Epilogue
Wolcott House
Hanover Square
“It’s Christmas Eve, sweeting,” William said as he came into the drawing room that evening.
A light snow fell outside, lending a quaint coziness and peace to the atmosphere inside, but the whole of his attention fell to his wife of two and a half years.
“Damn. I didn’t think you could be more lovely than you were when I married you, but tonight has made me a liar. ”
Everywhere he glanced in the room, there were evergreen boughs decorating windowsills, the mantel, above the doorways.
Red ribbons, tin bells, glass balls, and even clove-studded oranges added interest and color within the dark green.
Someone had included cinnamon sticks in the fire, and that warmth and comforting scent lightly permeated the room.
There is much to be grateful for this year.
“Such gammon you speak, Wolcott.” Yet there was pleasure in her smile that reflected in her eyes. “However, I appreciate your compliment and the fact I’ve kept your attention for so long.” She laid aside the bit of embroidery she worked.
“Of course you have.” Never could he have imagined that in the early days of their engagement.
But now? He couldn’t imagine his existence without her.
With a cheeky grin, he raked his gaze over her curvaceous figure as she rose from the sofa where she’d been sitting.
Tonight, she wore a sage green brocade gown with its customary low bodice.
A pattern of flowers went throughout the fabric and added a sheen to the frock.
Looking at her, he couldn’t tell that she’d given him two children.
“Every day I wake, I am constantly amazed that this is our life.”
And one he desperately wished to keep intact.
As of yet, he hadn’t done anything to muck up his marriage, but that worry was always at the back of his mind.
After all, he would soon turn the age of forty, and before he’d married, he wasn’t exactly the epitome of a gentleman.
Would that gossip eventually do harm to what he now held dear?
In early March of last year, Charlotte had been delivered of a son they’d named Alexander. Then, in May of this year, she’d given birth to a daughter they called Evelyn but affectionally referred to as Evie. Life was more perfect than he could have ever imagined before he’d met her.
The smile she offered could rival the candlelight.
The illumination winked off the silver rims of her spectacles.
“I’ll admit, our children have made our days interesting, but I’m still very much in love with you, haven’t had nearly enough time with you.
I don’t envy anyone else’s life because ours is so lovely. ”
He slipped his arms around her waist and held her in a loose embrace. After they’d married, everything in life had changed. “We’ll need to move into a larger townhouse if we have another child. Already, it feels like we’re all bursting at the seams.”
“While that is true, I don’t know that I’m quite finished having babies.” When she laid a palm against his cheek, he sighed.
“Are you increasing again?”
“Not that I’m aware of, but I wouldn’t mind trying tonight. The children are tucked in their beds, and the nursery maid is content with them. I only need to set out the two gifts beneath your Bavarian tree.”
His gaze went to the corner where a small evergreen tree rested in a wooden pail of soil.
She had decorated it with red ribbons and tin bells.
In fact, there wasn’t a room in the townhouse that didn’t have some of her personal touches.
“Ah, Charlotte.” Needing to connect with her on a deeper level, he dipped his head and claimed her lips with his.
After several moments, he broke the embrace.
“However, as much as taking you to bed would be the epitome of love, we are due at Major Montgomery’s home to take dinner with him and his wife.
No doubt there will be games and mulled wine, and far too many treats. ”
“And you’ll have a stomachache by the end of the night.” She smoothed a hand down the front of her gown. “I suppose that means I’ll need to rub it, as well as other parts of your body, after we’ve retired.”
Awareness rippled over his skin. Even after being married to her for two and a half years, she still had the power to twist up his insides and inflame his blood with desire. “I’ll be certain to make it clear we cannot stay too late. After all, we do have children.”
“Mmm, and even then, I might take advantage of you in the carriage on the ride home.” With a wink, she crossed the room then glanced back at him from over her shoulder. “Are you coming with me, then?”
“I would very much like to, but there is no time.” As it stood, he had a cockstand that needed to settle before they arrived at their friends’ home.
“Enough of the double entendres, darling. I know exactly how you feel, but I promise, when we come together later, it will be more than worth it.” Then she left the room.
That was only one reason he continued to adore his wife. Even after being a mother to two children, she didn’t shy away from intimacy or carnal play. With a grin and a bit of a whistle, William followed her and made his way to the lower level.
And what was more, either here in London or at their country estate in Kent, she was popular with their friends, tenants, or servants alike.
The dear woman had even managed to set up a foundation that taught women from all walks of life how to read.
It was something she adamantly believed in, and every year, the foundation grew.
Once the nodcocks in parliament could pull their heads out of their arses and realize people like her were actually helping everyone in London instead of hindering them, Town would be completely transformed.
But he rather suspected that was years off. Until then, Charlotte would be silently working in the background to enact change, the same as he was doing by modernizing his properties and using new techniques in farming and cattle raising.
As he strolled over to the butler, who stood in the entry hall holding a greatcoat, William grinned.
Oddly enough, there hadn’t been many incidents of misfortune in the past two years.
Whether it was because of Charlotte’s presence or the fact he wasn’t constantly thinking of a possible demise for himself, he didn’t know, but he wouldn’t argue with fate.
His life was his own, and it was a very good one, indeed.
The End