Epilogue

EPILOGUE

6 months later

P erhaps it was because the disgraced Marquess of Chilton’s crimes were so egregious, or maybe it was because there was so much interest in the disappearance and reappearance of Lady Charlotte, or perhaps it was just because she had so many friends old and new…but Esme had to admit that Finn was right. She tried not to mention it too often. He got a terribly swelled head when she did. Her first six months as Countess of Delacourt had not been entirely smooth, but they hadn’t been completely shunned either. At least not by those who mattered.

She had swiftly married the man she loved off in Gretna Green like two young lovers from some play. And she had become closer than she ever thought she could with her sister-in-law and brother-in-law. Marianne’s goodness was real, it was palpable and it never allowed Esme to fall into questioning herself.

She had even helped Jane exit the life of a lightskirt and enter one as a respectable shopkeep. They saw each other every week and she could tell her friend was becoming more comfortable with her future, even if she refused to talk much about the recent past. About why her gaze grew sad whenever someone talked about Campbell Ripley.

But mostly Esme had reveled in the passion and gentleness and absolute adoration of the man she now stood next to, watching from the balcony above their ballroom as what felt like everyone in the ton celebrated the new Marquess of Chilton, a kind man, even if he was a bore. The old one, Francis, had been hung after a swift and thorough trial.

She felt Finn’s arms come around her and she snuggled back against his chest. “Your sister isn’t going to be able to hide her increasing belly for much longer,” she said, motioning to Marianne and Sebastian, who were dancing the waltz far too closely.

“She is glowing,” Finn said. “I cannot wait to be an uncle.”

She turned toward him and looked up into his face, memorizing every line of him. Every curve and angle was so perfect that it made her heart swell with all the love she felt for him.

“And what about a father?” she asked.

He looked confused for a moment and then his eyes widened. “Wait, are you saying…?”

She nodded. “Yes. A baby.”

When she said it out loud, there was a thrill that rushed through her. One she welcomed. In the years she’d been forced to fight for every moment of her life, she had put away the dreams she’d had of motherhood. But in the days since she’d realized what was happening to her body, that there was a child growing within her, she had felt nothing but joy. Complete and powerful joy that seemed to erase all over pains.

“And do we need to take the child and run off to the wilderness to raise them outside of Society?” he asked, and she could see he was only half in jest.

“We’ve seen people treat us with unkindness, of course,” she said with a sigh.

“Yes,” Finn said with a frown. “There are those who are more concerned with what they view as propriety than anything else.”

She nodded. “And yet despite that, my greatest fears about a total shunning haven’t been true. There are invitations from those we care about. You haven’t been drummed out of your clubs. Do you feel you’ve lost too much of your life?”

His eyes widened. “Lost? Absolutely not. My life, my happiness, has only become more complete since marrying you.”

She smiled. She’d never felt anything different from him, but his absolute certainty in his words was still a relief. “Good. Then I must say I’m perfectly happy just where I am. I won’t run if you won’t. I’ll fight right at your side and at the side of our children for the rest of my days.”

His gaze misted a little, as if those words meant the world to him. He caught her hand. “If we fight together, I think we know we’re unstoppable. And as for being perfectly happy? So am I. So am I.”