Epilogue

May 1821

One Year Later

They called it a grand opening, although that wasn't really true.

The new offices of Beauclerk Marine Casualty had been in use for the last month. But Vander had convinced his father that it was worthwhile to host a formal celebration to which everyone, including the press, could be invited. It would show the world that they were a serious player in the insurance industry. Appearances were important.

Vander's father had agreed without much argument. He'd come to trust his son on these sorts of things.

David was the one to escort Letty to the office as Vander had to be there early. He brought Emily, too.

The new Lady Trundley peered around the coffee house that took up half of the ground floor. "This is fascinating! I've never been allowed to visit a coffee house before."

David placed a hand on the small of his wife's back and guided her toward the stairs. "You should not linger in this one."

"Couldn't I stay just for a few minutes?" Emily asked. "I might need to write a scene that takes place in a coffee house someday."

Letty's friend had moved on from obsessively reading Gothic novels to attempting to write her own. It wasn't a proper pursuit for a future countess, but David didn't care. He was well and truly besotted and would've encouraged Emily to join the circus, had the spirit moved her.

"Besides," Emily continued, "I'm sure the Beauclerks run a respectable establishment."

"Sailors, Emily," David said. "Most of the men in here are sailors."

"That makes me want to stay even more!" Emily protested as David herded her toward the back stairs.

Letty, looking beautiful in a violet spencer over a white dress, peered around the coffee house, as curious as her friend. It was plain but inviting, with oak-paneled walls. The tables were starting to show their first scratches, but it didn't bother Vander. It wasn't a bad thing that the room felt lived in.

Her brown eyes were bright as she turned to him. "It's wonderful, Vander," she whispered.

It truly was. With Lloyd's having abandoned their coffee house for an office in the Royal Exchange Building, Beauclerk Marine Casualty's new coffee house had become the place for everyone from ship owners to sea captains to gather. And they had more than just a coffee house—at Vander's suggestion, a fencing-parlor-slash-boxing-school had also been installed on the ground floor. A fencing master came in on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and a boxing instructor on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Every sea captain fancied himself a man of action—even the ones who were octogenarians—and the fencing parlor had proved a very popular addition. Between that and the coffee house, Beauclerk Marine Casualty was now the place to go if you were in the shipping business, and his father never had cause to complain that he was the last one to hear the latest gossip.

Vander offered Letty his arm. Leaning down close to her ear, he asked, "How are you feeling?"

She smiled up at him. "I'm well this morning."

He studied her face to see if it was true. "The motion of the carriage didn't make you feel ill?"

They had found out two weeks ago that the Beauclerk family was about to undergo an expansion. Which was unsurprising, given how much time they'd dedicated to the sorts of activities that led to this happy event.

"Truly, I'm fine," she reassured him.

"All right." He led her toward the stairs in the back. "Come, I'll show you the rest of it."

On the top floor, he led his wife through the open floor space where the clerks had their desks. Across the back wall were three offices, all confusingly labeled Mr. Beauclerk with only an initial to distinguish between the three partners. Strictly speaking, the name of the business was now Beauclerk, Beauclerk, and Beauclerk Marine Casualty.

"Milton's office is in that corner," Vander said, pointing. "My father has the big office in the middle. And this"—he opened the door to the right corner office—"is mine."

Letty gasped as she entered the room where Vander spent much of his days. Sunlight poured in through the tall windows lining two walls. There was a fine view of the bustling port where ships were being loaded and unloaded.

"Vander," she breathed, "this is wonderful."

It really was, and he was surprised how easily he'd settled into his new routine. Each day, he would spend an hour or so boxing or fencing. David even made a point of coming there to box a few times a week, so he even got to spend time with his friend. He would also go downstairs and have a coffee whenever he needed a break. These were things he enjoyed, but they were also good opportunities to ‘gather intelligence,' as his father put it, a term that really just meant talking to people.

Well, Vander was good at talking to people, even if his father wasn't.

He spent most of his workday performing mathematical analysis in his sunlit office, in particular overseeing the high-risk insurance pool he had originated. It had performed well in its first year and had doubled in size for this sailing season.

He was usually done by three o'clock. He could take his wife for a drive in the park or meet David at the club for a drink. Or he could just relax at home with Letty before they headed out for the evening's entertainment.

He had plenty of time to do the things he enjoyed, and he felt good about himself. He never would've believed it a year ago, but his new life as a partner in Beauclerk Marine Casualty suited him tremendously.

The reason Vander was able to maintain such a reasonable work schedule poked his head into his office. "I heard Mrs. Beauclerk was here."

"Come in, Milton," Vander said. It had been Vander's idea to officially make Milton a partner and offer him a stake in the business. Milton might never be great at tallying up rows of figures, but his contribution was invaluable. He now performed all of the office management and supervisory types of tasks, leaving Vander free to focus on mathematical analysis. The cousins complemented each other, and Vander's joke that together, he and Milton made one fully functioning person had proved to be prescient.

Even more surprising than the fact that his father had agreed to all of these changes was how much his father liked this new set-up. He had always been resistant to delegating any of his tasks. But Vander somehow convinced him to agree to a one-month trial of Milton running the office. When he realized how much time this freed up for him to spend analyzing policies, he had quickly grown to appreciate the change.

With Vander also performing analysis and his father wasting less time on mundane tasks, they'd been able to increase the size of the business by sixty percent last year. The coffee house was making a profit which just about offset the increased cost of their better offices.

Vander still caught his father recoiling in shock upon occasion, usually when a cloud receded and actual sunlight fell upon his face. But he admitted that the changes Vander had implemented had been for the best.

A clerk stepped into the room. "Excuse, me, Mr. Beauclerk?" he said to Milton. "Miss Seymour has arrived."

It had been Vander's idea to introduce his cousin to Mathilda Seymour, the lovely but demure young lady Letty had tried to match him with at the British Museum. Milton might only have a ten percent stake in Beauclerk Marine Casualty, but that was enough to make him a wealthy man. As Vander had suspected, the modest Miss Seymour had been charmed by his strait-laced cousin, and the two were to be married next month.

Milton excused himself to go greet his future bride, leaving Vander alone with his wife.

Vander stole up behind Letty, who was enjoying the view of the bustling port, wrapping his arms around her waist. Leaning down, he murmured in her ear, "If there weren't so many people milling about, your rakish husband would show you some enjoyable things we can do on that desk."

Laughing, Letty turned around, twining her fingers in his hair. "My rakish husband has already shown me those things in the library at home. Several times, might I add. But if you put your spectacles on, you just might be able to convince me."

Vander chuckled as he buried his nose in Letty's hair. This had been yet another revelation from the past year—that Letty liked him just as well when he was wearing his spectacles, up to his eyeballs in figures, acting like, dare he say it, a quiz. He didn't have to maintain some rake-about-town facade, to hide who he really was, because she liked him as he really was.

How had he ever tolerated his old life? His new one was infinitely better.

He pressed a kiss against her forehead before leaning back. "Is there anything else you want to see before we go?"

She rumpled his hair, getting it just the way she liked it. "It happens that there is. I am given to understand that there is a boxing school on the ground floor. One year ago, the Brazen Belle brought to my attention the fact that just about every other woman in England had enjoyed the sight of the man I pined after engaged in bare-chested fisticuffs. But, alas, I have still never witnessed these delights."

Vander grinned. "Well, we can't have that. So long as you don't mind the sight of your brother getting pummeled, I will be happy to oblige you."

"Really?" Letty looked surprised as well as delighted. "I was worried you would tell me no, that you would say it would start a scandal."

"Oh, it will." He gave her his charming scoundrel's smile as he offered her his arm. "Let's start this one together."

He and Letty headed down the stairs arm-in-arm, toward all the adventures their future held.

Keep reading for a special preview of Book Six in The Rake Review series, The Scot Who Made June Hot by Fenna Edgewood!