Epilogue

Ten Years Later…

Autumnwood Hall - 1830

H adrian Oakfield, the seventh Duke of Blackthorn, stood with his brother Henry near the fireplace in the largest of Autumnwood Hall's sitting rooms. Their wives and several other women were playing an incomprehensible game in the opposite corner, and several of the ton's most influential men were playing cards near the expansive window. This was the first time he and his lovely duchess had hosted a house party since his father's death last year, and he had been a little apprehensive about the whole thing, but it seemed to be going swimmingly.

"Has it ever occurred to you that you owe all of this to the Brazen Belle?" Henry asked, saluting him with his glass of whisky.

Hadrian glanced at his brother, taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"Well, if you hadn't been featured in that article, Father wouldn't have forced you to look for a wife." Henry grinned, gesturing at Lilly. "If you'd never married Lilly, you wouldn't have realized that there is more to life than gambling and whoring."

Hadrian wanted to be affronted by his brother's words, but he had to admit there was some truth to them. Lilly had changed his life in every conceivable way, and he thanked God for that every day.

"It's hard to believe I was so against the thought of marriage and children for so long," Hadrian mused, turning his gaze back to his lovely wife. All these years together had only made her more beautiful to him. She had given him three lovely little flowers—Violet, Holly, and Iris—before baby Matthew had been born two years ago. He was glad his father had lived to see that and finally realized why it had been so important to the man that he secure their family line.

When he looked into his children's eyes, he understood what had driven his father. He certainly wouldn't want to see Matthew wasting his life in brothels and gaming hells. Being a father had changed him profoundly, and he had worked very hard to strengthen his relationship with his own father as a result. He was fairly certain that the old man had been proud of him before he died, which had meant more to him than he had ever thought it possibly could.

"You're not the only one who has the Brazen Belle to thank for finding your wife," Henry observed. "I think several here tonight could say the same thing."

"Maybe that was her intention." Hadrian surveyed the room, the thought taking root in his mind. The Brazen Belle's articles had certainly had a profound effect on those who had been featured. He didn't think any of the men she had singled out that year had managed to evade the parson's trap. And because so many of them had been newly wed at the same time, Hadrian had found that they made the most sense to socialize with. He now counted many of them among his closest friends.

When he had been making up the guest list for this party, he had naturally invited Dr. and Mrs. Jones, Mr. and Mrs. Beauclerk, and the Duke and Duchess of Courtland. He had welcomed all his guests to bring their children, and the nursery was full to bursting at the moment. He suddenly wondered how many new lives had come into this world due to that meddling woman's scathing prose. But this was the first time he had ever considered that perhaps she had been trying to save them, not attack them.

Maybe he was wrong, but it was a nice thought.

With a smile, he cleared his throat and raised his glass. "I'd like to make a toast," he said, grabbing the room's attention. "To the Brazen Belle, without whom so many of us wouldn't be here today."

A ripple of laughter went through the crowd, and he met his friends' gazes one by one, seeing that they'd realized exactly what he meant. They all lifted their glasses with a chorus of acknowledgment as they drank to the health of someone whose identity was still unknown to them.

Leaving her group, Lilly made her way across the room to him, her blue eyes sparkling. "I never thought I'd hear you make a toast to that woman," she said with a laugh.

"I owe her far more than a toast," he said softly, for her ears alone. "She gave me you, and because I have you, I also have the most beautiful, wonderful children."

She reached up and brushed his cheek with her fingertips, her heart in her eyes. "I'd like to think that eventually, we'd have found our way back to each other."

He would like to think so, too, but knew himself well enough to doubt it. He had been such a fool, so selfish and focused on his own needs and desires that he couldn't imagine ever willingly thinking about putting anyone else first. The last ten years had been beyond wonderful. It had been a rocky road in the beginning, and he had certainly struggled under the weight of being a good husband and dutiful son. But then Violet had been born, the spitting image of her beautiful mother, and he had known that it wasn't a burden to learn how to be a good man; it was a blessing.

So many people depended on him now, and he had found that even though it was sometimes stressful, it was always rewarding to fulfill those expectations.

"My heart has always belonged to you," he told her truthfully. "I never loved anyone else, and I'm so grateful that I did find my way back, no matter how it happened."

The End