Epilogue #2
Harriet shrieked loudly enough to startle half the guests before rushing forward. “Oh my dear girl!” she cried dramatically as she kissed Charlotte’s cheeks again and again. “A baby! Oh heavens above, I shall expire from happiness!”
“Mama,” Charlotte laughed breathlessly, “you are crushing me.”
“Nonsense, you are sturdy stock,” Harriet declared proudly.
Elizabeth dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief while Joan and Irene squealed loud enough to rival their mother. Penelope bounced excitedly beside Bridget while Arabella embraced Gerald with delight. Even Lionel looked openly pleased as he crossed the room to clap Victor firmly upon the shoulder.
“Well,” Lionel drawled, “that did not take long.”
Victor smirked lazily. “I have always been efficient.”
Charlotte nearly choked upon her own laughter. “Victor!”
Morgan groaned dramatically. “Good God, marriage has made you unbearable.”
“You are simply jealous,” Victor replied.
“Of domestic bliss?” Morgan scoffed. “Absolutely not.”
“You shall die alone then,” Harriet informed him bluntly.
Morgan placed a hand upon his chest in mock injury. “Madam, your words wound me deeply.”
“They should,” Harriet sniffed.
Laughter rippled through the room again while Charlotte tried unsuccessfully to compose herself.
Her heart felt impossibly full as she watched both families mingling together so naturally beneath the candlelight.
Not long ago, she had feared for her sisters’ futures, feared loneliness, feared that love itself might forever remain beyond her reach.
Now she stood surrounded by warmth, laughter, and the overwhelming certainty that she belonged here.
Elizabeth suddenly spoke up from her chair. “You see,” she said proudly, “none of this would have happened if Charlotte had not returned after they broke apart.”
The room fell into confused silence.
Charlotte blinked rapidly. “What do you mean, Grandmother?”
Elizabeth waved dismissively. “When you first left Mulford Manor, naturally. Victor was absolutely unbearable after she departed. Then she returned and now here we are with a baby on the way.”
Morgan frowned. “They broke apart?”
Lionel looked deeply entertained. “I believe Grandmother is confusing timelines again.”
Charlotte suddenly realized what Elizabeth meant and burst into laughter. She leaned toward Victor and whispered against his ear, “She refers to when I resigned as her companion and briefly left the manor.”
Victor’s shoulders shook with quiet amusement. “Ah,” he murmured. “Then perhaps Grandmother’s forgetful mind is not nearly so poor as we assumed.”
Elizabeth pointed triumphantly at them both. “There now, you see? I knew exactly what I meant.”
“Of course you did,” Victor replied fondly.
He bent to kiss Elizabeth’s cheek tenderly.
Charlotte’s chest tightened warmly at the sight.
There had once been a time when Victor feared attachment itself, when grief and guilt had hollowed him from within until he believed love only led to pain.
Yet now he stood surrounded by family, openly smiling, openly happy, with his grandmother glowing beside him.
“Thank you,” Victor told Elizabeth quietly. “For bringing Charlotte into my life.”
Elizabeth patted his cheek. “You’re welcome.”
Charlotte smiled helplessly as the room dissolved into teasing conversation again.
Bridget returned to the pianoforte and began playing a lively tune while Gerald asked Arabella to dance.
Joan immediately dragged Penelope toward the center of the room while Irene protested loudly that Joan was stepping upon her slippers.
Harriet sighed dramatically beside Charlotte. “Soon all my daughters shall marry and abandon me.”
“Mama,” Charlotte said patiently, “you say that every week.”
“Because it remains true every week.”
Victor leaned closer to Charlotte’s ear. “I begin to understand where your sisters inherited their theatrics.”
Charlotte laughed softly. “And yet you look rather fond of them.”
Victor glanced toward Harriet, Joan, Irene, and Penelope with reluctant amusement. “Against my better judgment, I do.”
Eventually, Victor quietly stole Charlotte away from the crowded drawing room.
“Where are we going?” she whispered as he guided her through the corridor.
“To escape your family before your mother names the child herself.”
Charlotte gasped softly. “She already suggested twelve names.”
“I rest my case.”
He led her into the empty library where moonlight spilled softly through the tall windows.
The distant sounds of laughter and music still drifted faintly through the manor, but here it felt peaceful and private.
Victor closed the door behind them before turning toward her with that devastatingly handsome smile that still managed to undo her entirely.
Charlotte folded her arms. “You looked entirely too pleased announcing I’m with child.”
“I am entirely too pleased.”
Her breath caught softly.
Victor stepped closer and rested his hands carefully upon her waist. “Do you know,” he murmured, “there was once a time I believed happiness was not meant for me.”
Charlotte touched his cheek gently. “And now?”
“Now I think I should like an entire house full of children.”
She burst into startled laughter. “Victor!”
“I am quite serious.”
“You once swore you wanted none,” she said.
“Yes, well,” he said smoothly, “then you ruined my life by making me happy.”
Charlotte shook her head helplessly. “You are impossible.”
“And yet you adore me, do you not, Duchess?”
She pretended consideration. “Perhaps a little.”
“A little?” he repeated in mock offense.
Victor pulled her fully against him before she could answer. His mouth found hers warmly, tenderly, with all the familiar passion that made her knees weak. Charlotte melted instantly into the kiss, her fingers curling into his coat while heat unfurled low within her chest.
When he finally pulled back, his forehead rested against hers.
“I love you, Charlotte,” he whispered softly.
Her heart swelled with joy; she thought she might cry. “And I love you, my arrogant duke.”
Victor grinned slowly. “Your… rogue duke.”
Outside the library, laughter echoed through Mulford Manor while music continued to play late into the evening. Yet within Victor’s arms, Charlotte felt entirely content, wrapped in warmth, love, and the beautiful future they had once feared they would never have.
A rogue indeed…but a tamed rogue.
The End?