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“Like a swan,” she murmured. She felt overwhelmed with emotion. Ash was here beside her and he loved her. A tear ran down her cheek into her hair, and he brushed it gently away.
“My dearest love,” he said again. “We have lost eight years, and I know we can’t get them back. We can’t return to the past. But we have the rest of our lives from this moment on. Marry me and stay here with me. Let me make you the happiest woman in the world.”
She gave a watery laugh. “Yes, yes and yes.”
He kissed her again, long hot kisses, while his caresses grew bolder. She thought about telling him how Yvette had informed her that she and Truscott had decided that Ash and Juliet must marry. The maid and the valet would be needed to help shape the future of the Linholm dynasty. No shabby dressing was to be allowed at Crevitch Castle.
Instead she helped him off with his clothing.
When they were both naked, he looked at her with the heat in his eyes she remembered from their days in the summerhouse. He brushed a fingertip over her breasts, cupping the full flesh, bending to taste her so that she gasped and clung to him.
“You are more beautiful than ever, Juliet,” he murmured.
When their mouths met this time, they were hot and eager. It had been so long and they couldn’t wait. When he joined with her, she gasped out his name, and just for a moment they were still, gazing into each other’s eyes.
“Not many people have a second chance at happiness,” Juliet said, with a sense of wonder.
“We are fortunate indeed,” Ash agreed.
All the words that needed to be spoken had been spoken. Juliet told herself that now it was time for touching and caressing, and the oh-so pleasurable slide of flesh against flesh.
Outside the rain beat against the windows but neither Ash nor Juliet heard. While the summer storm raged, they were creating their own storm, right here in Ash’s bed.
Epilogue
Autumn, 1816, Crevitch Castle, Somerset, England
The wedding was taking place in the little medieval church in Crevitch village. Ash looked about at the great many people present—most of them Juliet had not met or if she had then she had forgotten their names. She reminded him that she had been living a rather quiet life up until now. Ash told her she would learn them eventually, and if not then it didn’t matter. As long, he teased, as she never forgot him.
That made her smile and stretch up to kiss him. They were always kissing each other, they couldn’t seem to stop now that she was finally his. And he was hers. They both agreed they had a great deal of time to make up for.
Her dark hair was coiled up in an intricate fashion, and although Ash thought it beautiful, he preferred it down about her shoulders. Her naked shoulders. Her wedding dress was made of cream silk and satin, and there were water lilies and silver swans embroidered around the hem. Yvette had fussed about the train until it was perfect, and Truscott had done the same for Ash’s dark blue jacket, white silk shirt and cream knee breeches.
The two servants seemed perfectly matched and appeared to be happy with their new lives in the country, at least for now. Juliet told him that they believed it was their work that had brought she and Ash together, something about the clothes they had worn at the Midsummer celebrations.
Ash said to allow them their delusions.
The Linholm family were all there. Among the myriad of more distant relatives were Simon and Christina, and the Dowager Lady Linholm, as well as Uncle George. Everyone who was important to him wished him well.
The ‘remarkable’ Doctor Knowles was there in the church, with his heavily pregnant wife. Ash had made a large donation to the hospital, and it was still being talked about in the village. Doctor Knowles had thanked him personally. Juliet had given up her volunteer work at the hospital, but she would still be working behind the scenes, and was already planning how best to spend the money.
Ash’s wedding gift had been waiting for her this morning.
As Juliet had made her way to the church, she had found an older woman there, anxiously anticipating her arrival. She had grey streaks in her dark hair and smiling dark eyes. It was her mother, Claudia, the Countess, and she had come all the way from Italy to be present at her daughter’s wedding.
The two of them had embraced, and suddenly all their years apart hadn’t mattered a jot. There were things to say, of course there were, but Juliet was just grateful to be reunited with her mother. Eventually, she knew, they would find their way through the barriers of the past. Ash had done this for her, and she loved him even more because of it.
Some of the guests were from Mockingbird Square, where the Linholm town house was situated. She recognised the dark and handsome Earl of Monkstead, someone she had recently made the acquaintance of, and who had been very attentive to her. Ash had told her it was Monkstead who had set him on the path to happiness, and that there was some mystery in the earl’s past—a matter of heartbreak. Also present was Miss Willoughby, a serious young woman with a sweet smile, who Simon had credited with helping him along in his romance with Christina.
Juliet happened to notice Monkstead and Miss Willoughby exchanging a glance or two, and she wondered if there was something to be made of that shared look. A secret, perhaps? Was the earl not quite so heartbroken after all?
Although there were no more secrets between Ash and Juliet, there was a surprise that they were yet to announce to their families. Juliet smiled to herself. She was carrying Ash’s child, conceived on Midsummer’s Eve.
Ash was thrilled. He seemed to think there was some significance in the timing, as if his ancestor Lord Radulf had been smiling down upon them. Juliet wasn’t sure about that, but she was happy to let him believe it was so. She preferred to think it was Lady Lily who was smiling down upon them, telling Juliet that if this was the heir to Crevitch she was carrying then everyone would be well pleased. And if it wasn’t? Then there was always the next time.
The guests in the church rose to their feet as the bride reached the altar and her waiting bridegroom. The minister hadn’t begun to conduct the ceremony—he was still waiting for the congregation to be silent on what he considered a most auspicious occasion. It wasn’t time to kiss the bride, but neither Ash nor Juliet cared about that. They would never again be bound by the rules and the expectations of others.
Taking her in his arms, Ash kissed his bride-to-be long and passionately. This was the ending their story always should have had, but Ash told himself he didn’t want to revisit those times. They were over and done with. The night Juliet had come to his bed, and they had shared their love and devotion, they had finally let go of the past. There was only the future and they were looking forward to it.
