Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Chiltern Court, Bedfordshire

July 1818

“ F orasmuch as this man and this woman have consented together in holy Wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God and this company, and thereto have given and pledged their troth either to other, and have declared the same by giving and receiving of a Ring, and by joining of hands; I pronounce that they be Man and Wife together.”

Dignified cheers and just a few claps went up from among the group assembled in the chapel at Chiltern Court. Scarlett swallowed against the urge to cry, which seemed rather silly; why should she cry when she was so very happy for Adelaide and her new brother, Kem?

Moments later, she signed the register as Adelaide’s witness, a signature unfamiliar to her still—Scarlett Richmond. I suppose there is no use becoming too much accustomed to it in any case , she thought with a smile and a backwards look at the tall man behind her.

“Move along there, Miss Richmond,” he teased with a little nudge against her back. “A feast awaits, and I have not had any breakfast.”

She giggled. “Nor have I.”

They exited the chapel into a bright summer day that seemed bespoke for a wedding. The roses were fragrant and in full bloom, though Adelaide had insisted her bouquet contain only hyacinth, myrtle, and ivy. “Show me a rose that can match my eyes,” she had insisted, “and I shall allow it in my bouquet.”

Scarlett had hurried to assure Aunt Louisa—who felt every Richmond bride ought to carry the famed Richmond roses—that her sister was only anxious to celebrate that which had first connected her to her true family, at a time when she was leaving it for a new one. She had also consoled her ladyship with the promise that she would include the roses in her own bouquet.

The only damper on the day was thinking of Adelaide being gone, off with her husband to Avonwyke. Scarlett had only just grown accustomed to seeing her sister, and to truly knowing her as a sister ought to. She had learnt, for instance, that Adelaide was an excessively light sleeper—the least twitch or softest sound, and Adelaide leapt from her bed as if a bell had clanged directly next to her head. They had both grown fond of reading together, devouring book after book at an increasingly rapid pace and debating, sometimes vehemently, their thoughts on what they had read. Foods that were too rich gave them both dyspepsia, but neither was likely to fall sick from being damp or cold.

The thing Scarlett liked the best, however, was the manner in which she and Adelaide could communicate almost without words. Such as now, for example, when she sent her sister a damp-eyed half-smile, causing Adelaide to come to her immediately.

“Would that we could all just live together!” she lamented. “I have scarcely come to know my dear sister! Would you believe I only just discovered that she can speak Italian?”

“I cannot speak Italian,” Scarlett said with a laugh. “I have only just begun to learn to speak Italian. Worthe is fond of the opera, and I simply despise sitting there not knowing what they are saying!”

“I still hate the idea of living apart from you. How many miles is it?”

“To here? Or Ashworthe Park?” Worthe asked.

“If it is more than twenty, I shall die,” Scarlett announced.

“If it is more than ten, I shall die,” Adelaide promised. She reached for her new husband’s arm and tugged him closer. “Kem, you know I adore Avonwyke, but surely there are a hundred seats of equal beauty nearer to my family.” She gave him a smile that made Scarlett feel embarrassed to have witnessed it. “Your countess begs you to consider it, my lord. ”

“Do you hear that?” Kem asked Worthe. “Already leading me about by the nose with the ink not even dry in the register.” The grin on his face showed he was all too delighted by it.

“I was thinking…” Worthe said after Kem gestured to the path that would lead them back to the house, and thus the wedding breakfast. “Now might be the time to give them their gifts.”

“Gifts?” Adelaide exclaimed. “I like the sound of that!”

“Now?” Kem glanced dubiously at the ladies’ hems. “I am not certain we should.”

“For me, too?” Scarlett asked, trying not to seem too eager. Worthe was an enthusiastic and generous gift-giver and had likely bestowed far too much upon her already. She was always conscious of the money he had given to the reverend, but he had proclaimed it a trifle for what he received in return—a happy bride, free of all concern for her past.

“Yes, for you, too,” he replied, reaching down to grab her hand and bring it to his lips. He addressed Kem, saying, “I had imagined that I might carry Scarlett down there, but if you feel unequal to the task…”

As would be expected, Kem made a great show of bristling. “I shall not only carry my bride, but run the entire distance.”

“I shall run, and get there before you,” Worthe added.

“I shall run, jump over the hedge, and then?— ”

“Boys, please!” Adelaide interrupted with a laugh. “We do have a wedding breakfast to attend, and I think Aunt Louisa will be mightily displeased to see us arrive with sweaty countenances or broken limbs!”

“Very well,” Kem grumbled. “But I shall carry you on my back.”

Worthe turned and presented his back to Scarlett, crouching slightly. “Come Scar. Up you go.”

With a giggle, and a wondering glance at Adelaide, Scarlett managed to get into position on Worthe’s back, while Adelaide did likewise on Kem. Both ladies giggled as they were borne, likely too speedily, towards the carriage house, where they were deposited on their feet in front of the large doors.

“Did you hide our gifts in the carriage house?” Scarlett asked.

“In a manner of speaking,” Kem replied. “They were only recently delivered.”

Without further explanation, Worthe went to the door and opened it with a grand flourish. The four entered, Adelaide walking slightly ahead. When she stopped with a gasp, Scarlett almost collided with her.

Two gleaming, new carriages sat side by side. They were both the blue of a robin’s egg—which the ladies had recently decided was their favourite colour—one with the Kemerton crest on the door in gold and the other with the Worthe crest.

“We had a devil of a time finding matched bays to pull them,” Worthe informed them. “But we did find them at last, and their bloodlines are known for speed.”

“So visiting one another, no matter how frequently, will never be any trouble.” Kem smiled at his bride who awarded him with a kiss.

Scarlett, who was still a bit shy about openly kissing Worthe, tugged him into the shadows a little before following suit. “You are too good to me,” she told him.

“You deserve all the good in the world,” he said, wrapping her in his embrace. “And so do I, I might say. Happily, I have it right here in my arms.”

“Right in your arms,” she echoed, before giving him another kiss. “And right where I was always meant to be.”