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“We will live at Dunmure,” he said.

“Dunmure? But Alex, I thought—”

“It is mine, and ’tis time for me to claim it. My mother can live there, or Brockburg—I leave that for her to decide. If it pleases you.”

“Of course it pleases me. I’m just surprised.”

“No more surprised than I was to watch you toss your boy’s clothes into the river.”

“Don’t you dare laugh at me. I just. . .” She smiled. “I just wanted to get rid of them. I wasn’t quite thinking of anything else.”

“I see that,” he said, his gaze appreciative. He was unable to keep the laughter from his voice.

“But Geoffrey and I scoured the countryside to find you. And now—”

“And now, I am Clara. I thought I had to choose, and I was so afraid to choose wrong. But I’m not afraid anymore. Alex?”

“Aye, love.”

“There is a bit of Alfred in me still. And I don’t know if I’ll ever be Clara completely again. Not after all that has happened.”

She said it by way of an apology, but there was nothing to apologize for.

“As long as you’re by my side and not holding a sword to English reivers, it matters not to me.”

“You should have seen me,” she said, clearly proud of her efforts. “And I still wish to train.”

“Then you shall.”

“And mayhap wear leggings as Lady Sara sometimes does.”

“Wear this—” he gestured down to her beautiful body, “—I care not.” He then thought better of it. “Well—”

“And one other thing if you are to be my husband. . .”

She turned serious, so he attempted to do the same.

“There shall never be any secrets between us. I abhor them.”

“Well then. . . ” he said. But he ruined the seriousness of the moment by running his hands from her hips to brush against the side of her breasts. “We should get started. I do have a few secrets to share that I think you’ll be pleased to learn.”

Epilogue

Dunmure Tower, Scotland

“Alex, your mother will be here any moment!”

Clara swatted his hand from her backside as they stood in the entranceway of the keep that she now called home. Her mother-in-law was visiting from Brockburg. She’d chosen to stay at the larger holding in her own quarters so as “not to disturb either set of newlyweds.” But she had promised to visit often, and she and Toren and Juliette were due to arrive at any moment.

Three months had passed since they’d married and moved to Scotland—the best months of her life. Alex could not wait to show his mother the improvements they’d made to his ancestral home, including the waterfall he had constructed in the garden. He remembered what she’d said about the soothing sound of the waters back at Barrington.

“Then let her come,” he said, pulling her toward him once again and kissing her in full view of the servants who hurried from building to building looking for warmth. “You do remember the promise I made at Keston?”

Oh, she remembered. He’d not let her forget it.

“Which reminds me, I’m planning something special for Emma when we next visit Kenshire.”

She and her friend wrote often, thanks to Father Simon’s tutoring. When Alex had discovered she was unable to read or write well, he’d begged his tutor to reside with them for a time, and Father had happily agreed.