Epilogue

One year later...

Sunlight streamed through the high stained-glass windows of St. Gile's Church in the picturesque village of Lindenhall, washing the walls of the interior with vibrant hues of red, blue, green, and gold.

Cassandra was standing at the front next to Malcom, watching intently as the Reverend Titus Clarke cradled their infant son, Thomas, just two months old, carefully in his arms. The vicar intoned the sacred words of baptism while anointing the mite's tiny, wrinkled forehead with holy water, scribing a cross upon it as he spoke the final blessing.

Unfortunately, little Thomas did not seem to like this treatment. He opened his little mouth and let out a loud cry that reverberated around the church rafters, drawing indulgent smiles and soft chuckles from both his proud parents and the rest of the congregation. And once he started, he showed no sign of stopping.

Ever good-natured, the bespectacled Reverend Clarke smiled as he handed the noisy bundle back to its beaming mother.

"He certainly has a strong pair of lungs," he remarked, wiping his wet hands on his vestments.

"Having fathered nine children, he should know," Malcom whispered in Cassandra's ear, causing her to have to stifle a giggle.

"He takes after his mother," the Duke told the Reverend in a more normal tone, grinning down at his son and putting a protective arm around his wife's shoulder. The crying ceased, to be replaced by an angelic gurgling as Cassandra ticked the baby's cheek and smiled down at him dotingly. Then, she smiled dotingly at her husband, and he at her. As Mrs. Clarke had observed to Reverend Clarke on greeting the parents at the church door before the service, any fool could see the couple were besotted with one another.

To complete the christening, a couple more hymns were sung, during which the usual indifferent vocal contributions of the majority of the congregation were put to shame by the exquisite blending of soprano and baritone from the happy parents. As the guests poured out of the church on to the gravel forecourt, it was generally agreed among them that the young Duke and Duchess made the perfect duet.

"Now, Cassandra, do not let little Thomas get cold," the Marchioness of Granshire told her elder daughter, fussing over the baby.

Lady Margaret, delighting in her new role as aunt, tittered and said, "Do not worry, Mama, we have brought enough swaddling blankets to keep ten babies warm, I am sure."

Cassandra laughed at her sister's wit.

"You may laugh at me, you girls, but one cannot be too careful with babies in this climate," the mother warned them.

"He seems a strong, bonny little fellow," remarked the handsome, debonair Lord Euan McMuir cheerfully, his arm linked with his fiancée's as he looked admiringly at little Thomas. "When you come to visit me and Maggie up in the Highlands after we're wed, you may need to bring those extra blankets. It can get very cold up there!"

"We're both looking forward to that very much," Malcom told him with a grin, finding the good-humored Scotsman fine company. Just as he finished speaking, he felt a hard slap on his back. He did not need to turn around to know who it was. He laughed and released Cassandra long enough to embrace Terrence warmly.

"Malcom, old chap, this is a truly happy day, is it not? I like the thought of having a new little cousin to play with. You are not much fun anymore, it has to be said." He rubbed his hands together gleefully while the others chuckled. "I am in sore need of someone I can squander my ill-gotten gains upon. I intend to thoroughly spoil my little godson. I am sure he will want a bow and arrows, a toy drum, perhaps a tin trumpet or two before very long."

"Oh, Lord, please, Terrence, we shall never have any peace," Cassandra playfully scolded him.

"Well, with you two as his parents, the child is bound to be stuffed full of musical talent, so I intend to start him early," Terrence declared, eliciting general laughter.

"Oh, Cassandra, do let me hold Thomas for a minute or two, would you, dear? Having none of my own, it is always nice to have a baby in arms now and then. And I am his great aunt. Lord, that makes me feel old!" Madeleine said with mock ruefulness. "Of course, the best part of borrowing one, so to speak, is that one can hand them back when they start crying or are wet."

"Of course you can hold him, Madeleine. Here . . ." Cassandra carefully transferred Thomas to Madeleine's arms. For all her talk of handing him back, the merry widow cooed and fussed over him like the proverbial mother hen until the party was due to to walk back to the manor for the christening celebration.

Then, the child was passed to his grandfather, who smiled benevolently at everyone as he walked along, cradling his grandson, his face flushed with pride.

"After having two daughters, it is certainly a nice change to have a little lad in the family," he said. "I am sure he will be much less trouble to his parents."

"Oh, Papa! What a thing to say," Cassandra complained laughingly, blissfully happy to be walking along in the sunshine on Malcom's arm on such a happy day.

"Even the weather is celebrating today," Malcom told her as the party went chattering merrily up the gravel drive to the manor, referring to the unusually fine, warm May day.

"Well, our son has a sunny temperament, and Mother nature seems to agree," Cassandra replied, looking up at her husband lovingly. "Are you happy, darling?"

"Happier than I could ever have dreamed, my love," he said, giving her a tender glance.

"Oh, you two love birds are quite sickening," Diana complained, catching them up. "May I remind you that you are married. You are not supposed to be canoodling with each other so happily, are they Georgie?" She addressed the tall, fair-haired young man walking next to her. Lord George Mackintosh, the Viscount Mowberry's bright gray eyes twinkled with amusement.

"I certainly don't recall anything of that sort in my home growing up," he said. "My mother and father were hardly ever in the same room and seldom spoke together, let alone ‘canoodling' as you put it, Di."

"You see, you two. It is not at all the done thing to enjoy each other's company so brazenly," Diana pouted playfully. " Besides, it makes the rest of us jealous!" She glanced rather wistfully at her viscount, who Cassandra noticed, winked at her friend.

"Isn't it strange, my darling," Cassandra said to Malcom a short while later as they stood looking down at their infant son as he gave a miniature yawn and closed his eyes. "He is the reason for us holding this lovely party today, "but he cares not a whit. He is content to have his milk and go fast asleep, the angel."

"He has not a care in the world with two such doting parents watching over him," Malcom replied, putting his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close before kissing the top of her head.

"He does not know how he is cherished," she murmured. They were interrupted by a soft knock at the nursery door.

"May I come in, Your Graces?" asked Christine Clarke, who had given up her job as a governess and had come to work for Cassandra and Malcom as a nursemaid for little Thomas, for a far more generous annual stipend than before. Far from the ill-tempered miss described by her younger sister Mary, the Reverend Clarke's eldest daughter had turned out to be a girl with a sweet, calm nature perfect for looking after small children.

"Of course, Christine, we were just saying good night to him before we go down to join our guests," Cassandra told her with a warm smile. "Now, do not forget, Anna will happily stand in for you for a few hours if you would like to come down and join us at the party. I would not want you to miss it all. Your mother and father are there, and I am sure Mary and the twins are somewhere about."

"Oh, that is very kind, Your Grace, but I have enough of them at home. I shall be quite happy sitting here with my book in peace while the little man sleeps, I assure you."

"All right, my dear. We shall leave you, then. I expect we will be in later to see him before we retire."

Cassandra and Malcom left the young woman to her coveted peace and quiet and went out on to the landing. The buzz of chatter, laughter, and music floated up to them from downstairs.

"Let's spend a minute or two here before we go down and join in the fun, Cassie," Malcom said, catching her around the waist and drawing her close.

"All right," she agreed, winding her arms around his neck and smiling into his eyes. "I would be content to stay here and just gaze into your eyes forever," she murmured, standing on her toes and pressing a small kiss to his lips.

"And I yours, my darling," he said, smiling against her lips before holding her close to his chest. "Ah, Cassie, what a lucky man I am to have such a wonderful wife, who has given me my dear little son. I am the happiest fellow alive, I swear. Can my life get any happier than it is at this moment?"

"Oh, yes," Cassandra told him, her eyes twinkling. "I am perfectly confident that it almost certainly will."

They laughed together and shared another tender kiss before finally joining hands and going down the steps to join the celebration.

THE END