She wanted to laugh, but it caught in her throat. "I'm fine. He didn't—" She looked at Adrian, now sputtering through a split lip, and felt a dark surge of triumph.
Oscar looked up at Harvey. "Ensure they are both restrained. They must face the law for this!" He faced Nancy again, and for a moment, neither said a word.
"Why did you come?" Nancy asked, finding her voice at last.
He cradled her face so tenderly it hurt. "I never left you, Nancy. I only went to find the truth. I should have told you. I am a fool."
She put her hands on his, letting the warmth sink into her. "You are not a fool, Oscar. I am the one who—" She could not say it.
He shook his head. "None of that. Say no more." He pressed a kiss to her forehead, rough and soft at once.
Adrian, now subdued, looked at them with pure venom. "You think you've won, Scarfield? The world is not so easily fooled. Your precious wife will always wonder if you love her, or if you only keep her because you cannot manage children by yourself."
Oscar gave him a look so cold it should have burned through the man's skull. "That is where you are wrong," he said, eyes never leaving Nancy. "I love her, and I would destroy anything that tried to take her from me."
Nancy felt her heart stop, then start again at triple speed. "Oscar," she whispered.
He helped her to her feet. Harvey directed the constable and his men to escort Adrian and Edith outside, leaving only Nancy and Oscar in the conservatory.
Nancy clung to Oscar's coat. "How did you know?"
He stroked her hair. "Your mother. She wrote to me. Said she would break every bone in my body if I did not come at once." He smiled, a real smile. "But I was already on my way."
Harvey reentered, dusting his hands. "All is handled, Your Grace. The authorities will see to them. You may rest easy."
Oscar nodded, then turned back to Nancy. "Let us go outside. The air in here is dreadful."
Nancy let him lead her to the garden, the sunlight almost too bright after the chaos indoors. She stood, trembling, until he turned her toward him.
"I love you," he said, the words so simple she wanted to weep.
She stared at him, unblinking. "You do?"
"I always have. I always will. Even if you set fire to every rule in England and burn down my estate in the process." He drew her close. "I only want you, Nancy. Only ever you."
She felt the last of her fear dissolve, replaced by something so sweet and fierce it hurt to hold. "I love you too," she said, and this time her voice was strong.
Oscar kissed her, and the world, at last, was silent.
They broke apart only when two small bodies collided with Nancy's knees, nearly toppling her.
"Aunt Nancy!" Clara shrieked. Henry followed, wild-haired and flushed, waving a stick.
"What in the world—" Nancy began, but Clara was already talking over her.
"We saw Miss Mercer get into a carriage with two very large men! Is she gone?"
Nancy nodded. "She is never coming back."
Clara looked at Henry, as if confirming a secret. Then both twins burst into a triumphant dance, circling Oscar and Nancy.
Oscar kneeled with his arms wide. "Come here, you little monsters."
The twins threw themselves into his embrace, and Nancy, for the first time since she could remember, felt whole.
"I am sorry," Oscar said, looking at the children. "I did not know she was so awful to you."
Henry shrugged. "It is all right. We like it better now that she is gone."
