because the conflict between her and Norman had begun when she had heard Aunt Tabitha talking about her. It was hard to get past that moment.
Norman put an arm around her. “Don’t worry,” he said. “We’ll face her together.”
And Susan recovered her courage. “You’re right,” she agreed.
“We’ll face this together, just as we face everything else together.
” She smiled at her husband, and he smiled back, and she was filled with confidence.
Whatever came tonight—whatever came for the rest of their lives—they would manage as long as they were side by side.
“You’re looking so well,” Marina enthused, flinging her arms around Susan. “One would never know you had been ill at all!”
“Norman has been taking very good care of me,” Susan said with a smile.
Marina laughed. “I knew you two were going to fall in love. Haven’t I said it right from the start?”
“I can’t deny that you have,” Susan said. “You know a great deal more about my life than I do sometimes, Marina. Perhaps I ought to listen to you more often.”
“I’ve been saying that for years,” Marina grinned.
Leah hugged her next. “It’s so good to see you, Sue. I knew you would recover quickly, but even so, you did have us worried.”
“I’m sorry I let it all get to me,” Susan said. “I know I should have been stronger.”
“No, that’s not true at all,” Leah said.
“Matters of the heart can be one of the most difficult things in the world to navigate, and it is no surprise to me that you were struggling. I’m only glad that you and Norman were able to work things out and to find your way back to one another, because you deserve to have love in your life. ”
“Perhaps a trip to Scotland will be in order soon,” Susan mused as the sisters went into the dining room. “I’d like to meet your Lachlan.”
Leah laughed. “He’s not my Lachlan.”
“Not yet,” Marina trilled. “But once you’ve gotten your divorce… who knows? Anything is possible. And if he is as wonderful as you’ve made him out to be, it’s difficult to imagine that anyone could be more worthy of our eldest sister!”
They sat down at the table and were joined by Norman, Lady Keethroad, and Michael, who had been conversing together before coming in to dinner.
At once, Lady Keethroad eyed Susan. “Norman tells me that you went to stay with your sister,” she said.
They had agreed not to keep that detail secret, lest it should come out and look as if they were trying to cover something up.
“That’s right,” Susan said. “My eldest sister, Leah, is in town.” She nodded at Leah.
“The three of us haven’t been able to spend any time together in a very long while, and we were anxious for some uninterrupted time. ”
“And you didn’t want to host them here?” Lady Keethroad asked. “I’d have thought Heathmare would be the best place for such a gathering, given how large it is. Your husband is the son of a baron, is he not?” she asked Marina.
Marina held her head high. “Our estate may be small, but I am more than equal to the task of hosting my sisters,” she said firmly.
“We had a wonderful time during our stay together. And I’m sure that Susan will take the opportunity to host us here at her earliest convenience, but we are in no rush.
She and Norman have the rest of their lives together, after all. ”
Lady Keethroad nodded slowly. “Provided the marriage lasts,” she said. “Not all of them do, you know.”
Norman put his fork down. “That’s more than enough, Aunt Tabitha,” he said. “You’ve made your opinions clear on this matter.”
Susan saw the pain and anger etched on her husband’s face. It made her heart ache for him. And, she thought, he shouldn’t have to face this on his own. We agreed that we would handle it together, and that doesn’t just mean him taking care of me.
“Lady Keethroad,” she said. She kept her voice firm but polite.
“I understand your concerns. Truly, I do. I had the same concerns when my sister Marina married her husband, because I didn’t know him, just as you don’t really know me.
We all want to know that our loved ones are in the best possible hands.
We all want the people we care about to build lives with people who care for them just as much as we do.
I know that’s all you’re worried about.”
“You understand why it would be concern, then,” Lady Keethroad said, narrowing her eyes. “I know the two of you married for the sake of convenience, and I would have liked to see my nephew marry someone who truly loves him.”
“Sometimes love takes a little bit longer,” Susan said.
“I won’t deny that it took time for me to feel it.
It’s difficult to get to know a new person, harder still to come to trust them.
But in the time I’ve known him, Norman has been wonderfully open to me, loving and caring, and the two of us have managed to build a relationship on our own terms. You’re right to think that we were not in love on the day we married, but I can assure you that your nephew is now the love of my life and the best thing that has ever happened to me.
If your concern is that he has love in his life, you need not worry. As long as I’m around, he always will.”
She held Lady Keethroad’s gaze as she said this, recalling the number of times she had fibbed about this very thing.
Today, there was no deception in her. It was the complete, honest truth.
It was difficult to give voice to it in front of all these people, to make herself vulnerable like this.
But she would do much more difficult things than this for Norman’s sake. She would have given him anything.”
“Well,” Michael spoke up, “I don’t see how we can ask more than that, Mother.” To Susan, he added, “That was beautifully said. I’m very happy for you both.” He raised a glass and smiled at her, and Susan found herself smiling back.
“I suppose you’re right.” Something had softened in Lady Keethroad’s face. “I didn’t realize you felt that way, Susan.”
“Neither did I,” Susan said. “As I say, it took some time—but I came to it in the end, and I’m very grateful that I did.”
The tension around the table seemed to ease. Norman picked up his fork and resumed eating.
Leah reached over and squeezed Susan’s hand under the table, and Susan felt herself flush with pride.
She had stood up for her husband. And what was more, she had finally stood up for herself.
“It was a good dinner party,” Norman said later that night. “But the best part by far was watching you speak up to Aunt Tabitha like that. I’ve never seen anything quite like it!”
“I fear she’ll like me even less now,” Susan sighed. “She’ll think I’m too outspoken.”
“No, not at all. This is Aunt Tabitha we’re talking about—she appreciates a lady who knows her own mind.
I think she gained quite a lot of respect for you this evening,” Norman said, resting his hands on Susan’s shoulders.
“I myself can’t say the same, since I already had all the respect in the world for you, but I have to admit I greatly admire the way you handled things tonight.
I’m more proud than ever of the lady I married. ”
Susan smiled, feeling warm all over. “Perhaps we should have my sisters here to stay,” she mused. “Leah won’t be going back to Scotland any time soon after the news she shared when dinner was over. She’s sending for her son, so he can come and stay too.”
“If that would make you happy, we should certainly arrange for it,” Norman agreed. “I must say, I wasn’t sure how to respond to your sister’s news, though. The death of one’s husband is a somber affair.”
“Yes,” Susan said. “I’m not pleased that George is dead, I won’t go so far as to say that—but I am very glad that he is out of her life. He was a terrible presence.”
“Then I, too, am glad he’s gone,” Norman said, wrapping his arms around Susan. “And I’m very glad that you are still here.”
Susan rested her head on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart, smiling softly.
“We’ll be together forever,” she murmured.
“Forever,” Norman agreed, his hand loosening her hairpins so he could play in the soft tresses, another thing they had both become fond of in recent days. Susan closed her eyes, luxuriating in the feeling. “Forever—and that starts right now.”
And he bent to kiss her.
The End?