Epilogue

December 30, 1819

Harding Manor

Surrey, England

Cornelius crept along the corridor as quietly as he could. When he arrived at the nursery suite, he paused just inside the large room. The nursery maid had a room off the nursery, and there was another bedchamber on the other side that would eventually house a governess once the nursery was turned into a schoolroom.

His wife stood gazing down into the cradle, for their three-month-old son slept peacefully in the silence of the night, and quite frankly, she was just as beautiful now as she’d been when he’d wed her on Old Year’s Night last year. Her blonde-brown hair was loose and flowing down her back in soft curls. The nightdress and matching wrapper in a lavender silk trimmed with dyed black lace suited her figure wonderfully well.

“When I woke, you were beside me in bed,” he whispered as he came abreast of her so that he could peer into the cradle as well. “I missed you.” Ever since they’d wed, they’d not spent more than a couple of nights apart.

Life over the past year had been rewarding but it had also been harrowing. The threats from Lady Stover had not only continued but had ramped into horrific attacks with lives in the balance and more than one rogue at the club had been injured along the way. And since his wife had been increasing during the year, he’d been anxious to keep her safe.

Eventually, though, Lady Stover had been dealt with and her criminal network ousted and neutralized, but at what cost? Had it been too high? It was something they would all need to ponder over the coming years, but then, in the effort of keeping loved ones safe and hanging onto happiness, there was no cost too high to gather those things around.

Still, the memories would prove bittersweet.

When Samantha slipped an arm about his waist, he pulled himself out of his thoughts. “I was a bit restless and didn’t wish to wake you. Though it seems a lifetime since the events of the summer, it also feels like yesterday when everything happened and our world was held in jeopardy, so I let you sleep.”

“Thank you.” He put an arm about her shoulders as his free hand drifted to the side of his face that had been a bit damaged by a fire. “But we are safe now; everyone is safe, and we can all breathe deeply while resuming normality in our lives.” Tears stung the backs of his eyelids. Over the past year, he had been far more emotional and uninhibited in showing those feelings, for life was too short to remain stoic. “I’m so grateful for our son. It still amazes me that he is here and that we are parents.”

“I feel the same. Sometimes at night I sneak in here just to watch him sleep.” Her voice broke and she went into his arms seeking comfort. “But he has my father’s name, and that was simply a perfect choice.”

Midway through the year, Samantha’s father had been killed, along with a few other members of various rogue’s families, but perhaps that was a blessing in disguise, for his mind was gone more than it wasn’t, and he’d rarely remembered who they were, but that didn’t negate the hole in their lives from his passing.

“Agreed.” When a tear slipped to his cheek, Cornelius brushed it away. “It is my hope that our little Henry ‘Major’ Harding will grow into the large footsteps he’ll follow behind.” For long moments, he watched his son sleep with his tiny fist tucked beneath his chin and the shock of curly black hair. “I wouldn’t mind trying for a daughter once you’re fully recovered from the birth,” he said a few minutes later.

“Ah, have you missed me in a carnal capacity, Lord Timelbury?” she asked with a dose of teasing in her whispered tones as she peered up at him in the darkness.

“You know that I have.” In his wife’s arms, there was always a welcome as well as peace.

“Well, since it is our first anniversary, why don’t we retire to our room and see if we can’t make inroads into putting a second babe in my belly.” She pushed her hands up his bare chest, for he’d wandered into the nursery in only a pair of breeches. “We do have much to celebrate, don’t you think?”

“Absolutely, we do.” Then he dipped his head and claimed her lips in a kiss designed to be tender and caring, and to remind her of how much he loved her. Those two pillowy pieces of flesh cradled his and gave him such a gentle, enthusiastic welcome that it wouldn’t be long before he was carried away with emotion and desire.

It was Samantha who pulled away first, and when she smiled at him with affection and need sparkling in her eyes, he was lost. “In fact, I would like as many children as you wish to give me, for I’m just so grateful we are both here and that we are so rich with everything we’ve been given.”

“You can have whatever you want, sweeting, for I have you, and that is enough.” Once more, he kissed her then he took her hand and led her from the nursery. “Let me show you how fortunate I am to have you in my life and how damned proud that you’re my wife and the mother of my child.”

Life was oftentimes messy, and there were times a man could find himself lost in the noise in his head, but the trick to surviving the darkness was to have a partner by his side that would remind him of his worth and who would shine a light so he could wander back to reality.

Be it by fate or Christmas magic, it didn’t matter, for there was nothing quite like falling in love with the right woman, and he couldn’t wait to see where their lives would go from here.

The End