Epilogue
Ivymere Manor was alive again. Jonathan smiled. No, more alive.
He had never seen anything like it. Their houseguests packed into the drawing room for another evening of conversation, laughter, and entertainment.
After years of being alone, he reveled in the noise—even the sounds of Cupid’s nails clicking on the hardwood floor and playful growls as Margrave wrestled with him over a toy.
“Get him, Cupid,” Sophia called from the table where she was playing whist.
She was partnered with her best friend Octavia, Countess of Ramsdell, and the ladies were handily trouncing the Duke of Stanhurst and Russell Hawke—landed gentry and owner of the Drayton Theater in Marylebone.
Apparently, there was an Old Stanhurst who had caused trouble for Regina and Xavier, but his heir seemed to be well-liked among the crowd.
Evangeline came up to Jonathan with a bright smile that lit up his world. “Uncle Charles has a question about your latest book. I tried to explain, but you’re better at it.”
Jonathan chuckled and placed his arm around her waist. “I’m certain you have done our work justice, but I’m honored by the invitation.”
He loved how genuinely enthusiastic his new family was about antiquities. No more glazed-over eyes when he spoke of drumming or the ritualistic use of rhythmic percussion to induce transient states. He was no longer a crackpot amongst the sea of bodies. He had found his people.
As Jonathan neared the seating area where Aunt Beatrice was knitting away while talking with Claudine Hawke, he heard Aunt Beatrice ask about the playwright’s latest work.
“Rehearsals begin after Christmas,” Claudine said, “but I won’t be in the spotlight for obvious reasons.”
If Evangeline hadn’t told him the actress-turned-playwright was with child, he wouldn’t have known. It was early days, according to his wife.
Aunt Beatrice smiled. “How does your star actor feel about Benny stepping into the role of leading man instead of him?”
“Lars is happy to take a lesser role. He knows I wrote the part for Benny.”
Benny was the giant of a man near the hearth showing off his fencing skills to Xavier, whom he had once held prisoner when Farrin threatened Benny’s life. The two men had formed an unexpected and odd friendship, with Benny being exceptionally loyal to Xavier.
Jonathan chuckled under his breath. He was surrounded by misfits just like him, and it was lovely.
After supper, Evangeline had guided Regina to the most comfortable chair, and Regina’s eyelids were nearly closed.
She would give birth in several weeks. It had taken many letters back and forth between her and Evangeline, but she had eventually agreed to spend her confinement at Ivymere Manor.
Jonathan was pleased. After their time together in Athens and the voyage home, he had become close with Regina and Xavier.
Jonathan stopped by her chair. “Shall I ring for ginger tea?” he whispered.
She smiled, her hands resting on her round belly. “The nausea is gone now, but I can barely stay awake.”
“If you need to retire early, everyone will understand.”
“I know, but I like being with family and friends. Is it a bother if I rest my eyes here?”
“Not in the least. Evangeline and I want to make you feel comfortable.”
Her eyes drifted closed. “My sister did well by waiting for you.”
“I’m very lucky,” he murmured.
His gaze strayed to his wife standing with Dom at the sideboard.
Dom’s face was still ruddy from an evening stroll after supper.
He had insisted on going alone as he had done the past three nights, and Jonathan suspected Dom was feeling adrift.
The Regent’s Consul was dissolving, his father still refused to allow him to come home, and the restlessness in Athens made it unsafe to return.
Evangeline handed him a glass of port and patted his arm before sitting with her uncle on the blue velvet sofa.
Jonathan nodded at Wedmore, and he acknowledged the unspoken. Dom needed a friend, and Jonathan was all he had. He poured his own glass of port and leaned against the sideboard.
“Did you ever think this would be us one day?” Jonathan asked. “I thought we would be under Farrin’s thumb forever.”
Dom grunted and took a sip of his drink. After escorting Farrin back to England, he attended the trial for Farrin and his co-conspirators and witnessed the carrying out of their sentences. None of the men would ever hurt anyone again, but Farrin’s shadow still lingered over Dom.
“I imagine you heard Wedmore received a commendation for discovering the plot and stopping it,” Dom said.
“Not from him directly, but yes.”
Wedmore was too humble to mention it, but Margrave didn’t have reservations about praising his godfather. It was confirmed that no one else had reached the Semkari, and the danger had passed.
“Why do you think he did it?” Jonathan asked, referring to Farrin’s participation in the scheme to restore Napoleon to the throne.
“For power, I assume.” Dom shrugged. “With the threat to England alive again, the Regent’s Consul couldn’t be disbanded. Who else would save the world?”
Thankfully, Farrin had failed.
“You do realize that freedom is a gift.” Jonathan gestured to the room filled with loved ones and new friends. “You could have this, too.”
“Do you truly see me as a family man?” Dom asked with a slight curl of his lip. “I lack the patience.”
Jonathan clapped him on the shoulder. “I think you could figure it out. Take Margrave, for example. I never saw him smile once during training, but now he’s on the floor playing with a dog.”
Dom chuckled. “Lady Margrave has turned him soft.”
“I believe she made him better. I’ve grown, too.”
“I’m not a hothouse plant, Hackberry. A bit of water and tender care will not do me any good.”
It wouldn’t hurt him either, but Jonathan didn’t press the matter. Dom would find his way eventually, and until he did, Jonathan and Evangeline would support him as much as he would allow.
Dom gestured to the table where the whist game was winding down. “What’s the story between Stanhurst and Lady Ramsdell?”
Jonathan turned toward the table. “What do you mean? She’s happily married.”
“Does he know that?”
“Stanhurst or Lord Ramsdell?”
“Either one,” Dom said. “Stanhurst cannot stop looking at her.”
Jonathan tipped his head, studying their two guests. Just as Dom had observed, Stanhurst’s gaze followed Lady Ramsdell as she and Sophia took a turn about the room.
“Then you must consider the husband,” Dom said. “They’re newly married, but he sent her to the country without him. I find it suspicious.”
“Perhaps you’ve spent too many years in the intrigue business, but being recently wed myself, you might be on to something.”
Jonathan scanned the room, searching for his wife and discovering she was missing. “If you’ll pardon me…”
“She turned toward the library when she left.”
“Of course, she did,” Jonathan said with a grin.
When he entered the library, she was back at it—surrounded by old books, land surveys, and his father’s notes. “What do you find so fascinating that you abandoned me before charades?” he asked, teasing.
She laughed. “What wouldn’t I find more fascinating?”
Neither of them was fond of the game, nor skilled at it, and they had joked about hiding when it came time to select teams.
Lamplight illuminated her curls, creating a gauzy halo around her sweet face. “Come see for yourself.”
He walked around his father’s battered desk to stand behind her, gently resting his hands on her shoulders. In his father’s barely legible handwriting were the words north field, intriguing earthenware fragment, Norsemen or even older.
She tipped her head back. “Your father circled an area on the land survey.”
Jonathan leaned over her to pick up the map of the estate. “The north field. Was this the next dig he was planning?”
“It seems probable.”
A familiar sense of excitement stirred inside him. If this was his father’s unfinished work, Jonathan and Evangeline could complete it for him.
But her dream is to travel the world.
He exhaled, deflating a bit. Dropping the map on the desk, he stood upright. He had waited years to feel this kind of excitement about a dig again. He could wait a little longer.
Evangeline grabbed the arm of the chair and turned halfway toward him. Her brow was furrowed. “I’m sorry. I thought you would be pleasantly surprised. I didn’t mean to pry.”
“You could never.” He pulled the chair away from the desk, and she rose. “Come here.”
Standing in the circle of his arms, she caressed his cheek. “Please, tell me what I’ve done wrong.”
He shook his head. “You’ve done everything right, my love. But I promised we would travel abroad, and I cannot disappoint you.”
“No, you cannot.” She smiled. “It's impossible, because I want to stay. Can you imagine? A dig on our land? We can sleep in our own bed and bathe properly every night. To me, that is the best of both worlds.”
He drew her closer. “You’re the best and my only world.”
When his lips brushed hers, the last of his sadness fell away. After all the years of searching for treasures, he’d secured the most precious one of all.
She broke the kiss eventually but kept her arms draped around his neck. “This is a highly inappropriate way to form a working partnership, sir,” she said, “but I approve.”
“As do I, Lady Hackberry. As do I.”
Thank you for reading A Bluestocking’s Secret Courtship (Book 5) in my Gentlemen of Intrigue series.