He tipped up her chin, emotion clogging his throat. “In the past few days I’ve learned that the past shouldn’t eclipse the future or one ends up like Bonham—stuck, which is a dangerous place to be. I’ve been stuck in the past for far too long. I loved Helene once, true, but I’ve finally put her back where she belongs. You’re my present and my future, the woman I want to have children with, the woman I love. You’re my rising sun and my harvest moon. You’re everything I need, and nothing I have ever had. Until now.”
Her flirtatious smile snagged his heart. He’d thought he might never see it again.
But before he could kiss her, she straightened his cravat in a very wifely way. “It appears I was telling the truth, after all, when I informed Grey a year ago of my interest in a poet. You are more poet than I realized, my love.”
“That only proves how you underestimate me.” He cocked up one eyebrow. “I am not merely a duke under the covers, you know.”
“No, indeed. You’re also an excellent shot and a fine lover. Although I haven’t had enough experience in the latter to be sure. Perhaps we could use a bit more practice later, after Mr. Fitzgerald has come and gone?”
His blood heated just at the thought. “You know what they all say, my dear wife. Practice makes perfect.”
Epilogue
December 1809
Vanessa didn’t know if she would survive the Christmas house party at Armitage Hall. According to Sheridan, it had been years since anyone had contemplated such a gathering. For Vanessa, having never hosted one so large or even attended one with forty guests, the sheer size of it was overwhelming.
While most of them were family, she and Sheridan had chosen a few of the dowager duchess’s close friends to cheer her up after her shock at discovering that Mr. Bonham had been systematically picking off the people she loved (and some she didn’t). Vanessa’s tactic must have worked because the dowager duchess had been eager to help, and more than eager to chat with the guests.
The Enceinte Trio, as Vanessa had privately been calling the three pregnant women in the family, had initially vowed to help, too. Then Beatrice’s baby had been born three weeks ago, and Gwyn’s twins had been born last week, and that only left Cass, who, fortunately, wasn’t due until sometime next year. Vanessa’s sister-in-law Cass had a talent for arranging and organizing, so Vanessa had been relying on her quite a bit. Besides which, Cass and Heywood lived right up the road, so she and Vanessa were rapidly becoming friends.
Cass came up to where Vanessa sat at a table in the drawing room, putting together kissing boughs. She wanted lots of them, one for every hall and public room in the manor. “Lady Hornsby wants to be in a bedchamber that adjoins Lord Lisbourne’s. Are you fine with that? Also, our mother-in-law has put your uncle in the room adjoining hers, if that’s all right.” Cass arched an eyebrow. “At the rate we’re going, your party may end up in all the gossip rags.”
“I don’t care. And it doesn’t matter to me who adjoins whom, as long as they don’t ask me to change the sheets when they leave, if you know what I mean.”
A laugh burst out of Cass. “You are quite an outrageous lady, aren’t you?”
“I try. Why do you think Saint Sheridan married me? He needs someone to poke holes in his halo on occasion.” Vanessa paused in her work to examine her map of the house. “Now I have to move other people around. Did your aunt and your cousin come? I was planning to put Lady Hornsby in this darling little suite in the east wing, but with her changing rooms it would be perfect for them, although I would swear it hadn’t been cleaned in years, until yesterday.”
“No, they couldn’t attend.” Cass shook her head. “Kitty is throwing a party of her own in London, and I shudder to think how it will turn out. She’s not . . . adept at these things like you and I.”
“We’re here!” a cheery voice sounded behind her. “Unfashionably early, of course, but we thought we could help.”
Vanessa jumped up and whirled around. “Gwyn! No one told me you were coming. You just had twins—what are you doing traveling? And Beatrice! You’re here!” She threw her arms about them both. “I can’t believe you came!” Then she pulled back to frown at them. “You shouldn’t have come. Are you certain you’re both up to it?”
“Do you really think we would miss your big affair?” Beatrice said. “Not on your life. Besides, our husbands have been driving us mad worrying about our health. I am tired of drinking possets. I can’t wait to have some of the estate perry you brew up so well.”
“I don’t brew it up,” Vanessa said dryly, “although from the way Sheridan extols its virtues, you’d think he squeezed the pears himself.”
“What’s wrong with a good posset?” Cass said. “I like possets myself. We received a posset set for our wedding, and our cook uses it quite a bit.”
“If I want medicine, I’ll take medicine,” Gwyn said, “and if I want an alcoholic beverage or dessert, I’ll drink some wine or eat a syllabub. I do not want my medicine and beverages combined.”
“And while I don’t have Gwyn’s objection to them, I don’t want a posset every day, twice a day, trust me.” Beatrice took a deep breath. “It’s so lovely to be home again. Or as close to home as I’ve been in a while. Have you decided what to do about the dower house? Grey is happy to do whatever you and Sheridan need.”
“I think the dowager duchess is actually going to live there.” Vanessa smiled. “Which is wonderful because that means she’ll be nearby. Of course, my uncle might end up having a say in that. . . .”
“That would be wonderful. I like your uncle.” Gwyn scanned the drawing room. “Where’s Olivia?”
Vanessa laughed. “She’s probably off somewhere trying to turn perry into wine or using ink and sulfuric acid to melt iron. Heaven only knows. That woman loves doing her experiments, and since she and Thorn arrived yesterday, she’s probably already in the midst of one.”
“Well,” Gwyn said confidentially, “we brought her a gift.”
“What sort of gift?” Cass asked.
“You’ll find out when Joshua and I give it to her,” Gwyn said. “What’s this you’re working on? Can we help?”
“I would certainly welcome help from all of you,” Vanessa said. “I’ve been making kissing boughs for all the halls and parlors and the dining room and the breakfast room. I still have about ten left to put together.”
“Good Lord, that’s a great many kissing boughs.” Beatrice took a seat beside Vanessa and picked up a piece of ribbon. “But I do enjoy making them.”
“It sounds like fun.” Gwyn took a seat on the other side of the table next to where Cass had been working earlier. “But I’ve never done one, so you’ll have to show me how. And where are the men, anyway? I wish to see my brothers, the scamps who haven’t written me a single letter since last I saw them.”
“They’re staying out of the way,” Vanessa said, “like the clever men know to do.”