Epilogue

EPILOGUE

B eing a duchess, Samantha was coming to realize, had its perks.

For the first time in her life, she had a wardrobe filled with gowns, more than she could ever possibly wear, and there were invitations coming from all directions requesting her to attend a ball or a dinner or afternoon tea, and she made a point of attending each one.

The most important, however, had been the invitation to the engagement ball. Not only would her husband be able to see his brothers for the first time in far too long, but she would see Penelope once more. So much had happened since they had last seen each other, and she missed her terribly. Penelope had been her first ally other than Diana, and she needed to see her friend again, especially if she was to be around Miss Norton.

"Are you ready?" Graham asked. "We shall be late if we do not leave soon."

"I have been ready for an hour," she laughed. "I was waiting for you to come and find me."

"I could, and would, find you anywhere at any time. Say the word, and I shall be there."

Oh, how she adored having a husband that loved her.

On the way, Samantha looked out of the window in thought. In spite of how excited she was, she couldn't help but feel nervous. Penelope would be there, but Diana would not, and if Graham was having a discussion with his brothers, then she might be very lonely, indeed.

"Do you think it will go well today?" she asked.

"Overall, I believe it will. Will it be completely perfect? I highly doubt that, but we do not need perfection."

She nodded, but she did not know how to feel about his answer. She knew not to expect perfection, especially when so many things could go wrong, but she wanted to hope for it at least. Instead, she was going to an event, knowing that something would inevitably go wrong.

Strangely, however, Miss Norton was not as awful as expected. Samantha and Graham had agreed that she would be even more insufferable now than before that she had a ring, but she greeted both of them politely, pulling Samantha to the side as Graham walked off with Nicholas.

"I ought to apologize," she said softly. "It was incredibly unkind of me to assume the worst of you."

Samantha did not respond, for she did not know what to say.

"What I mean is," she continued, "that I had no right to say the things that I said to you. In truth, I must admit that I was afraid. You are a beautiful lady, and with Nicholas not wanting to propose yet, I felt uncertain about my position."

"Oh, well, that was never going to be a concern. Nicholas is not the sort of man that I would have ever considered marrying."

"A lot of ladies say that to me, but I never understand it. Perhaps they simply do not know him how I do. He is a good man, you know, and his work ethic is unlike anyone else's. He has his brother to thank for that, I suppose."

"His father," Samantha corrected her. "He is the reason that all happened after all."

"To be sure, but without someone to reach for that is above you, you can never be pulled upwards."

"I had never thought of it that way."

"Nicholas certainly did," she smiled. "Not that he would ever admit it to anyone else."

"Then you are right. You do know him in a different way to everyone else."

Emma smiled at her, and Samantha wondered if she had, indeed, become prettier now that she smiled.

"It is funny, you know," Emma said, "the evening that your engagement was announced was the same night that Nicholas had wanted to propose to me. I believe that is the reason he did not for the longest time. He wanted the two of you to have something of your own before we stepped in."

"That was terribly kind of him. I do hope that you were not too angered by having to wait."

"His intentions have always been clear to me," she sighed. "What is a short wait when we shall have the rest of our lives together?"

But Samantha had thought of another thing entirely.

When Graham proposed to her, Nicholas was angry. Upon discovering that it had been her father doing the blackmailing, it had left the question as to why Nicholas was truly that angry. Now she knew exactly why; his brother had stolen his moment which for a younger brother desperate to have what his brother had must have been the last straw.

That is to say, she hardly blamed him for how he felt.

"I must go," Emma said suddenly. "Nicholas is summoning me, but I believe Penelope is arriving now!"

Samantha turned to see that Emma was correct. Penelope was entering on Oliver's arm which she promptly dropped upon seeing Samantha.

"Oh, my!" Penelope said excitedly, "How are you? How is married life treating you, now?"

"I never thought that I would say this, but it is bliss. I cannot believe that I never wanted to marry at all. I never would have known this feeling had I become a spinster."

"I shall not take any offense to that."

"There is none meant," Samantha laughed. "You are more than happy with your life, I am sure."

"I most certainly am. For one, I do not have a husband that must have difficult conversations with his brother and his fiancée."

Both ladies turned to see Graham speaking with Nicholas and Emma. None of them seemed too happy, but Samantha had expected that much. She simply had not expected it to happen so quickly.

"There are certainly things that must be talked about between them," Samantha noted. "Not only that, but I must do the same with my siblings soon enough."

"Are we hoping to mend things?"

"Ideally, but if not, then at least we will know that we have done all that we can. It is unfair that so much has happened because two men did not know how to be good to their children."

"To be sure, but you shall all fix things in your own way. You will be better than they were to your own children, I assure you. That is, if you are hoping to have them."

"We have discussed the matter, and we have decided that what will be will be. Graham has always said that he would rather be a father than have children."

"What does he mean by that?"

"He means that he would rather have the role of father than the ownership of children. He says it is an important distinction."

"It most certainly is, and it only proves to me that you will make wonderful parents should it happen."

Graham then walked away from his brother, and both ladies watched as he approached.

"Was it awful?" Samantha asked.

"It could have been far worse," Graham explained. "Granted, I will likely never speak to him again, but we have come to terms with all that happened. We agreed that it is pointless to continue on with this competition between us, as one-sided as it was, and that we are better off going our separate ways."

"Oh, dearest," Samantha sighed, "I am sorry. I was hoping for better."

"It could not have been much better. After all, I am now at peace with one of my three brothers, and I can continue with my life as it is, and you and I both know that I would not change that for the world."

"Of course not," she replied, just as another gentleman tapped Graham on the shoulder.

"Andrew!" Graham gasped.

"Nicholas," the gentleman replied, in a far more refined manner, "I wanted to say hello. It is proper, I believe, given the circumstances."

"Indeed, and it is good to see you again."

"Who is this?" Samantha asked.

"Ah! Andrew, this is my wife. Dearest, this is my brother, Andrew."

"It is a pleasure," he replied. "Quite how you have survived living with a member of my family astounds me truly, but you seem to make my brother happy. He deserves that."

"You all do," she replied gently. "I wish you every happiness."

He smiled at her before walking away. Looking at Graham, she could tell that he had not been hoping for much more than that.

"That leaves one," she said gently.

"He will not be here tonight," Graham explained. "Nicholas and William never seemed to reach one another again, according to Nicholas. Neither of us truly know what became of him, but Nicholas has told me that it is for the best that I do not search for him."

"And do you agree?"

"I believe I do. I have only just managed to have a good conversation with Nicholas, so I would hate to ruin it all over again even if I do not plan to see him from this day forward."

"Very well," she noted. "If that is what you think is best."

It was a far more enjoyable way of discussing matters, Samantha thought, and she was hoping to keep it that way. She was sure that they would, of course, because Graham agreed with her on the matter.

That night, when they had returned home, Samantha ate dinner across from her husband and listened to him tell her all of his plans for the local farms and the upcoming festival. She had news of her own, but she wanted him to finish speaking first. Graham had so often encouraged her to speak first at dinner because once he started, he scarcely stopped, but she did not mind at all. She enjoyed listening to him speak.

"Ah! I have done it again," he said after a while. "Please, tell me about your day."

"Dearest, you were with me for the most part."

"Of course, but we do not always experience things the same way. I must have missed some things."

"Well, Emma was strangely nice to me. It is as though she has completely forgotten that she is supposed to loath me entirely."

"You are to be her sister-in-law soon enough. It is beneficial for her to be kind to you as well as speak kindly of you. It does not do one any good to speak badly of a well-liked duchess."

"That is hardly my position in society yet."

"Perhaps not, but if you can win over the ton as you have our butler, then you shall soon have that title, I am sure of it."

"I have not won over the butler."

"He does not outright detest you, so that is what I would consider you being on his good side at least."

Samantha had to laugh as she knew he was right.

"I have some news for you," she began.

"Is it about Penelope? Do not tell me that she has somehow met the gentleman of her dreams and is to escape to Gretna Green!"

"No, she is very much happily a spinster still, and that will not be changing anytime soon. No, this news pertains to me."

Graham leaned forward, listening intently to her as she spoke. Suddenly, she felt a shyness wash over her. She did not know how to tell him, despite knowing that she was going to do so all morning.

"Well," she said, "I wanted Nicholas to have his day, but now that we are home, I can tell you. Do you remember how I was ready very early this morning?"

"Yes, of course. It only happened this morning."

"Well, it was because I had received a letter beforehand. I had wanted to surprise you because I know how hard you worked to have this happen quickly. Even I am surprised at how quickly this has happened."

"What is it?"

"It is the university! They have accepted me as a student, and I am to start very soon. They have specified that it is not something that they typically do, but that they are willing to make an exception for me."

"An exception for an exceptional lady," he noted. "I never doubted you, not for a second."

"It also helped greatly that my husband is a duke, of course."

"That made a difference, to be sure, but they do not accept just any duchess. It is your tenacity and willingness that secured you that place, not my title. Oh, Samantha, I cannot put into words how proud I am of you!"

"I can see it on your face," she observed, "and I am so grateful for it. I am grateful for you and for the fact that I shall have access to real classes. It truly is a miracle."

"It is not a miracle any more than it is my doing. This is all you, Dearest. You are a special lady, and I could not be happier that it is at last being seen by others, the way it always should have been."

The praise continued to rain down on her until they retired to bed. Even then, Graham whispered in her ear about how truly proud he was of her until he drifted off to sleep. Samantha, on the other hand, could not sleep. She was too busy thinking of the girl that she once was, who was bold enough to walk up to scholars and discuss topics with them despite them laughing at her each and every time.

That very same girl would be attending the same universities as those scholars had, and she would do as well as they had, if not even better. She knew that she would because she wanted to, and she was growing accustomed to having everything that she wanted. She wondered if that made her spoiled, but she shrugged it off. She had earned what she had, all of it, and that is what made it all even better.

Diana was, of course, also ecstatic for her as was Adam, who had been counting the days until he could take his title and leave once more for Scotland. He was yet to meet Diana himself, but they had written letters to one another, and Diana did not hold any ill will towards him, and so that had been a good start at least. At last, everything was looking up and yet also falling into place, and each of them were perfectly happy with all that they had.

After all, with wonderful marriages, their interests fulfilled, and a family that seemed to be growing bigger by the day, who could ask for more? Samantha certainly could not have, and as she at last drifted off into sleep, she smiled, knowing that she truly could not be any happier than she was in that moment.

The End?