Epilogue
“Oh Genevieve, I’ve never seen a more beautiful bride,” Louisa Rockwood exclaimed as Genevieve’s mother adjusted the veil with the Rockwood diamonds and white sapphires.
“She’s right, sweetheart,” Rhea whispered as she straightened, and with a loving smile, caught Genevieve’s hand in hers and met her gaze in the mirror.
As she’d done with Genevieve’s cousin Amalie, her aunt had been the one to find the right dress for her wedding. Now, as she stared in the mirror, fear shot through Genevieve. She didn’t see the woman her mother and aunt did.
What she saw was the small child with auburn hair she’d once been with Ruckley standing behind her, an insidious smile on his face.
The image made her shudder, and Genevieve whirled away from the mirror, pulling the tiara and veil off her head.
The hairpins scraped painfully against her scalp as she thrust the headdress toward her aunt.
“I can’t do this. I can’t let Theo marry me.”
Panic filled her voice as her aunt accepted the veil and crown with a look of pained dismay. As Genevieve reached behind her back to begin undoing her gown, Rhea Rockwood tugged her arms away from the buttons.
“Stop, Genevieve,” her mother said in a calm, steady voice as she glanced at her sister-in-law. “Louisa, go let everyone know there’s been a slight delay. Say there’s been a wardrobe malfunction or whatever. It’s pre-wedding nerves. She just needs a few minutes.”
As Louisa nodded and hurried from the room, Genevieve met her mother’s sympathetic gaze. Rhea clasped Genevieve’s trembling hands in a tight grip, and the moment they were alone, her mother shook her head.
“This isn’t just because of where you come from, is it dearest?”
“He deserves better than me, Mother. I cannot let him give up so much. He’ll be the last—”
Genevieve came to an abrupt halt, her mouth going dry at how close she’d come to revealing a truth that would hurt her mother deeply. Rhea Rockwood’s darkened with pain as she squeezed Genevieve’s hands.
“That he’ll be the last of the Rockwood line?” At her mother’s soft words, Genevieve stiffened with a sudden sense of dread.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Peter came to your father a week ago. Your father couldn’t make sense of what your brother told him, but I did.”
At the expression of sadness on her mother’s features, Genevieve could feel the blood draining from her face. Tugging her hands free of her mother’s grasp, she took several steps backward in horror.
“What are you saying?” she whispered.
“Your father and I have always known Ruckley did something to you, my darling. But we’re also convinced he threatened to harm the rest of us, your family, if you said anything.
” Rhea Rockwood was teary-eyed as she met Genevieve’s gaze.
“It breaks my heart that bastard destroyed your childhood, what little there was of it. But the one thing Peter conveyed to your father was that you would never have children, and for us that is the most heart-breaking of all.”
Genevieve swayed on her feet at her mother’s words. With a slow shake of her head, she tried to refute the fact that her mother was aware that Ruckley had harmed her. Even if her mother didn’t know the entire truth as to the acts she’d been forced to commit, Rhea Rockwood knew more than enough.
That her parents knew even a small bit of her degradation at Ruckley’s hands was terrible enough.
Worse, her parents knew she couldn’t have children.
It was almost too much to bear. Her mother closed the distance between them and kissed her cheek in a gesture that conveyed the deep love her mother possessed for her.
Cupping Genevieve’s face in her hands, her mother offered her a sad smile.
“I know you think you’re unworthy, but it’s obvious Theo doesn’t. He adores you,” her mother said softly. “He also knows you well. In fact, he knows you so well that he spoke with your father last night about the possibility you might change your mind today about the wedding.”
Genevieve jerked back from her mother, then whipping the back of her gown to one side, she crossed the floor to stare out the window.
A thick blanket of white covered the grounds of Callander Abbey as she stared off into the distance toward the croft.
Theo had insisted they spend their honeymoon there, teasing her that she would have to deal with a straw mattress for a few days.
She’d known their bed would be much softer, as she’d seen him and a number of the male Rockwoods, including her father, taking furniture and supplies out to the croft in a wagon.
Genevieve closed her eyes to suppress the tears threatening to roll down her cheeks.
Behind her, Genevieve’s mother sighed, her voice breaking as if she were about to cry.
“Dearest, I know how difficult this must be for you. You love Theo and want only what’s best for him.”
“And I’m not the best for him,” she replied, continuing to stare out the window. “He deserves much better.”
“No. What I deserve is a wife I love beyond measure, and who I know loves me.” Theo’s firm voice rang out behind her as a loud feminine chorus of objections sounded in the hall outside her bedroom.
Startled, Genevieve spun around, almost tripping over the hem of her gown, to stare at Theo in amazement.
She didn’t know what surprised her the most, her Aunt Louisa’s inability to keep him from seeing the bride before the wedding, or her father stepping into the room behind him, his hand outstretched to his wife.
“Shall we give them a moment, mo chridhe? Like her mother, she’s just as hardheaded about how worthy she is of being loved as you were.”
Percy Rockwood waited as his wife quickly closed the distance between her and their daughter.
With a tender kiss to Genevieve’s cheek once more, her mother accepted her husband’s hand, and the two left the room.
The muffled thud of the door closing behind her parents, leaving her alone with Theo.
As she stared at him, she took in his dazed expression.
“You take my breath away, Genevieve.” His compliment was filled with awe and love, and she swallowed hard as she shook her head.
“They say it’s unlucky for the groom to see the bride before the ceremony,” she choked out, unable to think clearly now that he was in the room with her.
“I think that’s when the bride isn’t having second thoughts.” It was a gentle chastisement, and Genevieve winced, then bowed her head. Theo walked across the floor to stand in front of her, and with his fingers, he lifted her head so she was forced to look at him.
“I seem to recall you saying you only want to run to me, Genevieve, not from me.” The quiet words made her shake her head.
“I do, it’s just that…”
“Just what?”
“I don’t know how to put it into words. I love you, Theo. I love you so much, and I don’t want you to regret marrying me. I don’t want to disappoint you, ever. I know you’ve said my inability to bear you a son—”
“Genevieve,” he interrupted in a firm voice. “Do you trust me?”
“I…” she hesitated for a brief moment before she nodded with certainty, although her voice was soft. “Yes, I trust you.”
“Then believe me when I say I’ll never betray that trust. I’ll never regret marrying you.
I can’t imagine spending another day of my life with anyone else but you at my side,” he said as he kissed her, then lifted his head to smile down at her.
Genevieve pressed herself into him for a brief moment, then stepped back.
“I love you, Theo. As long as you never regret making me your wife.”
“Never,” he murmured as he kissed her again, then released her as his mouth twisted in a wry grin.
“So, will you please trust me when I say if you put off marrying me one more minute, I’m likely to give the family something to talk about for the rest of their lives when I carry you off to that goddamn croft, license be damned. ”
“Do you really think my father would allow that?” she asked with a small laugh.
“I’ve a feeling he’d cheer me on.” Theo chuckled as Genevieve stared at him in shocked amazement. “You forget, mo ghràdh, that in your father I will always have a sympathetic comrade, because as he’s said more than once, you’re as stubborn as your mother.”
“I am not—”
She wasn’t able to finish her sentence as Theo kissed her long and hard. When he released her, Genevieve looked up to see a self-satisfied grin on his face.
“Don’t keep me waiting, Genevieve. I want to make you my wife in the next twenty minutes.”
With that, Theo turned and walked out of the room.
She heard the soft murmur of voices, and a second later, her mother and father entered the room.
Relief visible on her face, Rhea Rockwood hurried toward her with the tiara and veil.
As she arranged it on Genevieve’s head, Percy Rockwood watched them with a smile of satisfaction, similar to Theo’s.
When her mother stepped back, there were tears on her cheek, and Genevieve’s father wiped his wife’s damp cheeks and murmured something before kissing her gently.
With a watery smile, Rhea looked at Genevieve, then walked out into the corridor.
“You make a stunning bride, my darling girl,” her father said as she saw him swallow hard. Genevieve hurried forward to kiss his cheek.
“I love you, Papa.”
“And I you, Genevieve,” he said in a choked voice before he grinned. “Now, if I don’t get you down to the chapel in the next five minutes, my future son-in-law is apt to carry you off before the ceremony is concluded.”
“He told you that?” Genevieve exclaimed softly.
“I told him to threaten you with it.” Percy Rockwood grinned with boyish charm as Genevieve’s eyes widened in surprise. “So shall we not keep him waiting? I really don’t want to explain to your mother how I was the one responsible for putting the idea into his head in the first place.”
Her father reached up and pulled the veil over her face and offered her his arm. Sliding her hand into the crook of her father’s elbow, he patted her hand and led her out of the room.
Several hours later, Theo helped Genevieve off her horse in front of the croft.
Percy and Rhea Rockwood had followed them and took the reins of their horses to return them to the Abbey’s warm stables.
Genevieve’s parents said goodbye, and as the older couple turned away, Percy Rockwood gave his new son-in-law a conspiratorial wink.
In response, Theo offered him a small bow as Genevieve’s father laughed and rode after his wife with a horse trotting behind him.
“What on earth was that all about?” Genevieve asked with a puzzled look as she stared after her father, then turned toward her new husband.
“This.”
Stepping forward, Theo bent and threw Genevieve up over his shoulder much as he would a heavy sack of flour. At her cry of surprise, Theo grinned. It took her several seconds before she uttered a single protest.
“Theo, what in the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Carrying you off to bed, my lady, what else?”
“Damnit, Theo, if you don’t put me down—”
“You’ll what? Scream? Oh, that’s something I can guarantee will happen in the next fifteen minutes, mo leannan.”
Laughing, Theo playfully swatted her rear as her fist bounced off his back.
“Put me down this instant, Lord Selbourne.”
“All in good time, Lady Selbourne,” he chuckled, enjoying the way her title rolled off his tongue.
With one hand, he opened the door of the croft and stooped low to ensure her back didn’t touch the frame as he entered the small cottage.
His foot kicked the door closed behind them, and he set her down.
Without a word, Theo removed his jacket and undid his tie as fast as he could, followed by his shirt.
Genevieve didn’t move as she watched him undress in front of her.
“Unless you wish me to undress you myself, I suggest you start removing your clothing now, Lady Selbourne,” he growled, as desire surged through him.
It had been two weeks since that night at Falkirk Manor, and he didn’t want to take his time with her. That could come later. As he tugged his boots off, he saw Genevieve rapidly undoing her riding jacket, and the moment she shrugged off the jacket, he sucked in a harsh breath.
Unlike their first time in the croft, this time she wasn’t wearing a chemise, and her beautiful breasts were bared to him.
Unable to stop staring at her, he saw her smile with triumph as she undid her skirt and let it fall to the floor.
Other than her boots, she’d worn nothing under her riding habit.
A rosy color flooded her cheeks as she met his gaze, then bowed her head.
“I thought…” her voice trailed off, and without hesitating, Theo reached for her.
“You thought correctly,” he growled. “I’ve never seen a more beautiful sight in my life, mo ghràdh. If you only knew how much I love you.”
“I love you, Theo. I never thought I could ever be this happy,” she whispered as she laid her cheek on his bare chest.
His arms wrapped tight around her, he lowered his head and kissed the dent in her shoulder.
A soft sigh eased out of her, and he swung her up into his arms, then carried her to the bed.
She smelled soft, sweet, and there was the slightest hint of musk drifting beneath his nose.
Moments later he was sinking into her slick folds, and as he’d promised earlier, she screamed his name as she reached her climax and he followed almost immediately after her.
As their ragged breathing mixed with the crackling flames in the fireplace.
Genevieve slipped her hand into his. It was the first time she’d done so without encouragement from him, and his heart slammed into his chest. It was a silent indication of trust, and he rolled over to kiss her gently.
“Are you pleased with my choice of stay for our first night together as man and wife?” he asked with a smile.
“It’s perfect,” she whispered.
“Just like you, mo leannan.”
“Now, you’re being foolish,” she said, rolling her eyes at him.
“No, you’re perfect for me, Lady Selbourne. I could not have asked for a better wife than you.”
His words made her cheeks flush pink, and he leaned forward to give her a gentle kiss.
When he lifted his head, Theo’s heart expanded in his chest as he drank in the look of love in her emerald gaze.
She’d always been beautiful, but she was radiant now.
His fingers brushed a wayward curl off her cheek as his throat threatened to close with emotion.
“I love you, Lady Selbourne,” Theo said in a husky voice.
“And I love you, Lord Selbourne.”
“Don’t ever stop, mo leannan. Because without you, I’m lost.”
“Never,” she whispered.
The moment Genevieve pulled his head down to kiss him, Theo offered up a silent prayer of gratitude that he’d finally won the hand and heart of the only woman worthy of the title, Lady Selbourne.