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Lady Whitehaven gasped, hurrying forward to her daughter and, in that moment, Edward moved. Seeing Lord Huckleby regain his balance and stare with murderous intent towards Titania, he pulled the pistol from his jacket and, in another moment, the sound of a retort rang through the room.
Everything seemed to stop. Titania and Lady Whitehaven froze in place, their hands reaching out to each other. The footmen who had moved forward to grab at Lord Huckleby stopped dead, their eyes widening as Lord Huckleby stared down at the red beginning to blossom out from his chest.
Edward’s shot had found its mark. Lord Huckleby began to fall back, his hand clutching at his chest. The man would not rise again, Edward knew. Ravel would soon be gone. The threat was at an end. He had achieved his goal.
* * *
“Thank you, Lieutenant.”
Edward stepped back to allow two men carrying the covered body of Lord Huckleby from the room. Lieutenant James had been sent for at once and had arrived with the greatest of speed, spurred on in the knowledge that Ravel had been discovered and, in the end, completely dealt with.
“I am sorry for what you have had to endure, Carroway,” the lieutenant said, his eyes roving over the bruises that still marked Edward’s face. “But it seems you have brought this long chase to an end, and I confess that I am satisfied with that.”
“As am I,” Edward admitted, his mind already going towards Titania, who had been taken from the room by Lady Whitehaven shortly after Lord Huckleby had been shot dead. “I think, Lieutenant, that I will need a short time away from the army. After all that I have endured, as you say, I feel it is necessary for me to recover away from London.”
The lieutenant chuckled. “You have done your duty many times over, Carroway,” he said honestly, slapping Edward on the shoulder. “If you have decided to return to your estate and to begin your life as a titled gentleman, then I will have no hesitation in releasing you from your duties here.”
Edward hesitated, wondering if he could truly live a fulfilling life without all that he had known for so long within it any longer.
“You will find a new happiness with Miss Wells, I am quite certain of that,” the lieutenant said, as though he could read Edward’s min
d. “You need not fear that you will be without excitement or purpose. Trust me, Carroway. Do not doubt what your heart tells you.”
Edward nodded slowly, letting out a long breath and feeling a burden roll from his shoulders. “I thank you, Lieutenant,” he said softly. “I think I shall do just as you have suggested.”
The lieutenant grinned. “Then may I suggest that you go to her, Carroway? I think she will be waiting for you.”
Epilogue
“It was rather an eventful evening, I confess it.”
Titania glanced up into Lord Carroway’s face as they walked together, hardly believing that it had only been last evening that Lord Huckleby had finally been brought to his end. “Although I am glad to see that you have recovered.”
“You are an astonishing young woman, Titania,” Lord Carroway murmured, placing his hand over hers as they walked together. “To have shown such strength and determination in the face of danger and even death…” He trailed off and shook his head, his admiration apparent, and Titania felt herself blush. “You must know just how highly I think of you.”
Grateful that St. James’s Park was quiet enough for their conversation to go unheard, Titania allowed herself to speak freely. It was early morning, for neither of them had slept particularly well, and when he had sent a note requesting to call on her at her earliest convenience, Titania had not hesitated to ask him to come at once.
“I must tell you, Carroway, that I feared more for you than for myself last evening. I knew just how desperately you needed to bring Ravel to his judgement,” she said softly, quietly thinking to herself that even Lord Carroway’s countenance had changed somewhat since last evening. He appeared much more at ease, no longer pulled down by the strain of what had weighed so heavily on his mind for so long. The lines were smoothed on his forehead, the lightness in his eyes never seen before. “I am glad that you are freed from your responsibility towards him.”
“I am free from it all, Titania,” Lord Carroway replied, looking down at her. These words were said quietly, but Titania felt as though the ground beneath her was shaking, overcome by the gravitas of what he had said.
“I have chosen to give it all up, Titania,” Lord Carroway continued, as though she had not understood the first time he had spoken. “After what happened with Ravel, I felt a great weight roll from my shoulders and, in doing that, I drew in a long breath and felt myself freed of it all.”
Titania felt tears sting the corners of her eyes, but with an effort, she kept them from falling. She swallowed the aching lump in her throat, realizing just how much this meant to both Lord Carroway and to herself. “You have decided to give up your duties with the army?”
He nodded, looking a trifle hesitant, as though he were unsure about sharing his innermost thoughts with her – but Titania felt her heart sing with a sudden, unexpected hope and pressed his arm in order to encourage him to continue. “I have chosen to look to a new life,” Lord Carroway said slowly, his voice now as gentle as his expression. “One that I never thought I would be grateful for, never thought that I would willingly choose, but ever since I laid eyes on you, Titania, I have found my mind and heart caught up with something entirely new.”
Her heart began to quicken at the hope in his eyes.
“I have spoken to the lieutenant, and he has agreed wholeheartedly to free me from my duties,” Lord Carroway said, turning to her and taking her hands in his, their walk forgotten. “My heart is no longer in such things. Instead, I seek to have a new life…with you.”
Unable to help herself, Titania felt a single tear fall from her eye and land softly on her cheek. Lord Carroway’s expression changed from hope to horror in a single moment, and Titania could not help but laugh, pulling one hand from his and lifting it to his face.
“These are tears of joy, my love,” she whispered, seeing him relax almost at once. “I do not cry for any other reason than that.”
Lord Carroway closed his eyes, let out a long breath, and leaned forward so that his forehead rested on hers. Titania closed her eyes also, breathing him in. She had never been so close to a gentleman before; she had never felt this level of passion and hope. She could not hold herself back from it; she could not prevent herself from speaking of it. It had to be made known.
“I love you desperately, Lord Carroway,” she whispered, letting go of his other hand so that she might cup his face with gentle hands. “Since the moment you saved me, since the moment you looked into my eyes and made me promise to remain silent about what I had seen, I found you entering my heart and refusing to leave it again. I have found myself longing for you, knowing that you will always protect me, always be by my side whenever I need you.” She drew a breath, the truth of her words bringing yet more joyous tears to her eyes. “I have none but you in my heart, Lord Carroway. I love you with such a desperation that I feel as though it will possess every part of me – and I find that I want it to do so.”
