She watched as he leaned closer to her, then closed her eyes as she felt his lips brush against hers. His arms slid around her, drawing her closer. As he deepened the kiss, she found herself returning it with an equal ardor.
Ellie broke the kiss but didn’t move away. “This doesn’t quite seem real to me,” she whispered against his lips.
They curved into a smile. “Perhaps we just need more practice.”
“That might be for the best.”
Charles’ voice came from outside. “Has Ellie agreed to marry you yet?”
“She has,” Roswell replied.
“Can we go home now?”
Roswell met her gaze and said, “Let’s go home, Ellie.”
Home.
She smiled at the man she loved, the one she never wanted to live without. “That sounds wonderful,” she said, her voice soft, yet somehow full of promise.
Epilogue
Roswell sat in the study,sorting through piles of correspondence on his desk, knowing it would take days, if not weeks, before he would succeed in catching up. But spending their honeymoon at his Scottish estate with Ellie had been worth every moment. It was a time he would always look back on with much fondness, for in that time he’d fallen even more deeply in love with his wife.
His wife.
That was something that he didn’t think he would ever tire of hearing. How he adored Ellie. She had quickly become the most important thing in his life, and he vowed to never take her for granted. She had brought laughter back to him, something he once thought impossible.
If she hadn’t come into his life when she had, he didn’t know what would have become of him. He likely would have turned even more bitter than he already was. But she had showed him a different way to live, a way filled with love.
A knock came at the door, drawing his attention.
Thorne stood there. “Mr. Manley is here to see you, milord.”
“Will you send him in?”
With a tip of his head, Thorne departed.
Roswell leaned back in his chair and waited to see what his solicitor wanted. He had been receiving weekly updates on Ellie’s case, but they were still waiting for the judge to make a ruling.
Mr. Manley walked into the room with a smile. “The judge ruled in Lady Bideford’s favor,” he announced.
Roswell perked up in his seat. “He did?”
“As you may recall, I submitted Lady Bideford’s testimony about Lord Worthington’s abduction of her for her dowry to the church probate court,” Mr. Manley shared.
“I do.”
Mr. Manley sat in a chair in front of the desk. “The judge found that rather distasteful and saw it as proof of Lord Worthington’s despicable character. He ignored the ledgers that supposedly claimed Lord Worthington didn’t have the funds to honor his predecessor’s will.”
Roswell shook his head. “I shouldn’t be surprised at Lord Worthington’s deceit.”
“Furthermore, Lord Worthington tried to prove that he inherited a nearly bankrupted estate,” his solicitor shared.
“I assume that wasn’t true.”
“Of course not,” Mr. Manley replied. “It was just a desperate ploy to cheat Lady Bideford and Lady Worthington out of their inheritance.”
“This is precisely the outcome I had been hoping for.”
